Communication

"You okay, Emma?  You look a little pale."  Dale eyed me as I entered Kate's apartment.  The two of them were drinking boxed wine and watching YouTube videos.

I shrugged, embarrassed by what had happened.

"I'm fine, really.  I got sick during dinner, not at the table or anything.  But Rob's blue cheese was too much for me, I guess!"

"Rob, that's your neighbor, right?" Dale asked.

"Yeah, our super cute neighbor who Emma hangs out with like, every day!" Kate chirped, toasting me with her coffee mug full of wine and waggling her eyebrows.

"Ooh, but what about waiter-guy, I thought you were a thing?" Dale perked up at Kate's insinuations.  Dale still insisted upon calling Eric 'waiter-guy' for some reason, despite knowing his name and having met him previously.

"Oh, no, it's not like that," I waved him off, "Rob is just a friend.  And I haven't even seen Eric in a week, so I wouldn't really say we're a thing.  Even if we were, though, Rob is still just a friend."

"Uh-huh, a cute friend of the opposite sex that you see more often than the guy you're dating.  Just friends, suuure!" Dale laughed, rolling his eyes at me.  These two were on a roll tonight.

"Yeah, well you two see each other and hang out all the time despite being the opposite sex, so your point is moot!" I laughed them off and put my food in the fridge.  Dale raised his eyebrows at Kate and shrugged, as if to say 'point taken'.

I could see where Dale and Kate were coming from, though.  It was a little weird that I hung out with Rob practically daily, yet Eric hadn't tried to see me in a week.  I thought on it for a bit, but Rob had never expressed any sort of attraction towards me.  We just got along really well and he cared about my well-being.  The more I thought about it, the more it bugged me that Eric has been so aloof.  Checking the time on my phone, I decided to call him and ask to see him that night.  I'd made up my mind that tonight I wanted to see where we stand.  I'm not looking for a label on our relationship, but honestly, we've been seeing each other for a few weeks now.  It's time to have a talk.  The fact that he sounded excited to see me just confused me even more after his distance this past week.

I brushed my teeth and freshened up before heading out, kissing Kate and Dale on their foreheads and telling them to behave on my way out the door.




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"Mmm, I missed you," Eric murmured into my hair, pulling me into a tight hug.  I breathed in the scent of him and felt my head spin.  Okay, so he definitely still had an effect on me.  He certainly seemed happy to see me, so why hadn't he called?  Ugh.  I pushed the thought from my mind and lost myself in his arms.

"I missed you, too.  You must've been busy this week?" I tried to sound curious, not accusatory.  He didn't owe me an explanation, but I hoped he would offer one.

"I've worked three doubles out of my last four shifts.  Two people quit this week, leaving us kinda short staffed.  The money is good, but it's been exhausting," he lamented. "And I've missed seeing you.  The timing sucks, I know you've had a rough week and I'm sorry I wasn't really available to you.  I wanna make it up to you this weekend!"

My heart melted.  He looked so sincere, I knew he was being truthful. I still felt hurt and neglected, though now I felt more like a jerk than anything.  Communication goes both ways and I'd been so wrapped up in my own little world that I'd never even bothered to ask Eric how he's been and what he's been up to.  I felt guilty for mentally accusing him of being wishy-washy and playing games.  It seemed obvious now that he wasn't being distant for a nefarious reason, he'd just been busy.

I stretched on my tip toes to kiss him.  He tasted like cherry Chapstick and I smiled against his lips.  He'd been wearing it the first time we had ever kissed and I knew I'd forever associate the taste with him.  Eric ran his hands through my hair, kissing me more firmly.  I knew where this was leading and reluctantly broke away.

"You okay, babe?" he asked, holding me at arms length.

"Actually, I wanted to talk to you.  That's why I asked to come over.  Can we sit?" I gestured toward the couch.

He nodded.

"Of course we can talk.  Adam will be home, soon, though, so let's talk in my room."

I followed him down the short hallway to his bedroom.  His bed was neatly made, the room was clean and lacked clutter.  I admired how tidy he kept his things.  I sat on the edge of the bed, playing nervously with the comforter beneath my hands.  Why is talking to someone so hard, sometimes?

Eric kneeled on the floor between my legs, facing me.  He was so tall that he was nearly eye level with me.  I held eye contact and instantly felt guilty for how concerned he looked.  I placed my hands on each of his shoulders and took a deep breath.

"I'm not really sure how to phrase this," I faltered, struggling to find the right words.  "It's just, I've been so stressed this week and I felt like you were avoiding me after we had sex.  I know it wasn't the first time we've slept together, but it was the first time since we started seeing each other again.  It brought back how I felt in the beginning, when you would practically push me out the door after we had sex - I know now that's because Ruby still lived here, but it still kinda hurt..." I trailed off.

"Go ahead, I wanna hear what you're thinking," he encouraged.

"Well, I felt like maybe you're not that into me.  Like, sex was what you wanted and you got it.  Does that make sense?  And now I feel like a bitch for thinking that, because it turns out you've just been busy, not avoiding me.   I mean, we've never set terms for our relationship, so I just worked myself up all week over thinking things.  And I'm sorry." I was rambling now, feeling sillier with every word that left my mouth.

I was surprised to see a smile creeping across Eric's handsome face.  I was even more surprised when he started to laugh.  Here I was, laying my emotions out and he was laughing?  I withdrew my hands from his shoulders and clasped them together in my lap.

"That's what all this is about?  Babe, I'm crazy about you, don't you know that?  I never want you to feel like I'm avoiding you or don't have time for you.  I really care about you and love spending time with you, I wish you'd told me how you've been feeling.  I'm sorry for laughing, I'm just relieved.  I honestly thought you wanted to tell me you don't want to see me anymore!"

"I guess we should work on our communication skills, huh?" I smiled.  Now that wasn't so bad, was it?  I mentally smacked myself for how I've been acting and feeling all week.  I brought some of it on myself.  If I'd just taken the time to communicate my thoughts, I could've avoided a whole week of over analyzing and working myself up.  Eric hadn't even realized I thought something was wrong between us.

He leaned in, then, closing the gap between us and kissing me fiercely.  I responded, pulling him closer and wrapping myself around him as he still kneeled in front of me.  I felt his arms circle around me, supporting my back.  He nipped gently at my lip, causing me to gasp in surprise.  It didn't hurt, but it surprised me.  I nipped back, a little less gently.  A shiver rolled through me as I heard his sharp intake of breath.

"Now you've done it," he growled playfully, pushing me onto my back and climbing onto The bed beside me.  His hands were roaming down my body, teasing my nipples through my shirt, gripping my thighs, stroking my collar bones.  I whimpered, wanting more.  I grabbed for his shirt, pulling it off him and exposing his toned body.  I trailed my fingers down the sexy v-indent of his hips, pulling at his belt.  Within seconds, he was fully naked next to me while I remained fully clothed.

His body was my version of perfect.  Toned, lean with a smattering of dark hair across his chest, more hair trailing down from his belly button in a straight line south.  I ran my fingers across his lower stomach, grasping his hips and circling my thumbs along the v-indents there.  I teased him, bringing my hands close to his now prominent erection, but never touching it.  Instead, I massaged and kissed his thighs, gently stroking the base of his groin but never making full contact where I knew he wanted me to touch him. He grabbed my wrists, then, pulling me up to kiss his mouth.

Wordlessly, he pulled my shirt and leggings off, leaving me in only my underwear and bra.  His gently bit and kissed his way from my neck down to my stomach, over to my thighs and the band of the thong I was wearing.  I breathed heavily, knowing he was teasing me just the way I had teased him.

In one smooth motion, he pushed my panties to the side and entered me.  His movements were slow, gentle and oh-so-satisfying.  Normally, our sex was frenzied, fast paced.  This felt different, somehow.  His lips never left mine as he rocked his hips, thrusting inside me.  I could feel my muscles tensing, anticipating sweet release.

"Emma," he whispered, his mouth against my ear.

"Mmhmm?" I murmured, barely able to form coherent thoughts, let alone words.

"I love this..."

"Mmhmm, I love it, too," I gasped, relishing in the feel of having him inside me.  I was close, now, and I know he could tell.  His thrusts became deeper, somehow, and he grinded up against me.  I came within seconds and he soon followed.

As we lay there sweating and pressed up against each other, he grinned.

"We should have talks like this more often."