Just Friends

4 | More Than Okay

CHAPTER 4

MORE THAN OKAY

"What are you doing on the floor?" Alice asks, she's lying on her stomach and her hand grazes down over the side of her bed to gently tug on the front of my jacket. When I shrug in reply she retracts her hand and sits up in bed, her hair sticking all over the place. It must have fell out of her bun when she was asleep. "Did you sleep there?"

"There was a male stranger sleeping on your couch when we got back last night."

"And you stayed to protect my virtue?" Alice verifies, trying to bite back her smile.

"Someone had to," I gruffly reply.

"Come on," Alice urges me, "Join me on the bed. That hardwood floor looks uncomfortable as fuck."

I try not to show how excited I am to be promoted to her bed partner, but a sigh of relief escapes my lips when I settle on the bed beside her. Alice shifted over so I'm lying where she was moments ago, and the spot is warm. Alice is still sitting upright, and she shakes her head at me, before lying back down on her stomach, a pillow tucked beneath her head. She's resting her chin on her forearm, as she looks at me.

"You're ridiculous, you should have just slept in here with me last night. There's plenty of room. And it's not like anything is going to happen." Her eyes flicker to the clock on her beside table. "It's only four forty-five," she tells me, "So let's get some more sleep, yeah?" She's already yawning and closing her eyes. "Thanks for staying and protecting me," she murmurs on an exhale of breath. "I feel safe with you."

Those words warm me but I'm still tripping on her 'not like anything is going to happen'.

The next time I wake up, I can tell we've slept in. There is sunlight streaming in through the curtains, but more importantly there's Alice pressed into my side, one of her arms thrown over my chest, and one of her legs over mine. Talking about legs, one of my legs is slipped between hers. And if I even move my knee I'm going to unintentionally rub against her crotch.

"Mmm feels good," Alice murmurs as I try to extricate myself from her arms, probably unintentionally rubbing her in the process. Her arms latch tighter around me, and I freeze, feeling like I'm a fish caught in her net.

"Ali?" I start, unsure if she'd really want me this close if she were conscious. My thoughts are confirmed when a moment later, her eyes blearily open before they widen in recognition and her hands release me as she scrambles back on the bed.

"Fuck a duck," she says from where she's on the other side of the bed.

She's pointedly not looking at me. She's shoving her hair off her face, as her eyes search the bed. She's muttering something about her missing hair tie when I say her name again.

"Alice. It's okay." I pull my t-shirt that had ridden up over my abs back down and I hide my smile when I see Alice's eyes follow that movement.

More than okay.

My hands itch to run along her soft skin. Her skin looks fresh and tantalisingly sexy in the morning light filtering through her blinds.

"Let's eat," Alice suggests, already out of bed and walking toward her wardrobe. My eyes absorb the sight of those cute pale blue panties again, and I have a vision of pulling them away from her skin with my teeth, of sliding my fingers underneath and touching her swollen flesh.

She's pulling on a set of pyjama shorts, so short they barely cover her butt and which leave her long, supple legs still on display.

"I can't believe I slept in my bra," she says, wincing as she rubs along her ribs. "I haven't done that in years." Then before my eyes, she turns away from me, quickly taking her top off and undoing her bra, letting the thing drop to the floor carelessly as she slips a fresh singlet from her drawer over her head. The movements were so quick I barely had time to adjust to the expanse of her back, or the fact that she half-stripped in front of me. For a moment her bare breasts and I had been in the same room.

Sigh.

She's already walking out into the living room and across into the kitchen space. I follow her.

"So where is this guy you were talking about?" She asks me, her hands on her hips as she looks pointedly at the empty couch.

Now it's my turn to mumble. "I swear he was there last night."

As I walk closer Alice looks up teasingly into my eyes. "Are you sure you didn't just make him up as an excuse to invite yourself over?"

"Believe me," I say, taking a step closer, as my voice drops scintillatingly lower. "I have much better ways of inviting myself over."

"Care to share?" Alice looks like she can barely mask her eagerness, her breathing has increased, and her chest rises and falls quickly with her shallow breaths.

"Let's just say it usually involves far less clothes, and way more pleasure."

I delight in the way her eyes slip all over me like a caress, lingering particularly on the crotch of my pants.

She's not the only one who is affected.

"Pancakes!" Alice exclaims turning around with sudden fervour, getting a premade mix from one of her cupboards and turning the tap on to add water. She puts the lid back on, turning around to face me.

She starts shaking it, and my eyes immediately go to her breasts, jiggling temptingly along with her movements. "Do you want me to shake it too?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "Don't you like my mad swol?" she says with a laugh, stopping to show off her impressive arm muscles.

"They're great," I say, struggling to keep my eyes on her face and not on her bouncing breasts. I should get medals for surviving this.

"I did my first weights session at the gym yesterday. When you called you interrupted my session."

"Ah," I exhale in relief. So that's what her heavy breathing had been when I called her, she hadn't been getting it on with someone like I had feared. "That probably explains why you were so tired and passed out in my car."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Can you get the pan ready?" she asks, as she moves away from the kitchen, still shaking, and knocks on her housemate's door. "Evalyn?" she calls softly, "Do you want pancakes?" There's no answer, so she quietly opens the door before closing it a moment later.

"She's not here," she tells me as I butter the pan. "It's just us," she grins as she turns around and turns on the radio, letting the sounds of the radio wash over us.

Her joy is infectious and we banter casually as we cook the pancakes together, taking turns trying to show off our flipping prowess just using the pan. My second attempt results in the pancake landing on the floor.

"You still have to eat it!" Alice says gleefully, sticking her tongue out at me.

My eyes track over her, and my next words are deliciously dirty. "I can think of other things I'd like to eat," I tell her meaningfully. Her mouth opens in shock, but before she can badger me about it I stoop to pick up my failure of a pancake and deposit it in the bin, using the sponge to wipe up the rest of the mess.

I stand after cleaning up, putting the sponge back in the sink and washing my hands. I glance sidelong at Alice who is turned around at the stove, flipping another pancake successfully. Show off.

I step in behind her, something about the idea of her back pressed to my front, making me frenzy with desire.

Alice's body freezes as she feels me press against her from behind, before she's relaxing and leaning back into my chest. I use my hands to gently push her hair over one shoulder, leaving the other side of her neck exposed.

I'm moving with instinct. With the feelings that I have been struggling with since she came to me last night.

I press a soft kiss on her neck, in the sensitive skin halfway between her ear and her collarbone. "You're so gorgeous," I murmur onto her skin. I feel her tremble beneath me in response.

"I want to touch you so bad," I tell her. For some reason, not having to meet her eyes and see the best friend I know so well makes it that much easier to confess my sinful thoughts. "Alice," I groan, "tell me you want it too."