T E M P T A T I O N
Isabelle
I cocoon myself in the warmth of my duvet, protecting myself from the morning. I nestle my tired body into the soft, heavenly mattress. Yesterday, was such a good day, apart from Violet getting broken up with obviously. It breaks my heart to see her so upset and I feel stuck in the middle.
I want to be there for both of them, but I do think Eva's jumped the gun a little early by ending things. Other than that, Violet seemed to enjoy the cliffs. I'm shocked at myself that I conquered a fear that I didn't even realize I had until I was faced with it.
With a lion's yawn, I stretch my arms out, rolling over into the stone cold, empty space in bed next to me. Last night, I waited for Thomas to come and join me after we cleared up. He never came. I won't lie – I'm kind of bummed that he didn't. It was so nice waking up to him yesterday, I thought he would've wanted to share a bed again.
Defeated, I swing my bare legs out of the covers and run a hand through the mess of my short, dark hair. I force myself to stand, making my way to my mirror to assess what I'm working with today. It's not bad, considering how drained I feel.
Leaving my room, I stop outside Thomas' door. I wait to see if I hear any movement but it seems like he is still asleep. A thought dances across my mind so I slowly creak the door open, peaking my head in.
I've never seen his bedroom. It's roughly the same size as mine. He has dark wooden flooring with a black framed bed that's sat over a grey rug to match the grey duvet covers. There's a monotone abstract painting above his bed and he's left the door to his bathroom wide open.
It's a lot tidier than I expected, the exception being some clothes that are left on the floor. All of his things are neatly lined up on his bedside table, his phone, a lamp, keys and his wallet. I tilt my head at him.
He's still fast asleep, his mouth slanted open, his dark hair a mess. I smile at how dopey he looks. The covers are wrinkled up, pushed halfway down his muscled, tanned body.
As my toes reach the fur of the rug, I gently crawl onto the bed, up and on top of his body. He wakes with a groan of slight discomfort as I get on but still he wraps his warm arms around me. I rest my head on the boiling hot skin of his chest.
"Morning." He croaks, sniffing while he twists his head to prop it on top of mine.
"Good morning." I smile, wriggling into his rich scent.
"Is?" He whispers and I keep my eyes closed.
"Mmhm?"
"I'm naked." He returns.
"Okay?" I tilt my head up at look at him. "You're not getting shy on me now are you?"
"No, you've just got to be careful... on how you move." He lets out another small groan as he tries to adjust me on top of him.
To save him the hassle, I roll off of him, falling above his soft covers. His face scrunches up as he blinks a few times to wake himself. I scratch at the material of his pillow in small circles.
"You didn't sleep in my room last night." I state with a sigh.
"You are correct. I didn't."
"Why not?" I question, timidly.
"Sam said you were finding it hard... controlling yourself." He starts to explain.
"Does Sam report everything I say back to you?" My voice flutters with a hint of annoyance.
"Usually only if it's about me." He grumbles while he moves himself so he's on his side, facing me.
"For the record, I can control myself. I am fully capable of controlling myself. I just am finding it hard... wanting to."
"I don't want to rush you." He hushes.
"You're not." I feel myself getting frustrated. "You're not going to rush me by sleeping in the same bed as me." He swirls his fingers against my arm in his best attempt to distract me.
"Well when and if we're in the same bed, the chances of things happening definitely increases." I sit up, looking back at him.
"You're literally naked right now. I still haven't taken that opportunity to have sex with you, have I?" I am irritated now.
I spend pretty much all day, every day in the same apartment as him. There's plenty of times since being here that I could've kissed him or slept with him.
"Okay. Don't get mad!" He tugs on me, bringing me into his arms, chuckling.
"I'm not mad. You're just so annoying." His laugh is hoarse because of the morning. I rest my head back on his chest. "When I'm ready to have sex with you, I will."
"I don't doubt that." He nuzzles his nose into the top of my head as I bend my leg over the top of his, closing my eyes.
There's a silence for a while where, in the meantime, he tickles my arm, his other hand lowering down to my ass. I don't mind him doing that, if anything I enjoy it.
"I wanted you with me last night." I whisper sadly, drawing my fingers over his collarbone.
"I wasn't sure." He responds with the same softness.
"You could've asked." I point out.
"Yeah... well I'll know now." I smile into him. "We're pretty good at this whole communicating thing, don't you think?"
"Yeah. For the most part." I peel my eyes open. "What do you want for breakfast?"
"Whatever you want. I don't mind."
"Pancakes?" He nods and I reluctantly remove myself from every part of his touch. "Okay, get dressed then." I instruct as he sits up, covering himself with the sheets.
"You don't want sausage with your pancakes?" He wiggles his eyebrows.
"Not today." I answer and he playfully chucks a pillow across the room. Laughing, I leave the door ajar, skipping down the hall.
**
It's later on in the day and I'm finishing up with my self defense class. I wave goodbye to a few friendly faces on my way out. Passing the restrooms, I catch Sam's blonde head coming out of the men's.
"Hey!" I call out, catching up with him. His happy grin soon drops at the sight of my unimpressed face. "Why are you telling Thomas what I say about him?"
"I'm sorry. He's my best friend and I'm just trying to help you guys out... just in a weird way." I chuckle, not actually annoyed. In fairness, that's quite a good excuse.
"It's okay, I don't actually mind." I join his side as he walks. "Are you in the gym?" He nods.
"I'm just about to start. I think Thomas is on his way so you're more than welcome to join us." Sam begins his workout and I sit close by, stretching out as a cool down. He makes some strange noises while lifting the heavier weights and I have to hold back a laugh.
Soon enough, Thomas' hands sit on my shoulders from behind me. I swat him off for making me jump.
"I've got some news." He announces. "I've decided I'm going to go to the wedding."
"Oh Thomas, that's great!" Sam cries and I hop up, happy for him.
"Yeah, I've been really thinking about it and I should be there. With Mom." It looks like he's nodding to still convince himself more than anyone else.
"I'm proud of you." I smile at him, which he reciprocates. "It's going to be really strange being on my own." The thought of spending all that time in the apartment alone is almost daunting.
"Yeah, Sam if you wouldn't mind swinging by to keep an eye on this one?" Thomas wraps his arms around my body from behind me, propping his head on my shoulder. I cover his hands with my own.
I feel like he's addressed that well – it doesn't feel possessive. It doesn't seem like it's about ownership, it's as if he genuinely just wants to protect me for all the right reasons. That's not something I've experienced in a long time.
"If you want to stay over as well then I don't mind. We can hang out." I suggest.
"Yeah sure. That sounds fun." Due to Sam's head start, he finishes before Thomas does so he joins me on the mats next to where Thomas is benching. I watch him lift the weights, the strained faces he pulls with each rep makes me laugh.
"Right come on. Arm wrestle me." Sam twists himself around on his front, propping his elbow up to challenge me.
I grasp his hand tightly, narrowing my eyes. He counts down and we begin. At my best ability, I push down against him, managing to get him halfway down to the floor before he wins.
"Okay, my turn." Thomas sits up, noticing what we're doing.
He gets down opposite me, his thick arms already pulsing from the burn of his workout. There's absolutely no way I'm winning but I still clasp his large hand. Before he gets to one, I push against him but even when he's unprepared he doesn't budge. I struggle, my face flushing red. My hand begins shaking and I start laughing that he still hasn't moved, not even a little bit.
"Are you kidding me?" I dig my feet into the ground as if that's going to help and give me an advantage.
"Are you even trying? Do you need two hands?" He teases.
"I think I'm going to pass out." He puts me out of my misery, touching the back of my hand to the ground.
We chuckle and I catch my breath as Thomas and Sam battle. They are both similar in strength but Thomas eventually wins, a triumphant grin on his handsome face.
**
Thomas
As if on cue, as soon as we step inside the apartment, Isabelle's phone buzzes. Fishing it out of her pocket, she sees that it's Violet so she takes it and goes off to her bedroom.
While playing video games, Sam hasn't shut up about how hungry he is so we order to pizza to save Isabelle the hassle of cooking tonight. He also declares that we should watch Baby Driver while eating. It seems that all Sam ever does is come to my apartment, eats our food and chooses what movie we should watch. Isabelle comes around the corner, her nose in the air.
"We have pizza." I point at the boxes on the coffee table. She beams. She's changed out of her work out clothes and now she's in a lilac hoodie with a pair of grey shorts that fit the contours and curves of her hips. She curls up in the corner of the couch, opposite to me.
Slice after slice, we get through the first box and greedily manage to finish the second. Isabelle gets up to throw them way. On her way past, I gently pat her ass and she rolls her eyes with a smile. We're more than half way through the movie and I don't think there's been a single second where Sam's eyes haven't been glued to the screen. I often look over to him to see him silently reciting the lines as they're being said.
"Thomas." Isabelle speaks softly, swiveling her body around to face me. "When's your birthday?"
"May nineteenth." I answer. "I'm a Taurus, before you ask." She gives me a half smile, I expect that she wouldn't have thought I knew about zodiac signs but growing up with an older sister will change that. "When's yours?"
"February fourth. Aquarius." There's a pause where I focus back on the movie. "What's your middle name?"
"I don't have one." I glance back at her and she raises her eyebrows to herself as if that's unusual. I suppose a lot of people have them. "Do you?"
"Yeah. It's Daisy." She tucks wisps of her dark hair behind her ear.
"Isabelle Daisy Dunn? That's cute." She smiles a little and then affectionately tickles her socked feet over mine, rubbing them together.
"What's your favourite color?"
"Cyan but a darker kind of shade." She seems surprised. "Not expecting that?"
"No, I thought you'd say something like black or red." She puts on a tougher voice, pretending to sound like me. I snort.
"What's yours?"
"Baby blue. What's your favourite song?" She quizzes.
"There's too many to choose from. I like- wait, why are we asking all these questions."
"I don't know these things about you." She shrugs. "You don't know them about me. We're living together, friends and..." I raise my eyebrows, waiting for her to finish her sentence. She chews on the inside of her mouth to stop a smile arising. "You know... but we don't actually know much about each other."
"Yeah. Very true." I nod. I suppose that's correct, I've not really thought about it like that before.
"My favourite color is green, in case you guys cared." Sam comments and we both laugh. "God, is this what third wheeling feels like?"
"If anything, I third wheel you two." She shuffles around in a pause of conversation. "Go on then, ask me something." She looks between both of us. "Anything you want. But it might not mean I actually answer it." Sam and I glance to each other, thinking of something to ask.
"What's something you like about me?" I question.
"You get to ask me anything you want in the world and the only thing you want is for me to compliment you? Seriously?" She chuckles.
"Okay, fine. What's something you don't like about me?" She shakes her head.
"I'll do both." She ponders on thought. "For Thomas, you can be slightly cocky at times."
That's fair.
"And something I like? That's really hard, there's not much." She teases and I playfully push her with my feet. I'm excited to hear what she's going to say. "You're kind and caring. I don't think people see that side of you enough. I know that sounds lame but the world could do with a little more of the kindness you've given me." A grin etches across my face, so wide that my cheeks hurt.
"And for Sam. You're a gossip, you tell Thomas things that I've said." She points at him and he holds his hands up, accountable. "But with that being said, you are a true and loyal friend. You've both been really generous in giving me a place to stay."
"Thanks Is. Right, I've got a good question." Sam rubs his hands together.
"Hang on, I want to know about me, one good, one bad." She leans forward, interested.
"Oh god okay. You can be a little shy but you're so compassionate and caring." Sam answers.
"Yeah. That's a good one." I agree. "I'd say, Isabelle Daisy Dunn, that you are stubborn and can be quite argumentative when you want to be." She rolls her eyes. "But you're brave and it's... inspiring." She bites down on her lower lip, beaming with her white flash of a smile.
"My turn. What age did you lose your virginity?" Sam inquires.
"I was seventeen." She turns away from me to answer.
"Was it...?" I trail off. I don't even want to say his name. She shakes her head and a huge part of me is relieved.
"I was eighteen." Sam answers and then nods for me to take my turn.
"Fifteen. How many?" I throw the question back to Sam.
"I can count on both hands, maybe six." He answers.
"I've slept with two people." She says and then they both look to me.
"God, it's not as many as everything thinks. It's probably twenty ish?" I shrug. "I don't sleep with every girl that I make out with but a lot of them want to say we did so there's that."
"I don't think-."
"Oh Isabelle, watch this bit. It's so good." Sam interrupts her and she puts all of her attention back on the TV, watching the end of the movie.
**
Isabelle
"Thanks for coming over. I'll see you soon." I say, swaying side to side while tightly hugging Sam. He adjusts the heel of his shoe, on his way out and waves goodbye. I peek over my shoulder at Thomas who has his hands plugged in his pockets, rocking back and forth with a grin on his face.
"And then there were two." He cocks an eyebrow at me.
"You're extremely observant, did you know that?" I reply, locking the door shut. I slowly slide my way over to Thomas with a yawn.
"Hmm." He wraps an arm around my shoulder, stitching me to his hip. "It's getting late, we should head to bed." I nod.
I stand in front of the bathroom mirror, squirting a line of toothpaste along my brush. The door creaks and I look back to see Thomas coming in, his toothbrush in his hand. He gives me a shy smile, almost as if he's asking my permission to join me.
He edges over until he is stood behind me. He strokes his hand down the side of my hips before winding it around my waist. I trail my nails up his tanned arm and he leans over my shoulder to spit in the sink.
We brush our teeth together and when we're finished, he drops his brush into the pot of my bathroom, keeping it there.
**
I get undressed into a white tank and my underwear before slipping underneath the sheets that have a slight chill clinging to them. I shake my legs around, warming the bed up.
"How'd the call with Violet go?" Thomas questions, shedding his clothes until he's in a pair of Calvin Kleins. "How is she doing?" He curls up onto his side to face me in the dim light.
I nestle my shoulder down into the mattress, bringing the covers further up my body. My hand is hidden underneath my pillow, cupping my own cheek. Thomas wriggles around, getting comfortable beside me.
"She got dumped on the phone." I answer, as if it's obvious. "She keeps saying that she's fine but I think everyone knows she's struggling. She's coming over for lunch tomorrow, if that's okay with you?" He nods. Slowly, I tickle my fingers along his neck, my thumb stroking the soft skin of his cheek.
"You were right earlier." My face creases with a muddled frown. "About us not knowing those kind of things about each other."
"It's strange, isn't it?" I flick between each of his green eyes that catch the shred of light coming from the outside of my curtains.
"I feel like I've known you way longer than I have." He gently whispers, his cool breath meeting my face. He's right. It's only been a month or two since we first met but it feels like I've known him forever, as if he's been in my life for as long as I can remember.
"Same." I push strands of his hair back as he brings me closer to cuddle me. His skin is an invitingly warm and safe embrace. With his hand he cups my left cheek and I catch him glancing down at my mouth.
"Tell me not to kiss you." He hushes. I smile, gazing at him and then shake my head. I can't tell him nor do I want to so I tilt my face up, pressing my lips to his.
We make out for a while, a short while but long enough for me to have lost all concept of real time. I could kiss him for hours. He's a good kisser which makes it increasingly harder to not want to kiss him.
They're soft, but insistent. Tender but confident all at the same time. He knows exactly what he's doing and he loves it. He's proud of it.
I grip around his head, desperate for the way he feels against me. He strings me in until I'm up against his naked torso. Wire cages around my heart, tightening in my chest. Breathless, I disconnect our lips.
"Touch me." I demand, quietly. I can tell he's slightly taken aback. To be honest, I wasn't fully expecting it from myself either but there's not a single thought in my head that isn't about his hands on me.
"Is, if you don't wa-." He starts, concerned. Impatiently, I take his lips again, tugging on his hair.
"Thomas. Touch me." I beg. He takes no time to kiss me again, shuffling himself closer. His tongue slowly lines against mine.
He gradually slides his hands up and underneath my cropped tank top. His fingers graze my cold skin and he cups my boob, brushing his thumb over my nipple before he trails them down the curve of my side. They gradually walk down my stomach, igniting my skin in their soft wake. He edges the band of my thong, teasingly. Exasperated knots tighten within me and I burn with desire.
"Open your legs." He mutters amongst a kiss. "Open them." I do as I'm told.
He slips his hand past and into my underwear, beginning to perform gently on me. After a few moments, his rhythm changes. His fingers draw tight circles, causing my head to jerk back, a gasp catching in my throat.
"Do you like that?" He questions in a smooth, low voice. I answer him with a fervent kiss, arching my back, leaning against his chest as if there's further for me to go. I run my own hand down from his face, sinking to the sculpted structure of his abs.
"Can I?" I whisper between his lips. He nods in answer so I go into his boxers, taking him in my hand. He easily fills my palm – not to my surprise. A man with an ego of his size would naturally be big.
I let out a whine as his fingers dip inside, his thumb simultaneously rotating against me.
"Oh my god, Thomas." I thrust the top of my head into his shoulder, gasping and breathing out.
I work his pulsing length as he groans past gritted teeth. We move faster, harder, desperately trying to tinker each other over the edge. I roll my hips back and forth, a tingle climbing up my spine.
I can't help but moan, saying his name, attempting to quiet myself by burring my face into the hot, slick skin of his shoulder. The muffled sound only eggs him on further and further.
"Fuck." He groans, bringing me closer and closer until both of us fall, together.
****
-Frankie Kate