Bad Influence (Rafe Cameron)

Chapter 21

Rafe's POV:

Claire leads me through the house quickly, her hand in mine, being extra quiet as to not notify Topper of my presence. He hasn't tried talking to me since the last incident and I don't think he plans on forgiving me anytime soon. That's not going to keep me from Claire though.

She opens the door to her bedroom and ushers me inside, shutting the door and leaning against it with a smile on her face.

"That was easy," she said happily, running over and taking a seat on her bed.

I join her and sit down, turning to face her.

"What are we going to do?" I ask her, soaking up every detail of her pretty face as I wait for an answer.

I know what I want to do with her, but she has always been a little more quiet and shy about anything that has to do with sex so I will just wait until I know for a fact she's ready. Hopefully it's soon though. There's only so many weeks left of summer.

"Let's cuddle and watch a movie," she finally says, taking me out of my thoughts.

I feel myself deflate sadly at her answer, gathering that she's still probably not ready yet, but I quickly recover, suddenly feeling a bit excited and nervous to cuddle with her. I've never cuddled with a girl before, in fact before her I had never even slept in the same bed as a girl. Every time I'd have a girl over they would leave the same night as to keep things from being awkward.

"Yeah. That sounds good," I reply, trying to keep the obvious nerves from my voice.

"I'll go get you some of Topper's clothes to wear to bed," she tells me, exiting the room.

Now that I have time to myself, though, I start panicking. How am I supposed to hold her? What if I'm not comfortable to cuddle with? What if she ends up hating it and asks me to leave? Questions run through my mind a million miles per hour and I feel my palms begin to sweat.

She walks back in the room with a pair of plaid pajama pants and a black T-shirt.

"Here," she says, handing me the clothes. "You can change real quick while I go get us some snacks."

She turns to leave but then turns back around and stares at me before walking over to me and placing her hand on my face to check my temperature.

"Are you okay? You aren't looking too good?" She asks worriedly.

"Yes, I'm okay. I feel just fine," I assure her. I pull her hand from my face and place a kiss on her knuckle.

She stands there for a couple seconds, searching my face for something before nodding and heading out of the room.

I sigh in relief when she's gone so I can get in the bathroom to pull myself together. I change quickly and then set my hands on the counter and lean over the sink, staring into my own eyes.

"You're going to be fine," I whisper to my reflection. "You two are going to have fun and she's going to enjoy your cuddles. You have nothing to worry about. Stop overthinking it."

Suddenly a knock sounds at the door and I jump before running a hand over my face tiredly.

"Yes?" I ask, keeping my voice steady.