“What the hell did you say?”

Cameron was shocked. Those words had reflexively escaped his lips but his mind was blank. All that was reverberating within were the words Sharon had said. Or what he believed he’d heard her say.

He was still reeling. That had been the last thing he expected from her. Wondering whether his ears were playing tricks on him, he sat up on and looked down. But she had turned her back on him, her eyes closed, by the time he recovered.

“Sharon, come on. Say that again. I need to hear it again,”he said, trying to make her look at him. He tried shaking her shoulder. He had to confirm again. He knew she was only pretending to sleep. Her face was flushed a bright red, which he could see from the lights coming in through the windows. But she was unmoved. Her eyes were tightly closed and she even let out a soft snore every now and then.

Thinking through his options, he decided to be bold. Go big or go home, as they said. Also she hadn’t run screaming out of his bed the moment she woke up. It wasn’t that he had taken advantage of her. He had simply carried her to his bed and was going to sleep outside but she hadn’t let go of him.

Aside from that, he knew his ears weren’t deceiving him. He had heard her say what she had. He had just been gripped with shock and uncertainty, Hoping that this wasn’t going to backfire, he pushed her to her back and levered himself over her, settling between those thick, pillowy thighs.

Her reaction was comical, to say the least. She gasped out in shock, her eyes opening wide and her arms flailing around. When she finally realised what had happened, she glared up at him while her hands settled on his shoulders. He had a hard time holding back his laughter.

“Cameron, what the hell are you doing?”she demanded, her hand punching his arm. He just smiled down at her, happy that she wasn’t treating him like some pervert. He was even happier when he realise that she had avoided his rehabilitating shoulder. She was taking care of him. Her green eyes practically shot sparks in the low light. She was angry. But as the silence continued, he could see her becoming more self-conscious, her eyes looking away before she returned to glare at him. “What? Explain yourself.”

“I don’t know,”he said, deciding to be serious this time. He couldn’t help but run his finger down her cheek. “I thought I heard you say something outrageous and just wanted to hear you say it again. You know, to confirm it.”

"Really? That's it?"

"Yeah,"he said, trying to be firm but the way she said it made him doubt himself. Was it not a big deal to her? She'd acted like it was but maybe he was wrong.

“Oh no, did you hear me decide to give up ice cream? You must have a boring life if that is enough to get such a reaction,”she sneered, trying to change the subject. But he was undaunted. She was lying through her teeth. He knew what he heard and that wasn't it.

"Really?"he asked in blatant disbelief. She nodded, acting all offended and mighty. It made him want to play with her a bit more. "Then you wouldn't mind if I do this?" Her brows furrowed together, clearly wondering what he had in mind. Then continuing in his being bold, he planted a kiss on her lips. At first, he had planned for a soft kiss. But when her lips parted in shock, he deepened the contact in reflex, his tongue dipping in and exploring all corners of her mouth.

He couldn't believe how instantaneous his arousal was. His mind went blank for a moment as he nearly drowned in the sea of passion and desire. He struggled to comprehend what was happening. She still tasted of sleep but before long, the sweet creaminess from the ice creams came through. Finally, he was able to taste her. A burst of floral sweetness and a hint of sharpness hit his tongue and he wanted more of that. But the constant push in his shoulders made him release her lips.

His breath was racing, much to his surprise. The kiss had been a mere couple of minutes. It was a blip in time. Yet, his heart was ready to burst out of his chest. Strength had deserted his arms and he had a hard time holding himself up. Resting his forehead against hers, he looked into her unfocused eyes and had to hold back the urge to kiss her again.

As he struggled, he was gratified to see that she was also having a hard time. Her hands on his shoulders were opening and closing, their grasps strengthening and loosening, as if she was wondering whether to push him away or hold onto him. Her breathing was even heavier than his and her eyes vacillated between looking at his lips and looking away. He wanted to kiss her again just to keep her eyes on him.

But before he did that, before they progressed any further, he needed to know what they were now. He wanted to know why she'd said what she said. Had it really been a slip of the tongue? Or had she been serious? If yes, what did that mean between them? Were they merely friends with benefit? Or was it something more serious?
Even as he was driven mad from all these unanswered questions, he still hesitated to ask. What if their relationship deteriorated from the question? Deteriorated to the point of no return? Deteriorated to the point where she didn't want anything to do with him anymore? In the comfort of his own mind, he could confess to being scared. But if he was going to have any peace of mind, he knew he had to ask these questions.

Luckily, before he had to muster his courage to ask, she beat him to the punch. But in an entirely different way than he had expected. In a way that confirmed what he had heard.

"So are we doing it or not?"

---@@@---

Sharon was fighting the fiery blush from appearing from her face as she stared up at Cameron. She couldn’t believe her daring. It was like another person had taken over her body and spouting all these words.

But there was no denying that they were her true desires. Just by making up her mind, a barrier had been destroyed and everything that she had been suppressing was running rampant. That kiss hadn’t helped either. It had set the tepid fire within her blazing. Her thighs were so wet that she was finding it hard to keep from fidgeting in discomfort.

Then he moved again. From hovering over her, he laid down on the bed and pulled her to her side. Just like she had done when she first woke up, she was looking at him again. Only this time, she was surprised, hot and bothered, instead of being only bothered.

“So this is unexpected,”he said after a moment of silence.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what the hell was that? Sex? Getting it on? I know we still have some things to work out but that’s like jumping the gun. Don’t get me wrong. I want to do this. I really, really do. But I want this to last.” She found it difficult to look at him. Even though she had made up her mind, it was another thing entirely to say it out loud. But he wasn’t making it easy on her.

Grabbing her chin, he made her look at him. It was impossible to avoid his eyes, eyes that were boring into her. “I’ve told you that I like you and the feelings haven’t changed since. Do you have an answer?”

“I-I do,”she answered honestly. Mustering her courage, it was time for her to take the plunge. “I like you, too. I really do. I am ready for more. But I’m scared.”

“Of what?”he asked, trying to keep a serious front but failing. She could see a smile struggling to break through his façade and wanted to take back her words. He was clearly relishing her position, which infuriated her. But his small act of childishness was also endearing. It was one of the reasons that made her fall for him in the first place. He allowed her to also be childish without feeling out of place. One of the other reasons was linked to the concern he was exuding after thinking about her hesitation. “Is there a reason we can’t be together?”

“No. No. Nothing like that. It’s not that we can’t be together,”she said, soothing his agitation. She had no idea what he was talking about but her concerns had nothing to do with external factors. Instead, it was something internal, something more personal. Taking a deep breath, she continued. “I’m just scared.”

“Scared? About what?”

“A-about what people are going to say. I mean, Holly was publicly announced as your girlfriend and even though she was so pretty, I saw some pretty mean comments. With how I look and where I work at, I can’t even imagine what people are going to say about us.”

She was gasping for breath after letting out her concern. As much as she liked him and wanted to be with him, it was all the external factors that made her hesitate. She had seen how much his fans liked him from their adventure in Atlantic City. Although she had fun avoiding them with him then, their intensity made her pull back now.

While she was worrying about that, she found her body was almost touching him. Her elbows, which had been straight when she had placed them on his shoulders reflexively, were slowly bending. The arm around her waist had been inexorably pulling her closer to him.

“Cameron?”she asked, looking at him. She wasn’t sure whether it was a deliberate action on his part as his eyes weren’t focused on anything. But when she was being pushed on her back again, she had to grab his attention. Hitting his shoulder, she called out to him again. “Cameron! What are you doing? Hey, let me go-“

She wasn’t able to do anything else as her lips were covered for the second time that night. The first time had been more of an exploratory kiss although it was hot and deep. She had been able to taste him. But this time, it was different. She was immediately consumed by the heat. She couldn’t do anything apart from melt into him and let him take her for the ride.

She could feel his hands on her skin, under her shirt, under her pants. She wasn’t even sure where her clothes had gone to or when they had been removed but her skin craved for more of his touch. But when his fingers were fiddling with her bra hook, sanity returned for a moment. Tearing her lips off his, she took a deep breath and tried to make order of what was happening.

They were moving so fast and she wasn’t complaining. She wanted to continue. With the way he was moving up and down her neck, she almost crumbled. But there was something she needed to confirm. Even though she had spoken about it earlier, there was no confirmation. She still had some doubts. They needed to get everything in the clear right now.

Waiting until he drew back for breath, she hurried to voice her concern.

"What are we right now?"

AN: Hey guys. Here with another midweek upload. I meant to upload it on Sunday but Eid visiting and pure laziness are messing up with my schedule. Maybe my utter bad mood from soul sucking johbsearch played a part but we'll never know definitively. But let me know if you have a preference. Do you like Sundays or Tuesdays/Wednesdays better?

About the chapter, I feel like I'm drawing things out a bit but this needs to be done. They need to really talk about their feelings. This is their first time kissing and something more too (tbc on the next chapter) so I can't really rush things. Which means I'm screwing with my plan to end this by June but who cares right? It's not like people are waiting for me to rewrite AP. Rrrriiiiggghhhhhttt?

Anyways, please VOTE and COMMENT if you liked it. Follow me on Wattpad, Twitter and ko-fi for infrequent updates. Also hope you can check out and buy my book, Accidental Babies, on Amazon. That'd be great.

THANKS