Under My Skin

16 | no strings attached

Chapter Sixteen:

Ria's head lolled from side to side as she awoke from the deep trance. The soreness in her body was not dissimilar to how she had felt only a couple of weeks ago. The only difference was that this time she knew the cause immediately.

She was acutely aware of a palpable pressure over her chest region. Glancing down, she was met with rich caramel lustrous waves of hair directly over her bosom. One familiar hand was tenderly grasping her breast over her lacy bra.

She felt a warm flush wash over her as she reminisced the events of the night before.

It had been three times as opposed to the wild and crazed five times when they'd been intoxicated. And after they'd gotten gratification from exploring each other's bodies, again and again, they'd talked. A lot.

They'd talked about the rapidly incoming sham wedding of Reid and Lydia. They'd discussed plans for the engagement party they'd been recruited to organise for the following week. They'd talked about Ben and his needs, and finally, they'd talked about themselves.

What were they now that Reid wasn't the only thing connecting them? They had agreed they'd crossed the fine lines of friendship and something more. And they'd decided they'd want to continue - whatever this was - no strings attached.

Ria inwardly smiled as she softly attempted to pry the older boy from her chest. He groaned in resistance, and she sighed, peaking at her phone. It was 8 a.m., and Reid and Lydia were due to land at 11 a.m.

"Blaine," she whispered calmly, nudging the boy as she spoke.

He grunted inarticulate words in response but remained situated on her chest.

"Blaine." She murmured again, her hands running through his thick head of hair, "Blaine, Reid's here." She threatened.

His eyes immediately widened as he jumped off the bed, glancing around almost frantic as though the boy would be standing in Ria's room with a knife, ready to pounce on him. He let out a loud groan of annoyance. "Not funny, Ri."

But she was giggling. "I wasn't trying to be! I had to say something. You were crushing my boobs." She massaged her breasts exaggeratedly, feigning pain as she did so

"Your pillows are too flat." He complained as he leapt back into the bed, folding the pillow in half so that it was at least doubled its size. "Your boobs were the only logical alternative."

Something had changed in the last twenty-four hours. Ria didn't feel uncomfortable at all. She didn't need to use the covers to hide her body as she had last time. They'd reached a level of understanding they didn't have with anyone else but each other. And Ria wasn't quite sure yet whether that was a good thing or not.

"You know, Blaine. I was thinking," Ria said, shifting onto her side to face the older boy, their bodies parallel in the bed.

"Oh, god. Should I be worried?" He mocked her jokingly.

"Hey, shut up." She jokily jabbed a finger into his chest, relishing his hardness, her finger pressing for a second too long. "I was thinking since you said you were struggling with rent and supporting Ben. Why don't you move in here, with Reid and me? I mean, we have the space."

"I'm not sure about staying in the room that was Rayhan and Sihem's if I'm honest. And as kind of an offer, as that is, I probably couldn't afford it." He answered honestly, his hand reaching up towards Ria's jawline, cupping her face slightly, his finger stroking the smooth skin of her cheek.

She let her eyes flutter close for a second as she savoured the feel of his touch against her cheek. The feather-light strokes were enough to emit that warmth within her that she would only ever associate with Blaine. She squeezed her thighs shut, desperately trying to ignore the increasing heat between her thighs.