1.1 The Chronicles of Us - Vice & Virtue

Chapter sixteen

Sunlight pours through the small window next to my bunk, blinding me for a moment. I quickly cover my eyes with one arm. My leg muscles are sore from last night. The good kind.

My other hand automatically slides between my legs, in search of that sweet release. When a moany breath leaves my lips, I jerk my hand back.

What the heck am I doing?

The sound of footsteps and people talking among themselves carry through the bus, filling my head and making me blush.

Swiss Cheese!

I almost touched myself while being surrounded by others. Last night's events really affected me. How am I supposed to keep my newfound desire from Tex? The thought of his hands on me makes me squirm internally.

Okay, outwardly as well.

With a deep breath, I cool my hot blood and get out of bed. We both got what we wanted. He got to add another name to his list of conquests and I got to explore my shamefully green feelings. Now that we gave in to the tension that was between us, maybe we can be friends.

Friends with benefits.

What?

Sleeping with him was definitely a mistake. I'm already side-glancing his closed-off bunk, wondering what he would do if I crawled in.

No, it wasn't a mistake. I gained a beautiful experience, but it doesn't mean the same to him as it does to me. He was hard and raw—pure passion and primal instincts—but many girls must have had him like that. I can't even imagine the things they did to him; things I couldn't even dream of. Although, the dream I had last night was very daring.

Lingering in front of his bed is probably weird. I quickly do my morning routine and grab a bottle of water from the fridge. As always, Roy is talking on his phone, making big hand gestures. The others are playing a card game. I try not to think about the shape of the bottle in my hand while I join the rest.

Axel smiles. "Hey, Ellie, did you sleep well?"

Does he know?

I search his face for any sign but find none. Satisfied by this, I sit down and smile back. "Like a baby."

A line appears on his forehead. "Are you sure?"

Why does he seem so concerned? Cheese on crackers! I almost drop the bottle. How could I forget the fight Tex and I had on stage? More importantly, the flashing of my boobs? To hide my embarrassment, I shrug. "No big deal. Just needed to let out some of that bottled-up anger."

And then some.

"If you say so." His focus returns to the stack of cards he's shuffling. "When Tex came back, he almost knocked some guy's teeth out for showing a picture of your ... you know. He forced him to delete the photo."

What now?

Instead of replying, I pick at the label on the bottle. Why would he do that? Why would he care?

Don't go there.

He said so himself; this is not the beginning of some epic love story. My not-so-unsullied self is just trying to make more of it. That's the exact reason why Tex doesn't sleep with virgins. No way I'm going to fulfill his expectations.

Axel seems to understand that I don't want to talk about last night, so he says, "There's a change of plans. The place where we were supposed to play tonight had a fire, so the gig is cancelled. Roy managed to last-minute book us at some small music festival, though. We'll stay there the whole day so William can get some rest."