His bottom lip is jutted out in distress. I have to bite my lip not to laugh back at him. He looks like an upset little kid.
‘Did youwantto be objectified?’ I ask.
He crouches, bringing his face close to mine. Far too close, actually. His breath skates, soft and warm, against my upper lip.
‘I just can’t believe you’re not evena little bitcurious.’ His voice drips with trouble, desperate to prove a point as he leans even closer, his nose bumping against mine.
I swallow firmly. ‘Noah. Rule number one.’
We have the rules for a reason. That reason being to stop the way I’m feeling right now. How am I meant to get on with my job and throw myself into dates with other people when he looks the way he does and says things that make me want to melt on the spot? I start to feel the lack of air con in this cheap room, my temperature climbing with every second we stay like this. It’s dizzying and overwhelming, but I can’t look away. Looking away would indicate that something is wrong, when there’s not.
‘I’m not saying youshouldlook,’ he says, rooted in place.
My eyes flit over his stretched lips. They’re so close to the skin of my forehead that they could brush it with a kiss if he were to breathe just a little too heavily. I feel a tingle run through me at the thought and immediately panic. Mala was not right. She cannot be right.
He continues. ‘I’m just saying, I’d understand if taking a peek had crossed your mind.’
I clamp my eyes shut to silence the noise and attempt to ignore the proximity.
‘I don’t think of you naked,’ I say. ‘In fact, I think of you like a brother.’
He chuckles cockily. ‘No, you don’t.’
The sound echoes through my ears, bringing with it a flashback of us on the counter. I feel a warmth grow within me.
‘No, I don’t,’ I say bitterly.
I open my eyes again to see his smug smile. His eyes are darker now, mischievous. The longer they continue to stare at me, the shallower my breaths become. It’s too much. My head’s spinning. I rush to sit up, my skull bashing against his in the process.
‘I’m so sorry!’ I say.
He jumps away instantly with a yell, rubbing his head as he paces across the room. ‘Is your head made of concrete?’
I turn away as I rub my own head, grateful for the distraction and the increased distance. Just like that, my chest softens and I can breathe again, no longer plagued by the inappropriate thoughts he brought on.
‘Okay, enough of that,’ he says, interrupting the calm. ‘I actually do need to shower off that train. So look away, yeah? Or don’t. I don’t actually care.’
I barely process his words in the time it takes for him to step inside the room and turn the shower on. Before I know it, the sound of running water floods the hotel room, bouncing off the thin walls. I glance up on instinct, instantly meeting the shadow of his figure underneath the showerhead. He twists and turns none the wiser. Humming softly to himself as he suds up his body on the other side.
His wet, naked body is one pane of frosted glass away from mine. The knowledge knocks my brain over. The room starts spinning the longer I think about it.
I can’t do this.
I grab my laptop and get ready to make a run for the nearest café, but an aggressive buzzing fills the room. I grab my phone from the table to see a FaceTime request from Sara fill the screen.
‘Hey, Sar—’
‘One sec, I’m dialling Paige in.’
Her bubble quickly minimises as a second square pops up to reveal my other sister, beaming brightly.
‘She lives!’ Paige says in jest. ‘We were beginning to think you’d forgotten about us.’
‘What?’ I ask.
‘It’s beendays,’ Sara says, far more pointedly. ‘You said you would keep in regular contact.’
‘Sorry, it’s been crazy.’
