Erin, Aaron, and Grace

Chapter 6: Grace 11/14/19

Grace really, really hoped that the sex in the shower had put her weird little episode out of Aaron's mind. He'd seen her in some less than positive light recently, and she was ready to move past it.

She climbed into bed with him.

She tried not to cuddle into him, thinking that after the sex, their intimacy had ended. It was hard for Grace to find the line for them. Sometimes Aaron said things that made her believe he really wanted more than just a bit of release, but she didn't want to hope for that.

He put his arm around her, and his hand found her breast. She tried not to think about the inevitable heartbreak she knew would follow if they carried on like this.

She pulled his colorful quilt close.

His face pressed into the back of her neck. Something inside of Grace felt like it was crashing, as if she might fly apart.

How could she not want him?

Grace fell asleep quickly after that. She woke up once to his roommate coming in, and checked to see if he'd woken up to. But he was still sound asleep. Arm around her, legs entangled, content. His face was now cheek to cheek with hers, she could feel the gentle scratch of his stubble, and his breath.

Grace held onto this moment as she fell asleep, knowing that she would pull it out and remember when he was long gone from her life.

****

11/15

Grace woke up at nine, Aaron already gone, and the only thing left of his roommate was his perfectly made bed.

Grace sat up and stretched.

She stumbled over to her things and got her makeup bag out. She headed for the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and put on light makeup so that it looked almost natural.

She walked back into Aaron's room and really looked around for the first time.

On the shelf behind his bed he had three different shot glasses, covered in a layer of dust. She inspected the quilt on his bed made of colorful galaxy fabric, it was handmade and slowly wearing out. His belongings in the closet were all neatly put in their place. He had an empty white board hung on his mini fridge. Grace decided, in her sleepy state to write something on it. Then she crawled back into bed and scrolled through her newsfeed for a moment before falling asleep again.

She woke up again to Aaron tossing his book bag on the floor next to the bed.

They greeted each other, and Grace got up to go get changed.

She was still figuring out the rules to this whole thing. Last night she had gotten undressed in front of him because she wanted to get his attention, now she just wanted to get changed. So she decided to get changed in the bathroom.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," Aaron said.

Did he want her to take off her clothes in front of him?
Grace rolled her eyes dramatically and jokingly groaned, trying to make the whole thing more funny than awkward.

He turned away from her and changed into his dark grey joggers. Grace watched him take off his jeans. He was wearing black boxer briefs that showed off his butt. He had a nice curve to his lower back, and toned legs. Grace sighed. He was probably the most attractive man she'd ever been with, and it was a bit intimidating.

It was probably the daddy issues, but Grace typically dated men who were just a bit less attractive than her. She liked the way they admired her, though she felt guilty admitting it.