Mistakes Were Made(49)

Clearly neither of them minded if the other had morning breath. They kissed long enough to chase any remnant of it away, kissed until they tasted of each other. The only clothing between them was Cassie’s pajama pants, which somehow never got removed last night. Erin pushed them down, then pressed her entire body into Cassie’s.

“Again?” Cassie said.

Erin quirked an eyebrow at her. “Are you complaining?”

Cassie shook her head so quickly Erin laughed at her. She pushed her pants the rest of the way off.

It was slow, quiet, sleepy sex. Cassie got her fingers on Erin’s clit about halfway through, and they rutted against each other. They didn’t get any louder than whispers: right there and Christ and you feel so fucking good. They came at the same time, faces buried in each other’s necks, panting.

Afterward they kissed, still slow, languid, melding into each other. Erin shouldn’t fall asleep, but how could she do anything else while Cassie’s fingers combed so gently through her hair?

“Shit.”

Erin breathed deeply, let out a murmur of acknowledgment as she exhaled.

Something pushed her shoulder.

“Erin, wake up!” Cassie hissed.

“Mmm?”

Cassie shoved at Erin’s shoulder again, hard enough to move her entire upper body. “It’s past ten.”

Erin sat bolt upright in bed.

“Shit,” she agreed.

Cassie was already out of the bed, hopping on one leg trying to get into her pants.

“Okay,” Erin said. “Okay. Parker’s probably still asleep.”

She climbed out of bed and Cassie immediately hurled a shirt at her.

“Put clothes on!”

Erin caught the soft gray Henley against her face and inhaled. It smelled like the travel-sized body wash that had appeared in the shower this week.

“This is yours.” A giggle escaped.

“No.” Cassie pointed a finger at her. Her attempt at austerity wasn’t particularly effective, given that she was fully topless. “This is not funny! Do not laugh at my potential impending death!”

Erin bit down on what would’ve been a wave of laughter before throwing the shirt at Cassie. She picked her own up off the floor and pulled it over her head. Her pajama pants were on the other side of the bed. By the time she reached them, Cassie, now fully dressed, was at the window on the side of the room, sliding it open.

“What are you doing?” Erin asked as she put her pants on.

“Is the gutter out here attached well?”

“What?”

“Like is it sturdy?”

“Cassie.”

Cassie looked out the window toward the ground. “It’s not that high up. It’ll probably be fine.”

She actually stuck one of her legs outside the window, straddling the sill. Laughter rattled in Erin’s chest, but she didn’t let it out.

“Cassie,” she repeated. “I can just check and see if her door’s closed. You don’t have to climb out the window.”

None of this should have been funny. It was exactly why they weren’t supposed to have sex while Parker was in the house. But Erin felt ridiculous, like Bugs Bunny in a cartoon, tiptoeing to the bedroom door. Cassie quit examining the sturdiness of the gutter to watch.

Erin opened her door a crack, just enough to see down the hall. Parker’s door was still closed. The tension in her body released, and her shoulders sagged in relief. She turned around, closing her door, her teeth biting hard into her lower lip to stop her laughter. Cassie almost smiled at her before furrowing her brow.

“Are we safe?” she stage-whispered.

Erin nodded, not trusting herself to open her mouth.

Cassie pulled her leg back over the sill. She cringed once she was fully inside. “Oh Jesus, I think I pulled something.”

Erin couldn’t stop it then. She leaned against the door, hand over her mouth, shaking with laughter.

“You were really going to go out the window, huh?”

“I was halfway out the window.”

“How were you going to explain your broken ankle?”

“I don’t know! It was fight or flight!”

The patent ridiculousness of that made Erin double over she was laughing so hard. Cassie looked at her like she’d lost her mind, and maybe she had, focusing on the hilarity of the situation instead of all the ways it could go wrong.

“This is maybe the stupidest thing I’ve ever done,” she said, letting out one last chuckle.

Cassie’s face fell. She ran a hand through all that blond hair. “We can stop,” she said, almost but not quite a sulk. “If you want.”

“God, no,” Erin said. She crossed the room to kiss Cassie. “I haven’t had this much fun in years.”

Cassie ducked her head like somehow that would make Erin not notice her smile.

If Erin let herself, she’d be crushed under the weight of all the shoulds. She should feel bad about this. She shouldn’t have slept with Cassie, not even once, but certainly not after learning Parker was her friend, and not with Parker under the same roof. She should be embarrassed. Ashamed. She should stop.

If she thought about it too hard, all of that would get to her. But she refused to let it. She was a grown woman, making her own choices. She didn’t have to be perfect, and she was allowed to have fun. That was what this was. She could have fun for the next week, then Cassie would leave, and this would all be a fun memory. Maybe Erin would even tell Rachel about it. Rachel would die laughing at the thought of Cassie attempting to sneak out her bedroom window to avoid Parker. She would be so proud of the shower sex, Erin could imagine her pretending to tear up.