Arms Length

Chapter 15: King in your story

**Billie**

I groan loudly and roll onto my side.

"I told you not to eat that bagel." Jade says looking over at me.

"It was vegan!" I say wrapping my arms around my stomach, it honestly feels like my stomach is in knots and I have to fart at the same time.

"The 4th ingredient was wheat. And if you're going to fart please do that out on my sister's deck." She goes back to her laptop and crosses her ankles.

"You're being insensitive."

"Oh... I'm sorry." She looks at me rolling those pretty eyes. "Let me baby the person who ate gluten knowing their precious stomach couldn't handle it." Her eyebrows furrow upwards. Fuck she's right.

"You win this one..."

"...... Holland? Jade? Mama? Baby? what?"

"I was going to call you by your middle name, but I don't know it..." I say laying my head on her shins and rub the side of her thighs.

"It's Amelia..." She looks down at my hand, then back at her laptop.

"What are you doing anyway?"

"Watching porn on mute." She says with a straight face.

"Shut up."

"I'm emailing Sophie all the details of last night and this morning."

"Fuck you."

"Been there. Done that."

"Seriously, what are you doing?" I rub higher up her thigh.

"Replying to an email Laura sent me regarding your tour..." She turns the laptop around and shows me. "Happy?"

"Not really, my stomach still hurts."

She turns her laptop back around on her lap and just groans in annoyance.

I could watch Jade work for hours, she's now got earbuds connected to her laptop, probably to drowned out the sound of my groaning and complaining about my stomach; she shifts her weight and sitting position as she pulls her hair out of the messy bun its been in since her shower this morning and shakes her hair out a little filling the room with that coconut scent I adore. She takes her earbuds out and looks at me. "Is it okay if I ask you something?"

"Yeah."

"That night in my apartment.... Why'd you get so upset? And this isn't my round about way of asking you where we stand... or whatever..." She sighs, "I just mean you were seeing Sophie at the same time you were flirting with me. I like you, and that terrifies the fuck out of me."

"I guess hearing you say 'I love you' to someone else when we'd been so... close bothered me, and..."and I think I'm in love with you.

"Forget it, it's okay..." she half smiles. "I'm going to go for a run."

"Jade..."

"Just drop it Billie. Please? I'm... it's not worth it." She sets her laptop aside and gets off the bed, grabs her shoes and walks out of bedroom closing the door gently.

It's been a good two hours since Jade left, I make my way into the kitchen slowly rubbing my stomach.

"Hey Sweetie, how's your stomach?" Daphne says looking at me as she holds a chubby blue-eyed baby on her hip.

"Not great."

"Yeah, Jade told me you ate something that didn't quite agree with you?" She bounces the baby on her hip.

"Yeah." I said trying to muffle a loud burp.

"Can I get you a Sprite or something? It'll help." She makes her way to the fridge and hands me a cold bottle of Sprite "Sip it slowly."

"Thanks. When will Jade be back?"

She sighs setting the baby in his highchair smoothing down his blond hair, kissing his head "No telling honestly. She's struggling right now. We lost our mom a little over a year ago and she has a lot of resentment towards our dad." I feel like I'm overhearing a private conversation that I shouldn't have walked into. "And, she's dealt with a lot on her own, I think she just thinks she's not worth anything."

'I'm... it's not worth it' Is exactly what Jade said before she went for her run. "She's worth more than she realizes." I say in between sips of Sprite.

**Jade**

By the time I get back to my sister's house it's nearly midnight, unlocking the door quietly, I disarm the alarm and set my shoes by the door, before resetting the alarm. I walk into the kitchen and grab a bottle of water and make my way into the bathroom. Am I worried about waking my sister and Jay? No. Their bedroom and Chase's nursery is on the other side of the house. And I know how heavy of a sleeper Billie is. I turn the hot water on and strip the sandy, sweaty clothes off my body and step into the shower. I take my time working the shampoo into my hair, then conditioner. I scrub my skin hard until it feels raw, clean, but raw. I shut the water off and wrap a towel around my body gently and wring my hair out over the sink before combing in out and braiding it. I brush my teeth, rinse the remaining bit of toothpaste off my chin, turn the light off and walk back to the guestroom to find a sleeping Billie; she's sprawled across half the bed on her stomach, like a little starfish, her face smashed into the pillow, her mouth half open as soft snores escape her mouth, her hair is in messy waves around her face. She looks adorable. I grab a t-shirt out of my bag as well as a pair of shorts and change quickly, turn the lamp out and lay next to her slowly.

I feel her shift behind me and then her arm wrap around my waist pulling my back tight against her front and nuzzle her face in the back of my neck before letting out a contented sigh.

Do you ever wake up feeling like someone is watching you? And you think maybe if I just pretend to be asleep they'll go away? Aquamarine eyes stare back at mine as I try to adjust to sunlight coming through the open blinds. "Moring baby." She cups my cheek, still staring at me intently, like she's searching for an answer to some deep, philosophical question.

"Morning." I remove her hand gently and get out of bed slowly to make my way to the bathroom.

Before I get to the door her arm closes the door quickly, blocking me in. "I don't give a shit about your morning breath."

I turn and face her slowly, I feel like I should be ashamed of my behavior, but I'm not, I lean against the door as she presses herself against me, wrapping her other hand around the back of my neck and pulls me in as her lips brush against mine. She takes her time kissing me, every nerve in my body feels exposed as her hand that's wrapped around the back of my neck makes its way around the front of my neck and down my chest very slowly. Her tongue molds with mine. There is more than lust behind the movements of her hands, the way her tongue moves slowly against mine, the way her body is just pressed against mine. I grip the sides of her shirt as she grips my hip. I break away from the kiss slowly, she looks me dead in the eyes. "If I wanted Sophie, I wouldn't be here. And you are worth it. Okay? I'm not asking for you to let me show you the world or ask for your hand in marriage in a year. But you're worth it and I really like you. And let's just see how and where this goes. Okay?"

I bite the inside of my cheek. "I really like you too. Just if you find someone else, let me know first, okay? I'm not going to compete with anyone.... "