Vanessa
"I don't want to leave," I whined as I stared up at the popcorn ceiling in Matt's bedroom. "I feel as though I just got here."
"I know, sweetheart," he sympathized, lying beneath the covers beside me.
"I haven't even gotten my fill of you yet." Shifting, I moved so that I was straddling his hips. I leaned down and planted a long kiss on his lips before pulling away.
His hands trailed up so that they were caressing my behind. "More," he pleaded.
I let my gaze fall to the clock that he had perched on his nightstand, the glowing red numbers counting down the minutes until I was back on the train to New York City. "Do we even have time?" I inquired, biting my lip.
He gave me a wicked grin. "Listen, they don't call me 'Matt Breaks the Rules Jones' for no reason. If I speed, I can have you at the station in half the time."
I giggled as he ran his palms down my thighs and back up again, inching closer to the hem of my night shirt. "Matt, nobody calls you that. Ever."
He shrugged. "Minor details. Either way, I have a reputation for doing whatever the hell I want and not following commands."
"Pity," I replied, pouting. "I was going to instruct you to take off my clothes."
"Well..." He tossed up his hands. "Screw it. There's an exception to every rule." Briskly he reached for my top, assisting me in pulling it over my head and tossing it aside on the carpet.
Impatient and aching to be close to him in the most intimate way possible, I pushed aside my panties to welcome him inside me. I inhaled sharply as I took all of him in. "I love you so much," I whispered, rocking my hips back and forth.
His hands found their way to my breasts, and he kneaded them with my fingers. "You're definitely leaving me with something to remember you by," he murmured.
Closing my eyes, I let myself fall into a pool of him. I was fully emerged in his cedarwood scent, his lightly calloused palms stroking me, and the sound of his rapid breathing as his thrusts met my inner thighs. As I swam in the waters of love and ecstasy, I found myself unable to control the tidal wave that rippled through my lower belly.
Reaching up, he brushed my damp hair away from my face. "You always look so beautiful when we have sex. You have this radiant glow about you."
Leaning down, I gave him a final peck on the forehead. "It's because of how happy you make me. There's no better feeling than being connected to you."
"You'll call me as soon as you get to Manhattan, yeah?" Matt and I were standing on the platform at the station, my train pulling up the track in the distance with a clatter. My breath coiled around his face in the early morning chill as I shoved my hands inside my coat pockets, trying to catch a bit of warmth.
"Can we still text on the ride home? I think I'm going to need it." He brushed a lone tear from my cheek, a rebel that had made its escape at the thought of being without him for another long month.
"Absolutely. Message me the entire way if it will make you feel better." He gripped the sides of my face, looking deeply into my eyes with a somber expression. "You know how much I love you, right?"
I nodded, my throat burning with too much sadness to utter a verbal response.
"Hartford to New York City, now boarding," an attendant called over the loudspeaker in a rushed tone.
Biting my lip, I took one last glance at him, memorizing every curve of his jaw and the way his darkened chestnut hair fell into his eyes without any gel holding it in its place. "I guess this is goodb-"
"You'll be here again in a few weeks," he cut in. "It's see you later." He gave my hand one last squeeze before I boarded the train. "Remember Vanessa," he continued. "Anytime you leave, we'll always find our way back to one another."
Letting go of him at least, I just hoped that he was right.
Ice crystals formed on the windowpane that acted as a portal between the warm and cozy café alight with the glow of a roaring fire and the bitter cold of the inky night. Sighing, I gazed down at my cocoa, swirled with caramel and now room temperature.
The end of my first semester of college was drawing near and I was consumed by studying for finals and submitting last minute essays. Across a vast stretch of miles, Matt was just as bogged down with holiday traffic at the pizza shop and working doubles to cover for the shortage in staff. This had led to missed calls between us and collapsing into bed at night without so much as an "I love you."
His voice was slowly becoming a foggy memory that my brain had a hard time recollecting and any interaction I had with him seemed to be a dream that I wasn't entirely sure really happened. I was counting on Christmas break to bring some much-needed respite from the loneliness that had begun to eat away at me.
Bells chimed and a draft of frigid air disturbed the cocoon of the café as it blew in upon the entry door being opened. Glancing up, I noticed a man wearing a black winter hat and puffy grey jacket make his way towards the counter.
"I'll have a small coffee. Black," he said to the barista behind the counter, rubbing his hands together before blowing into them. While waiting for his order, he leaned against the display case of buttered pastries and glazed donuts, his cerulean eyes roaming the room. As his gaze settled upon me, he furrowed his brows for the briefest of moments before a light of recognition dawned on his face.
"Locked out freshman," he greeted, a smile curling up his lips.
Oh, for heaven's sake. Will he ever let that go? "Hey," I replied weakly.
He nodded his thanks as the barista handed him a steaming Styrofoam cup. "How's the end of the semester treating you?" He asked, pulling out a chair and inviting himself to sit down. "Is it kicking your ass yet?"
I gestured at the stack of textbooks opened in front of me and my notes covered in fluorescent yellow highlight. "You know, there was a period in my life where my head was filled with the lyrics to the newest Taylor Swift album. Now it seems to have been replaced by mathematic equations."
Ryan chuckled as he leaned over to peek at what I was studying. "Ouch. Accounting 101. Been there."
I lifted an eyebrow at him. "You know it?"
Nodding, he took a sip of his beverage before placing it on the table, before careful to avoid my papers and books. "Unfortunately, I do. I've been eating, sleeping, and breathing it the past year and a half of my life."
"Oh," I replied, unable to keep the surprise from my voice. "A fellow major, huh?"
He gave a small grin, his sights shifting past me and out the window. "Again, unfortunately so."
I found it curious that for someone who seemed to resent the subject so much, he chose it as a career path but not wanting to pry into the business of a stranger, I kept my mouth shut.
"Anyways," he continued, tapping the table with his palm before standing up. "I should probably get moving before the caffeine wears off." He raised his half empty cup towards me. "If I'm going to pull an all-nighter studying, I got to make use of this burst of energy while I have it. Have a nice Christmas, Vanessa."
I watched as he strode out of the café, leaving behind another blast of cold air and a slight glow in my chest upon the realization that perhaps New York wasn't such a lonely place after all. Maybe, I had finally made a friend.