Twisted Deal | A not-so cliche fake dating romance

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jennifer

At the wedding reception, Bash and I spend time together in far more ways than we have. We drank, we danced, and we talked all through the night. It didn't matter what had happened beforehand or how much chemistry there was between us. We were with each other the entire night. By the end of it, I was high on the alcohol and on him. I couldn't stop touching him, grabbing him for whatever I needed. I loved to have my hand on him at all times, and I did the entire night. He didn't seem to mind as he was doing the same.

His hand was on my waist, my hip, almost every dance we had. His hand came to the back of my neck more often than it did not. When we were sitting down at dinner and eating or when we were standing and talking to the newly married couple. He was touching me in the same way I was doing to him. It was just the both of us the entire night. I've never felt so attracted to a person and yet so comfortable toward them. When the night ended, Bash and I were both still drunk and full of energy.

Miles and Andrea had to call us an Uber, and we got out of the venue with grins on our faces and his tie and jacket on me. He was holding my heels, and I couldn't stop smiling at him. He couldn't stop smiling at me either. Both of us could feel the attraction between us, but we never took that step. Didn't need to. Pretending we didn't notice the sexual tension between us was far better. It was fun. To have lingering looks and touches that make me feel alive, but I'd never admit it much less act on it.

Bash and I had to sleep in my apartment that night. We were both too drunk and getting exhausted by that point. When I slipped into bed, stripped of my dress and into his jersey, I found him standing at my door.

"When we sleep at each other's place," he had said with a frown, "we sleep together. Jen, can I sleep in bed with you?"

I don't remember what I had said, but I had allowed him to slip under my covers. Then he was sleeping next to me, stripped to his boxers and shirt forgotten. I could feel the heat of his body next to mine, and when I turned to look at him, he was smiling at me. I wanted to call out his name, wanted to tell him how I felt all of a sudden, but I didn't. I couldn't withhold my need to kiss him but then he had leaned forward and kissed me on the forehead. "Good night," he had said to me, his voice soft and caring for my entire body to plummet at the sound.

My stomach flipped at the touch of his lips on my forehead, and I felt my eyelashes flutter. I wanted to move forward and kiss him, but he had said goodnight to me. When I finally opened my eyes, he had fallen asleep. His hands were in mine, but he had already drifted off to sleep.

We had woken up that morning, hammered and tangled up in each other. I couldn't figure out where his legs were or mine, but we were a tangle of limbs. When we finally got out of bed, my jersey had failed me and showcased the underwear I was wearing underneath, and Bash had a very obvious attraction to me we never talked about.

We never talk about it.

The way we suddenly feel toward each other. I know Bash feels the same way toward me as I do because I could feel it. I could feel the way he looks at me earlier in the summer; he would have never looked or touched me in any way. He had evolved on his feelings, and most of it was directed at me. I knew he liked me.

We spend the next week together in each other's apartments, finishing the scary movie marathon. We fall asleep on the couch because that was easier and less complicated for the both of us. It's just us for the next couple of weeks. With the married couple off to visit Cuba to meet with extended family on Andrea's side before heading to their honeymoon destination to the Maldives, it was just us.

Two people who were free every day.

That would change. A lot would change next month when Bash leaves for his second season of pro hockey.