I am Veronica (bwwm)

The after party (14)

Chapter fourteen: The after party:

His lips made fireworks going off in my stomach, scorching me, melting my brain. I felt myself twine my fingers in his hair and pull him closer. It was a strange sensation being so near to him, like pulling a tight wire apart.

I moved my lips off of his, slowly. He was staring, and to my surprise, his cheeks flushed. "Oni?" I felt my heart tug at the sound of my nickname's reinstatement.

"Yes?"

"Don't move... I just want to take this in." I smiled, surprised. I felt shy under the intensity of his everything. His presence was always huge, but right now it felt especially large.

I broke eye contact. I needed to be careful, if I didn't tread lightly this could get even more out of hand. "Hm. I need to go change." I got off the bed and got my stuff from my bag.

"I can help you with that."

"In you boxers? That's too compromising for me, sorry." I said with a laugh as I retreated to the bathroom.

"They're not boxers they're basketball shorts!" He called back. I snickered as I pulled the zipper of my dress down.

"Your mom seemed cool." I said, trying to change the subject. I pulled on my shorts, waiting for his response.

"Chris?" I said. I pushed open the bathroom door to see if he'd heard me. He was sitting on the bed staring at my phone, face pinched. I frowned. "What are you...?" I striding across the room, I went flicked the side of his head. Surprisingly he didn't react playfully, and I felt myself wishing he had.  The silence was making me uneasy. "Chris?"

He wordlessly he held up my phone. I squinted at the sudden flood of light. When my vision focused I could see my lockscreen with a message from Antonio. My frown deepened. "What do you want me to say?" He knew I had a boyfriend and so did I. What we were doing was in a gray area, because of the break. Chris and I, was something to contemplate fully later.

He pointed to a message at the bottom. It read: ILY, be home soon

"Okay...? That's not news. I know he's coming back." He sighed and muttered something. I took my phone and set it on the bedside table. Chris leaned back into the pillows and threw an arm over his eyes. I sat next to him. "What?"

He didn't move his arm from his face when he spoke next, "Do you? Love him?"

I sighed. "Of course I do. He was there for me during the worst period of my life. He's always been good to me." I felt him stiffen beside me at my words.

"So what are we doing, then?"

I shook my head at him, trying to gather my thoughts. "He told me we're on a break. So I'm taking my break. I'm not going to lie to you about how I feel about him, but I don't want to talk about this tonight." I said. "I do want to talk about you picking up my phone though, don't be a fucking snoop." My tone was firm, but soft.

He peeled his arm off his face and looked at me incredulously, but his voice was the same volume as mine. "What else was I supposed to do? I saw his name pop up."

"Chris," I met his eyes. They were narrowed but I couldn't escape the feeling that he looked so young for a moment. There was something genuine and exasperated behind his eyes. "If you want to know something just ask me about it. I'll tell you the truth." His eyebrows raised.

"Fine," He said. "Question. If you and your boyfriend are in love what are you doing with me?"

I felt my irritation rising now. "I said not tonight."