Chapter 34: Do You Want To Take This To The Bedroom?
He leaned forward. Rose barely had time to breathe before his lips met hers again.
For a second neither of them moved, like they were making sure the first one hadn’t been a fluke.
Then she kissed him back properly, and the hesitation in her shoulders started to bleed out of them. Her hand found the front of his shirt, resting there like she needed something to hold onto, while he let her decide how close was close enough.
When they broke apart, Rose’s eyes were still closed a second longer than his. When she opened them, she was looking at his mouth. "Don’t."
"I didn’t say anything."
"You were about to."
That was entirely a lie. He almost smiled. Rose shook her head, but she was smiling too.
She kissed him again before he could decide whether to say anything about it, and this time there wasn’t a beat of hesitation.
His phone buzzed against the kitchen counter. Neither of them reacted.
Then, it buzzed again, and Rose’s fingers paused against his collar, barely, like she’d registered it and decided it wasn’t worth the interruption. The third buzz was the one that got her.
She pulled back an inch, glanced toward the kitchen, then back at his lips. "You should probably check that."
It was probably the system. Perhaps her attraction level had risen.
"It’s fine."
"Adrian." She kept her gaze on his mouth. "Someone might actually need you."
"You made a request." A beat. "I have to say yes. Remember?"
Rose stared at him, then shook her head, the corner of her mouth twitching like she was fighting a losing battle. "I don’t know what I’m doing with you."
"You say that like it’s a bad thing."
She laughed under her breath, soft and accompanied by a slight pause.
Rose stayed close, her forehead nearly against his jaw, and for a while neither of them said anythin. Then, quiet enough that he almost missed it...
"I like you."
He tried to look surprised. Judging by Rose’s expression, he wasn’t convincing. "You already knew?"
"You weren’t exactly subtle."
"I was being subtle."
"You literally kissed me." He said. "I’m not that dense."
She groaned and pressed her face into his shoulder. When she lifted her head again, some of the humor had drained out, and her fingers found the edge of his sleeve, worrying at the seam.
"I want to be close to you. I do. But I’m not.." She looked down at his sleeve instead of at him.
"I’m not ready. For sex. Not yet." She said it fast, like getting it out quickly would make it easier.
Adrian didn’t say anything for a second, not because he needed to think about it, but because there wasn’t anything to think about.
"Okay."
Rose looked up, waiting for the rest of it. Nothing came.
"That’s it?" she asked. "Just...okay?"
"What else is there."
She kept watching, like she expected the real reaction to arrive late. It didn’t.
Rose looked down at her hands. For a moment, she didn’t say anything.
Adrian watched her thumb move back and forth over the edge of his shirt. She’d stopped looking at him, but she hadn’t moved away either.
"It’s just..." Rose mumbled. "I..I wanted my first time to be special."
Adrian paused. "Special?"
It took a beat before he realized it.
"Wait..." he said. "You’ve never..."
Rose hesitated. "No. I haven’t." She glanced up, bracing for something. "I’m a virgin."
Adrian didn’t react.
He wasn’t sure what reaction she was expecting, but the way she watched him made it clear there was one.
She continued.
"I always wanted it to mean something," she said, quieter now. "Not just because someone expected it."
"Ohh. That..." He kept his gaze. "Makes sense."
Rose stayed quiet for a moment. Her fingers stopped worrying at the edge of his sleeve. She looked back at him.
"What about you?"
He considered lying by omission. Decided against it. "Maya was my first."
Rose’s brows lifted. "Actually your first?"
"Yeah."
"She’s not a...How many..." Her tongue caught. "How many times did you..."
"I haven’t." He said plainly. "I’m a virgin too."
He said it flatly. He’d never actually told anyone that before. Rose watched him a moment longer, like she was checking whether he meant it exactly the way it sounded. Then.
"You’re really okay with us not being that close..." she said. Not quite a question.
"Yeah."
"You’re making it sound easy."
"You said you’re not ready." That was his entire argument.
Her expression eased, and a short laugh escaped her.
"Are you?"
"Aren’t I, what?"
"Ready to be close."
His chest tightened slightly.
She was smiling when she said it, which made the question easier to answer. She shifted closer on her own, her shoulder settling against his arm like she’d stopped thinking about whether she should.
The credits were rolling before either of them noticed. Neither of them turned.
"I think I am." He replied.
"Hm." Her eyes flicked down to his lips before returning to the scrolling credits.
C’mon. Don’t turn away now of all times.
"We missed the whole ending." She said.
"Yeah."
A pause. "What do you want to do?"
He kept his gaze on her. "What do you want to do?"
Rose thought about it, genuinely, like it required actual thought. After a moment she reached over and took his hand, laced her fingers through his, looked at them resting there on the cushion between them. "I don’t know."
"I don’t know." Adrian glanced at their joined hands. "Me neither."
The credits kept rolling. Some instrumental track played which he didn’t care to pay mind to. He didn’t say anything. For once, neither of them seemed to need him to.
"...You hentai."
He smiled. "What’d I do now?
Her thumb moved once against the back of his hand. That was enough.
She moved and kissed him, and there was none of the careful hesitation from the first time.
Her free hand found the front of his shirt and pulled, slow and deliberate, like she knew exactly what she was doing.
He let her pull. They shifted together onto the couch, Rose drawing him toward her, settling against him.
Then, she broke the kiss and looked at him, close enough that he could see the effort it took to hold his gaze. "Promise me something."
"What?"
Her fingers went quiet against his chest. "Don’t disappear on me." She glanced down. "When things get complicated. Not forever or whatever. Just... don’t go quiet on me when it gets weird."
That sounded like the sort of thing that usually came with complications. He didn’t particularly care.
"I won’t."
She nodded once, a hint of disbelief in her eyes.
She looked at him. Then toward the hallway. Then back at him, quieter now, the playful edge almost entirely gone. "Do you want to take this to the bedroom?"
"The bedroom..." He hadn’t expected that. No need to screw up now. "Yeah."
She smiled, nodding excitedly. "Yeah?"
He smiled. "Yeah."
He kissed her once more before standing, then held out his hand. Rose took it, and she led him down the hallway without turning on any lights. The apartment almost dark enough that he was navigating mostly by feel.
His knee caught the edge of her bedside table.
Rose laughed, soft and immediate, the kind she couldn’t have stopped if she’d tried.
"Sorry."
She slipped her arms around his neck. Adrian smiled. A moment later, he lifted her before she could react.
"Adrian..."
She caught herself, then laughed again when he carried her the short distance to the bed.
He set her down, but before he could straighten, Rose caught his shirt and pulled him back.
"Where are you going?"
"I wasn’t."
"Good."
She shifted closer, then sat above his lap, her hands still resting against his chest.
Adrian looked up at her. Rose’s smile lingered for another second.
Then it faded. Her fingers moved to the hem of her shirt.
Adrian noticed.
"Are you sure?"
Rose looked back at him.
She hesitated, then smiled.
"Shut up, Adrian" she said.
Before Adrian could answer, she pulled her top off in one quick motion.