Page 133 of Alice Chen's Reality Check

“Alice?” Daniel asks.

I realize he’s said my name a couple times already. I focus in on the present moment. I may not have all the answers, but that’s okay. Whatever happens next, this is our last night together in the villa. After tonight, everything will change.

So when Daniel holds out a hand to me, looking so lovely and hopeful, I don’t hesitate to let him steer us into the shower. All my thoughts and doubts are pushed aside as we shed our clothes and step into the hot spray.

After a day like this, being together and alive is a balm. We lather each other up, not because it’s sexy but because we need to check on each other, to know we’re both in one piece, to know we survived.

And then—because itissexy—I pull him close, our bodies sliding together. The scent of him wafts around us, keying me up as I tug his mouth down to mine. He mirrors me, the kiss deepening from warm and tender to intense and heated as his tongue nudges my mouth open. Electric desire surges down my body and up again like a live current. My hands start moving on their own, my fingers tangling in his hair,relishing how soft it is, as he groans into my mouth.

He pushes me up against the shower wall and kneels before me, his mouth tracing a dizzying path down my body and straight to my center. I arch into the mind-melting pleasure of his tongue. I don’t know what sounds I’m making, but when Daniel hums his approval, I feel like I’m going to fall apart.

“Wait,” I gasp right before I lose my mind. Daniel immediately lifts his head, his face concerned. I groan and stroke his cheek. “It’s just, I want you so much.”

He kisses my fingers. “Alice, I don’t know how I’ll get through the day without touching you.”

In answer, I drag him up and kiss him deeply. I’m about to ask about condoms when he grabs one from behind the shampoo.

“Clever,” I say, kissing his cheeks with a laugh.

“I heard organization was sexy,” he says, grinning, and pushes the condom into my hand.

His hands wander while I tear it open, and I take immense satisfaction in how his fingers tighten on my hips as I slide the condom on and run my own fingers up and down the length of him.

His breathing goes ragged, and the noise and the sensation of stroking him is like throwing gas on an open flame. In the next heartbeat, I need him desperately. He must feel it too. He braces me at the same time as I wrap my legs around him, using the leverage to take his face in my hands and kiss him messily, ardently.

When he sinks into me, it feels like everything and not enough all at once. I beg him to move, and he obeys, every drag of my hips wrenching a moan from him. His hands trace a circuit on my bare skin, at first whisper-light, then more demanding with every thrust. My world narrows down to the solid grip of Daniel’s hands on my thighs and the building fire between us until finally,finallyI can feel myself unravel into bliss.

Later, we wash each other off again. Once we’ve toweled off, we fall into bed together. I rest my head on his chest.

I still can’t find it in myself to ask the hard questions, but I also don’t want to go to sleep.

“If you could do anything, what would it be?” I ask him softly. There’s no need to whisper, but it feels right in this small, precious moment between us.

“I’m not sure. I’m not sure. It’s been a while since I dreamed about the future like that.” He looks thoughtful for a moment, then he grins, a dimple popping up in his cheek. His eyes light up, and I’m overwhelmed with the need to kiss him.

“There! What were you just thinking about?”

Daniel looks a little embarrassed. “Your face when you ate the tteok.”

Even though we literally just had sex in the shower, I find myself blushing, too. “Weird. What about it?”

“It just made me so happy to share that with you. I wish I could share that with other people. It’s not like I want to be a chef, though.”

“Well, you have lots of time to figure it out.”

“And you, Slayer?” he asks, turning my question back on me. “Is there anything you want to change about your life? Anything you dream of doing?”

“Well, I like my life. I like my friends. I’m happy that I live near my mom. And I love teaching.”

“That’s what I admire about you,” Daniel says, his fingers tracing circles on my arm. “You knew what you wanted, and you went for it. You wanted to win Quiz Bowl, so you worked until you won. You wanted to be a math teacher, so you became a math teacher.”

“But it’s not everything I want.” I sigh. “I wish I could help other kids struggling with their studies, not just my own students. I don’t think it’s fair that only students who can afford tutors get that extra help. And of course, I wish I had more time and energy to take care of my mom.”

“And yourself,” he prompts me.

“Yeah, yeah.” I snuggle into Daniel, tangling my legs with his.

He presses a kiss to my head. “I mean it,” he says warningly. “If you don’t take care of yourself, then I will.”

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