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His compliment touches my heart, spreading gooey warmth through it.
‘So why didn’t she?’
‘Move in?’
‘Yeah.’ He reaches across the bed, putting a hand on the hotel phone, but watching me intently while I answer.
I shrug. ‘They had their chance to let loose at uni—now it’s my turn.’
He picks up the phone and orders two coffees and some pastries, then flops back beside me. One of his hands reaches idly for my exposed hip, his finger drawing invisible lines in my flesh. ‘But you don’t let loose.’
It’s not a question so much as an observation.
‘I...did that when I travelled.’
He laughs. ‘No, you didn’t.’ His fingers reach for my hair, curling it behind my ear, then his hand drops down to the mattress between us, capturing mine.
‘Why do you say that?’
‘Because I know you. And I think this is probably the craziest thing you’ve ever done. Right?’
My stomach squeezes. Why would I lie to him? ‘Yes.’
His eyes sear me with the strength of his emotions. ‘So why?’
I laugh softly. ‘You’re full of questions this morning.’
‘I’m full of questions all the time,’ he corrects, lifting my hand to his lips and nipping my fingertip gently. ‘I’m just indulging them this morning. So? Why after a lifetime of being sensible did you succumb to the dark side?’
‘I don’t think you count as the dark side,’ I tease, but his expression is serious.
‘Don’t you?’
I swallow, the lightness of the mood being sucked out into a sudden black hole.
‘I just wanted to do something fun,’ I say with a lift of my shoulders.
He shakes his head. ‘I don’t believe that.’
‘Because you’re a cynic.’
‘And you’re a terrible liar.’
I bite down on my lip. ‘Truthfully?’
‘Always.’ He strokes my inner wrist, and my pulse is tight.
‘Well, I didn’t stop fantasising about you from the moment you entered our classroom,’ I say with a small laugh. ‘You infected my mind, my sleep, my dreams, my everything.’
I don’t know why I’m not ashamed to admit that, but it feels like the most natural thing in the world to confess. When I look at him, he’s so full of pure, animalistic pleasure that I don’t regret my disclosure. ‘But...’
‘But?’ he prompts when I don’t continue, bringing a hand back to my hip, curving his fingers around me and holding me tight.
‘But my mother was driving me batty. Do you remember I was on the phone?’
His eyes hold mine and he nods slowly. ‘I remember everything about that afternoon.’ His wink is slow and it launches a thousand shooting stars in my blood. I too remember that afternoon. The way I touched myself, my body pressed to his, so close I could feel his strength and hardness, feel his warm breath on my temple. It wasn’t very long ago but it feels like a year, at least, for how different we are, how our relationship is.
Then, I hardly knew him. Now, I feel like I know him inside and out.
