Page 70 of Roommate
When I return to the bed, he’s balancing the laptop on his lap, searching for the right viewing angle for both of us. “Can you see this?” he asks. “Wait. Let me try this.” He tucks the computer between us on the mattress and fusses with the position. “Maybe the screen is too small for this.”
“Kieran, man, let me help. The problem isn’t the small screen.”
“Then what is?”
I pick up the computer. “Don’t take this the wrong way. But your cuddle game is weak.”
“My—?”
“Let me show you how this is done. Lift up your left arm.” I nudge it upward until it’s shoulder height. “Just like that. Now…” I shove a pillow against the wall and then move my ass until I’m snugged against him, tucked under his arm and leaning against his muscular chest. The laptop lands on my knees, and we’re close enough that we can both see the screen.
“Oh,” he says softly.
“Yeah, see?” I hit Play and relax against him.
For the first few minutes of the show, he doesn’t move a muscle or relax. Kieran isn’t used to being touched, but I’m a cuddle whore of the highest order, and undeterred by his hesitation. I stretch out against his body, my hand finding one of his muscular thighs beneath the sheet. And I gently sift my fingertips through the soft hairs at the top of his knee while I watch.
Bit by bit he relaxes, too, until one wide palm cups my ass, and his other hand rests snugly on my chest.
And I’m like a happy housecat, drowsing against his bare skin, his chest bouncing against my ear whenever he laughs. This blissful, simple moment is everything I ever wanted. Why does life have to be so fucking complicated, when this right here is so easy?
Snuggling closer, I reach up and stroke his bare chest with light fingers. I’m rewarded with a happy sigh.
“Another?” I ask when the episode ends. I could stay here my whole life.
“Maybe,” he says, catching my fingers. “But it’s hard to concentrate when you’re touching me like that.”
“Is it? The problem is that you have no cuddle stamina. We’ll have to work on that.” I turn in his arms until I can see his warm brown eyes. I can’t believe I ever thought I could resist Kieran Shipley. This lonely man needs me almost as badly as I need him. “Maybe that’s enough TV, then.”
I fumble for the laptop, clicking it shut. I roll my body all the way onto Kieran’s, and, without waiting for an invitation, I kiss him.
Long arms wrap around me almost instantly. As he dives into my mouth like he’s never tasted anything so good, we sink down against the sheets, hands grasping, bodies shifting, hearts thumping.
And nothing has ever felt so right.
Roderick
After that, I give Kieran many more chances to improve his cuddling. In fact, we work on it the very next night, after I retrieve my groceries from my broken car.
We cooked that roast, and almost burned the risotto, though, because we got to fooling around on the couch while we waited for the meat to finish cooking. I forgot all about the food as Kieran pushed me down onto the cushions and blew me.
Work. Food. Sex. Cuddle. Sleep. Repeat. I’m living the dream right now. My job is going well. I live in a nice house with a hot man who can’t wait to see me every night when he gets home. And we still have Mondays off together. That means sleeping in and waking each other up with various naked activities.
There hasn’t been any full-on sex, though, in spite of the hints I’ve dropped. The sex fairy (that’s me, I guess) has left a bottle of lube on the nightstand and some condoms in Kieran’s bathroom.
He’s taking it slow, though. And that’s fine with me. Mostly fine. Except it’s midmorning on a Monday, and Kieran is stretched out on the rug in the living room, reading a magazine.
And I’m stretched out on his back, thinking dreamy thoughts of being pounded into the rug. As one does. Lifting my head, I look down at the magazine to see what’s keeping Kieran so busy. “You’re reading about…” I squint at the page. “Cows?”
“Yup,” he says patiently.
I stretch out a little more, as if he were my personal cushion. And then I kiss the back of his neck just once. Okay, twice. But not in an annoying way.
So much has changed since the night my car died, and we barely managed to eat that pizza between make-out sessions. On the other hand, a few things haven’t changed at all. A very expensive car repair has left me just as strapped as before. And apparently I’m still a needy fuck. Because here I am pestering Kieran with more kisses to the back of his neck, while the poor man tries to read a farming magazine.
He doesn’t really mind, though. In fact, after a moment or two, he drops his head, giving up on the article, and providing me with better access to the sensitive skin under his ear.
“So tell me about these cows,” I say between kisses. But what I really mean is roll over and grab my ass.
