Lonely Together

12

MARIAH

As promised, Valentino ordered food for me and it was honestly the best pizza I had ever had. He claimed that the chef was an old Italian man, which is why it was so good.

We passed a bit of the time by watching more movies and of course—most of which we barely watched. By two in the morning, it was abundantly clear that I wasn't going back home, but we were still dancing around the arrangements for the night.

"You're tired," he muttered from beside me after I yawned, his head rested against the back of the couch as he turned to look at me through his long lashes.

"No I'm not," I sighed, saying it as cheerily as possible even though I had just been dozing off not even five minutes.

"Come on," he said, turning off the TV and standing from the couch.

I followed after him as we walked up stairs, watching as he turned to look back at me a few times as we walked up the stairs. We entered his room and he opened up his dresser drawer, pulling out a t-shirt and passing it towards me.

"Will that be okay?" He questioned, his hand lingering on one of mine as he stood just inches away from me.

"Yeah. You wouldn't happen to have a bonnet, would you?" I questioned with a smirk, making him chuckle as he shook his head. "I'll be back."

I went to my bathroom and stripped out of my clothes before pulling the t-shirt over my head, watching as it fell to almost reach my knees. Grabbing a hair tie off my wrist, I pulled my 'fro into the messiest looking puff and walked back out to the bedroom.

My breath nearly hitched in my throat when I walked out and saw him pulling his shirt from over his head so that he was just in a pair of sweatpants. I knew that he had a lean build, but that was only emphasized now that he was shirtless.

He turned to look at me over his shoulder before walking over to the bed and flopping down. When I was still standing by the bathroom door like a fool, he patted the spot beside him and I obliged and laid beside him.

"Thank you for letting me stay here tonight," I smiled, turning my head slightly to look over at him.

"No problem. You weren't that annoying."

I rolled my eyes jokingly at his words and turned on my side so that I was facing him, immediately feeling my eyes shut.

"Buona notte, Mariah."

***

The next morning I woke up with my head laid on Valentino chest, his arm wrapped securely around my waist while the other was hanging over the edge. His bed was humongous, yet we had somehow ended up in just one tiny corner.

"You're awake," he spoke in his deep voice, which only sounded much deeper in the morning. It made butterflies rush to my stomach.

"I didn't think you were up yet," I replied, lifting my head from my chest so I was now looking into his green eyes.

"I have been. For an hour."

"Why didn't you move me!?"

"I didn't want to wake you," he replied softly, moving his other hand so that it was laid across my waist as well.

"How sweet," I said as my cheeks flushed at the feeling of his hand running up and down my back.

Unable to contain myself, I moved a bit and pressed my lips to his, completely disregarding the fact that I had just woken up and probably had morning breath. I didn't care.

He continued to rub my back as our lips moved in sync, one of his hands moving down until it landed on my butt.

Taking the lead this time, I kissed along his jawline and down his neck. I trailed the kisses down his torso until I was at the waist band of his sweatpants, watching as his bulge grew.

"My turn," I told him with a smirk, making him chuckle as I pulled the pants down, my eyes widening as I looked down at him. He wasn't small by any means.

I wrapped my hands around the base, positioning myself over it before I slowly bobbed my head down. The groan that left his mouth only encouraged me to speed up more, eliciting more groans from him as we maintained eye contact.

After continuing for a while, he stopped me suddenly to stand from the bed as I got on my hands and knees in front of him. I took him back in my mouth as he took control this time, thrusting in and out.

"Fuck," he groaned as he continued going, throwing his head back.

Minutes later, he finished and fell back onto the bed beside me, his chest rising and falling swiftly.

"Thank you," he said with a smirk after a minute of silence, pinching my hip as he said so.

He then got up and walked to the bathroom, coming back with a towel for me to clean myself off with. I did so, before standing as well.

"I hate to end things now," he started, pulling his sweatpants back on and moving to stand directly in front of me. "But my mother's coming over."

I pouted and replied with, "Guess it's time for our twenty hour date to end," making him chuckle as I wrapped my arms around his waist.

He pecked my lips and then grabbed me a pair of sweatpants and a shirt to wear so that I didn't have to go home in my old clothes.

"I'll call you," I told him once we were outside my apartment door.

"You better."

He pressed a kiss to my cheek and then he was walking down the hallway. Once he was in the elevator I stepped into the apartment, my face falling immediately when I saw Myles and his boyfriend seated at the kitchen table.

"Hey Mariah," James said with a smile, giving me a small wave before looking over at Myles who had a sour look on his face.

I muttered a quick 'hey', turning my gaze away from Myles who didn't even have the decency to say anything. Still, I knew he would apologize soon because he never was one to let things fester between us.

"I'm sorry," he uttered under his breath just as I was about to step into my room and close the door. "I'm sorry Mariah," he added with more conviction. "I shouldn't have done that...and I know that it's still affecting you a lot—it affects me too but I don't show it much. I-I don't know what came over me."

I looked into his tear filled eyes, which made my eyes water instantly. Myles and I had been friends for so long that any time he cried, I did as well. He stood from his seat and walked over to me with open arms, pulling me into them as we both cried.

"You didn't overreact yesterday. I understand. I'm gonna make a copy of the picture and take it with me to my new place."

"Why do you even have to move?" I croaked out. I didn't think I could be here alone by myself, it was already bad enough whenever he was gone for days on end. I was scared that I was gonna fall back into my old ways.

"It's time, Mariah. I'll be five minutes away," he said softly, holding my shoulders as he talked to me. "You know I love you girl."

"Love you too, Myles."