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I look around. “Unless one of your inanimate furniture pieces decides to come to life and help, yes.”
She worries the side of her lip, frowning at the floor. “Are you sure it’s a good idea? Especially after all the…” She hitches her head toward the couch where we were just making out. The blurry lines are concerning her again.
“What I’m sure of is that without this aloe you’ll stay in pain and sleeping will be near impossible—and then I won’t sleep either, knowing how much you’re hurting. So do us both, and everyone who has to interact with us tomorrow, a favor and let me cover you in this nasty, sticky green goo.” She hesitates another second. “I know you don’t like when I bring this up—but…I have touched your bare skin before and I doubt applying aloe is going to affect me given the things we used to do.”
Her face flushes a vibrant shade of red that has nothing to do with the sunburn. “Okay, yep, just do it. But make it quick,” she says while adjusting facedown on the floor.
“Funny, that’s opposite of what I’m usually told.”
“Ha-ha so funny, Mr. Sexy Funny Guy. You kill me with laughter.” She peeks her unamused eyes over her shoulder at me. “Aloe, if you please.”
I kneel down beside her. And push her hair off to the side—it’s the color of cinnamon tonight. And even though I talked a big game to Nora about having touched her before, my hands shake as I lift the hem of her sweatshirt, slowly exposing the long expanse of her bare back all the way up to her shoulders. No bra in sight.
As if she can read my mind, Nora says, “The straps hurt too bad against the burn.”
It’s frighteningly red. Poor thing is going to have to sleep on her stomach tonight for sure. I feel terrible for convincing her to swim without sunscreen. I’m buying her a rash guard from the gift shop first thing tomorrow morning. I’ll lather her in sunscreen from forehead to toe. Hold an umbrella over her as she walks.
I dispense a little aloe on the center of her back and then cover it with my hands, softly spreading it around. Her skin is blazing under the cool gel and I worry that even though I’m moving as delicately as possible, my callused hands are too rough against the sensitive silkiness of her back.
This feels like a terrible time to be attracted to her, but I can’t help it. My teeth clench as I trace my gaze over her hourglass figure from her shoulder blades, along the soft curve of her waist, all the way down to where her hips flare out. I see the top freckle above the waistband of her shorts that begins my favorite constellation on her ass. We used to joke that stargazing was my favorite hobby.
And as I apply the aloe to the portion of her lower back where the sun especially attacked her skin, my fingers move from tender to worshipful—gliding over the soft divots that bracket her spine and kneading my thumbs up her shoulders. I notice chills spreading down her arms, and then suddenly Nora makes…a sound. Afamiliar sound low in the back of her throat (a moan if you will) that she absolutely didn’t mean to make, judging by the way her body goes tense. She abruptly lifts her head off the floor.
I raise my hands from her skin, hovering in limbo until I know what I’m supposed to do next.
“Umm…” She swallows. “That sound you just heard was…an…I-just-remembered-something-important sound. That’s all.”
“Ah,” I say with furrowed overly serious brows. “I understand.”
“Yeah. It’s like how phones have little dings for reminders. Well, I have…that sound. My reminder sound.Remember to drink a full eight glasses of water tomorrow, Nora.”
I gently pull her sweatshirt back down over her now-sticky back, unable to keep the smile off my face. Friends don’t make sounds like that. And co-workers don’t kiss like we kissed on the couch either. I finally have the answer I’ve been watching for.
I plant my hands on either side of her shoulders and lower my face to her ear. My nose brushes her cheekbone and I watch her eyes flutter shut. “I was hoping the sound was something else. Because turns out, I was wrong. I’m completely affected by touching you. Even with aloe.”
She inhales sharply and I want to kiss her while I’m here, my chest brushing against her back, smelling her tropical-scented hair and aloe-soaked skin. But I don’t.
I push up and off the ground, leaving a stunned Nora in my wake as I go to the bathroom to wash my hands.
Two seconds later, Nora pops up over my shoulders, looking at me in the reflection. Her eyes are bright, pupils dilated and skin flushed. “Okay, so listen. I’ve been thinking. It might be time—and this is completely out of the blue, mind you, and not as a result of any person whose pronouns are she/her making any inappropriate noises recently—but I think we should reinstate our good ole faithful rules.”
I turn to her, and she sinks back into the corner of the counter a little more, eyes flaring as I reach my arms around her to dry my hands on the towel behind her head.
“Funny you mention it.” The same sort of adrenaline I get before running out onto the field floods my veins. “I was just getting ready to bring up that topic.”
“You agree, then? We need to go back to the rules?”
I angle my face down to look her in the eyes. “Disagree. Strongly, in fact.”
She blinks. “Wait. Huh?”
I let go of the towel and lean back against the counter, folding my arms in front of me. “Nora, in the spirit of full disclosure, I want you to know, I plan on breaking every single one of our rules over the course of this week. Now is your chance to officially tell me not to.”
Her lips part in shock. It takes her a few seconds to respond. “Wh—why?”
“Because…” I breathe out my nerves. “Because I regret ever letting you go in the first place.” If she looked shocked before, she really does now. “Because I’m not convinced that what we had is really over between us. Because when we kiss, it feels right. Because when you smile at me my world feels whole. And I want to use this week where you’re not my agent and I have no other obstacles in my way…to woo you.”
She shakes her head slightly, trying to dislodge her words. “You’re going to…woo me?”
