...

After swiftly breaking free from Harry's warm embrace I shuffled off of his lap and sloped down from the bed, my arse as sore as ever before. Carefully, I strutted into the on-suite bathroom and snatched a couple paper towels which I subsequently used to wipe our bodies clean. Once I was doing that, Harry's gaze was heavy on my face, which I could notice even though I was focused on his crotch. He was admiring it.

I felt uncomfortable. Therefore, I finished up and put the paper towels aside before flinging my arms around Harry's neck and confronted him with the one thing that had been battling in the back of my mind for the past three hours.

"I have to ask you something."

Harry's brows shot up slightly. "Yeah?"

"Have you stopped sleeping with other people?"

His hole face seemed to clench and magically, I already had the answer to my question. Irises expanding, cheeks splashing in pink, nostrils widening in embarrassment and lips forming into a straight line—basically the recipe of a transparent facial expression. The answer was yes, but he was struggling with all his heart to admit it.

"No," he said, adding a fake chuckle at the end. "Why would you ask that?"

With narrowed eyes, I glanced back at him and the then current—even more embarrassed—look on his face was confirming that he had just told a big fat lie. The reason he refused to admit it was because he knew I had no desire whatsoever in pursuing anything else than sex out of our "relationship". Therefore, he would not want me to know that he had stopped sleeping with others because he felt as though he only wanted me.

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Just curious."

To prevent the build of an awkward tension in the room, I went against my own will and leaned in to kiss his cheek. After pulling back, I reached for my clothes and got dressed beside him on the mattress. Leaping off the bed, I snatched the tissue with our cum on it and folded it twice before tossing it in the bin next to the door.

Once Harry was fully dressed he walked up to me and hugged me again, this time from behind. As he breathed in my hair, I wondered what he was thinking. The embrace could have meant that he simply wanted to hug me as a thank you for the sex—or else it could mean that he knew his feelings were unanswered and took advantage of holding me when he still had the chance.

The second option made me feel bad.

Therefore I turned around and hugged him back. Due to that existent feeling of guilt, I crept my arms around his torso and comfortingly stroked his back with the palms of my hands. As my face was somewhat buried into his chest I felt a kiss on the side of my face and my gut tightened in overflowing guilt. Not only had I made sure he knew I didn't want him to only have sex with me—I had also potentially tricked him into thinking that liked him more than I actually did.

Come to think about it, he was probably more confused than I was. By being selfish and too lazy to take proper control out of the situation, I was constantly giving him mixed signals. If I had been a good human being, I would have told him not to be with me anymore. The problem was that I needed the sex and for that reason I could not tell him to leave me because of his feelings.

"It was so much better without the condom," Harry whispered into my ear after thirty seconds of embracement, still holding me just as close to his chest. With his hand stroking my upper back he added, "Wasn't it?"

"Yeah." I turned my cheek, resting the side of my face against his chest. I joked, "If I get filled with fucking diseases now, you're a dead man."

He chortled. "It was your idea."

"You forgot the condom."

He laughed softly into my hair, sniffing it a little before slowly letting go of me.

"I leave first?" I shot him a glance, the happy expression on his face instantly fading.

"Right. Go ahead."

And so I unlocked the door and snuck out to leave him behind.

...

Once I made it downstairs, the one thing that managed to bring my mood to the top of the ceiling was the moment I found Niall sitting on a couch with Elise in his lap. Niall's right hand was resting on her thighs while his other was holding a bottle of beer that he chugged out of every once in a while. Elise, on the other hand, was giggling and fiddling with Niall's fingers.

"Louee!" Elise screeched once I reached the couch. "How was the sex?"

My gut tightened. Was it that obvious?

"Um. Hello to you, too." I blushed, feeling the soreness between my legs while sitting down on the couch. I was desperate to change the subject as soon as they both looked at me. "What's going on?"

A sudden cheer caused my head to snap so that I was looking straight forward, allowing my question to get answered right away. There was a round poker table with five people around it—including Caleb and Adeline—and some of them were only in half their clothes. Adeline, for instance, was only wearing her skirt and a bra, while Caleb was topless and barefoot.

"Strip poker?" I laughed.

"Boo-ya!" Niall rose his beer in the air.

"Why haven't you two joined?"

"Niall doesn't wanna get naked," Elise giggled and I instantly understood why.

Five minutes later, I ended up joining them at the table—and twenty minutes into the game I was already barefoot and missing my shirt. Due to the alcohol that I was constantly consuming, sitting there topless did under no circumstances make me feel uncomfortable. Though, one of the guys around the table only had his boxers left and he still looked like the happiest chap in the room.

It was when Addie unclasped her bra that the room rose in hysteria. Her tits were out and I was starting to feel uncomfortable for her sake. Hearing guys catcalling and making "flirty" comments about her somewhat angered me. After all, she was one of my closest friends and I did not want anyone sexualising her, regardless of if she enjoyed it or not. She was not an item. She was my friend.

The first one to be stripped down naked was the guy next to me, who in his drunken state stood up on his chair and started jumping up and down—his goods flying everywhere. Fortunately, that was where the game ended and I instantly signed for Addie to get dressed. She gave me a subtle smile and did as I said, finally putting my heart somewhat at ease.

While lacing my shoes I spotted Harry who was tearing me down with his gaze—seemingly wondering why the heck I was topless in public. I shrugged and shot him a smile which he did not return. Instead, he nodded and looked away. That was when Addie spotted him—and let me inform you, she had consumed a lot of drinks.

"Styles!" she screeched, swinging her arms around him.

Oh God.

Harry inspected her, discreetly putting his hand on her waist, "Hi, Adeline. You're a little drunk, yeah?"

He was uncomfortable.

"So drunk." She laughed. "Maybe you could help me with something?"

This was interesting. He had just lied and declined having stopped sleeping with other people, and now he was getting an open request, right in front of my eyes. Would he accept Adeline's request to make his lie more believable, or would he turn her down for his own personal sake?

"Actually, Addie, um, I'm sorry, but I'm not really up for it right now."

Oh wow.

He really was resisting.

Addie yanked his collar and looked him in the eye with a sad pout. She tried to persuade him but he repeatedly declined, telling her sorry before he snook out of the crowd and disappeared for the rest of the night. For that reason, I could hang out with my friends without having a care in the world. Apparently, Adeline went in with the same outlook, as she ended up kissing Caleb when it was getting close to three in the morning.

What a night.

...