Stuck with Him (5 page)

"No, I've been to China. I've never had take-out."

I stared at Matt. Just what kind of person was I talking to, anyway?

"Just a second, I'll take care of it," Matt said.

He pulled out his cell phone and called someone, ordering food for both of us.

"There, it should be ready soon. Want a beer?"

He got up and grabbed two bottles before I could answer. Well, at least
this
was something I could recognize.

I had expected the Chinese to take longer, but within only five minutes someone was in the elevator. It was Hastings. He had a huge cart filled with platters, bowls, and bamboo boxes.

One by one, Hastings lifted the lids. There were dumplings, potstickers, mounds of rice, and delicately fried vegetables. It looked nothing like my usual box of greasy chow mein.

"How did you get all this?" I asked. "How did it get here so fast?"

"I just asked Hastings to pick it up from a restaurant I knew."

"And does that restaurant
normally
have a take-out option?"

"No…"

Of course. I couldn't complain though, because everything looked delicious. Sometime later, I would have to teach Matt what
real
take-out tasted like. I caught myself. Why was I planning for our future together? We had none. He could find out about takeout on his own.

Hastings left the cart behind and we were alone together again. I stared at the huge mound of food. The silence was uncomfortable.

Then Matt turned to me.

"Season two?"

I grinned. "Do you even have to ask?"

Chapter 8

"Hey sleepyhead."

I was leaning against Matt. We were in a huge apartment, on a big soft couch, with mountains of food in front of us. Was I dreaming?

Matt ran his fingers over my cheek.

"Hey there," he said, "you should get ready for bed. It's been a long day."

No, I definitely wasn't dreaming. I jerked away from Matt and gave him a look. He raised his hands and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not my fault that you can't hold your beer. Was I supposed to push you away?"

I looked at the table, there were three empty bottles sitting near me. Had I drunk that much? My body felt warm, tingly. Yep, that was beer all right.

"The bathroom is that way," Matt said. "I'll clean up."

As I walked in the direction he pointed, Matt started to pick up the dirty plates and bowls. It felt surprisingly domestic. I watched him for a while, and then hurried away.

The bathroom was bigger than my apartment. Not bigger than my bed, or even my side of the room. No, it was bigger than my entire apartment.

A huge basin ran along the length of the wall, and as I approached it water began to flow from the faucets. There was already a small toiletry kit waiting for me, so I used that to brush my teeth and wash my face. So far so good.

There was just one problem. Where was the shower? The room was a huge flat plane. There was no glass box, or even a demarcation to tell me where the shower should be. It wasn't until I walked around and a torrent of water came down on my head that I found it.

"AH!" I yelled.

"Are you okay?" Matt asked.

Hurriedly, I answered, "Yes, I'm okay. Don't come in!"

My clothes were wet, and so was my hair. Great, I was going to be a mess tomorrow. Oh well, it was too late to worry about that. I undressed and stood under the shower. As much as it was strange, it was probably the best shower I had ever had. It felt like standing in the rain.

When I was done, I realized my second mistake. Now I had no clothes. Not even something to wear to bed. I wrapped a towel around me and slumped to the floor. What was I going to do
now
?

Just at that moment, I heard a knock on the door.

"I promise I won't look," Matt said.

"What do you want?"

"I have something for you," he said.

He cracked the door open a little, just enough to shove his hand through. I grabbed the clothes from his hands and shut the door.

Once he was gone, I looked at what Matt had brought me. I shook my head slowly. I couldn't believe it. Only a man would do this.

Matt had handed me some underwear and clothes to sleep in. That was strange enough, but I was thankful to have
something
to wear. Now, the problem was just exactly what type of clothes he chose.
 

It was a light pink nightgown. The fabric was nearly transparent, and the neckline plunged down so far that it left almost nothing to the imagination. Its length didn't even manage to cover the curves of my backside.

"Matt!" I screamed.

"Is everything okay?" he asked when he got to the bathroom door.

I flung the door open.

"Look at this! Just exactly what were you thinking?"

"I see what you mean," Matt said. Even though he tried to suppress it, his lips curled into a smile. "I guess I was just thinking about what
I'd
like to see you wearing."

I felt his eyes burning into my skin. He licked his lips, looking almost hungry. My heart started racing.

 
Well, he wasn't getting whatever he was hungry for! I covered my chest with one hand and slammed the door shut with the other.

"Get me something decent to wear," I yelled.

Then, when I heard him walk away, I slumped down to the floor. My heart was still racing. What did he look at me like that for? I dropped my face into my hands. This was going to be a hard night.

There was a quiet knock on the door. Matt turned the knob and quickly left some clothes on the floor. I picked it up. It was one of his shirts. A big white T-shirt.

I pulled it over my head and it fell down almost to my knees. The shirt completely covered the lacy lingerie Matt had given me at first.
That
was more like it.

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I noticed a smell. I brought the fabric to my nose and sniffed. It smelled like
him
. His detergent, his cologne. I smelled it again. Something about that scent was comforting. I felt like I wanted it all around me,
always
.

I dropped the shirt and laughed at myself. Yeah, right. Why was I getting so excited over a stupid shirt?

I left the bathroom and walked into the living room.

"That's not too bad either," Matt said.

I shot him a look and he shut his mouth.

"You can have my bed tonight," Matt said. He pointed in the direction of his room. "Sorry, but I'll have to take this luxurious couch all for myself."

"Are you sure? I can take the couch," I said. I felt bad kicking him out of his own space.

"No way, I'll think of this as camping!"

I ended up smiling despite myself. It seemed to be happening a lot lately. Today, I just couldn't manage to keep hating him.

Matt waved at me.

"Good night!" he said.

I walked into his bedroom, but turned around before I closed the door.

"Good night," I said and shut the room.

Chapter 9

Just like every other room in this place, Matt's bedroom was huge. But unlike with the other rooms, I was too sleepy and drunk to really care. I stumbled into his bed and got under the covers. Just like his shirt, it smelled of him.

I was almost certain that as soon as my head hit the pillow, I would fall asleep, but that's not what happened. Instead, every little worry I had in my mind came to me at once.
 

Maybe it was being alone in such a large room. Maybe it was being in a strange place. Whatever it was, I shivered under the covers, and not from the cold.

Would my mom be all right? Would the paparazzi leave her alone now? What about Kiara? How is she doing, dealing with them on her own?

These thoughts, and more, ran through my head. I stared into the darkness with my eyes wide open. Suddenly, I felt very alone.

I stood up and walked to the door. When I peeked out, I saw that Matt was already asleep, sprawled across the couch. I almost went back to bed, but when I saw the darkness again, I changed my mind.

"Hey, Matt," I said.

He turned in his sleep, but he didn't wake up. I decided to raise my voice.

"Matt!"

That
was enough. His eyes opened and he sat up.

"Penelope? What's up?" he asked, groggily. His hair was a mess, and he was only wearing a pair of boxers. I tried my best not to look away from his face.

 
"Could you," I stammered. "C – could you come and sleep with me?"

Matt's eyes opened wider. I waved my hands and shook my head.

"No, no! I just mean … I'm kind of lonely in there. It would be nice to have someone else in the room," I said.

"You sure?" Matt asked.

I nodded.

He stood up and walked behind me into the room. I got into the bed on one side, and he got into the other. I pointed my back at Matt and squeezed my body so that there was no way we would touch. Not that I needed to, since the mattress was so large.

After a while, I started to relax. Hearing the sound of his breath was enough to keep my anxiety away.

"Hey Penelope?"

I turned around to look at him. "Yes? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Even in the dark, I could see smiling.

"I will, but I just wanted to say something," Matt said. "I'm really happy you decided to come with me. Even if it's only for today, I'm happy. I just didn't want everything to end at the library. I wanted to be able to spend
just a little
more time with you. "

Matt paused. "That's all."

My heart melted. This whole time I had been trying so hard,
so hard
, not to see him like I did then. There wasn't much light, but it was all I needed to see the same man who convinced me to search for a book with him in the library. The same man whose smile I couldn't resist from the moment I first saw it.

What was the point in continuing to hate him? Even if I told myself I did, it wouldn't be real, would it?

I reached out and brushed the hair out of his eyes. Matt caught my hand. Just a few moments ago, I would've pulled away, but this time I didn't. His hand swallowed mine, completely wrapping it in its warmth.

"Penny," he said.

Matt grabbed me and pressed his lips against mine. I must've jerked away, because he pulled back. His eyes were wide, searching my face. I didn't have an answer for him, so I simply kissed him back.

After that, Matt's lips crashed onto my own. He rolled on top of me, pinning me down with his weight. Everything seemed to be moving so fast. He acted like he was
hungry
, like he'd been waiting forever for that moment.

My heart raced. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, was still a voice saying that I shouldn't trust this white boy. He would kick me out tomorrow. It wasn't real. But the feeling of his lips drowned out my worries. I just wanted more, feel more, taste more of him.

Matt tore off my clothes even faster than I could have myself. He threw them all over the room, letting them fall on the floor. It wasn't until he was done and I was naked beneath him that he stopped.

I looked up at him, and it almost seemed like he was frozen still. After all that commotion, suddenly Matt was just looking at me with his wide eyes.

"Matt?" I asked.

He seemed to break out of his trance. He shook his head and smiled.

"It's just… you're so…
beautiful
."

I laughed. "Yeah right, billionaire boy. You don't need to lie to me."

I reached for the blanket to cover myself up, but Matt's hand held my wrist.

"Why would I lie to you?" he said.

He bent down and softly kissed my lips.

"You are." Another kiss. "The most." Two kisses. "Beautiful thing ." A third. "That I have ever seen."

My heart clenched. Tears balanced on my eyelashes and it was hard to breathe. What was he saying those kinds of things for?

Matt reached out and dried my tears. He lowered himself on top, and held me tight. The whole while, he kept kissing me so gently until my body relaxed. In his arms, I felt calm.

It didn't take long before we weren't
just
kissing. Matt's hands roamed over my body. He took breasts in his hands and rolled my nipples between his fingers.

I moaned. The sensation ran through my body, shooting all the way to my toes. It made me hold on to Matt tighter, wrapping my arms around him. I brought my mouth to his neck and bit into the skin. I heard him suck in a long breath and felt the hardness in his boxers press against me.

Matt's hands made their way down my body. They explored my stomach, my hips, my thighs. They moved over my curves like they were treasures. Then, slowly Matt's fingers slipped between my legs.

I pressed my thighs together to keep him out, but he pulled them apart again. I wasn't even sure why I was struggling. Maybe it was habit. Already, I knew what I wanted, and that wasn't to stop with kisses. No, I wanted
more
.

Matt's fingers slipped against my wetness. He teased me, sliding his fingers until I arched my back underneath him. Every moment that he wasn't inside of me felt like torture. Did he know? Did he feel the same way?

Maybe he did, because the teasing didn't last much longer. Matt pressed his fingers inside of me until they were buried up to the knuckle. I gasped, clutching onto him.
 

He slipped in and out, and my mind went back to the first time I felt his fingers this way. That time, his eyes were full of desire. This time, he burned with it in his entire body. Every single touch set my skin on fire.

Matt took my nipple in his mouth and sucked on it while his fingers kept pressing between my legs. After that, everything else melted away. How did he always make me feel like that, like there was no one and nothing else in the world. Just us.

When his lips left my breast I missed the sensation, but it was soon replaced. Matt kissed his way down until his head was between my legs. For a moment, everything stopped, but then I felt it. Matt's warm tongue slipped in and gave me a long, slow lick.
 

I gasped. It was warm, softer than his fingers. Nothing happened again for a while. I could feel Matt's breath against me, waiting for something. Then, all at once, he gave me several small quick licks. This time, I yelped, my stomach clenching.