A SOFT SNEEZE wakes me up, from the corner of my room, a room that I distinctly remember being empty last night when I went to bed. I shoot out of bed quickly, wiping sleep from my eyes until I can see Roman with a light pink tinge on his cheeks. He's staring right back at me. "Shit, did I wake you up?" he asks, eyebrows raised.

        I yawn softly. "What are you doing here, Roman?"

        He locks his fingers together and sets them in his lap. "Figured I'd wait here for a little. For you to wake up. You can't run away from me when you're asleep."

         "Try that again, and maybe this time don't sound like a stalker."

        Roman makes a face. "You know what I meant," he grumbles before scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. "I dunno, I guess I also wanted to be here. In case you needed me again."

        I swallow hard, thinking back to the nightmare that Roman walked in on just a day ago. Shivers cover my spine as pictures from the dream flash in my mind and I nod softly. "Right. Well, I'm all good, so—"

        Roman takes a breath and I recognize an emotion that had been there all along that I just hadn't noticed yet—anger. Which was ludicrous, because what in the world does he have to be angry for? "Did I do something?" I hiss before I can stop myself, running a hand through my hair. "Because something is telling me you came here for more than just my stupid nightmares."

"You disappeared on us last night," Roman says, anger practically dripping in his voice.

"Surprised you noticed," I shoot back with the same amount of venom in my tone. "You know, considering you were having Hayley swallow your entire face off."

Roman scoffs, turning his head to the side. "Unbelievable. You are so damn hypocritical—"

"Hypocritical?" I hiss, anger flooding through my body. "How in the hell am I hypocritical? You french-kissed one of my best friends after doing all of those...things to me."

Roman shakes his head. "You didn't want me touching you at the beach; why would you have wanted me to kiss you in front of everyone?"

I balk. I knew that he had a point, but I was too damn mad at him to acknowledge that. "You're a grown man, Roman. You're free to do whatever you want with whoever you want and I—"

"Oh, give it a rest, Braylen!" Roman hisses. "Don't do that. Don't act like you don't know that I wanted to kiss you. Do you not understand me or are you just purposely trying not to?"

I cross my arms across my chest. "Well, that's—I don't....you—"

Roman raises his eyebrows again, staring back at me. I sigh softly before running a hand through my hair. "Fine. Okay, I'm sorry," I murmur, practically whispering the apology.

"What was that?" Roman asks, standing up and walking over to me. His hand comes up to cup my face in his stupidly large hand, forcing my eyes up to his. "Didn't quite catch you."

I swallow hard, trying to look away from him and simultaneously failing. "I said, I'm sorry," I mutter. "Happy now?"

Roman laughs, leaning forward to kiss me. I stop him, placing a hand on his chest. "Morning breath. I'm disgusting right now."

He stares at me. "Do I look like I give a damn?"

Roman grins before bringing his lips down to mine, capturing me in a tender kiss that soon becomes rougher and rougher, until Roman has me pinned on my back and my arms are clutching his shirt. Our lips break with a soft smack and I glare at him. "Okay, but did you really have to kiss her for so long?" I ask.

"I'll make it up to you," he whispers, kissing the hollow of my neck before traveling down to my collarbones, my chest, my stomach. "Can I touch you?"

"I might kill you if you don't," I breathe out. Roman laughs and then his hands are on my hips, pressing them down into the bed as he brings his own to meet mine, a drawing long moan out of my mouth. "Shi—"

        Roman's mouth captures mine in a hot, open-mouthed kiss, one that has me nearly unraveling underneath him. My fingers dig into the cotton of his shirt so hard that I'm surprised it's not ripping. Part of me wants to ask him to take it off; the other part wants to do it myself.

        Roman's lips move from mine to the hollow space of my neck, causing a moan to leave my mouth again. My body was far too eager to respond to him, far too eager to let him have his way with me, whatever he wants, however he wants it. But my brain is still thinking of him kissing Hayley last night, of him and I arguing just moments before this.

        So, I reach forward and cup him through his pants, a soft smirk on my face.

        Roman whimpers in surprise, drawing his lips back from my neck and instead grabbing my wrist. He doesn't pull it away, though. His grip is firm, almost like he's worried I'll move my hand away from him too quickly. "What are you doing?" he asks, his voice raspy and desperate and so incredibly sexy that I'm panting.

         "What does it look like?" I ask, applying more pressure to my grip. Roman breathes sharply through his nostrils and I grin. "You're hard," I point out.

        Roman laughs once, the sound desperate and breathy. "Yeah? What gave it away?"

        "I could fix that for you," I murmur, moving my hand up and down just a bit, just enough for Roman to hum against my neck.

He breathes shakily. "What's the catch?"

I grin. "No catch. Just tell me what I want to hear," I whisper, bringing my lips up to his neck. "You didn't want to kiss Hayley; you wanted to kiss me."

Roman groans softly. "I didn't want her. I only want you."

        Smirking, I lock my legs around Roman's, swinging us around until I was on top and he was below me. My arms come to rest beside his head, lifting my body off of him. I could tell the lack of friction was driving him crazy and the knowledge made me laugh softly. Roman brings his hands up to my hips, attempting to bring them back down to his own but I grab his hands, looping our fingers together. "Christ, Braylen," Roman mumbles, squeezing his eyes shut.

        "And just how do you want me?" I whisper, lowering my lips to his earlobe. "Tell me."

        Roman breathes shallowly. "In every way possible."

        The words make me blush, but I squash it back down. "I don't know if we've got the time for that right now," I say. "I also don't know if I've quite forgiven you just yet."

        Roman sighs loudly and I smile, glad to know that I have this much of an effect on him. He was as drunk on me as I was drunk on him.

        With this new knowledge, I bring my hands down to the patch of his stomach showing underneath his shirt, somewhat entranced by the dark ink flowing around his skin, skin that I wanted to touch every part of a million times over. My hands lower even more until I reach his V-line, emitting a low groan from Roman's mouth. "Braylen," he whimpers.

        I ignore him, taking my time to pull his sweats and underwear down just a bit, enough to free him from the confines of his clothes. A moan leaves Roman's mouth at the action, spurring me on to lower my head and take him in my mouth.

        He was beyond hard, and even before his hands were gripping the sheets until his knuckles turned white, I knew he wouldn't last long. Something about this felt personal, felt like I was seeing him in a different way than I was used to. I knew that I liked it. I liked it a lot. His moans, his pants, his words egging me on, telling me how good I'm doing. Some part of my brain told me to slow down, to not like this too much just yet. Not when you'd both agreed that this couldn't last too long.

        But I wasn't thinking about that, or at least I was trying not to. Because Roman was letting out a long string of curse words and was finishing in my mouth, and though this had never happened before, it felt normal. It felt like we'd been like this together for a thousand years. It felt right.

        I pull my mouth away, tucking him back into his clothes and grinning up at him. He was flushed, his lips red from biting it too much and his eyes completely black in desire. "Tell me again," I request, bringing my hand to his chest and rubbing a slow circle around it.

        Roman grins back, pulling me down and kissing my forehead. "I want you," he murmurs, planting his lips on my nose and making his way down to my lips. "In every way possible."

¥

The trip slowly takes form. We spend mornings resting on the beach, sipping mimosas (for us) and black coffee (for Roman). We'd go out to lunch or attempt to make food at home, only for Roman to come in and save the meal in its entirety. We'd either go out or stay in, laughing over drinks or dancing together at clubs.

And in between it all, there were little pockets where Roman's lips would find mine, when I would pull him into an empty bathroom and press my chest against his, so close that I wasn't sure which was my heartbeat and which was his and I didn't even care to know. We'd almost always be interrupted, just shy that line of going too far, although I could feel me wanting to cross that line over and over again.

I lean my head back onto Devin's insanely comfortable hammock, shutting my eyes tightly as I allow the sun to bring just a bit of color to my bare chest. We'd be going to Malibu tomorrow, and I worried that I'd begin feeling trapped there again. But for now, I was still in Florida and I was still okay.

There's a shifted weight on the hammock, and then legs coming up to rest between mine. Slender legs. None like the boy who I'd had an intense make-out session with this morning after breakfast in a supply closet. I open my eyes just a tad to find Hayley staring back at me, her pink lips pursed in an amused grin. "Comfortable?" she asks, teasingly.

"Very, thanks for asking," I retort, smiling softly at her. "What's up?"

She bites her lip. "Are we good?"

I make an incredulous face. "Didn't we go over this, Hay? Of course, we are." Hayley had approached me the next morning after Truth or Dare, apologies quick on her lips though they weren't necessary. As far as everyone knows, Roman and I are just friends. I couldn't be mad at Hayley even if I wanted to be. Which I really, really didn't.

"I just feel like shit about it," she says. "I mean, you like him, don't you? Like, really like him?"

        I shield my face from the sun and force it into a nonchalant expression. "Actually, I think he and I are just going to stay friends," I lie, pursing my lips together. "Easier this way."

       "Hmm?" Hayley hums. "So do you mind if I ask him out, then?

        I grit my teeth and force a smile onto my lips. "Nope. No problem at all. I think you should go for it."

        "I think we'd be good together," she continues. I heave a sigh but stay silent. "I mean, he's a damn good kisser. I wouldn't be surprised if he's good in bed. How big do you think he is? A guy that nice has to be overcompensating for something, right?"

I snort softly. "He's definitely not overcompensating for anything." It takes me a moment to register that I've implied that I would know and I intake a breath. "Wait, I didn't mean—"

"I knew it! I knew you two were hooking up!"

        I reach forward and place my hands over her mouth, shushing her. "God, are you trying to tell all of Florida?!" I ask, glancing around the thankfully empty backyard. "How the hell did you know?"

        Hayley brushes my hands off and grins wickedly. "Dinner last night. You went to the bathroom and Roman took a phone call. You came back with a red mark on your neck and Rome had some dopey look on his face."

        I blush deeply. "So everything you just said about wanting to go out with him...?"

         Hayley smirks. "I made it up," she says, popping the 'p.' She has this smug look on her face that has me shaking my head incredulously. "He's not really my type."

        "And who is? Hunter? You know, I noticed you guys sneaking off that first night," I respond cheekily.

Hayley's eyes widen. "How do you—"

"Neither of you is the most subtle," I remark, my smile dropping just a bit. "Listen, this thing with Roman...I don't fully understand it, but I want to keep it as ours."

Hayley nods. "I get that. Same with Hunter and me. We're not back together but I just—I can't seem to stay away from him, you know?"

I scratch the back of my neck, thinking of a certain pair of green and gold eyes, and nod. "Yeah. I know."

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sorry i'm a little late
i love you guys