Coffee Shop

• 11 •

Cloud nine was an actual place, and not because there was an address on google maps. That "Cloud 9" was a bar on the other side of the city. And it wasn't where Brian took me last night, no. Where we went was the place only described in the heavens. Where pleasure rippled through your body, created by waves only an ocean could create.

I had never experienced a feeling like his; the way his lips felt, the way his body moved. From the second his hands touched me, I was gasping for air. Each time he had obliged, breathing with me as we kissed. And when we reached the end, when he growled my name in a tone I'd never heard before, I saw stars in his eyes.

Or were they in mine?

Drifting to sleep, I told myself the stars belonged to the universe because Brian took me there, too. When I awoke the next morning and saw the light coming in through my bedroom window, I was convinced he took me to the sun right after.

Warmth covered me in the form of his shirt, smelling like the sweet scent of his cologne and coffee. With morning in my eyes, I dipped my head into the collar and breathed it in. His smell was intoxicating, and I couldn't help the sigh that left me. Rolling on my back, I couldn't help my smile, either.

"Morning," I whispered, sliding my hand away from my chest and over to the side of the bed Brian had fallen asleep on. I expected to feel an arm, a hand, but neither touched my fingertips.

It was empty.

Empty...

I turned my head quickly to see the sheets still a mess from our night before, but he was gone. He wasn't sitting somewhere in my room, nor was he at the door. It was just me, the sunlight, and the stillness of my apartment.

I swallowed my nerves before they could swell up into tears. Did he have sex with me, then leave before morning? I was still in his shirt... was leaving me that urgent he ran outside half-naked? With a huff and a sigh, I bit the insides of my cheek and glared at my phone.

Should I call him? Yell at him? Cry?

No, I knew what I was getting into when he kissed me. I'd told myself mentally over and over not to do it. He was hurting, sad, and in need of attention. And it took just one kiss for me to give it to him. I just... I didn't think he'd actually leave.

Wrapping my hands around my phone, I pulled it from under my pillow and placed it on my lap. Two quick swipes brought the menu up, then the contacts, followed by the letter "B," which I'd nicknamed "Fifth," because I thought it was funny.

With another sigh, I tapped the icon once to call him and waited. It took a second to connect, to buzz, and right when I lifted my phone to my ear, I heard it...

A quiet jingle came from the end of my bed. My eyes opened wide.

His phone was still here?

Inching towards the edge, I glanced over the end of my bed and looked down at the floor. His phone was tucked into the pocket of his jeans, still sitting where he'd dropped them the night before, quietly singing an awful pre-installed ringtone. Unless he left my place in just his boxers, the fact that I stared at my name brightening up on his screen could only mean one thing.

My bedroom door swung open, and Brian's face peeked in.

He hadn't left.

"Shit." He picked up his jeans from the floor and pulled out his phone. "Who called me? Did you see it?"

"Uh..." Sitting back on my bare legs, I pulled his shirt low enough to cover my knees. I hid my phone behind my back and ended the call, but I knew it didn't matter. He'd see that it was me calling. When he lifted his brows and scrunched his nose before looking at me, he knew it was me. Awkwardly, I laughed.