Your Ivy Grows

Chapter 20

After Barnes has his belt buckled and his breathing is back to normal, I'm expecting another quick exit. I'm waiting for him to open his mouth, deliver his parting shot before throwing me that smirk I both love and loathe and then walking out on me. But he's turning to me rather than making a hasty retreat. He's pulling his hand out of his back pocket and holding it out to me. It takes me a few seconds to realise that he's holding his phone out to me. Confused, I'm looking between him and the phone, trying to figure out what's going on.

"It's a phone, princess." He says as he's pushing it into my hand and I feel my fingers close around it before I've thought through what I'm doing. "You know, that thing you use to make calls."

See, now this is the Barnes that I can handle; the one who easily annoys me.

"I know how a phone works, Barnes. I'm not an idiot." But I'm staring down at the phone in my hand as if I have no clue how it functions. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"I want you to give me your number. What else would I want you to do with it? Order us a pizza?"

"Why?"

"So that I'll have your number. And then I can call you." He's looking at me like I'm a fucking idiot. Can't say I blame him. "Did we not just cover what phones are used for?"

"But why?" I ask again.

I'm feeling that old familiar panic wash over me. Why does it feel so good in the moment, but as soon as we're done, the panic starts clawing at me? Why would he want to call me? Does he expect to have me as some easy to reach booty call from now on? This isn't something we can continue doing. Surely he sees that? What we need is distance, not an easy way to contact each other.

He's still looking at me like I'm a moron and I'm starting to feel like one. But then he rolls his eyes at me and my annoyance takes over.

"Look, I just thi—"

"Please don't give me the whole it was a mistake spiel again. You're going to hurt my feelings real soon, princess." His mouth turns up at the corner, the briefest hint of a smile there and gone again before I can truly see it.

"But it—"

"Mistakes aren't usually something you hurry to repeat."

He moves closer to me. There's barely any space in the stall as it is, but it feels almost claustrophobic now that he has me pinned between him and the wall. He leans down and my traitorous body lets me down like it always does. I'm moving before I realise, moving my body against his as my chin lifts, eager to feel his lips on mine again. He smirks at me; that fucking smirk.

"Come on, Lex, don't make me beg. Would it really be the worst thing if I had your number?"

I chew on my lip - a stupid nervous habit that I can't seem to break. Yes, I want to tell him, it would be the worst thing. If he called me or sent me a message and John saw it, he'd lose it. How would I explain that? I don't give my number out to just anyone. I guess if Barnes tried to contact me, I could quickly block his number to stop him from doing it again. He runs his fingers teasingly over my shoulder while I'm still debating what to say to him.

"I could always ask John for it, you know." He whispers it quietly and I look up at him in surprise. Would he really do that? Knowing Barnes, yes, he probably would.

I quickly type my number in, noting I'm now one of just a few contacts in his phone. I save it as Princess, not willing to risk someone coming across my name in his phone.

"There," I say as I aggressively shove the phone back into his hand. "Happy now?"

"Very." He flashes me a smile as he slides the phone back into his pocket. "I'll head back to the table. Come join us in a few minutes. I'll tell them you went to go freshen up, okay?"