“Whoa.”
“I mean, c’mon, Dev. Anytime we’re out in public, some girl comes up and tries to start things up with you.”
“Not at the Indian place,” I said, my teeth still clenched. She had a point, but I was trying really hard to make her laugh and not be so bothered by Abby and now Malika and whoever else was bound to run into us sooner or later.
“Are you jealous?” I asked, part of me hopeful despite the fact that I could feel this situation snowballing into one hell of a fight.
“No, that’s not it. I just… It’s awkward as hell, you know?”
“C’mon, let me pay the bill and we’ll get outta here.”
“Fine, I’ll say goodbye to Scott and Allison.”
“Fine.”
After paying the bill, I grabbed our coats and met Lyra at the door. She glared at me as she met me at the door.
“Shit,” she said under her breath.
“What?”
“It’s raining.”
“My place isn’t far. I’ll cover you with my coat. Come on.”
Holding my coat over her head, we left the bar and walked down the block, the cold February rain coming down in harsh drops. My hair was soaked by the time we got a block away from the bar.
Lyra stopped walking. I turned to face her.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m serious, Dev. Do I need to get tested?”
“Lyra,” I said, my mouth agape. I wasn’t sure what to say. “If it’ll make you feel better, then yes.”
She placed her hands on her hips and glared at me. “That’s all you have to say?”
“I mean, what do you want to hear?”
“Is that going to be us next year?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will I be walking up to you at a bar wondering why you never called? God, I hate the fact that I’m even asking you this—I’m so not this person! But they’re literally popping up everywhere we go, and it’s getting ridiculous!”
“Lyra, we would never go that long without seeing each other. Our best friends are engaged.”
“And that’s the only reason?” she asked, looking disappointed and I felt like an asshole.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. C’mon, we’ve both had a lot to drink. Let’s get back to my place. We’ll put our clothes in the dryer and we’ll talk, okay?”
“Fine,” Lyra said, her hair soaked and clinging to her face, despite the fact that I’d tried to protect her with my coat, which was now completely ruined.
We walked in silence back to my place. When we walked through the door, we stripped down to our underwear and I tossed everything into the dryer. “I’ll get you a shirt and boxers.”
“Thanks.”
You could cut the tension with a knife. Lyra climbed into my red plaid boxers and navy blue hoodie, still not speaking a word.
“You okay?” I asked, putting my hands in the front pocket of the hoodie and pulling her close. She wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Yeah. I don’t wanna talk about it anymore.”
“We both have pasts, Lyra. Mine just keeps catching up with me, that’s all. But yours is there too… It’s there, lurking…like the silent killer.”
She cracked a smile, even though she was fighting it. Playfully, she pushed me away. But I persisted.
“Come on. We did a good job tonight; we threw our friends a killer party. They’re probably at home right now having hot engagement party sex and here we are, fighting, totally wasting our buzz.”
“We’re not fighting,” Lyra said, shaking her head.
“Sure feels like it.”
“Sorry, I just…every time one of those girls walks up to us, I feel gross. I can’t explain it.”
“Those girls meant nothing to me.”
She glared at me, her eyes pained, but I couldn’t figure out why. Didn’t she know I was completely smitten with her? Hadn’t I made it painfully obvious how whipped I already was?
“Look, I dated a lot during my Tinder days, but you already knew that.”
“That was before.”
“Yeah, but it’s still not new information. It’s just affecting you now. I’ve always been honest with you, Lyra. Always.”
She nodded.
“Hey, look at me. I’m crazy about you. Like, freaking batshit crazy. So crazy that my R-&-B-loving ass has a whole playlist devoted to you.” I grabbed my phone and showed her the playlist simply called Lyra. She scrolled through the songs, a playful grin resurfacing on her gorgeous face. And for the first time, I noticed the gold specks in her chocolate brown eyes.
“That’s a lot of Keith Urban. And I think “Put You in a Song” is on here, like, three times. You must really like that one.”
“It makes me think of you,” I said, nuzzling her neck.
“Over the Rainbow,” she said softly, her voice cracking. “Okay, you won me over. We can stop fighting now.”
“Thank God, because I’m dying to get you out of this hoodie. Seeing you in my boxer shorts does strange things to me.”
“Good things?”
“Um, better than good.” I took her hand in mine and placed it on my dick.
“Ooh, hard as a rock.”
“Yep, even after all that Tito’s.”
“I’m kind of impressed,” she said with a wicked grin, stroking me gently through the fabric. I cupped her ass with my hand and pulled her close. “Maybe we should make up. Officially.”
“Music to my ears.”
“Can we listen to the Lyra playlist?” she asked playfully.
“I gotta draw the line somewhere,” I said. “And I think we can make our own music, don’t you?”
“Okay, that was cheesy,” she said, rolling her eyes, but her grip remained on my dick.
“Just go with it,” I said, taking Lyra by the hand and leading her to the bedroom.
“I’m a little cold,” she said when we reached the doorway, “I think I need a shower.”
“Now?”
“Well, I mean, I don’t plan on taking it alone.”
My dick twitched and without another word, I followed her into the bathroom.
“Hold on one sec,” I said, reaching into the medicine cabinet to grab a condom. I knew Lyra was concerned about possible STDs, and the last thing I wanted to do was put her in a situation where she’d be even more worried than she already was.
“Thank you,” she said with a knowing smile, that little wrinkle above her nose telling me all I needed to know. Turning on the water, I glanced to make sure there were two fresh towels before I pounced on Lyra, pulling her in for a kiss. My kisses were greedy, possessive. I wanted every inch of her. Steam surrounded us as we stripped one another of our clothes. Lyra smiled and led me into the shower, closing the glass door behind us. We stood under the stream, the water crashing down on us as I cupped her face with my hands, kissing her passionately. The hot water relaxed my muscles and Lyra stirred every last desire in my body. With water pouring down our hot skin, my hands explored every inch of her, caressing her hips and squeezing her ass.