You Leave Me with a Dangerous Taste (All Time Low | Alex Gaskarth, Jack Barakat)

Thirteen

I was whistling a happy tune as I turned off the water and carefully stepped out of the bath. My feet sunk into the fluffy mat, softening my stance and bringing a smile to my face. The mirror was fogged up, showing off how long I had been enjoying the hot water sprinkling my bare skin. I pulled my towel off its hook and leaned forward to run it along the mirror, allowing me to see myself. With my vision no longer obstructed, I stared back at myself. My blonde hair was in wet strands, seemingly wavy but only in knots. I let the tips of my fingers trail lightly over the still sparkling skin of my shoulder. The touch was so soft. Biting my lip, I was imagining it was Alex touching me like he had done just mere hours before.

Slowly, I replaced my fingers with my towel, drying off all the water droplets. I started up at my neck, moving down to my back and forward towards my stomach. I bent over and rubbed my towel over either stretched out leg. All I needed was time to let the motions flow over my body. There was no need to rush.

It had been a great day. Alex had been home the entire day again and I only had to come over to be in his company. Once again, he had made me feel euphoric. It was like it was just us two and everybody else in the world had disappeared.

With the images still floating around in my mind, I hung up my towel and gently ran the brush through my hair. No knot was left untouched until my hair was back in its smooth state.

I reached back to turn off the light as I left the bathroom and entered the bedroom. Lately, I had been feeling much more confident. Alex had allowed me to realize the power of my body. I had never been insecure, I just felt indifferent. Now, I knew that slightly swaying my hips a little more than usual was all that was needed to make somebody swoon over me.

Tugging at my bottom lip with my teeth, I thought about how Alex would react if he saw me right now. He'd be watching me from the bed, only his eyes following my figure. I'd take a peek at him, seeing him leaning back on his arms, his feet firmly on the floor. My whole body would start tingling with excitement as I loved the attention he was giving me. While my initial intention would have been to put on some clothes, I'd come up to him instead. The material of his jeans would scrape my thighs--

If only I could have stayed at his house a little longer... but William had a playdate in the afternoon and it would have been too suspicious for me to be there when the other kid's parents came to have some coffee.

I didn't even like coffee.

After opening the closet doors to display the drawers and shelves, I sighed. Frustrated that I couldn't feel the freedom of being naked forever, I ran my fingers through my hair and held it up in ponytail position. Before I could detangle it all and automatically reach for the drawer containing my underwear, the door flew open. I jumped back out of shock and turned towards the door to see who it was.

Jack was stood there with his mouth agape, staring right at me. His tie was askew and loosened, the collar of his shirt already up, showing that he had been planning to get changed himself. I could see his chest rise as he took me in completely.

"Jack," I shrieked, more because I was startled than because of the actual fact that he was seeing me completely and fully naked for the first time. He had seen parts separately, but this was all at once.

"Holy shit," he gasped, dropping his bag and his mouth widening even further. There was something in his eyes that I had never seen so strongly before.

If I could have, I would have stood there for longer just to figure out what I was seeing in him. It was an emotion I had noticed before, but not to such extent. If only Alex gave me that look whenever I was naked, then I would have been able to figure Jack out. But I wasn't in any luck. It was completely new.

"Jack!" I repeated again, scrambling to find something to cover myself with. Despite being next to a closet, I couldn't find any clothing in time and instead hid behind the slim door.

"Fuck, sorry!" He yelped back and picked up his bag before rushing out clumsily and throwing the door closed.

I cautiously came out from behind the closet door and just stood there to process everything. My heart was thumping and adrenaline was coursing through my body. Part of me wanted to walk out as naked as I was and get another reaction out of him. That look he had given me was so... exciting. It wasn't the same blazing yet tender look that Alex always gave me. But, still, there was something about it.

I should have put on the baggiest sweatshirt I could find along with the baggiest sweatpants I could steal from Jack just to completely remove all the mental images he had of me, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. It was almost like it was fate that Jack saw me like that; it must have happened for a reason.

I wore a tight deep cut tank top instead along with some pajama shorts I usually was very wary about. Jack would probably think I was doing it on purpose. Torturing, that is. Quite frankly, it was true. I was trying to get some response out of him that could help me place the emotions he was hiding.

As I walked out to find him, I saw him sitting at the table in the kitchen. He seemed completely fine until his gaze fell on me. His eyes traveled up and down slowly as if painting a picture. My outfit obviously wasn't helping with the pictures now permanently burned into his mind. He shook his head lightly as if trying to snap himself out of it but only failing to do so.

"I, umm, didn't know you were home so early," he gulped, not being able to look straight at me. If I moved an inch to the left, I would be the focus of his gaze.

"And I didn't know you were going to be home so early either," I replied and slowly approached him, taking partial blame. "If I had known, I would have brought my clothes with me into the bathroom."

He nodded and looked down at his hands as I sat across from him. "I'm sorry."

I shrugged a little, hoping he would look up at me again. "I mean, we've been together for five years, I'm more surprised that it has never happened before."

"I, uh, must say, though," finally, he decided to give me what I wanted and gave me the same look with the same emotions as before and delicately took my left hand in his, "you are absolutely stunning. When we finally get married, it will be worth the wait. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid my eyes upon--not that I have seen many naked women..."

I giggled at his correction as a blush spread across my cheeks. While so simple, his words flattered me, reminding me of why I had fallen in love with him in the first place. However, the blush was also out of fear. The guilt was weighing heavily upon me, screaming at me that all of his words were unjust. I didn't deserve any of them.

His look was only full of love and admiration for me and my body. Of course... after all, it was worth the wait...