Day 15
×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×
Staring ahead to the wall beside her, Sakura dared not move a muscle.
The bed was warm, her pillows fluffed, and the room had been tidy and smelled clean. She had slept like a rock, hadn’t set an alarm to wake herself up, and when her eyes finally opened to the bands of morning sunlight coming in through the blinds, reality came crashing down on her.
The wall was not painted the color of her bedroom, the sheets were not the same thread count – but better, and the comforter laid over her was not hers alone; she had company.
She hadn’t needed to turn around to know who shared this bed with her, after all, she had spent the whole evening with him, and the night as well. She took a quiet breath and slowly exhaled, thinking over how she was going to handle this situation.
The night before had been a pleasant surprise, she’d never been so boldly approached while also being treated with such care. Gaara was a confident man but hadn’t been an arrogant one, he was a natural flirt it seemed, but he would do away with it the moment he felt it wasn’t received; his company and been an easy and pleasant one.
Are you really gonna walk out on our first date like that?
Sakura could feel herself blush.
She should have read the signs before going out to eat with him, but…maybe if she had she would’ve refused. He was undeniably attractive, though he hadn’t immediately been her type, and as the night had worn on his attention became easier to accept. Leaving the restaurant, he had escorted her the short walk to the local cocktail bar and held the door for her like a gentleman. The bar was a little fancier than the restaurant, and they were given a small booth and a waiter to bring their drinks.
His demeanor had certainly changed after his comment about their date. Once she had accepted it and agreed to continue their night, he began placing his hand on the small of her back or tapping her feet with his own under the table. He’d already shown he wasn’t shy about sharing a straw with her and had offered to share their cocktails as well so that she could try some different ones. Fruity, refreshing, spiced and sweet; they had been delicious, and she sipped slowly, finding that she wanted their date to last just a little longer.
When the drinks were finished, though, she asked if his car was back at the movies. No, Gaara had said, it’s at my sister’s. After successfully monopolizing her time, he had admitted that he’d come to the movies with his siblings, and they had consequently left without him. Sakura had laughed, though she felt a little excited at the fact that he had sought her out in that opportune moment. Offering him a ride back to his place, he accepted and showed her the way.
At his house, her heart was suddenly racing, her blood was pumping through her veins, and she was still contemplating with her next move. Well, this is me, he had said as he pulled on the door handle. Sakura had shut her car off and suddenly asked, Can I come in and use your bathroom? Of course, he hadn’t refused, and of course he’d offered her a glass of water once they were inside, he even took her jacket.
Gaara lived alone, she soon noticed, and she was surprised to see that he owned a house, though she could tell he didn’t have an eye for decorating. Everything was clean, however, it appeared that he liked keeping things tidy and it had the added benefit of making her feel more comfortable. She used his bathroom, took an extra minute to stare at herself in the bathroom mirror; cheeks a little flushed, face looking halfway determined and halfway ready to run.
But running wasn’t an option, not tonight, and she pointed at her reflection, looking deep into her own eyes before returning to Gaara, and muttered, don’t be a wuss.
Her adrenaline had kicked in and her mind was racing so much that she couldn’t really recall exactly how they had made it into his bedroom, but she vividly remembered being pressed into the bed by the weight of his body and how satisfying it felt to be held in intimacy again. Theirs had been a slow and passionate night. Once her clothes started dropping to the floor, she couldn’t remember a second when his hands weren’t on her, when his breath wasn’t ghosting across her skin. There had been a moment or two that she felt awkward and embarrassed, but Gaara didn’t dwell on them, and it made it easier for her not to as well.
Maybe all the excitement and mix of emotions from throughout the day had caught up with her, or maybe she was just that tired, but after the end of their entanglement he had gathered her in his arms and, at some point, she’d fallen asleep there. Fingertips sliding along her skin, stroking her hair, the steady rhythm of his heart as she laid her head on his chest; they had lulled her to sleep in that soft, warm, and inviting bed that had unexpectedly found her.
The light of day could be a harsh one, though, and now her heart was racing for all different reasons.
Without trying to make too much of a disturbance, she reached out to the bedside stand where her phone was sitting and turned on the screen. It was 8:32am, she had a good-morning text from her mom and her friend sent her a chain of meme’s sometime during the early hours of the morning, and the rest of her notifications made her heart drop.
11:43pm
????
12:32am
Look Im sorry.
Awkward, considering that Gaara was dick deep in her by that point.
1:07am
You just gonna ignore me?
She shouldn’t, it really wasn’t like her, but after a minute of contemplation she unlocked her phone and opened her text thread with him. Her fingers shook a little as she typed, perhaps nervous, likely just mad, and she pressed send.
Something came up.
She slowly exhaled and shut off her phone, she didn’t want to know if he answered or not.
But now…what to do about her current predicament? Sakura quietly leaned up in the bed, glancing at the floor and taking inventory of where her clothes had ended up. She saw her jeans by the door, her sweatshirt had been lost somewhere close by, and her bra was somewhere at the foot of the bed, she was sure. If she were quick enough, she might be able to snag everything and make a hasty exit.
Carefully, she lifted up the comforter and slid her legs out the side of the bed. The box-spring creaked a little as she lifted her weight off the mattress and she welcomed the carpeted floor under her bare feet. She picked up her sweatshirt and pulled it over her head, her tank top had still been tangled with it and she rolled it up along with her bra from the floor. She bent down to pick up her jeans, the sound of the comforter shifting gave her pause, and when she rose again with her pants clutched in her hands, Gaara was sitting up in bed; hair a mess, skin painted in the bands of light from window, and watching her with those intense azure eyes.
He smirked at her, amused. “Good morning,” he said, his voice smooth and even, hadn’t he just woken up?
“Morning,” Sakura said, a shy smile on her face. She was glad she’d found her sweatshirt; it was long enough to cover her…well, bits. “Sleep well?” she asked, thinking the question awkward seeing as it wasn’t her house.
He chuckled at her, leaning back against the wall behind his bed. “I do live here.”
She smiled, it was an embarrassed one, and she looked at the floor. “Right,” she said, feeling a little silly but surprisingly not as nervous as she thought she would be. So, she continued, “Thanks for last night, it was fun.”
Gaara grinned, his eyes looking over the bare skin of her legs with his lip pulled between his teeth. “You’re very welcome.”
She looked down and to the side again, her heart fluttering. He’d made that face at her last night, too. “Anyway,” she said as she unrolled her jeans and pulled them up over her legs. Gaara watched as she did and pouted a little once she’d dressed herself. “I should probably get going.” His expression changed again, and he looked crestfallen this time. “Where’s my jacket?”
“It’s in the coat closet by the front door,” he answered as he got out of bed. He was naked, just as she had been, and Sakura quickly looked away though she internally questioned why; she’d quite literally gotten acquainted with him in the early hours of that very morning. Gaara pulled on a pair of sweatpants and picked up her underwear from the other nightstand. He approached her and handed out her undergarment. “Though, I didn’t take you for the hit-it-and-quit-it type.”
“Oh, um,” Sakura flushed red in the face and she floundered for her next words. “Well, I…I wasn’t expecting to–”
“You think I went to the movies expecting to?” he teased. Sakura grabbed her underwear and quickly folded them discreetly into her tank top. Her hair was still a mess, Gaara liked that, she was flustered and kneading her bundle of clothes in her hands, he thought it was cute. “If you’d rather expect it next time, then you can give me your number and I’ll ask you out again.”
It was her turn to bite her lip, and Gaara’s turn to get excited over it. “You…want to do this again?” she asked, looking at him now and studying his face. She’d thought this just a fling, maybe just a one-night stand, she hadn’t wanted to assume and look desperate, but…had he thought differently?
Gaara shrugged, that same casual demeanor from the day before, though this time he reached a hand out to her hip and drew his arms around her waist. “The movie, the dinner, the drinks.” He leaned in and pressed his temple to hers, taking a deep breath and continuing with a relaxed and raspy sigh, “Or whatever else you want, just say the word.”
Sakura allowed herself to stand there in his arms, feeling desired and…well, here she was; with attention and care, with consideration and a clear message of wanting. She hadn’t thought about what the morning would bring, it had been so far away the night before, but it brought her someone that adapted to fit her into his evening and she hadn’t needed to compete for, someone who had – inadvertently – caused her to realize that she had been underappreciated.
She leaned into him a little, resting her head against his shoulder and contemplating the feel of it. “Okay.”
Gaara had helped her gather her things; her coat from the closet, her shoes from the hall, her keys from where they’d been left on the counter, and offered her something to eat before she left, though she had refused. She said she had plans for later that day and he wouldn’t question it, though he did make sure to send her a text the moment she gave him her number. When he met her at the door, she stood there a little awkwardly in the face of their goodbye. Gaara, however, was bold enough to ask for another kiss.
She ducked her head to hide her impulsive smile, and when she felt she wouldn’t betray a cool demeanor, she met him halfway. Arms around his neck, slouched against him and enjoying the way his arms wrapped around her waist and how his hand squeezed her hip. Sakura left after that, a smile on her lips and a weightlessness in her chest that she hadn’t felt for a long time. There was no telling what would come of this; it had been exceedingly unanticipated, but she was excited to find out.
Inside his home, Gaara let out steady and controlled breath.
It had been difficult to keep his cool all evening, especially when she had asked to come inside after dropping him off. He hadn’t expected that, and his heart had nearly flipped in his throat when she shut her car off and walked in with him. He offered to take her jacket; again, surprised that she took it off and gave it to him, and he distinctly remembered thinking, you staying a while?
Where’s the bathroom?
Down the hall.
He even got her some water, and when she returned it had been about five minutes before she had responded to a casual graze of the hand by pulling him into a kiss and he’d been simply lost in her after that. When she allowed herself to be held against him after their impassioned exchange, he made sure that she was comfortable, that with every stroke of his fingers against her skin she became more relaxed and he felt a peculiar satisfaction in knowing she’d fallen asleep there in his arms. Even though his insomnia often kept him awake, eventually he fell asleep, too, and upon waking every so often he would find her there and reach out to her.
He was sure that in some way there was another guy, and he didn’t know who he was, but he didn’t care; he was certain he could do better, and that he likely already had.
Gaara went back to his bedroom and grabbed his phone. His brother had texted him asking about the girl he left with, his sister had called him an asshole, and he dialed up her number. It rang a few times and when she answered with a loving, what do you want? he greeted back, “Hey, I need you to bring me my car.”
“Fuck off,” she said, as if she’d been waiting all morning to do so, and he had a good-natured smile on his face when he looked at the screen of her dropped call.
“I suppose I deserve that.”
×愛×▬▬▬×愛×▬▬▬×愛×