Whatever It Is

The sun shone on Carlos’ face, slowly waking him up. He shifted slightly, nuzzling his face further into the crook of Hazel’s neck.

He suddenly tensed, realizing his surroundings. He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to fully wake himself up, and he looked down to see Hazel in his arms.

Her back was pressed against his front, and his left arm was wrapped around her stomach while his right arm was under her head, snaking around her chest so his hand rested on her shoulder. Their legs were tangled together too, and when Carlos took a deep breath he could smell Hazel’s shampoo.

He didn’t want to move, but at the same time he knew he should. He also knew that if he did move there was no way she wouldn’t wake up, because they were so heavily entangled in one another. Part of him wanted her to wake up. He wanted to see her reaction, to she if she was happy or regretted it.

They had been drunk, after all, and Carlos wasn’t exactly the relationship type right now. He knew that she was aware of that, so he was curious as to see how she felt.

He wasn’t sure how he was as calm as he was, because usually he’d be scrambling to get the Hell out. This was the second time he’d woken up with Hazel in his arms, which normally he’d consider careless behavior. The first time he was beyond wasted, and he was in his own house, so it was understandable. Plus, they hadn't actually had sex. He had assumed they had, but his assumptions proved false.

But this time he was at her place. He had every opportunity to get up and go. He also wasn’t as drunk as that other time. In fact, he was only a little buzzed last night. He’d had one night stands before when he was a lot drunker and he’d made it out fine. And they had definitely had sex this time. That was one thing he knew for sure.

So what was so different about Hazel that made him push it? Maybe it was the fact that he actually fell asleep after they’d had sex. With other women, he would pretend to fall asleep, wait until they fell asleep, and then he’d book it.

Carlos took another deep breath, not having moved from their position cuddled up together. He knew that if he stayed where he was any longer that he was going to have to actually face her once she got up. But he didn’t care. This was the first time in a long time he had woken up next to a girl after they had had sex, and it was the first time in a long time he’d wanted to stay.

His face was still nuzzled against the back of her neck, where he pressed a soft kiss before closing his eyes once more.

The next time Carlos woke up, it was because he felt Hazel turn around in his arms. His eyes opened slowly, and he saw Hazel looking up at him.

“Hey,” she greeted cautiously.

“Hey,” Carlos greeted back hoarsely, adjusting his arms around her. When she realized Carlos wasn’t trying to get away, (in fact he was pulling her closer) Hazel relaxed her tense shoulders. Neither of them said anything, mostly because neither of them knew what to say.

“What time is it?” Hazel whispered. Carlos glanced at the clock, seeing it was just after ten.

“Five after ten,” he answered.

“Do you have practice or anything?” Hazel knew that they didn’t have a game, but she didn’t know whether or not he still had to meet with the team.

“No. I should probably work out,” he murmured. Both of them were skirting around the topic of what had occurred between the two of them, and although it was apparently silently agreed upon that they weren’t going to, Hazel was insanely confused.

She knew that Carlos normally didn’t do this kind of thing. Well, he did do the sex part, but not the sticking around afterwards part. She felt like maybe he was trying to be nice because he knew her and he knew he’d have to see her a lot after this too. It wasn’t like he could just bolt when he’d probably see her by the end of the night anyways.

His best friend was her brother after all.

They had been a little tipsy, though, so maybe he felt like he owed her some kind of explanation? Carlos’ hand suddenly ran up and down her curves, bringing her attention back to him.

“What are you thinking about?” Carlos asked.

“Nothing,” Hazel lied, deciding to change the subject. “When do you have to leave?”

“Why? You got plans?”

“No,” she answered. “I was just curious.”

“No time in particular,” Carlos shrugged. “I can stay as long as you stay,” he smirked. Hazel grinned back at him, letting out a light laugh.

“I can pretty much stay in bed all day,” she asserted.

“Well then, it looks like we’re staying in bed all day.”

Hazel smiled, and Carlos slowly brushed the bangs out of her face before kissing her softly. Hazel instantly responded, letting Carlos slip his tongue into her mouth. When he pulled away, he looked at her mischievously.

“What?” Hazel asked cautiously.

“I was thinking,” Carlos started, pecking her on the lips. “Last night pretty much worked that pie off.”

Hazel laughed, nodding in agreement as he trailed kisses along her jaw and down her neck.

“So, I was also thinking, instead of going to the clubhouse to workout…” Carlos trailed off, looking up at her and wiggling his eyebrows. Hazel laughed again, and Carlos kissed her collarbone. Things got heated pretty quickly, and Hazel had barely anytime to comprehend what was going on before they were about to go at it again. Carlos was kissing her intensely, and his hand was trailing lower and lower past her navel.

Suddenly, however, everything stopped. Hazel opened her eyes, looking questioningly at Carlos.

“Why’d you stop?” She asked breathlessly.

“Well, you didn’t exactly give me the green light,” Carlos asserted.

“What?”

“You laughed when I said I wanted to have sex instead of going to work out, but you didn’t agree to it or anything. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with it.”

“We’ve already had sex,” Hazel pointed out.

“Yeah, while we were drunk and weren’t thinking straight,” Carlos countered. Hazel furrowed her brow at him, putting her hand on his chest as if she were going to push him away.

“Alright, we’ve avoided the topic long enough,” Hazel stated. “I wasn’t going to say anything, because I like you and I didn’t want you to blow up at me, but what exactly are you trying to accomplish here?”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t have relationships, as far as I recall. You have sex with women, and then you leave and never speak to them again. I’m wondering where I fit in. I was ready to just let last night slide, since we were both drunk, and we could have forgotten about it and moved on. Stayed friends, or whatever. But now…I’m just confused.”

Carlos sighed, rolling off of her and onto his back. Hazel sat up a little, wrapping the sheets around her and looking over at him.

“You’re mad at me now anyways, aren’t you?”

Carlos turned his head to look at her, and he saw the apology in her eyes. He sat up and pulled her in for a side hug, kissing her temple.

“No, I’m not mad. And to be honest, you’re the first girl I’ve been with that I’ve actually stuck around afterwards with since-”

Carlos cut himself off, remaining quiet.

“Since what?” Hazel prompted.

“Listen, I like you too, but I don’t know if I can do a relationship,” Carlos avoided. Hazel nodded understandingly.

“I figured as much. It would be kind of awkward around Gordon anyways,” Hazel smiled.

“I’m going to be straight with you right now,” Carlos suddenly said.

“Okay.”

“I’m attracted to you, obviously. And you’re a sweet girl.”

“But…” Hazel smirked.

“But…you’re right. It would be awkward. And you know I’m not looking for a relationship right now. And although I like you, I’d rather just be friends. I know it didn’t seem like that a few minutes ago when I was feeling you up, but you know….you can’t blame a guy for trying.”

“You know, while you were seducing me, I had almost forgotten how much of a pig you were,” Hazel grinned.

Carlos glared at her, and Hazel just laughed.

“Guess you have to go work out now,” she noted, getting up and letting the sheet fall while she sauntered toward the bathroom. She turned around just before closing the door, waiting for Carlos to finish looking her over and make eye contact. She winked before closing the door, and Carlos heard her turn the shower on.

“Fucking tease,” Carlos muttered, flopping back down on the bed. He rolled over, so his face was in his pillows, and he could immediately smell Hazel’s shampoo. “I am so fucking screwed.”

***

“You got laid last night, didn’t you?”

Carlos froze mid-arm curl, almost dropping the weight.

“What?”

“I can tell,” Gordon smirked. The two men were currently at the clubhouse working out, and they had only been there for about fifteen minutes. After Hazel had showered Carlos took his turn, and the two of them had a quick and slightly awkward goodbye.

Carlos had barely walked through his own door when Gordon had called him, asking if he was going to work out at all. Carlos said yes and they met soon after, with a lot of eye contact avoidance on Carlos’ part.

“You can tell? How?”

“You’re always a little less…I don’t know. Frustrated…or less irritated. For a little bit, anyways,” Gordon shrugged. “But it’s really obvious today. She must have been a good time huh?”

“Uh. Yeah,” Carlos stammered.

“So, did you meet her at a bar or something?”

“Yeah,” was Carlos’ answer. Technically, he had met Hazel for the first time at a sports bar.

“And? How was it?”

Carlos felt weird talking about the sex he had with Hazel when Gordon was her brother, but then again, Gordon didn’t know that he had been with her. He knew if he didn’t give a good enough answer Gordon would know something was up.

“I was a little drunk, but from what I remember it was pretty damn good,” Carlos attempted. It wasn't exactly the truth. He remembered it all, and it was fucking hot. “We almost went another round this morning,” he decided to add.

“Oh yeah? What stopped you?” Gordon smirked.

“You called,” Carlos decided to lie.

“Well shit, why’d you answer?” The younger man laughed.

“Gave me an excuse to get her out, I guess,” Carlos shrugged.

“Maybe you should keep this one around for a while,” Gordon said, trying to sound nonchalant. Carlos gave him a pointed look, and Gordon chuckled. “Couldn’t hurt to try.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I just think you should give relationships another shot, you know? I mean, one night stands are satisfying in the moment, but don’t you get like, lonely?”

Carlos set his weight down, turning to face Gordon fully.

“Are you always this touchy feely with your guy friends?” Carlos asked.

“You’re obviously unhappy. I’m just trying to make a suggestion,” Gordon said, ignoring Carlos’ question.

“Don’t worry about me, alright Bacon? I appreciate that you’re trying and everything, but you don’t get it. I loved her a lot, you know? And she just...left. I think you know that I’m a pretty serious guy, so for me to have even been sure enough to ask a woman to spend the rest of our lives together was a big deal. I think everything through to the smallest detail, wondering if I made the right choice and what would have happened if I had done something else. So when she didn’t walk down that aisle…”

Carlos trailed off, looking at everything but Gordon.

“It’s hard to explain, alright? I just don’t want to try right now,” Carlos finished. Gordon just nodded, not really knowing what to say. The two of them finished their workout in silence, with Gordon glancing at Carlos curiously every so often.