I wore no coat, so all I had to do was slip off my shoes before I could follow her to the couch. I sat in the corner, which allowed Bree to snuggle against my chest, holding onto me like she was afraid to let go. Being apart from her…it really was hard. She hated it as much as I did, I knew.
She practically hummed against me, and I chuckled. “You’re in a good mood.”
“Yeah,” she whispered, those green eyes meeting mine. Her pink hair was a messy halo around her head, though a bit of it at the roots was now her natural brown. Still, she looked good. If you would’ve asked me six months ago if I would’ve thought I’d be seriously in love with a girl who had pink hair, I would’ve laughed at you.
But here I was, and here she was, as if she was made for me and I, in turn, was made for her.
I hugged her to my chest, sighing. If ever there was a time when I was more content, I couldn’t name it. There really was nothing better than this.
We sat in the silence for a while, neither of us moving. The minutes ticked by, and I knew eventually one of us would have to move, or we’d turn on the TV, or we’d do something. Strange as it was, I wanted nothing more than to make this moment last forever.
It was Bree who broke the silence, asking, “Can I tell you something?”
“Of course.”
She propped herself up on my chest, giving me a concerned look. “Don’t go texting Mason. I’m sure he’ll shout it to the world when he gets home from work, but…but I want to tell you, first.”
“Tell me what?” I wasn’t concerned, exactly, not like she clearly was, but I was curious. I ran my fingers up along her arms, tracing imaginary lines on them as I waited for her to continue.
Bree bit her bottom lip, a gesture that drove me nuts. “Mason and I…we were together last night.”
They were together last night? Well, obviously. I mean, I didn’t come back, so who else would she be with? Unless—I suddenly realized—she meant something different, something else. Something much more intimate than simply hanging out and cuddling with Mason.
Did she mean sex?
Not sure why, but I felt my heart speed up at that. The bastard. I should’ve known Mason would try something. It wasn’t like I was jealous, but it also wasn’t like I wasn’t jealous, so…yeah.
“By that, you mean—” I started, needing to know whether my mind was on the right track or not.
“Sex,” Bree spoke the word, her cheeks flushing as she looked away from me. “I mean sex.”
Tone down the jealousy, tone down the jealousy. Those words repeated in my head as I managed to ask, “Was he good? I mean, was he gentle with you?” We were both dating her, so this was bound to happen eventually. I was a little bitter that she’d been with him first, but it wasn’t like I could change it. It wasn’t like there was anything I could do about it now.
Besides, as long as he was good to her, as long as he was nice and kind during it, if she was happy, I was happy.
Bree nodded. “He was. He was great. I was so nervous…”
I could imagine. I knew how Bree got, overthinking everything, letting her cynical and sad outlook on things dominate her mind. It was something she’d been working on lately, and I could tell.
Still, for a twenty-one-year-old virgin, having sex for the first time was bound to be nerve-wracking.
It was a moment before Bree added, “Are you jealous?”
“What? No, no, I’m not—well, maybe a little, but—” My fumbling stopped when Bree brought her lips to mine, kissing away anything else I might’ve said. Just like that, my jealousy was gone. Mason wasn’t here with her now; I was. Right now, she was all mine.
She pulled away abruptly, turning her head away as she crawled off my lap.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
I cocked a brow. Was she really going to play this game with me right now? “Bree, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said, finally turning that pretty face back to me. “I just…I kind of wanted it to be with both of you.” Her cheeks were bright red now. “I’m not even sure how that would work, but…” Bree shrugged. “Then you couldn’t come, and I…I don’t know.”