I was rather comfy in bed not worrying about the hazy sound of someone’s voice. I tried to ignore it, but the disembodied voice eventually entered the room pestering me to “rise and shine”.

I pulled the covers over my head, and for emphasis added, “Shut up, Trace!” And though I tried to sound seriously threatening, I ended up whining.

“Sounds like something Bounce would say.”

There was a dip in the bed as he sat down and began messing with the blankets.

“Doesn’t look like him.” Trace peeked under the covers and laughed at the look of disgust on my face.

“After last night, shouldn’t you be at the clinic getting tested.” He looked a little confused, so I added, “Bonus points if you check positive for Chlamydia.”

He looked at me with one of those ‘I’m really insulted, but I don’t know how to respond’ looks before heading for the bathroom and knocking on the door. “I didn’t come to be tortured by you. I came to be tortured by him.”

I now perceived the steam as it billowed out. Seconds later, Justin was leaning against the frame in nothing but a low-slung towel haphazardly hanging on his slender waist.

At this point I kind of tuned out of their conversation. All I noticed was a bead of moisture run down his shoulder and slowly descend on his tanned skin. I couldn’t help but notice how the water moved over every inch of smooth, yet hard and toned muscle. The drop eventually disappeared under the pale green towel, but I could still imagine how it would run over-.

Grab a hold of yourself, woman, I mentally yelled at myself. I refused to allow personal feelings get in the way of the friendship I was still trying to build up. Of course having spent the night lying next to him and waking up in his bed didn’t really help my case. You just really need a boyfriend and last night is messing with your emotions.