Their stifled laughter bounced off the rain-slick sidewalks and the well-watered cars parked along the street. By now whatever they had originally been laughing about is long since forgotten, but the giggling, swaying pair walking towards her house was far from caring why. Drunk on silliness rather than spirits, they tiptoed their way up the steps, across the porch, through the door, and back down to the basement as quietly as possible. Arriving at their destination the young woman turned to her companion with a playful grin.
"Well... this is it!" She continued turning to twirl aimlessly for a few rotations. "Would you like the official tour?" She joked, stopping now to focus on her friend. Taking into consideration once again his ruggedly handsome face and the adorably disheveled hair and clothing, her insides turned over slowly like a car trying to start on a cold morning.
Once he smilingly nodded his interest, she showed him around the small but well-furnished room. Desk, computer, art stuff, armchair, treadmill, mini-kitchen, shelf. He laughed at the witty magnets on her two-foot tall refrigerator, and appreciatively inspected the couple pieces of antique furniture. With a mischievous glimmer in her eyes, she turned over her shoulder to look up the extra six inches into his face, held up a finger for patience and slipped behind a curtain that covered most of one wall. He could hear rustling fabric and some faint plasticine scratching, and stood outside the curtain very curious.
"Okay, you can come in if you want," the voice emerged only slightly muffled from inside the curtains. He gingerly parted the curtains and peeked inside. What he saw was a very welcome sight β that of a bed. However to top it off this bed was covered with a fluffy white comforter, surrounded by plush pillows, and lit by a string of lights along the ceiling. The benefits of the curtains, the lockable soundproof door, and being two stories below the other slumbering occupants of this house all fell into place for him, and he began to hatch a plan for the evening.
"Hey, I just wanted to make sure it was cleaned up first. Yup this is where I sleep," she glanced at the bed in obvious embarrassment as to what happens on beds between boys and girls, and the forwardness of her showing it to him.
"Um, are you thirsty or anything? I have snacks and stuff..."
"No, I'm fine thanks, Nicole."
She loved the deep resonating quality of his voice. She liked hugging him when he talked just to feel the vibrations fill his chest and then travel through his body to hers. Now a different kind of vibrations were filling her body; her heart stuttered and skipped and a blush seemed to be permanently glowing across her cheeks. Nicole redirected her gaze from a faked point of interested and glanced at him, unintentionally freezing stock still as she looked up to meet the intense expression he held while he had been staring at her.