I eased out of him.Then I pulled the condom off, got up, and went to the bathroom to have a shower.The water pressure in the shower sucked.While I was in there, I changed into a clean T-shirt and boxers.He was standing outside the bathroom door when I came out.
I hugged him.“Thanks.”
He hugged me back.He’d done such a big thing for me.I’d been his first time, but I’d made it all about me.I wanted to make it up to him.
He went into the bathroom, and I went to bed and waited for him.He took a long time in there, and when he came out, he looked tired.
“You want me to do something for you?”I said.
“Not right now,” he said, getting into bed.“I just want to sleep.”
“Oh.Light switch is on the wall.”
“I got it.”
“No, I’ll get it,” I said quickly so he couldn’t argue.
I turned on the hallway light before switching off the bedroom light, and I left the door open.The reason I had fairy lights over my bed at home was because I couldn’t sleep in the dark.I’d figured out in therapy it was because of what happened with my uncle.Therapy was helping, but it was a process, and it was taking time.
I climbed back into bed and spooned him.
“It’s quiet,” I said.“No street noise, no neighbors in the hallway.”
“Mmm.”
“Maybe we can buy a cottage someday, and we can go there in the summers and holidays, just us.We can go there for our honeymoon.”
“Mmm.”
“You okay, honey kid?”
“Yeah.Just tired.”
I held him while he fell asleep, then I lay awake, listening to the soft sounds of his breathing.
Chapter Twenty-Five: Afterglow
