Chapter Sixty-One: A Night to Remember

Intimacy: close familiarity or friendship.

*

It had been a quiet week into the holidays.

Estelle went home for the holidays, as did Robyn who brought Ava with her, so the house was automatically quieter in their absence.

Well into the evening now, I was lying on my bed, reading one of Mia's bedtime stories. Tonight's edition: Gawain and the Green Knight. While it was written in an ancient English style, the poetry was a nice change of pace to Mia's usual gothic bedtime story tastes.

And this edition had interesting pictures.

I was in the middle of reading one stanza a second time when I heard my door open. I had turned off all lights except my side table, giving the room a dim glow, so it took my eyes a second to recognise Alexis as she slipped into my room and closed the door with a soft click behind her.

I furrowed my eyes as I looked at my phone, noting the late time as I sat up. "Evening, Alexis," I greeted, placing the book by the lamp, "What's u…u…up…?"

Alexis leant on the door, dressed in white lingerie looking dress. The skirt itself stretched down to midthigh, but the lacey design and patchy see-through fabric took me off guard. For a second, I kind of just stared at her, and she, in turn, didn't remove her back from the door.

I cleared my throat, composing myself as I said, "New PJs?"

I have never mentally slapped myself so hard in my life.

Alexis released a chuckle, managing to take a step away from the door, tilting her head downwards, so her red hair cast locks over her face. She sighed through her teeth as she pinched the edges of the skirt and lifted them slightly in a curtsy. "You like?"

I pressed my lips together, unsure how to approach Alexis now.

My true feelings: she was sexy. In a different way to what I usually found sexy about her.

"You look good," I answered.

Alexis was taken aback by my underwhelming answer, puffing up her chest as she walked to the end of my bed and sat down. "What'cha doing?" she asked.

I rested my chin on my hand, unable to stop my eyes from running up and down her, noticing new details in her dress or the way her hair rested on her shoulder. "Just some reading," I informed, tilting my head the other way as she adjusted herself. It was a strange sight, Alexis seemed simultaneously uncomfortable but projected weird blind confidence in how she looked in the lingerie. Like she knew she looked amazing but wasn't used to wearing it.

"Oh, that's nice."

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to withhold from smirking as she made another loud sigh. "This not really your thing?" she asked, her thumb running under her skirt to pull at a strap on her thigh.

"It's not, not my thing," I replied, "It's just surprising seeing you in it."

Alexis clicked her tongue, arching her head up as she smiled, "Last time I trust the words of a lingerie expert," she stated.

I scoffed, "Lingerie expert?"

She waved a hand at me, adjusting herself to sit on her legs in front of me, "Not important." She shuffled closer, so she was almost sitting on my lap and said, "Landon Becks, you are such a prude gentleman that you never…" she considered her words, "ask anything of me, aside from the title 'girlfriend.' Well, I'm telling you now, I don't feel like a girlfriend, I feel like a friend you so happen to occasionally kiss and cuddle and incidentally give female blue balls to."

I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth, failing to smother my laughter. "Stop it, Alexis. Your romance will make me cry."

She crossed her arms, puffing out her cheeks as she said, "You do like me, right?"

I nodded, sitting up straighter, "Of course."

"Well, fun fact, I really like you too." Alexis' face screwed into a weird scowl of some kind, lingering on that sentence as she bit her tongue. She reached forward, placing her hands on my shoulder and sitting on my lap as she said, "I'm going to ask you something, only because you haven't gotten around to asking me."

I rested my hand on her hip, hugging her to me as she continued to try and find the words for it.

I acknowledged that I was described as a gentleman, and at times I enjoyed teasing people with their assumed naïve persona of me. I knew Alexis was going to ask about sex, but I was enjoying this far too much to save her from admitting it.

"How about we take this relationship to the next level?" she tried. I could feel her fingers moving around on the back of my neck. "I want something a little more intimate then what we are now." When I didn't answer, she gritted her teeth and dropped her hands, "Landon, I want to have sex, okay? That what you want to hear."

"And the fat lady sings," I finally said, leaning my back against my bedframe.

Alexis shook her head, "With all the crap that's been going on with school and the girls, it would be a very welcome distraction right now." She nodded, grasping her hands together, "I already feel weird having to ask for it, so do you want to or not, you prude old man?"

I laughed, sitting up, "You're older than me."

"Don't change the subject," she said, pointing the finger at me, "I'm already wearing this breezy as heck outfit for your benefit, don't test my patience here."

"But that's the fun part," I countered. I wrapped my arms around Alexis and pushed her over on my bed, surprising her as I nipped at her neck and she burst out in laughter when I tickled and jabbed at her skin. She turned her head and caught my lips, starting a sweet kiss as she pulled me on the top of her. In a matter of seconds, the playful tease diminished. I felt Alexis arch her back, bending her knees and pulling me closer as our kiss deepened. Her aromatic scent intoxicating, making every part of me quiver from untamed anticipation.

My mouth tingled at her taste, and her body felt good against mine. I could feel the blood pumping through my body, my heart taking the bulk of it, as my hands ran down her dress and back up her skin, prompting a shudder from her that startled my rational, not currently sex motivated section of my mind. Her hands gripped fistfuls of my shirt in a quick attempt to pull it off.

I held her hand, halting her efforts, as I said between kisses, "As much as I would love to, Alexis," I began, losing my breath between invasive kisses, "and believe me I do," I felt her tongue against mine but not push past my teeth, "I don't have anything on me to prevent certain outcomes." I could scarcely tell if Alexis was listening to me as she deepened our kiss, lifting her torso to meet mine and pressing her chest against me. I pulled myself away, sitting on my legs out of breath and out of her reach. "Alexis, I'm not gonna put either of us in that position, okay? I'm not playing that game."

Alexis was breathless beneath me, the way she looked mirroring that of a gorgeous, scarlet-haired vixen, but her eyes shifted slightly, becoming softer at my words. "Would it concern you to know that I was kinda prepared?" she lifted her skirt again, playing with the tie around her thigh again, and produced a red square condom package. Her gaze wandered again, her lips pressed as she tried to suppress her blush.

I snorted, pinching the bridge of my nose as I pulled away from her, standing from my bed and stepping away.

Alexis frowned, sitting up as she listened for me, "Wait, what?"

The confusion amused me as I made my way to the door and locked it. Upon hearing the subtle click, Alexis' eyes widened slightly, and I could see her cheeks redden as I walked back to her, her eyes looking up at me when she sensed my presence.

I leant closer to her, taking her chin in my hand, as I gave her a coy smile, barely brushing my lips against hers as I breathed, "Just so we don't get interrupted." My other hand snatched the condom off her, and together we feverishly kissed each other, Alexis wrapping her arms around my neck and tightening her legs hold against me as we laid back down.