I lay down beside Ophelia, practically melting into her mattress. Both of us are breathing heavily, trying to come down from our highs.
I'm a bit disappointed. Again.
She seems to pick up on it and snuggles up to my side, gently rubbing my stomach and chest.
"I know that look. It's the same one you had earlier," She sighs. "I wasn't faking this time, Spence."
I shake my head. "No, I know you weren't. I just... I was expecting, y'know..."
I feel her nod. "Maybe I just need to get more comfortable."
"You aren't comfortable with me?" I ask her right away.
"I am, Spence," She sits up and looks down at me. "I mean, it's just something I have to get used to. It didn't happen until Emily and I's third time or something. And like I told you earlier, it's not even something that happens all the time."
"Right. You're right," I nod at her and hold my arms out, wanting her to lay back down with me. "Come here."
Ophelia lays down in my arms and rests her head on my chest. "I wish you didn't have to leave. I wanna fall asleep like this. Snuggled up to you, both of us all orgasmed-out."
I can't help but to chuckle. "Me too. I hate that I have to go."
We're both silent for a little bit and when I finally decide to get up, she barely moves. She's asleep.
I carefully maneuver out of her embrace and once I'm free, I start getting my clothes back on. I wish I could stay. I don't like leaving her high and dry like this, but I have to work.
Tonight was the best sex I have had in my entire life. Not just on the surface level, but on a spiritual one. It was meaningful.
I thought I loved Lila, at one point I even envisioned myself getting married to her...
But we never had a connection like the one Lia and I had tonight.
After I'm dressed, my eyes land on Ophelia who is naked and fast asleep. She must be freezing. I pick her blanket up off of the floor and cover her up before leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.
"Bye, beautiful. I'll see you when I get home," I whisper to her as I pull away.
She shifts and her eyes flutter open. "You leaving?"
I nod, frowning at her. "Yeah, I'm about to head out."
She sits up and wraps her arms around my neck before planting a kiss on my cheek. When we look at each other, she quickly leaves one on my lips, too.
"Be safe, okay?"
"I will," I assure her. "I'll see you soon."
-
After ringing a few times, I hear the line click and Ophelia's voice swims through my ear. "Hi, you!"
"Hi, Li," I say happily, kicking my shoes off. "How was your day?"
She lets out a sigh. "Well, it was a little stressful, but... I finished the first draft of the pilot for the show about your team."
"That's great! I can't wait to read it," I can't help but to smile. I'm glad she's finding my work interesting enough to write an entire TV show pilot about it. I wonder if people would eat it up like she suggested that they would.
"How was your day?"
Laying back, I echo her sigh. "Stressful. It was really stressful."
"You know what's a great stress reliever?" Lia's tone of voice gives away that she's feeling giddy.
"Hm?"
"Orgasms," She says simply, sounding like she's about to laugh.
I roll my eyes and sit back up. "You're right, but... I don't want to do it here, alone. I'd rather wait until I get home so we can... y'know."
"What if I stayed on the phone with you?" The girl suggests. "And did it, too?"
"I..." I lose my words for a second, a bit floored by her suggestion. "Do you mean like... phone sex?"
"Like phone sex, mhmm," I can almost hear the smirk on her lips. "We can if you want to."
"I do, I just... I'm really tired. I'm sorry," I apologize, hoping she won't be too disappointed.
Ophelia coos. "Don't be sorry, Spence. You wanna tell me more about your day?"
I shake my head before remembering that she can't see me. "Not really. Will you just talk to me? About anything..."
"Okay, let's see..." She starts, obviously trying to think of something. "Oh! I wanted to ask you about something, actually!"
"What is it?" I press the speakerphone button and set my phone on the bed so that I can get into sleep clothes while listening to her.
I hear let out a yawn. "Well, you can totally say no. Please don't feel obligated—"
I'm quick to cut her off. "Whatever it is, I'm saying yes."
"You don't even know what it is!"
I slide out of my shirt. "Well, the answer is 'yes'."
Lia laughs. "Alright, well, when you get home there's gonna be a swing installed in the living room."
I shake my head and fake a laugh. "Ha ha. Very funny. Seriously, though, what do you want to ask me?"
"Um... next month, well, at the end of June, we always have a family reunion to celebrate my tía's birthday. Family comes from everywhere and it's so much fun! I was just wondering if maybe you'd wanna come with me? We'd only stay a few days before coming back."
She wants me to come to a family reunion with her?
"Wow. Isn't that more... husband territory?" I attempt to joke, but I'm met with a few seconds of silence and then an awkward chuckle.
"Yeah, you're right," She says through the chuckle. "That's husband territory."
The line falls silent between us for a few seconds before I speak up.
"Um, so, how was work?"
I hear Lia sigh. "It was work. I'm glad I have tomorrow off. I'm totally wiped from this week."
"You and me both," I agree with her. There's another awkward silence before I decide that it's probably best to get off of the phone. "Hey, I should probably go to sleep."
"Oh, okay. Well, sweet dreams," She tells me, a hint of happiness in her voice that wasn't there just a few seconds ago.
"Okay, goodnight. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Night, Spence."
The line clicks and I grab my phone, closing it before continuing my nightly routine. Once I'm in bed, it doesn't take long before I fall fast asleep.
-
I step into the apartment, taking in the familiar pumpkin pie scent. Ophelia likes to burn pumpkin pie or apple cider scented candles. They're not overpowering, which is nice. They make the place feel more... homey.
I'm glad to done with this case. It kept me away for a week and a half. Lia has been a bit distant since the phone call when she asked me to come to her family reunion. I was joking about it being 'husband territory' but I'm not sure that she picked up on it. I would love to go with her.
Each phone call since then has consisted of me asking about her day and her giving me a short, usually one-word answer before asking how mine was. I tell her and she listens, even asks questions. Then, it fizzles. Nothing left to talk about.
It's seven o'clock and the apartment is dark except for her room, which I head for right away.
Knocking lightly on the door frame, I step into her room.
She's sat cross-legged on her bed, papers spread out in front of her and a notebook in her lap. Her hair is wet, so she must have gotten out of the shower not too long ago. She jumps a tiny bit when I knock and looks up, relaxing when she registers that it's me.
"Oh, hi," Ophelia says, wiping her eyes with the sleeves of the black Washington D.C. hoodie she has on. "I didn't know you'd be home today."
Why is she wiping her eyes? I walk over to her and sit on the edge of the bed. Her eyes are bloodshot. She's been crying.
"Lia, what's going on?" I ask her, feeling my heart sink. "You're crying..."
She shakes her head and shrugs, sniffling. "I'm just stressed with finals coming up and I don't know how to do this bullshit," The girl gestures to the papers in front of her. "I don't get it. I've been looking at it for three hours."
I look over the papers, seeing an assortment of notes and problems. It's math; quadratics.
"Can I help? I'm really good at math," I unlace my shoes and kick them off so that I can sit cross-legged on the bed with her.
She shrugs. "I think I'm a lost cause, but... maybe tomorrow if you're up to the challenge."
I can't help but to smile. "I'm up for it."
Ophelia gathers everything in front of us into a neat pile before leaning her head on my shoulder and letting out a heavy sigh. "I missed you."
"I missed you, too. A lot. Especially after you started acting weird on the phone, not telling me anything about your day or talking much at all."
She sits back up and stares down at her lap. "I'm sorry, I just... I'm just really stressed lately."
"Well, you know what's a good stress reliever?" I parrot her words from last week back to her, trying to hold back a chuckle.
Lia laughs and swats my knee before looking up at me with a smile. "Shut up."
I just grin right back at her.
"You know, you come home after a week and a half and don't even give your girlfriend a kiss," She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, looking straight ahead instead of at me.
I lean over to try to press a kiss to her cheek, but she leans away from me.
"I don't want it now!" She tells me as she hops off of the bed. There's a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she walks around to the foot of the bed and puts her hands behind her back, leaning forward ever-so slightly and looking at me in the eyes. "I don't want your pity kiss."
I can tell she's fooling around, but I'm not exactly sure what it is she's trying to do.
"It's not a pity kiss," I lean forward a bit, too. "I want to kiss you."
She tilts her head to one side. "Do you? If you really wanna kiss me, you have to work for it."
"How?"
She's quiet for a second before her lips twitch, forming a smirk and in an instant, she's sprinting out of the room.
"Li!" I laugh, hooping off of the bed and running after her.
I chase her through the living room and she circles back around to my room, cornering herself on the right side of my bed.
"Well, well, well..." I close my door and lean against it, crossing my arms. "Looks like you're stuck."
A wide grin takes over her lips. "Well, I guess I am."
I make my way around the bed to her, but at the last second she crawls over the bed and runs back out the door. I laugh and shake my head, following in her path. As I step into the hallway, I see her door close on my right and head toward it, attempting to twist the knob and open the door-- but to no avail.
It's locked.
"Lia," I whine, resting my forehead against the door. "Please open up so I can give you a kiss."
I hear her tapping her fingernails against the wood. "Nope."
I chuckle and shake my head again. How long is this game gonna go on before I can give her a kiss?
"Please?" I ask nicely.
I hear the lock click and the door opens just enough her her face. She grins and puckers her lips at me. Happily, I lean forward and press a quick kiss to her lips, and after I do, she backs up and opens the door all the way before taking my hand and pulling me into her room.
Lia's arms wrap around my neck and she pulls me down to her until our lips meet again. When her hands run down my chest and go for my belt buckle, I put mine over them, stopping her and breaking the kiss.
"Um, I actually, I just really want to go to sleep. I'm exhausted from today. Would you mind pushing this to tomorrow?"
A small smile takes over her lips and she shakes her head slightly. "I wouldn't mind at all, Spence." Her tone is sincere, I can tell. There's not even disappointment behind it. Nor is there annoyance, like I got from Lila a few times.
The way she would roll her eyes and sigh when I'd tell her I was tired or just not in the mood... it made me feel terrible. I even faked it when I didn't want to endure the guilt trip.
I'm actually surprised by Ophelia taking it so lightly.
"You're not disappointed?" I look down at her, confused.
Lia raises an eyebrow at me. "Did... did you want me to be?'
I shake my head furiously. "No, of course not! I just want to make sure you aren't upset."
"Babe," She presses a quick kiss to my lips. "I'm not upset. If you're tired, you're tired! I understand, Spence."
I nod and look off to the side. "I'm sorry if I got your hopes up."
Ophelia brings her hands up to my face and gently turns my head so that I'll look at her. Her face is subtly laced with worry as she looks back at me.
"Listen, you don't have to tell me anything that you don't want to, alright? I'm just... making an observation," She starts, moving her hands to my shoulders. "I feel like... you may have gotten a lot of shit in the past for not being in the mood, and... I just want you to know that you never have to apologize for it, okay? I'll never be upset or disappointed."
I don't say anything, just lean over and wrap my arms around her, resting my head on her shoulder. She returns the embrace, wrapping her arms around my neck.
"Do you wanna sleep with me?" She asks softly, playing with my hair.
I pull away to look at her and nod. "I'm gonna get ready for bed and then I'll be right back, okay?"
She gives me another kiss on the cheek. "Okay."
I step out of her room and head to mine to get pajamas on before going to the restroom to brush my teeth.
I can't seem to wrap my head around how good Lia is to me. She helped me through my addiction to dilaudid and never once complained, not to mention she's the only person who said anything to me about it. She didn't get upset tonight when I told her I was tired, she never puts me down...
She treats me so well.
I make sure all of the lights are off and the door is locked before making my way back to Lia's room. She's already in bed. I turn the light off before crawling in beside her.
"Can we cuddle?" Ophelia asks quietly.
"Of course," I respond.
She wastes no time in snuggling up to me. We're both silent for a minute until she speaks up.
"Do you wanna talk about the case?"
I shake my head and blow out a sigh. "No, I don't want to think about it right now. I don't want to think about work. I just want to think about laying here with you."
She presses a kiss to my jawline. "Okay. Just know that I'm always here to listen, okay?"
"I know. Thank you," I tell her.
I hear her yawn before she lets out a sigh. "You don't need to thank me. It's what friends are for. Well, friends and girlfriends."
Again, silence takes over the room for a few seconds while I try to gather my thoughts into a sentence.
"I never really realized how poorly Lila treated me until we started dating,"
"What?" Lia sits up and looks down at me. I can just barely see her in the light that comes in through the window.
"She would get kind of... upset when I didn't want to have sex. Guilt-tripping me, in a way, with the heavy sighs and eye-rolls. Sometimes, I just wouldn't want to deal with it so I'd give in."
"Spencer..." Ophelia coos, laying back down and cuddling up to my side once again. "Is that why you were so concerned with if I was upset?"
"I just... figured you would be."
She gently rubs my chest with her left hand. "I'm not Lila, okay? I'd never be upset with you for that, Spence."
"I know you're not," I nod slightly. "It's like day and night. Why are you so good to me? You've done so much for me and—"
"Because you deserve it," She says just as I say: "I don't deserve it."
"You do!" She raises her voice slightly, lightly smacking my stomach. "You deserve the world."
"I don—"
She cuts me off. "Nope. You can't do anything but agree with me."
"Or what?" I laugh, rolling my eyes.
Lia chuckles. "Or you can go sleep in your own bed."
When I don't respond, the girl nuzzles up to me a little more. "That's what I thought."
We lay in silence until we both fall asleep, Ophelia first, then me not too long after.
I wake up in the morning to the sound of an ambulance going by and rub my eyes. When I open my eyes, I see Ophelia looking at me.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," She smiles. "It's ten o'clock."
She's already dressed and has her hair and makeup done.
"Are you going somewhere?" I ask, looking her up and down. She's got on a cropped maroon t-shirt and a black skirt. Her hair is in its naturally wavy state and tied up in a high pony tail. She looks beautiful. She always does.
Lia shakes her head. "Well, no, but... I was gonna ask if you wanted to go to breakfast, my treat?"
A smile takes over my lips. "I'd love to."