𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ౨ৎ paige bueckers

𝐱𝐢𝐱. 𝐬𝐮𝐳𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞

๛ ๋ ׅ ˖ 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 / 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐮𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝅄 ׂ⭒

౨ৎ

real life, the morning after (maia's POV)

The sun streamed in through my window, its early morning light slowly waking me from my sleep. I groaned slightly but didn't move, unwilling to leave my warm place in bed. My eyes met the sun and quickly darted away, insead choosing to focus on the figure next to me: Paige, still asleep, face buried in my neck with our legs intertwined. I allowed myself the privilege of staring at her, a little moment I'd keep to myself while she slept. Her lashes were long, longer than I'd realized. They flickered a little bit as she dreamed, brushing the almost imperceptible spattering of freckles that rested just above her nose. If I had a pen, I could've drawn constellations: a six-pointed star here, a crooked heart there.

"Stop staring," she mumbled, her voice husky and barely awake. I let out a soft giggle at her attempt to sound indignant.

"Or what?" I teased, a smile playing on my lips. Her eyes immediately opened, squinting at me in mock annoyance. She propped herself up on her elbows, careful to keep our bodies close, and allowed her gaze to roam over me. 

"Or," she murmured, voice dropping as she placed a kiss to my forehead. "I'll do..." She planted tiny kisses first to my temple, then my cheek, lingering in each spot as she spaced out her words. Her movements were slow and deliberate, savoring every bit of tension. She hovered over the corner of my mouth, never once breaking eye contact. Her eyes now shined with something different than sleep - mischief? 

"This." She whispered, leaning in to close the space between us and planting a kiss on my lips.  This kiss was different - slower, languid, like a lazy morning in a bottle. I could feel her smile against my mouth and opened my eyes to see her already looking at me.

"Hi." She said, suddenly bashful.

I giggled. The more I was around her, the more I felt myself slip into high school habits. You know, like gawking at a pretty basketball player, or finding my face flush after talking to Caitlin's Team USA friend. 

Oh wait.

"Hi, lovey!" I echoed, giggling more as she blushed. "Why so flustered?"

Paige pulled up the covers, trying to hide under the blanket. I pushed them back down, laughing. "C'mon, what's so funny?"

She pointed behind me, and I followed her finger to see...Azzi?

Oh, right. I'm in their hotel room. Memories of last night flooded my mind: ignoring Paige at the game, fleeing to the bathroom, Paige untangling my hair, calling the Uber, the rain kiss, the hotel - well, the hotel that the entire UConn team was staying in. Oh. The entire team.

Well, shit.

There was no way I could sneak out without everyone seeing me. My clothes were strewn about Paige's floor, the hotel I was supposed to be staying at was across town, and the noise last night... There wasn't a single aspect of this that was well-planned. 

As if reading my mind, Azzi began to speak.

"Hey, look on the bright side," came the brunette's voice, holding what seemed to be a duffel bag. "At least you guys talked it out!"