Share The Sheets, Won't You?

Bae always taps her thigh whenever she’s itching to ask you something, her fingers playing a silent melody against the fabric of her gray sweats. You never told her this; you like it too much. There’s a simple, unbridled kind of joy at having this sort of upper hand over her—or, rather, every other guy that claims to know her.

After finishing Debussy’s Clair de Lune on her leg, you feel a shift in the mattress as she turns to you. Without looking up from your phone, you can already tell that she has that glint in her eye: the kind of glint that turns you into putty in her hands, malleable and easy.

“Mind if I sleep over?”

“No.” You’re lying.

“C’mon,” Bae pouts, nudging your arm.

“You slept over two days ago. I want the bed to myself tonight.” Your pants are up in flames.

With the dramatics of an off-broadway show, she collapses back onto your mattress, limbs splayed out as if you hit her with your car. You stifle a grin, not wanting to add fuel to her fire, but it’s no use—she could keep up the act all night if you let her.

“I can’t believe you want me dead—”

“Not what I said—”

“It was implied!” She swings a leg over your calf, staking claim over you with her cold toes. Your phone is tossed aside at this point; discarded to whatever crevice of your bed it fell through, a problem for the you of tomorrow that inevitably fell for the charm of the boba-eyed beauty staring at you like a sad cat in the rain.

“It’s dangerous for a girl to be out this late, all alone and defenseless,” she says, slender fingers trailing your chest for a second too long, yet not long enough.

“I’ll drive you home.”

“And contribute to the rising level of greenhouse gas emissions? No thank you, sir.” She pokes your chest, her lips just one impulse away from you. “Tsk tsk, and I thought you were more environmentally conscious. How disappointing.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” And yet, you smile until your cheeks ache, entranced by this silly game of cat and mouse you always seem to find yourself in.

“And you’re being mean.” Bae scoots into your side, and you let her, wrapping an arm around her slim waist like it’s where she belongs. “So what’s it gonna be? Hm?” Her nose is upturned at you, all smug and superior, and it takes all your self-control to not immediately cover her face in gentle kisses.

“Bae, please—”

“Yes or no?”

“C’mon—”

“It’s a simple question.”

“I just want to sleep by myself tonight—”

“Then why is your hand on my ass?” Her smile is all teeth as she shimmies herself into your palm. Honest to God, you have no idea how it got there—but there’s no way in Hell you’re moving it away.

“Because I’m a huge pervert that you shouldn’t be spending the night with,” you answer, some lousy last-ditch attempt at getting her to leave.

“Mmm, maybe I’m into perverts,” she purrs, biting her soft lip salaciously. For a moment, you’re jealous it’s not your lip between her teeth.

“Jesus, that’s one of the grossest things you’ve ever said,” you chuckle.

“And yet, you’re still here.”

“I live here, Bae.”

“No, I meant—” in one swift motion, she straddles your lap, cupping your face in her hands until she’s all you can see, “—here. You’re still here.” 

Every inch of your vision becomes occupied by this brash, annoying, crude, funny, adorable, beautiful girl. The only girl you’d ever drive an hour and a half away for in the dead of night because her car broke down. The only girl who endures all your nerdy rants about your new favorite TV shows. The only girl you want to wake up to in the morning.

“Hey,” you whisper in the space between lips.

“Hi.” Bae smiles, and your chest tightens, your heart growing larger than your body can handle.

“This is fun. I like this.”

Her arms slide around your neck, nose brushing against yours. You let your eyes flutter shut, content in feeling the warmth of her—her body. Her breath. Her essence. Just her.

“Why tell me to leave if you’re having so much ‘fun’ then?”

“Because I’m a liar. A huge, stupid liar.”

“The stupid part is right.” Her face presses into the crook of your neck. You inhale sharply with each pass of breath that graces your skin. “I mean, who would be dumb enough to reject a fun night with a hot girl?”

“I’ve been lying about other things,” you admit, like a sin. Her body tenses up against you.

“About… what?” Her voice grows serious—scared.

“Nothing bad, just…” You hold her close, like the next few words could take her away from you. “…Remember when you said you wanted to keep things casual?”

“…Yeah?”

“I-I… I, um…” You stand at a precipice, overlooking a bottomless chasm of uncertainty. The cat’s out of the bag now. The beans are spilled; the genie’s out the bottle; there’s no going back after this. “I want to—”

Bae presses a kiss to your lips, tender and soft and everything you could ever ask for. Her fingers thread your hair, tugging each handful in the way only she knows you like. You grip the edge of her top like a lifeline, ready to give your all to this girl—every cell in your body, every fiber of your being, all you want in life is to be hers and hers alone.

She pulls away, a mere inch of space between you, as if any farther would be too much.

“That was rude,” you say, a small smirk on your lips. “You didn’t let me finish.”

“You’re so stupid.” You can barely process the rolling of her eyes before she plants a playful peck on your nose. “And so cute.”

“Does this mean you feel the same way? I mean, about wanting to make all this… real?”

A sigh ghosts past her lips, a small dagger to your heart. “You know how I feel about relationships.”

You grit your teeth to hide your disappointment. She never talks about what happened before you, and you never asked—figured if it was important enough, she would bring it up on her own. But, for a little while, it felt nice to think that there was a chance for something more, no matter how small it is. 

“I know, I know,” you sigh. “I just thought—”

“I’m willing to try.”

Like a song from the Heavens, you feel yourself levitate at those four words. “R-really? You mean it?”