Page 68 of Take Her On

She nodded, holding Maya’s gaze before tearing her bra over her head and stepping out of her boxer briefs.

Fuck, that is cold.

Maya cursed Jamie—then herself, for following her instructions. Jamie just grinned, utterly ecstatic that she’d convinced her to strip completely bare on this random beach on the east coast of England. Their eyes met, and she grabbed Maya’s hand, heart flying higher than the birds in the sky above them.

They screamed together, then charged straight into the cold sea.

Chapter Twenty

Maya

Maya rolled onto her back with a groan, peeling away the sheets stuck to her with sweat. The movement quickly evolved into a chesty coughing fit. With Christmas only two days away, it was perfect timing to be struck down with a nasty fever and a cough that had aged her fifty years.

Just brilliant.

Her small, cluttered room felt like a furnace, with stale air mingling with the faint smell of menthol wafting from a half-used tub of vapour rub on her nightstand. She cursed the festive decorations, despising the blinking fairy lights with every breath, but she was too tired to drag herself out of bed and turn them off. They were her mum’s idea, but the lights, along with the fake pink Christmas tree, only highlighted how far she felt from the holiday cheer.

She hated being ill. Lying around all day in a bed of germs, just wishing time away. Not being able to help or do anything at all useful. Just a sack of skin pathetically expelling carbon dioxide in an effort to see another day.

Yes, I may also get a tad bit dramatic when I’m ill… Just a smidge.

She huffed again and reached for a crumpled tissue. This cold was kicking her arse. She was supposed to be using the Christmas break to study for her exams in January and spend time with her family, not lie in a bed coughing up slime.

She groaned again, leaning into her self-pity party. Her mum and Grandma had both gone out for last-ditch Christmas shopping, and there was no way Grandpa could hear her over the blaring telly in his room. So she just let it out, hoping the gay gods might take pity on her.

Her phone vibrated, and she plucked it up off the duvet. Her heart leaped reading Jamie’s name on the screen. She hadn’t seen her for a few days, ever since this demon had infiltrated her body. She totally blamed the illness on Jamie for forcing her to swim in the freezing English sea.

Jamie: Can you muster enough strength to let me in?

Jamie had been wanting to see her, but she didn’t want her to get ill before the holidays.

Maya: No can do

Jamie: Pleaseeee

It’s my last chance to see you before we go to my aunt’s house

Anddddd your mum is out so I know you’re dying for a cup of tea

Maya smiled at her screen.

Maya: Are you spying on me?

Jamie: Maybe just a little bit

Maya: I don’t want you to get sick

Jamie: I don’t want to not see you for a whole week

And I have a superior immune system

Try me

Maya sighed. Jamie had been like this the whole time. It was cute that she wanted to see her, but god knows what she looked like. She opened her front camera and recoiled. A brown-haired gremlin peered back at her. Not a chance.

Her phone vibrated again.

Jamie: Please