Love Lock | Michaeng

Chapter 45 - The Coaster

Chaeyoung

I point at Mina. "You. Wait."

"I'm not Peter." She gives me a snarky quirk of her brow.

I chuckle. "Actually, you are. Neither of you listens to me and you both give me dirty looks." I swear I hear a small laugh from her as I turn and step into the house. After I direct my mom to the guest room, I grab my shoulder bag and reach into the small, zipped pocket. My fingertips brush up against the soft cardboard and I turn back to the entryway.

When I hit the front porch, Mina is standing at the bottom of the stairs, staring at her nails. That color gives her something to admire when she pulls this move, at least. It's her signature I'm pretending to be bored move.

It's a defense mechanism for when she feels vulnerable. And if I've learned anything about Mina over the past several weeks, it's that she hates feeling vulnerable. So it's become the ultimate prize for me.

I don't want to change who she is. I want to earn that side of her.

"Your mom seems nice." She doesn't glance up.

"Does she?" I tease. "I feel like hanging out around you two will be signing up to attend my own personal roast."

Her body heaves with a laugh, and she grins at her nails.

"Are you thinking about how good you red nails will look wrapped around my cock? Because that's what I keep thinking about when I see them."

Now her eyes dart up to mine. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. You just need matching lipstick so I can imagine how your lips will look—"

She rushes forward, pressing a finger to my lips to stop me. Her eyes catch there, flaring slightly. Mina hasn't initiated any physical contact between us, and I wonder if she's realizing that now.

That she reached for me so easily.

Her finger moves, but not away. Instead, the rest of them join to stroke gently over my cheek. She never meets my gaze, just watches her fingertips trail over me. The shell of my ear. The line of my jawbone. Over my neck.

There's a reverence in the way she touches me, and I'm not ashamed to admit I savor it. The hair on my arms stands on end. My heart rails against my ribs, reaching for her.

She has the most confusing and consuming effect on me.

Her eyes drop to the front of my shorts. The stretchy material does nothing to hide the way my cock bulges when she touches me.

"Do you think about me when you jerk off?"

Coming from her, the question catches me off guard. She's rarely this direct, usually opting for a more discreet delivery.

I take her hand, pulling her fingers away from where they fiddle with the V at the front of my T-shirt. Pressing a kiss to the center of her palm, I admit, "I think about you all the time." Her breathing grows heavier when my tongue darts out over her skin. I pull away and look her in the eye. "But especially when I jerk off."

She laughs in response, but it's breathy.

I life my opposite hand and press the coaster from so many months ago into her palm.

When she sees it, her body stiffens. "Is that..."

I give her a casual smile as I lean in close to whisper in her ear. "I told you I'd be back to beg for another shot."

Then I kiss her cheek, doing that little tongue thing she likes so much. She turns and nuzzles into me.

So, I hug her.

Her arms fold in front of her chest as I press her into me, the coaster with our contract crushed between us.

And I just hold her.

A woman who needs to be held so damn badly. And I'm the lucky one who gets to do it.

She fits her face right over the indent at the base of my throat and presses a soft kiss there.

"Goodnight, Chaeyoung."

She doesn't say anything else, and as much as I want to get into her head and sort through all the thoughts running rampant in there, I'm happy with a hug and a goodnight.

"Goodnight, Mina."

Her lips tip up as she turns away, avoiding my gaze. Like our interaction makes her bashful. Like we're two giddy teenagers saying goodnight after a first date.

Being loved is uncomfortable for her. God, I want to change that, but she'll be the one to tell me when the time is right. I have it in my head that after spending her life behaving in a way that suits everyone around her, she might need a minute to figure out what suits her.

She walks away, and I resist the urge to follow her. Her sneakered feet pad quietly down my walkway, across the front sidewalk, and up her own walkway, across the front sidewalk, and up her own walkway. I step onto the porch so she can't see me watching.

Her eyes stay on her toes as she approaches her house. But she doesn't go inside.

She takes a seat on the front step and lifts the coaster, staring at it. Her fingers trace over it, much like they trailed over my face moments ago.

Her features are soft, she looks younger in this moment. Her eyes aren't pinched, her lips aren't in a pout. This is how she looks when she's with Vivi.

Happy.

After a couple of minutes, she rises and steps into her house. Warm light spills onto the porch for a moment, and the inaudible murmurs of her and Sana talking filter into the night. Through the front window, I see them hug.

Three hugs in one night. Not bad.

I walk into my house with a goofy smile on my face. My mom catches it from where she's sitting on the couch with an episode of Grey's Anatomy queued up and ready to go.

"You do know you're in love with that girl, don't you?"

I flop down beside her and sling an arm over her shoulder, ready to get lost in the very best medical drama while sitting beside one of my favorite women in the world.

"Yeah, Mom. I know."