dear life as her pelvis lifts from the bed.
I realize she doesn’t want me to read books on autism and generalize her into the typical stereotypes. But the part about some Aspies struggling to exhibit appropriate behavior in certain situations seems to fit Dorothy to a T. And I think I realized it the day she casually got naked in the back of her car at the pizza place.
It feels like weird timing. If I were going to masturbate in bed without including my partner, I think I would wait until they’re asleep.
After her hold on me relaxes, along with the rest of her body, she releases a contented sigh.
“Why? Just … why?” I whisper, staring at the dark ceiling, praying that it won’t take all night for my erection to die down.
“It helps me relax so I can get to sleep easier. I usually journal before bed, but I didn’t figure you’d want the light on.”
“Well…” I adjust my uncomfortable erection “…you thought wrong.”
“Okay. Sorry.” She rolls to her side, planting her ass against my hip. “I’ll journal next time.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
My Baby Girl
Dorothy
“Oh … crap …” The alarm on my phone chimes. “Shit …” I cringe, peeling myself from Eli’s torso. How did this happen? He had surgery less than a month ago. And I’m on top of him!
Before I can completely ease off his body, he blinks his eyes open.
“I’m so sorry. Did I hurt you? I don’t remember crawling onto your chest. It’s not like me. I just—”
“It happened early on.”
“Oh jeez.” I wrinkle my nose, leaning over to shut off my alarm. “So I woke you up?”
“Yes.” He grins on a small yawn, covering it with his fist.
“Did I hurt you?”
“No.” He chuckles. “You’re a featherweight.”
“Did you get back to sleep easily?”
“No.”
“Eli … I’m so sorry. I’m not used to sharing space. I’ve never shared my bed with someone else.”
He runs his fingers through his dirty blond bedhead, leaving his arm resting behind his head, flexing his muscles.
God … he’s so hot.
“I struggled to stay awake.”
I shake my head. “You mean, fall asleep.”
“No. I could sleep forever with you on me like that, much like I can with Roman. But I didn’t want to go back to sleep. I wanted to smell your hair. Absorb the warmth of your body. Feel your heart close to mine.” He offers a sad smile. “I wanted to make a memory that time can’t erase.”
I let his words swirl around in my head, finding a way to make sense of them, finding a place to keep them. But they don’t fit in my mind, so I tuck them away in my heart because that’s where they landed when he said them. “For the record…” I grab workout clothes from my closet “…loving you has been unexpectedly good.”
“Good?” He chuckles.
“Perfectly adequate.”
“Doesn’t get any better than that.” He pushes to sitting.
“Let me help.”
“I’m good. Well, if you could unzip the bed, I’d be good. I just need to make my way to the bathroom.”
I unzip his side of the bed. “How are you getting home? Don’t you have brunch today?”
“Mom is bringing brunch to my house. My sisters and their families are coming over too. This is really the day for you to skip work to come to brunch.”
I help him get up and situated with his crutches. “Sounds like the perfect family gathering. Roman should be pretty excited. And Dr. Hathaway, I assume, will be there. So that’s good … oh … was she at your house last night? I mean … how did you coming over here go over with her?”
“I don’t know.” His words are a bit strained as he takes his first few steps toward the bathroom with the crutches. “I didn’t tell her I was coming here. It was a spontaneous, last minute decision. They were at the park. But my mom went back there after she dropped me off here, so Julie found out eventually.”
“I bet she was pissed off. I hope not at me. I didn’t invite you over last night.”
Eli glances back over his shoulder. “If you didn’t look up to Julie, at least on a professional level, would you still think I should be with her?”
“If you could love each other, then yes. For Roman … absolutely.”
“Jesus …” he mumbles, continuing toward the bathroom.
“What?” I follow him around the corner.
“If you’re not going to let me be with you, then stop making it so easy to love you.” He pushes the door shut