The Fluke

21 - Luke

By the time we fall back onto the sheets after round two, Jules is completely limp, barely able to keep her eyes open. She curls up against my chest as I wrap an arm around her, stroking my fingers up and down her arm. Goose bumps form in the wake and she hums softly against my skin.

"I'm glad I'll be able to remember that," she murmurs.

I chuckle quietly and press my lips to her forehead. "Me too, baby."

Her skin is flushed, her body rendered immobile. Knowing that I did that to her makes me want to beat my fists against my chest with pride.

Her breathing evens out as she falls asleep but she can't let go of me. Her arm is snaked around my waist and she's holding on tight even though the rest if her body is completely loose.

I lay there, wrapped up in her with our legs tangled beneath the sheets and count my blessings. I wasn't sure that I'd ever get to have Jules this way, but I knew if I did that it would be fucking magnificent. And I was right. The feeling is a combination of elation and relief and it makes me happy to be alive. If I could do nothing else for the rest of my days except lay just like this, skin to skin, intimately close to Jules, I think I would die a happy man.

Sleeping next to her is very different this time around. I don't have to keep my hands off of her or stay on the other side of the bed. And while my dick could get hard at the mere knowledge that she's naked in bed next to me, I can reach over and hold her in my arms. Which is exactly how I spend the entire night, never not touching her.

When the morning light streams in through the open patio door and wakes me up, I glance down at the woman in my arms and my heart pounds double time. I spend several minutes staring at her and counting the freckles that dust her nose when her eyes slowly blink open.

"Hi," I say.

It seems like it takes her a few seconds to register where she is, who she's with. When she focuses her eyes back on me, they widen, and then she drops her head and burrows her small, warm body into my side.

"Jules," I tease on a laugh, "now you're shy?"

She plants a kiss on my chest and her voice comes out muffled. "I'm not shy. I'm just not ready for this to be over."

I immediately reach down and lift her head up with two fingers under her chin. "This isn't going to be over."

Concern flickers in her eyes and she frowns, looking away. I slide my hand up and cup her face, stroking her cheek with my thumb as I silently will her to look at me. When she does, I can feel her worry.

Determined to make sure she understands where things stand between us, I sit up and pull her into my lap, keeping the sheets draped around us so as not to interrupt my thoughts with her naked body.

"Jules, listen to me. This," I gesture between us with my hand, "is just beginning. Whatever you're worried about with Spencer or Gavin or anyone else for that matter, we'll get through it together. If last night was a testament to anything, it's just how good we are together. Don't you agree?"

I was hoping she would agree immediately, but a long, quiet several seconds pass, during which I mentally kick both Gavin and Spencer's asses for somehow being in Jules' head right now.

"I'm sorry." She finally blows out a deep breath. "Last night was amazing." Her eyes soften into sweetness when she looks at me and I can't help myself so I capture her lips in a kiss.

She returns my kiss, and when she pulls back she traces my lips with her finger.

"I haven't had many serious boyfriends in my past but any time I did get serious about someone, Spencer ended up hating them. I really value his approval, and I have this fear that if we tell Spencer about us then the same thing will happen."