Shinta

My eyes are out of focus as I blink them open. It takes me a while to figure out where I am. The stiffness in my back tells me I fell asleep on Josiah’s couch again. I pull out my almost dead phone and check the time.

“Shit, I’m going to be late if I don’t get up right now.” I roll off the couch and redo my pony tail. “I might just have enough time to shower but I’ll have to hurry.” I run down the stairs, skipping a step at a time. 

“Good morning sleepy head,” Josiah grins, greeting me when I enter the cafe. 

“Good morning, beautiful,” I reply, too tired to exist. 

“Here, let me make you a coffee. You look terrible.”

“You are a life saver. I slept like shit.”
“Maybe don’t sleep on the couch next time?”

“Maybe I’ll just crawl in with you,” I joke, half serious. I think my heart would explode if that happened. There’s a reason I stay on the couch. Even if Josiah were to invite me to his bed to sleep like we did when we were kids, I couldn’t handle it. There’s no way I could get any sleep with him right next to me. Not with how I feel now. 

“No way, you kick in your sleep. I’m not dealing with that.” He laughs that beautiful, hearty laugh and my insides melt. 

“Thank you for the coffee,” I say as I grab the cup he has set down. “I still need to go home before work. Text me?”

“I’ll text you.” 

“Love you, bye!

“You too.”

I kick off my shoes and hurry to take the fastest shower I can. As I’m drying my hair, my phone goes off.

“Oh, it's Simon!” I sit down on the bed, towel in my hair. 

[Hey, you off work today?]

[No, just took a shower, about to head into work now.]

[Lame. I was going to see if you wanted to hang out ;)]

[I get off work at 5. We can hang out after? :0]

[Bet. I'll see you when you get home from work.]

[Okay, I’ll see you at like 5:15ish?]

[See you then ;)]

[ttys]

Work drags on. It feels like forever when you’re waiting so eagerly for something. I could just be reading too much into it but that sure was a lot of winky faces. Maybe I’m getting my hopes up too high but if I play my cards right, I could be getting laid tonight. Will it be worth it? Probably not. Nothing seems to fill the void that fills my chest. The one person I truly want is someone who's completely off limits. Everyone else just leaves me more empty than I was before. But, at least I can forget, just for a little while. Just for a little while I can get lost in the lust and carnal urges. Nothing on my mind but pleasure and the want for the person in front of me. 

By the time I’m on my way home my mind has been made up. I’m not going to bed alone tonight and Simon is the one who's going to share my sheets. I don’t think it will be too hard. He and I both know this is just for now. And that’s for the best I think. We are both lonely. We can fill the void just for a little while. 

Simon’s waiting on the stairs of the apartment complex when I come around the corner. A smile creeps across my face, lust already burning a hole into my stomach. 

  “Hey there, you come here often?” I ask, knowing damn well how lame it sounds but I don’t care. 

He lets out a chuckle as he stands to greet me. He holds out his hand for me as I walk up. Of course, I take it. I close the gap between us until I know it’s close enough to get my intentions across.

“I was thinking about coming here a little more often actually.” Then, he kisses me. I breathe in the warm air he breaths out on me and that's all it takes. 

“You want to take this party inside?”

He raises an eyebrow at me. Inside the apartment or you?”

“Maybe both,” I reply brazenly. 

He kisses me one more time before he follows me into my apartment.