Always There

Chapter Ninety

I hear the hint of teasing in his tone, and so I pinch his back with a huff. "I wasn't kidding. I have this weird achy feeling all over right now and I just really want you to make love to me."

Bryce finally lifts his face up from the pillow, so that he's able to look me in the eye. His eyebrows are furrowed, and he has a quizzical expression on his face.

"Yeah?" he asks. I'm surprised by how low his voice has suddenly become.

Low and husky.

"Yeah," I confirm.

He tilts his head to the side, considering.

Then, his smile turns sad, almost sympathetic. "Fuck, baby. Fuck. We can't, honey. Not right now."

I inhale deeply, trying to keep my composure. "I know. It's okay. Let's just lay down for a few minutes. I just need a second."

Bryce nods in understanding. At first, I expect him to lay back down on top of me, but he instead rolls over so that he's laying on the bed beside me, our sides pressed together.

He gives me a little smile, leans in and kisses me on the forehead. He then wraps an arms around my shoulders, pulling me a little closer towards him so that I can comfortably rest my head on his chest.

I watch as he slowly shuts his eyes, his long eyelashes fanning out across the very tops of his cheeks. I don't know how this man in front of me can go from sexy to adorable so quickly, but I think it just makes me fall for him a little bit harder.

Since Bryce seems content to lay down in bed and shut his eyes for a little while, I decide that I should probably fall silent as well, so that I don't disturb him.

I find myself immediately scanning the room around me. It's not that my new bedroom is anything interesting—especially considering all the decor is pretty tame and the colour palette pretty neutral—but it's still my own room, a luxury I haven't had in a nearly a year.

Well, I wouldn't mind sharing a room for the rest of my life if it meant sharing a room with Bryce. But, since that's just not possible for me right now, I am very content to have my own bedroom again.

The walls are white, just like all the other walls of this apartment, and most of my furniture is white too: my bed frame, my bedside table, my bookshelf, my dresser, my desk, and the little round stool tucked underneath my desk.

My bed is against the back wall of the room, the wall that's really just a giant window considering it's nearly entirely glass, and since the room is so narrow, my little round nightstand just fits in beside the bed. My bookcase is pressed against the side wall at the foot of my bed, and so I had enough room to place a cozy, baby pink reading chair in front of my bookshelf and right at the end of my bed. Next to my bookshelf is my desk and the little stool tucked underneath it, and directly across from my desk, on the parallel wall, is my dresser, a long, rectangular silver mirror hung above it.

I've barely decorated the room yet, but I already love the way everything looks. My bed is probably my favourite part, because I love the plain, baby pink duvet that matches the lampshade of the lamp on my bedside table. My pillows are simple and white, but I also have a few fluffy pink throw pillows that I had pushed aside before I sat down on my bed, which was a good thing considering Bryce and I are now snuggled up together on said bed.

At the thought of Bryce, I glance back towards him only to find that his eyes are still shut, a content expression on his face. I smile a little to myself at this, reaching for Bryce's free hand and entwining my fingers with his.

He gives my hand a gentle squeeze, and I squeeze back before settling back down with my head on his chest.

Even though I love my bed, and I really just love my entire bedroom as a whole, I think my absolute favourite parts of the room are the little pieces of decor that I've added already. I've strung little fairy lights all across my room, hanging from little hooks in the corners where my walls meet my ceiling. The little lights illuminate my entire room with an ethereal glow, even though my pastel pink curtains—curtains that match my duvet, of course—are drawn, letting the last of today's sunlight in through my large window as the sun sets in the distance.