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Exhausted and irritable, Tim Bradford shuffled into his house to find Lucy Chen sprawled out on his couch reading a book. It was a welcome sight after his extra long shift. “Hi, baby,” he greeted her.
“Hey, you’re back! How was the rest of your shift?” She smiled and sat up.
He scrubbed at his face and dragged his legs towards the kitchen to get a cold bottle of beer from the refrigerator. “I can’t believe we worked overtime all because Davidson let a goon slip through our fingers.”
She opened her arms, silently requesting that he join her on the couch. “I’m sorry, honey. Come here.”
Tim went to her easily and sat down next to Lucy on the couch. He watched her take one of his hands and bring it to her face to kiss it. Though a small gesture, it made his heart swell. “And, I missed the first half of the Rams game,” he complained.
“I recorded it for you,” Lucy replied and leaned over to kiss him gently.
“Okay, well, I’ll watch it after you have to leave. Wouldn’t want Tamara to suspect anything.” Their new relationship was fun but also a secret, and they tried to be careful about sneaking around without getting caught.
“You sound like you had a bad day, so I’ll come up with a cover story if Tamara asks, and I’m gonna stay longer tonight.” She reached for the remote to navigate to the recordings. “Let’s watch the game.”
He was about to sit back into the couch when Tim felt Lucy pull him towards her. She laid back and opened her legs while bringing him to lay on her chest bracketed by her thighs. “I actually want to watch the game,” Tim said. It was going to be a good match up, and it would be a great way to unwind after the day he had. If Lucy wanted something ELSE to happen, he would watch the recording of the football game later.
“I know,” she scoffed and pressed play before winding an arm around his back while her other hand lazily ran through his hair.
Tim was not really sure what was happening. Lucy was just…holding him. Not kissing him or trying to start anything physical. Simply giving him the longest hug he’d ever received and making him feel like he was surrounded by her.
Surely, Tim thought, she would want to move at some point or let him go. Lucy did not. Three quarters later, he was still laying on top of her, and it was…NICE. He felt so loved, safe, warm, and comforted that Tim did not even want to get up to cheer after an amazing touch down pass or to drink his beer. No, he was perfectly content staying in her arms.
Lucy knew he must have had a tiring shift by the way he was practically asleep during the 4th quarter, but she did not say a word; she only rubbed his back and smiled.
Tim might have nodded off a little, but when the game was over, he woke up when Lucy turned off the TV.
“I should probably go,” she suggested.
“Mhm,” he hummed but was too comfortable to move.
“Babe? You’re gonna have to get off of me so I can leave,” Lucy chuckled.
“One more minute,” Tim replied and shut his eyes to soak up one last moment of her embrace. Then, he unhappily peeled himself away from her and sat up.
“You could’ve told me how tired you are. I would’ve left to let you get some sleep.”
“I’m not that tired,” he shrugged and stood from the couch as she did the same.
How else would he explain how sleepy he was during the Rams game? “We don’t have to hang out every day after shift. You’re allowed to just come home and crash.”
Tim pulled her close. “But, I like being around you.” He covered her mouth with his for a few moments.
“I do, too.” She stepped away to start putting on her boots.
A little bashful to say so, he but his lip before telling Lucy, “You know…we could do that again…if you want.”
“Watch a football game? Yeah, I know we will,” she scoffed. Lucy was well aware how sports obsessed Tim is.
He shifted his weight on his other foot and replied quietly, “No, I meant whatever THAT was,” he pointed his thumb in the direction of the couch.
“You mean…cuddling? Sure,” Lucy grinned. She thought she knew everything about him, but apparently, she had no idea her new boyfriend likes to cuddle. “I love it, too.” With one last kiss goodbye, she left with the promise of seeing him at work the next day.
Tim shook his head. THAT was cuddling? He has held women in sleep or put an arm around someone while watching TV, but he had never experienced someone holding him like that before. He did not know he could like being cuddled, too or how nice it can feel. It never felt that way before.
So, he started doing some research on positions that he was interested in trying with Lucy. Apparently, the only thing he knew how to do was spoon. He had much to learn.
The following week, Lucy came over for dinner before the next Rams game. As they finishing cleaning up after their meal, Tim asked, “Can we…try cuddling again?”
“Only if you’re comfortable with it. I’m not gonna force you.” After he said he liked how she held him during the previous football game, Tim had not made any attempts to cuddle with her, and Lucy wondered if he was only willing to hold her because he knows how much she loves physical touch.
“I…I want to,” he promised and led the way to the couch and patted on the spot next to him. Once Lucy sat down, he swung her legs over his lap and pulled her closer into his side before wrapping an arm around her. Tim liked how easily she leaned into him and nuzzled his neck, but he still wondered, “Is this okay?” Tim wanted to reciprocate the love and safety he felt in her arms last week during this football game.
“Yeah, are you okay?”
He looked down at her and smiled, “It’s perfect.” During halftime, Tim apologized, “I’m sorry, I forgot,” and started to rub her thigh instead of just keeping his hand there.
“Sorry for what?”
“Soothing circles makes cuddling better,” he recited aloud from his online search.
“Sometimes, that’s true…did you…did you Google cuddling or something?” From his wide eyed look, Lucy sat up straighter to look at him properly. “Tim, I appreciate you trying to cuddle with me, because I like it, but if you’re that uncomfortable with it, we don’t have to.”
With anyone else, Tim would have been too terrified to admit what he was able to confess to her with some effort, “I like it. It’s nice…I just…I don’t have a lot of…experience.”
She was a little surprised, but Lucy kept her face neutral. “That’s okay. Some people don’t like to be held at all and some people like to do all the holding like always being the big spoon.”
“I’m taller. Of course I’m always the big spoon.”
Lucy tilted her head but did not correct him. Instead, she said, “If you want me to hold you, just ask.”
“Maybe during the next football game?” He inquired quietly.
“We don’t have to wait for a football game to cuddle. It can happen any time you want.”
Normally, he only ever held onto women when sleeping next to them if they reached for him or during a movie. Any time? That was a nice offer. “Really?”
“Really,” Lucy promised and kissed his temple.
“Okay.” Tim could feel that his cheeks were warm, but he did not care. Instead, he wrapped his arm around her again and tucked her back into his side.
The game ended, and instead of leaving, she said, “I have a bag in my trunk now in case you’re okay with me staying over. We don’t have to start spending nights together yet if you’re not ready. I just wanted you to know.”
“I wish you could stay with me tonight.” Tim liked the idea of falling asleep next to Lucy and seeing her before anything else in the morning. Whether or not they were having sex yet, they could still have sleepovers.
“Tamara’s going out with friends and told me not to wait up, since she’s staying with a friend.”
“The friend better not be a boy.”
“She’s an adult, and besides, it’d be a little hypocritical if I told her she shouldn’t spend the night with a boy when I’m about to stay with my boyfriend.” The term “boyfriend” flew out of her mouth without thinking, and she was worried she might have scared him by introducing the title too soon. After all, Lucy knew they had only been dating for a few weeks.
“Boyfriend,” he murmured with a grin. “That means you’re my girlfriend.”
“It does,” she nodded and felt her heart skip a beat. Being anyone else’s girlfriend never felt as right as being TIM’S girlfriend.
“Okay then,” Tim smirked. “Let me go grab your bag from your car.”
After getting ready for bed, which was surprisingly not at all difficult or awkward like the first sleepover in a relationship tended to be, Lucy paused before following him into his bed. She had been to his house a number of times, and as his girlfriend, Lucy had entered his bedroom once before to use his en suite bathroom, but she had never been in his BED before.
Tim wondered what was the reason behind the look on her face. “You okay? If you changed your mind…”
“No,” Lucy cut him off. “It’s nothing,” she whispered and took small steps towards his bed as he watched. She peeled back the covers and slid into the bed. His bedding smelled like him, and that made her more comfortable with the idea that she was actually laying in Tim Bradford’s bed WITH Tim Bradford.
He made sure to angle his head to look at her and tried not to smile at the fact that Lucy was in his bed where she would sleep next to him all night.
As giddy as she felt, she realized that their first sleepover was the perfect time to prove her boyfriend was wrong. “Turn over,” Lucy requested.
“You don’t want me to look at you when you sleep?”
“It’s not that. Turn over.”
“If you won’t tell me…”
She groaned and started moving him herself.
He laughed, but before he could ask why Lucy was insistent he change sleeping positions, Tim felt her scoot closer to him.
“Can we try something? You can tell me if you don’t like it,” Lucy whispered before touching him.
“Alright,” he agreed. He trusts her. Tim felt her shift until her entire front was pressed into his back, her legs curled with his, and one of her arms snaked around his side to rest on his stomach. Her breath was warm on the back of his neck, sending goosebumps down his spine.
“Is this okay?”
“Yeah,” he sighed.
“I can hold you like this until you fall asleep or all night if you want.”
Tim was excited at the idea of waking up and seeing her, but the thought of waking up to FEEL her hugging him? It sounded too good to be true. “You don’t have to.”
She kissed the back of his neck. “I want to.”
“O-okay,” his voice was a little shaky with emotion.
“Night, babe,” Lucy whispered and pressed a kiss into his head before shutting her eyes.
He was speechless. Tim had never felt more loved in his life.
When he opened his eyes in the morning to feel Lucy wrapped around him, he wondered if they could call in sick and not go to work in favor of staying in bed like this for the rest of the day. It was perfect. Perfect enough that when he saw her in the break room at the station later that day, he felt emboldened to say, “Last night was nice.”
“That was spooning.”
“No…” Tim swore at himself; he had not noticed since he had never been the little spoon.
“Sounds like you learned you can be the little spoon sometimes.”
He nodded and felt uneasy- was being the little spoon considered “unmanly”? The thought was too embarrassing to say aloud.
“Anyone can be the big spoon, you know. Even short people.”
“I guess, but you’re the girl…”
“Don’t pull that macho crap. Men should be held, too. I like being your big spoon.”
Tim felt the slightest bit of pink creep up on his cheeks.
“I call being big spoon tonight,” she smiled. Lucy was willing to hold him forever if it kept making him so bashfully happy.
“We have reservations for dinner.”
“Cancel ‘em. Let’s stay in.”
“Wish you could sleep over again.”
“Another night…unless we tell Tamara.”
“She’s close with everyone at the station. I can’t trust her to keep our secret for us.”
“Tamara does love to spill the tea.” Lucy agreed.
“We can wait for you to spend the night again.”
“Yeah, we can wait for that, but I’m planning to snuggle up with you after shift. It’s getting colder, so we can use a blanket.”
“You’re hot enough.”
She raised an eyebrow at him.
“I meant that cuddling with you is like cuddling with a space heater, but you’re also hot, too.” Tim winked.
Lucy knew she was blushing and had a huge smile on her face, but she did not care if anyone found them together, since she was too happy to mind. She glanced at the closed break room door before surging up to capture Tim’s lips.
“We have to be careful at the station,” he whispered against her mouth.
She pecked his lips again before stepping away. “You’re right.”
“I usually am,” he smirked smugly.
“You were wrong about having to be the big spoon.”
“I’m glad I was wrong about that.”
Lucy wanted to kiss that fond smile of his face, but she knew they had already taken enough risks for the day.
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A few weeks later, when Tim had the day off while Lucy worked, he shifted on the couch alone (a rare occurrence as of late) and felt restless, so he dialed his girlfriend.
“Hi, just finished booking this guy who had 15 tubes of chapstick on him. It was weird. What’s going on with you?” Lucy asked.
“I was just thinking about you.”
She felt her heart stutter and smiled. “You wanna come over tonight? We can finish the second season of ‘Vampire Cop’?”
“Sure, but…” Tim swallowed and lowered his voice when he asked, “can we cuddle, too?”
“Of course. If you stay over, I can hold you all night.” The best part about everyone now knowing about their relationship was that they could spend any and every night together.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to.” He had been asking for them to snuggle quite a bit lately.
“Like I’ve said a hundred times before, I’ll tell you if I’m not in the mood, but I usually am, and you don’t have to be afraid to ask for what you want.”
“Well, can we try a different position that I think I might like?”
“Absolutely!” Lucy beamed. “I should finish my paperwork and get back out on the street, but I’ll see you at my place later.”
Tim could barely wait to go over to his girlfriend’s house after her shift. Since he had a key and was welcome to use it when ever he wanted, he showed up to her apartment before she did. When Lucy came home, Tim barreled right over to her, pushed her against the front door and kissed her until they were both breathless.
“You must’ve really missed me,” she panted, her eyes still half-lidded and her head buzzing.
He rolled his eyes and stepped back to let her take off her shoes.
“It’s cute, you know,” Lucy flirted and took his hand to lead him to the kitchen.
“I’m not CUTE,” he shot back.
“That’s what you think.” She was surprised to find that dinner was already made. “You cooked dinner for us already?”
He pulled her close and pecked her forehead. “Wanted to make sure we could finish the second season of ‘Vampire Cop’.”
Even though Lucy knew what he really cared about was snuggling together and not actually watching the wholly inaccurate police procedural, she did not say a word. Instead, she served them dinner and sat down next to him at the kitchen counter to eat their meal together while she told him about her day. Tim listened and shared the list of chores he accomplished while waiting for Lucy to end her shift. It was simple and easy like every other meal they shared, and she appreciated that parts of their platonic relationship remained the same now that they have a romantic one. Before sitting down on the couch, Lucy paused and asked, “Where do you want me?”
“Can you…can you change into shorts before you sit down?”
She nodded and disappeared into her bedroom to do as he asked and changed into a pair of small, cotton sleep shorts and one of Tim’s big t shirts. Then, Lucy rejoined him in the living room where she plopped down on one end of the couch.
Tim sat far away from her and laid down to rest his head on her warm, soft thighs. “Is this okay?”
“Yeah, babe.” She put one hand in his hair and the other over his heart.
“You have perfect thighs,” he sighed and rubbed his cheek against her skin with a smile on his face. “I’ve wanted to do this for ages.”
“I never want you to be afraid to ask for what you want. I’m a safe space for you. If you want to snuggle up on my thighs, go right ahead.”
He pressed kisses into her skin right above her knee and smiled even brighter. “I might take you up on that.”
She scraped her nails along his skull and grinned before turning on the TV to start playing “Vampire Cop”. From the corner of her eye, Lucy noticed that Tim spent most of the time staring up at Lucy or dropping kisses to the parts of her body he could reach instead of paying much attention to the show. “If you don’t stop doing that, we’re not gonna finish this episode,” she threatened him since every one of his kisses sent sparks throughout her body that now turned into consuming flames, pulling her focus away from the TV.
He replied sarcastically, “Oh, and I was so enjoying how the vampire touched all the evidence at the crime scene without gloves.”
She chuckled as Tim sat up before pulling her into his lap. His research DID indicate that cuddling could lead to MORE, and he was happy to know his research was right…not that he was TRYING for anything else to happen tonight, but he most certainly would not complain as he tugged his t shirt off of her body.
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Lucy continued to prove to be his safe space; always welcoming the awkward shuffling and rearranging as Tim tried out new positions to find how he prefers to be held. And every time he asked, she never denied sleeping close to him so their bodies were either wrapped up in each other or at least tangled together. Even when Tim started his time on the couch or in bed with some distance between them, if he simply reached for her, she went to him without hesitation.
Of course, he paid close attention to Lucy’s moods. When she was having a bad day or feeling upset, Tim knew that holding her would provide her with some much needed comfort, so he would take her in his arms and keep her close as long as she needed.
There was so much unspoken love and intimacy in a way he had never experienced in any relationship before, and Tim could not get enough of his cuddles with Lucy no matter the occasion. When they laid intertwined on lazy mornings. When Lucy needed more than a hug to soothe her. When Tim was desperate for her body wrapped around his. When they just wanted to be close to remind each other how grateful they are to have a love so strong and pure in the other. When it started as an innocent embrace but quickly evolved into shed clothes and an even deeper physical connection.
Lucy noticed a change in Tim- how much more confidently he started to ask to be held, and as time went on, how much longer he wanted to keep her close. She loved that he never wanted to let go of her the second they started touching. Tim so greedily buried his head into her neck or chest and dug his fingers into her skin for hours on end with a faint quirk of his lip due to how happy he was. “I love you,” she would whisper whenever she was so moved by how eagerly he clung to her.
“I love you, too,” Tim always whispered into her skin and smiled wider. Her actions had proven how Lucy feels about him well before they ever started saying those words to each other, but he underestimated just how much he loved to hear that simple phrase fall from her lips.
It became a regular part of their time together; no matter what, they made time to cuddle for at least a few moments. Lucy grew accustomed to the way Tim molded into her body so perfectly that it was all she wanted all the time when they were alone. Luckily, her boyfriend felt the same way.
Even when her pregnant belly should have gotten in the way, Tim sat behind her and had her lay against his chest while he circled his arms around both Lucy and their growing baby. And when their son arrived, he held onto his baby boy and his wife as often as he could. Though Tim only had two arms, he still did his best to cuddle with his new little daughter, his wiggly young son, and Lucy when ever he was able.
Tim was grateful for his wife for a million reasons, especially the lessons she taught him; Lucy may have come into his life as the one who needed training, but he found he learned just as much if not more from her in all their time together. And, he was willing to impart his wisdom to the next generation.
So, one day, he found his son, Tyler, sitting on the floor in front of the TV with his arms wrapped around himself. Tim smiled and said, “Tyler, come here.”
His son obeyed and climbed onto the couch beside his dad.
“Do you want a hug, buddy?” Tim asked.
Tyler nodded.
Tim wound an arm around his son’s shoulder before kissing the top of his head. “It’s okay to ask if you want to be held. I know you’re a big boy now, but we all need a hug every once in a while. Okay?”
“Okay, daddy,” Tyler smiled, showing off his missing teeth. He had the most missing teeth in his kindergarten class, so he felt like the most grown up big kid in his class whenever he grinned.
“Hugs? Is this a group hug, daddy?” Little Gracie asked when she wobbled into the living room.
“Yeah, get in here, honey. Hug your brother with me,” Tim grinned.
Gracie struggled but got onto the seat of the couch and scooted in close to her brother.
Lucy walked in from the kitchen to find her husband and her kids huddled close on the couch, and she asked, “Can mommy join the cuddle fest?”
“There’s always room for mommy!” Tim assured her.
She scooped up Gracie and placed her daughter in her lap before snaking an arm around Tyler’s shoulder where she could also touch Tim’s arm. They did not have as many nights alone tangled up on the couch together, but both Tim and Lucy agreed that their new version of cuddling was even better.