Page 82 of The Plus One
He followed her up the stairs, glancing over his shoulder to make sure his parents were out of sight before slapping her ass. Indira clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle, then sprinted up the remaining steps and into Jude’s old room.
Jude pulled the door to his childhood bedroom shut behind them as quietly as possible before pressing Indira against it, gripping her hips and giving her a deep, playful kiss. She hummed in pleasure against his lips before opening for him, tongue sliding over his as she threaded her fingers through his hair.
“I’m going to miss you tonight,” she whispered into the shell of his ear before biting the lobe. Jude groaned against her neck. “We could rip the Band-Aid off and tell them we’re together so we can stay in the same room.”
Jude shook his head, his stubble rubbing against a sensitive spot above her collarbone, making her suck in a breath. “It wouldn’t matter. My parents are super-old-fashioned Italian Catholics. We’d have to be married for that to fly. And even then, there would be some raised eyebrows.”
Indira giggled, moving her hands to wrap them around his waist.
“I, uh… I do want to tell them, though. If that’s okay with you,” Jude whispered against her skin, feeling a bit too vulnerable. A bit too exposed. They still hadn’t had a conversation about what they were.
But Jude knew he was Indira’s.
And that was all that really mattered.
She pulled back, looking at him with wide, eager eyes. “You do?” she asked, biting down on her lip.
Jude laughed, the sound rough. “Dira, I want to tell the world I’m with you. It’s the way I want to introduce myself to everyone I meet.”
Her lips parted, a smile lifting the corners. “I’m not going to stop you,” she said, cheeks pink as she pressed a kiss to the edge of his jaw.
Jude hugged her to him then, pulling her tight and nuzzling his face into her hair. Breathing her in. She held him right back.
“Wait, I do want to see your room, though,” Indira said, pulling away and looking around. “I never got to see it when we were growing up.”
“I was terrified of catching your cooties,” Jude said with a shrug. “Always been a consummate doctor.”
Indira rolled her eyes, but turned a slow circle in the middle of the room, taking in the small space.
A narrow bed sat in the corner, bookshelves stacked with CDs and Marvel comics overhead, a small desk with an ancient desktop computer on the opposite side, some old textbooks still sitting next to it.
“Boring. Just as I anticipated,” Indira said, turning to him with a smile. “Suits you.”
Jude narrowed his eyes, and Indira giggled. She sat down on the edge of his bed, bouncing up and down slightly.
“What did teenage Jude fantasize about?” she asked, glancing at the sparsely decorated walls—all threeLord of the Ringsmovie posters were hanging near his desk, a few random indie bands from his teenage years littered in between.
He shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. Holy shit, why was he blushing?
“Natalie Portman, mainly,” he said, a nervous giggle bubbling out of his throat.
“Star Wars?” Indira asked.
Jude shrugged again. “I mean, yeah. But, uh,Black Swanwas a bit of a personal fav when I was sixteen.”
Indira’s jaw dropped, then her mouth morphed into a shit-eating grin. “Big fan of ballet, are you?”
Jude blushed even harder, a smile that made his cheeks ache winning out. “Huge supporter of the arts,” he said with another giggle.
Indira arched an eyebrow as she continued to smile at him, a goofy type of happiness radiating through his limbs.
“Fine,” he said, throwing up his hands and sitting next to her. “That movie was my first exposure to, uh, going down…”
Indira’s eyes bulged. “Really? I’m kind of shocked it wasn’t some porno or something.”
“I mean, my mom checked my internet history so frequently, I was terrified to even try.”
Indira cackled. “What a beautiful sexual awakening,” she said, resting her head on his shoulder.
