Exhale

Chapter 12: Fog

Thanks for waiting for me. Work has been nice and busy. :p

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Zuri

Roman gave me a piggyback all the way to the elevator, then he sat me down and summoned our last ride home.

When the elevator dinged, we quickly hopped on.

I can already feel the nerves crawling up my spine.

"Ro, do you think she's here?" I ask.

"For some reason...I do." He responds while rubbing my shoulder.

"Don't overthink it. You'll drive yourself crazy, she's okay, and it'll go smoothly." He adds.

"Okay." I sigh, my head sinking honestly. The thought of fighting with Marley again makes my head throb. I've been worried nonstop. 

Hoping she can ground herself before something bad happens or she does something irreversible and damaging. My head throbs and I'm quick to massage it. But I can't clear my thoughts.

When the elevator arrives at the thirteenth floor, we step off, turning left, and we wander down the longest hallway ever invented by man. Until we reach door number twenty. I happily unlocked it, tossing my keys in the crab-bowl my brother made for them and removing anything that smells like outside.

Roman nudged me. "I'm gonna start getting ready. How long?" He asked.

"Maybe like two hours, I need a shower and a smoke," I answered, yawning.

"Okay, I'll wait for you in the game room." He said, using air quotes.

"I swear to god-"

"Just kidding." He cuts me off and flashes a cheery grin.

"You insist on teasing?" I ask.

He leans against the doorframe,  eyeing me up and down.

"Do you want me to stop?" He asks, crossing his arms.

My heart races and I feel my cheeks warm.

"No." My heart plummets, and my palms clam. But boldly I take a step forward, tucking myself under his frame. He towers over me, leaning in.

"So you like my teasing?" He asks, leaning in closer.

"I'm not complaining." I smile, looking at his lips. "It's cute," I add, making eye contact.

His breathing is heavy, and I place a hand on his arm, pulling him towards me. He takes a deep breath, leaning closer. I stand on my tippy toes to whisper in his ear.

He trails his free arm around my waist, pulling me closer, and buries his head in my nape.

"You teasing me, Zip?" He hums, pulling me even closer. I embrace him fully, allowing our bodies to touch. I snake my hands up his back. "Yep." 

I pull back, slipping from his grasp. He looks at me with a little sparkle of lust in his eyes. I can't help but laugh.

"Next time, I won't let you go." He grins, putting his jacket up. I see all the little dirty ideas brewing behind his eyes.

"You gotta catch me first." I tease. He looks at me and winks.

I roll my eyes and hurry to my room, hiding my flushed face. I rush to close the door, letting out a much-needed breath.

I can't believe I just did that. Roman has always been nice and super dashing. But that was not the case three minutes ago. 

It felt like I was in one of those smutty, overpriced books from flipstagram. I know emotions have been getting hot with us lately.

 But whoa...I've been pushing all those feelings and desires to the side.

It finally feels good to act on them. It's not as scary as I thought it'd be. Acting on what you truly want, especially now that I know Roman feels the same way. When he looks at me, his whole face lights up, and his smile only grows wider.

I see the joy he finds in teasing and comforting me. Now it's time for me to do the same to get to know him in this new way. Whatever happens, I'll be content.

 No take-backsies.

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So, this newfound connection is pretty surprising, don't you think? I'm totally not reflecting my love life onto my work. :b

Any Thoughts? lol

It feels nice hitting this publish button. I've had plenty of time to create a direction for this story, and I'm more than confident when I say THE SHOW IS NOT OVER. So please share EXHALE with all of your friends and family, it means a lot.