Maybe Not (Maybe #1.5)(14)
Author: Colleen Hoover

And also how much I need to stop.

Stop, Warren. Stop.

I somehow pull out of her and press my face against her chest, gasping for air.

It hurts. God, it hurts. I live in the next room, where there’s a drawer full of condoms, but I’m not sure I’d make it that far if I tried to stand.

She pulls my face back to hers and presses her lips to mine. She slides her hands down to my lower back and she pulls me against her, pressing her warmth against me as she urges me to move with her.

She feels incredible. It’s not the same as being inside her, but the way she’s moving against me feels pretty damn close. I close my eyes and bury my face against her neck as I work to increase the pace between us.

I grab a fistful of her hair and tilt her face to mine as I look down on her, watching as we both grow nearer to yet another release. She winces and I feel the first of her shudders pass through her. “Warren,” she whispers. “Kiss me.”

I do.

I cover her mouth with mine and drown out her moans with my own as I feel the warmth of my release spread between us. I’m holding her as tight as I can, kissing her as hard as I can.

All my weight is against her now that I’m physically incapable of holding myself up for another second. Her hands slide from my neck and fall to the bed. I’m too weak to speak, or I would be telling her how amazing she is. How good she feels. How perfect her body is and how she just single-handedly got the upper hand for all of eternity.

I can’t speak, though. My eyes fall shut from pure exhaustion.

Pure, blissful exhaustion.

• • •

“Warren.”

I try to open my eyes, but I can’t. Or I just don’t want to. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced as deep of a sleep as the one I’m being torn from right now.

Her hand is on my shoulder and she’s shaking me. I lift my head and turn to face her, curious if she’s ready for another round. I smile at her through sleepy eyes.

“Go to your room,” she says, kicking me with her feet. “You’re snoring.”

My eyes fall shut again but they fly open when her cold feet meet my stomach. She uses the strength of her legs to try and push me out of her bed. “Go,” she groans. “I can’t sleep.”

I somehow push myself into a standing position. I look down at her and she rolls onto her stomach, flips her pillow over, and sprawls out across her mattress.

I shuffle my way across her bedroom, through our bathroom and to my own bed. I fall onto it and close my eyes, taking all of three seconds to fall right back to sleep.

Chapter Six

I’m convinced that I’ve never slept as well as I did last night. And even though she kicked me out of her bed, I still feel victorious. Like royalty.

After I’m showered and dressed, I join Ridge in the kitchen. He’s cleaning up what looks like breakfast, which is odd, because neither of us ever cooks breakfast. But then I understand when Maggie emerges from his room.

“Morning, Maggie,” I say to her with a smile.

She eyes me cautiously. “What’s with you?”

Right at that moment, Bridgette’s bedroom door opens. We all watch her walk into the living room. She pauses when she looks up and sees us all staring at her.

“Morning, Bridgette,” I say with a triumphant smile. “Sleep well?”

She sees the look on my face and immediately rolls her eyes. “Screw you, Warren.” She walks into the kitchen and begins rummaging through the refrigerator, searching for something to eat. I watch her the entire time, until Ridge taps me on the shoulder.

“You had sex with her?” he signs.

I immediately shake my head in defense. “No,” I sign back. “Maybe. I don’t know. It was an accident.”

Maggie and Ridge both laugh. He grabs Maggie’s hand and pulls her toward his bedroom. “Come on,” he signs. “I don’t want to be in here when Bridgette realizes her mistake.”

I watch them retreat back to Ridge’s room, and then I turn and face Bridgette. She’s glaring at me.

“Did you just tell him we had sex?”

I find myself once again shaking my head. “He already knew. I told him the other day.”

Bridgette tilts her head to the side. “We had sex last night. How did you tell him before it happened?”

I grin. “I had a good feeling.”

She lets her head drop back in defeat, until she’s staring up at the ceiling. “I knew it was a bad idea.”

“It was a great idea,” I interject.

She looks at me with as much seriousness as she can muster. “It was a onetime thing, Warren.”

I hold up two fingers. “It was twice, actually.”

She makes a face that lets me know just how much I’m irritating her. “I’m serious, Warren. We’re not doing it again.”

“Thank God,” I say, slowly stepping toward her. “Because it was awful, wasn’t it? I could tell you weren’t enjoying it.” I continue across the kitchen until I’m less than a foot from touching her. “You especially weren’t enjoying the part when you were on your back, and my tongue was . . .”

She slaps her hand over my mouth to shut me up. She’s looking at me, narrow-eyed. “I’m serious, Warren. This changes nothing. We aren’t a couple. In fact, I’ll probably bring other guys home and you need to be prepared for that.”

She removes her hand from my mouth and I disagree. “You will not.”

She looks at me with a competitive gleam in her eyes. “I will. This is why I warned you not to get clingy.”

Ha. She thinks this is clingy? If she smiles and laughs like she did last night, she’ll find out just how clingy I can be.

“If you don’t want me to want you anymore, it’s not that hard,” I tell her. “Just don’t smile at me.” I lean forward until my lips are at her ear. “If you don’t smile at me, I won’t have the urge to do all those bad things to you. Because your smile is incredible, Bridgette.”

I pull away slowly and look down at her. She’s attempting to control the rise and fall of her chest, but she’s not fooling me. I grin, and the faintest of smiles appears on her lips. I reach my hand up and touch the corner of her mouth with my finger. “You’re such a tease.”

She pulls away from me and calmly pushes against my chest. She grabs her drink and returns to her bedroom without another word.

I press my head against the cabinet door and sigh heavily. What have I done? What in God’s name have I done to myself?