by Steph Nuss
Sometimes a girl just needed alone time in her space, where she could get carelessly naked and just be. Maybe jam out and have a private dance party. Maybe take a shower and sing along to the iPod. That’s what I needed. I hadn’t been able to walk around naked since I moved in with Justin. That was one nice thing about living with Trey. I knew his schedule like the back of my hand. I knew when I had time to myself.
Now that I had some, I was taking advantage of it.
Stripping off my hoodie, I threw it on the floor and kicked off my shoes and socks. Next went the yoga pants and tank. I tucked my iPod into my bra and boogied to another song by Bruno Mars before moving the iPod to my mouth and stripping off my bra and panties.
As the song changed to Liz Phair and she sang about being extraordinary, I pretended my iPod was a mic and lip-synced along with her, feeling free and sexy in my bare skin. I pulled the twist tie out of my hair, letting it fall over my shoulders, and started headbanging to the beat of the drums.
When the song changed and Missy Elliott encouraged me to work it, I took my solo show across the hall. I was still sweaty from my workout, and wanted a shower more than anything right now.
Pushing the bathroom door open, a cloud of steam greeted me, and I immediately stopped dancing as heat engulfed my body. Then I watched Justin step out of the shower, water running down his hard, lean body, like an almighty deity stepping onto his stage.
Fuck, he’s hung. Just the sight of his cock in its naked glory made me speechless. I no longer heard the music blaring in my ear buds. I only heard the sound of my heart beating wildly in my chest as I took him in from head to toe.
He tossed his wet hair back out of his face and then ran his fingers through it, crooking his brows at me in amusement.
“Uh, I-uh—” My gaze turned downward again, straight to his magic stick where I couldn’t stop staring. “I-I’m-you’re—wow.”
“Tessa?”
I focused upward at the sound of my name, trying my best not to make eye contact with him as I ripped the headphones out of my ears. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were home.”
“I think we’re even,” he said, his deep, magnetic voice pulling my gaze back to him. He wrapped a towel around his waist. A surprised grin lingered on his lips while his cool hazel-blue eyes gave me a once-over. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
It was then that I remembered I was naked, and quickly covered myself with my arms. “Oh, my, God!”
Running back to my room, I slammed the door shut behind me and leaned against it. Humiliation flooded my system as my heart raced faster. I threw my iPod on the dresser, and took deep breaths to try to calm myself down.
What the fuck just happened? Did I really just see him completely naked? I ogled his tan banana like some crazy female monkey escaped from the zoo, all bright-eyed and eager for it.
It wasn’t that I hadn’t seen a penis before; I had. But this was Justin Jameson’s! The sex dream I’d had about him did not do him justice. He was long, smooth and veiny, with the perfect amount of girth and magnificently groomed.
Just thinking about it made me—
“Tess?”
He knocked on my door, and I prayed the wood floors would swallow me whole. I tied my robe around my waist, exhaling another deep breath before opening the door to him with my head held high. “Yes?”
Standing before me with the towel still knotted at his waist, the boyish grin on his face grew. “Shower’s all yours.”
“Thanks,” I noted, fully composed.
“No problem.” He started toward his room, but stopped halfway down the hall and glanced over his shoulder. “Do you mind me asking, what were you doing?”
I crossed my arms over my robe and shrugged nonchalantly. “Just dancing.”
“Naked?” he asked curiously, delighting in my discomfort. “In the apartment?”
I sighed, flustered. “Can we please just not talk about it?”
“Sure.” His deep, sexy laugh vibrated down the hall and caressed over my skin, causing goose bumps to rise under my robe. He entered his room without another word, and a surge of relief settled over me.
I rubbed away the goose bumps and took a step toward the bathroom.
“I’m sure it was one hell of a show though,” he said, poking his head out of his room. His smile fell as his hot gaze ran over me one more time. “It’s a shame I missed it.”
Laughing lightly, I shook my head. “Well, don’t think you’re going to get another chance to see it. The show’s over.”
“Until next time!” he called, closing the door to his room.
“Next time,” I scoffed under my breath, berating myself. Note to self: Next time, make sure the apartment’s empty first!
***
“I saw his penis,” I announced quietly, as I entered downward facing dog.
It was the Saturday after my disastrous naked dance fest, and the girls and I were at our fifth beginner’s yoga class at Maverick’s gym. Our group of friends had made a bucket list after Elly’s cancer scare last year, and one of the items was to learn yoga. Since the guys weren’t particularly interested in it, they opted out of joining us, which meant every Saturday morning for the next four weeks was our girl time.
“Did you actually see it?” Bayler asked curiously. “Or did you just see an outline of it again when he went commando in sweats, because that doesn’t really count.”
“I saw it,” I whispered. “All of it.”
“Is he hung?” Harper asked.
“He is!” I squealed, earning us a glare from the instructor.
“Wait,” Elly said. We stretched up into the standing forward bend pose, and then she continued. “Jesus, mid-pregnancy is really not the time to learn yoga.”
“Focus on your breathing,” Paige suggested calmly. “It’ll make it a little easier.”
“Not having this damn bump would make this pose easier.”
Bayler hushed them and then smacked my arm. “Back to Justin’s penis.”
“No,” Elly said, shaking her head. “I want to know how you saw it. How’d it happen?”
We exhaled down into upward facing dog as instructed and started our breathing, which usually meant we just continued talking. “Okay, so you know how when you’re home alone, you just want to walk around naked sometimes?”
“Definitely.” Bayler and Harper nodded in agreement.
“No, who does that?” Elly asked.
“I don’t,” Paige said, shaking her head. “Are you saying you were walking around your apartment naked?”
“I wasn’t exactly walking around,” I stated. “I was just dancing in my room to my iPod.”
“Naked?” Elly asked, appalled. “Why would you do that? You have a window in your room. Some peeping Tom could’ve seen you.”
“The shades were closed,” I explained, rolling my eyes.
“It’s liberating,” Bayler stated proudly. “Dancing around naked. I get it.”
“Exactly,” I nodded. “So, I’d just gotten home from a workout, and after some dancing, I decided to take a shower. That’s when I realized I wasn’t home alone. Justin walked out of the shower just as I walked into the bathroom, so I saw everything. The hammer and nuts. Clear as day.”
“Now, that’s how you do a naked dance party!” Bayler praised, giving me a high five.
“What happened next?” Harper asked eagerly.
“What do you think happened?” We dropped our knees to the mats and pressed our hips back into upward facing dog. “I couldn’t stop staring at him, and then I stuttered through an apology, completely forgetting that I was just as naked until he pointed it out. Then I ran back to my room humiliated. I still can’t look at him without seeing his penis.”
The instructor led us into a warrior one pose as I relived the embarrassment all over again. “It was more embarrassing than when I had a sex dream about him and came in my sleep. Twice.”
“That can happen?!” Bayler asked in disbelief. “Wai
t, when did this dream occur, and why are we just now hearing about it?”
“Yeah, details!” Harper begged.
I sighed. “It happened the night after Seghen was born, and I don’t really want to talk about it. It’s embarrassing.”
“No, it’s not,” Elly said, in a comforting voice. “It’s fairly common for women to have sex dreams.”
“And come?” Bayler asked. “Dreams that provide real orgasms? Sign me up. Clearly, my REM cycle sucks because I’ve never had that happen.”
“I have,” Harper admitted with a shrug. “I had them a lot when I was pregnant.”
“I’ve been having them, too,” Elly said.
Bayler laughed and gave me a nudge. “Were you pregnant in this dream?”
I shuddered, shaking my head. “Not that I remember. I remember that the sex with him was phenomenal; he made me come twice. Then I woke up and realized, you know, that I …”
After we switched sides, we moved into warrior two and Paige asked, “So, you had a sex dream about him, now you’re living with him, and just a few days ago, you saw his penis?”
“Pretty much,” I stated with a nod.
“And you’re using online dating to try and get over him?” Bayler asked, shaking her head. “How’s that working out for you?”
“If her date with the veg-head is any indication, it’s going horrible,” Paige teased.
I stepped out of pose, put my hands on my hips and glared at the four of them. “I don’t know what else to do! It’s not like Justin jumped my bones at the sight of my naked body, like any other guy would.”
“Ladies!” the instructor warned, grabbing our attention. “Quiet, please.”
The group moved into open triangle. I joined them and focused on my breathing.
“Tessa,” Harper whispered. “Maybe he was just surprised and that’s why he didn’t make a move.”
“Maybe,” I said with a shrug.
Bayler cleared her throat as we switched sides. “You could always make the move. Guys love confidence.”
“I can live with embarrassing myself in front of him,” I said, shaking my head, “but I don’t know what I would do if he rejected me.”
“He brought you lunch after the veg-head failed to properly feed you,” Elly said, smiling. “A guy doesn’t do that to a girl he’d reject.”
“No, a guy does that for a friend,” I explained.
“Or maybe he’s falling for you and he doesn’t even know it!” Harper said optimistically. “Maybe he doesn’t really know what to do. This is new territory for him. First, he gets a roommate, and now he’s seen you naked. I bet he’s had more wet dreams than you.”
The four of us laughed at her response and moved into boat pose. We remained quiet for the rest of the lesson as we rolled up into half wheel and then finished by laying on our backs in the corpse pose. After some much-needed girl talk and the calming ambience yoga provided, I was able to end the lesson fully relaxed.
When class was over, we rolled up our mats and left. Harper pulled me aside while the rest of the girls headed toward the gym equipment to start their regular workouts.
“What’s up?” I asked her, smiling.
She worried her bottom lip with her teeth and then smiled. “Is your offer to babysit still good? I know Seghen’s only four weeks old, but I just want to go out to dinner with Mav. We wouldn’t be gone for more than an hour, if that. I’m not even sure I can talk him into leaving her for that long. If I can, would you be interested in watching her?”
“Of course!” I exclaimed, pulling her in for a hug. “My offer is always good to babysit your little princess.”
She exhaled and hugged me back tightly. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. I’ll let you know what night we decide and we can go from there. Does that work?”
“Sounds perfect,” I said, letting her go. “Where is Seghen this morning?”
Harper pointed at the stairs and smiled. “With her dad in his office. I’m headed there now.”
“Give her a kiss for me!”
“Will do!” she laughed. “Thanks again, Tessa!”
Chapter Seven
It was Saturday afternoon, and the guys and I had just won our weekly basketball game against a group of college kids. We’d made shooting hoops at Maverick’s gym a ritual right after it’d opened, and had been coming here every week since to shoot around, pickup a game against other members of the gym, or play a game of three-on-two if nobody challenged us.
Resting my hands on my knees, I took deep breaths, feeling more winded than usual after a game.
“You okay there, Jameson?” Carter laughed, patting me on the back.
I nodded, placing my hands on the back of my head. “I think I’ve gained weight since Tessa moved in.”
“Did you gain a vagina, too?” Cashed smirked.
“You know,” Fletcher stated, spinning the basketball atop his finger. “You could just work off the weight by having sex with her.”
Dropping my arms to my sides, I let out a frustrated sigh and looked at the four of them. “We are not having sex. We’re just friends.”
“Are you telling us you haven’t even thought about it?” Cash asked, smiling widely. “I mean, come on. What’s the point of living with a woman if you aren’t getting laid on a regular basis?”
“Hey,” Maverick said, smacking the back of Cash’s head. “I have a little lady who will someday be a woman. Have a little respect, would you?”
“Okay, okay,” Cash said, rubbing the spot where Mav hit him. He turned his attention back to me. “But I’m serious. You haven’t even thought about having sex with Tessa? She’s hot. You’d have to be a saint to live with her and not think about her like that.”
“I’m with Cash on this,” Fletcher said, nodding. “Are you a saint, Jameson?”
I used to be a saint, I thought. Ever since her lunch date with the conservationist, I’d been having thoughts about taking her out on a date and wondering if she’d enjoy it or not. Then after the shower incident, thoughts of her had turned more sexual. How could they not with a body like hers? I’d seen her in bikinis numerous times, but to see her completely nude was a whole new experience for me, one I couldn’t stop replaying over and over again in my head. Her small, perky breasts paired beautifully with her lithe figure. Her hips jutted out slightly against her fair skin, and her arms and legs were slightly toned. Her hair was just long enough to lay over her shoulders, but short enough to not cover her up. I noticed the gap between her thighs and the small brown patch of hair hiding her pussy. Then when she ran from the bathroom, I was rewarded with the faint bounce of her tight ass with each of her steps.
Every time I walked into the apartment, I wondered if I’d get a chance to see her dancing naked. I thought about watching her raw form moving to the music, so carefree and sexy, with every inch of her fully exposed. I’d danced with her enough times at the club to know the way her hips moved and the way she’d grind her body to the beat. Just thinking about her doing those same moves naked was an absolute turn on. Then I’d imagined what her body would look like dancing naked with me in bed. I’d have to take care of such thoughts before falling asleep, which wasn’t easy to do when our beds shared a wall. Every time I jerked off, I worried about her hearing me. Those anxious thoughts would turn sinful again as I thought about her joining me.
“Justin?” Cash said, waving his hand in front of my face.
“Yeah?” I asked, shaking away those mental pictures of her. “What were we talking about?”
“Sex with Tessa,” Fletcher restated. “Have you thought about it?”
Without a word, I shook my head.
“Not even once?” Maverick asked, narrowing his eyes at me. “I don’t believe that.”
Taking a deep breath, I stole the basketball out of Fletcher’s hand and started dribbling it between my legs. “I’ve thought about her a few times.”
“And?” Fletcher asked curiously.
“A
nd I might have seen her naked,” I said nonchalantly with a shrug.
“WHAT!?” Cash laughed while the other three stood wide-eyed in shock. “Details, man. We need details! What does she look like?”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I’m not going into detail about her. She didn’t know I was home at the time.”
“Go on,” Fletcher said, waving his hand for me to continue.
“And apparently women do this thing where they enjoy dancing around the apartment nude?”
Fletcher and Maverick shared a laugh. “Oh yeah, Bayler walks around naked all time.”
“So does Harper.”
“Guys!” Carter snapped harshly. “Those are my sisters! I’d rather not hear about them being naked.”
I laughed at the disgusted look on his face and then continued explaining how the incident went down. Once I was finished, I dribbled toward the basket and shot a layup.
“That’s it?” Maverick asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yep.” I tossed the ball to Carter, and he looked around at the rest of the guys stupefied. “Why? What else did you guys expect?”
“You didn’t do anything with her after seeing her naked?” Fletcher asked, brows furrowed.
Cash shook his head. “Please tell me you did not pass up an opportunity like that?!”
“What opportunity?” I asked, confused. “We ran into each other naked. It was more of an accident than anything.”
“See,” Maverick said, smiling. “That’s your problem. The rest of us see it as an opportunity for you to make a move, and you just saw it as an accident that wasn’t supposed to happen but did.”
“What was I supposed to do?”
“MAKE A MOVE!” Fletcher shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “Jesus, Jameson! Do we need to draw you a fucking picture? A woman is at her most vulnerable state when she’s naked, and all you did was give Tessa some line about hoping to catch her next nude show. She’s not a stripper.”
“Let’s just be glad he didn’t pull out some ones and throw them at her,” Cash muttered.
