Page 87 of The Plus One
Indira’s eyes traced over him, lingering on his exposed chest, the spot where it felt like his heart would punch out of his body. Witha swift nod, she stripped off her own shirt, a delicate bralette of lace covering her breasts.
Jude’s eyes traced over her skin.
Indira got in on the other side of the bed and, without hesitation, draped her torso over his.
“Everyone always talks about skin-to-skin contact in the context of babies and parents, but adults need it too,” Indira said against his chest, trailing her fingers across his collarbone. “Probably just as much. Or maybe it’s just me being touch hungry.” She breathed out a soft laugh against his sternum.
Jude shook his head, his chin dragging through her curls. “This makes me feel so… calm. Safe.”
They dissolved into silence for a few more minutes, their chests moving together as they breathed. Jude was probably just imagining things, but it felt like the rhythm of their heartbeats matched.
“Are you ready for the similes?” she said, and Jude could feel her smile press into his skin.
It took him a moment to remember what she was talking about, but when his brain could finally function, he nodded, then said yes.
Jude ran his hands over her warm skin, and she hummed at his caress, his fingers trailing down her shoulder and across her forearm, one hand settling in the dip of her waist, the other lacing his fingers through hers.
“Okay. Imagine your mind is a house,” Indira said. “A good house. It has some wear and tear from years of use, but it’s yours.”
Jude nodded.
“Now, imagine, you have this house and one day, without your permission, a bunch of people show up and start having this massive party. They’re throwing things and breaking things and moving shit around, but there’s too many people for you to stop them all at once. You try to go and fix one mess, and ten more happen in another room. Are you following me?”
“Yes,” he said in a hoarse whisper.
“Then, after what feels like endless days of partying, all thosepeople finally leave. But they don’t clean up any of the destruction. And you’re sitting there, looking at this house you loved, and seeing pure chaos. Things are broken, piles of trash are everywhere, people even wrote on the walls. Your space was invaded, it doesn’t feel like yours anymore. And you have no idea where to start with cleanup. Does that sound like something you could imagine?” Indira asked, the question soft.
He felt the gentlest press of her lips against his skin. “Yes. I can imagine it.”
“And each day, the need to clean grows and grows, but you can’t do anything about it. The tools are hidden or missing or destroyed. And it all adds to the mess. You feel paralyzed, because you had to watch your space get destroyed and it hurts and it’s overwhelming and you start to shut down.”
Jude held on to Indira, his fingers pressing into her, gripping with gentle pressure at her hip and side. She nuzzled closer.
“But then I show up. And I take in some of the destruction—not all of it, there are some rooms that are yours and will always be just yours. You might not even let me in the front door until you can decide if I’m safe and you trust me. That’s fine, I’ll wait outside as long as you need. But I decide I want to help you get it cleaned up. I want to help haul out broken furniture and scrub the walls and glue together broken plates. Because I know your house and I like your house. So, I ask you to let me help. I ask you to hand me some of the pieces so you can work on repairing the really big stuff.”
“You—” Jude’s throat locked around itself, but he tried to swallow past it, forcing the question out. “You like my… house?” His hand threaded up into the mass of her hair, tangling around the curls.
He felt Indira smile. Part of him wished he could see it, but the other part knew the force of it would obliterate him.
“Yes, I like your house, Jude. I’ve always liked your house. Even years ago when your house was more like a tiny apartment that was sometimes super stubborn and kind of douchey and—”
Jude slid his hand to cradle her jaw and tilted her face up, pressing his lips to hers.
Indira kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding him close. Jude’s stomach swooped at the sensation of her mouth against his. Her taste. Her everything.
After a few minutes, she pulled back slightly, resting her forehead against his.
“You don’t have to talk about the things you’ve experienced on your assignments, Jude. You’ll never have to tell me if you don’t want to. But you also don’t have to keep it inside either. Let it eat away at you for fear that I’ll judge you. I could never do that.”
After a moment, Jude nodded, deciding to trust that. To trusther.
So much of the past three years had been out of his control. But here and now, he had a choice. And he was choosing to give Indira whatever he could.
“I want to let you in,” Jude said, pressing another kiss to her lips. “I’ll probably be really shitty at it for awhile, but…”
“Take as much time as you need,” Indira said. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise?”
