I met his eyes at the touch, unable to look away and not wanting to.
“Good,” he muttered.
Slowly, he bent his head, and I felt the whisper light touch of his mouth on my collarbone as though he’d needed the very taste of my skin on his lips.
My heart thumped painfully in my chest, and without thinking, I tilted my neck. At the silent invitation, his tongue came out to trace hot, lazy circles on my skin, slowly and maddeningly making his way up to my ear. I felt my knees buckle, and he shifted towards me until his body pressed me into the wall.
“Fuck,” I heard him mutter before his lips came down on mine.
He swallowed the moan climbing up my throat, his tongue flooding my mouth. One hand grasped the back of my neck, reaching up to thread his fingers through my hair. The other hand tugged at my leg until he had it wrapped around him, ensuring I was pressed against him hard. A warm, possessive groan rumbled from his chest and set a slow burn through my body.
Somewhere, somehow, my mind let out a feeble whimper of protest. Panting, I yanked my head back faster than you could say “break your silly idiot heart.”
Not realising we had gained such an enthusiastic audience, I faltered when my eyes hit the little group that was comprised of Mac, Henry, and Travis. Mac was watching with unconcealed delight. Henry, squinting in his blurry drunken state, appeared no less delighted, and Travis simply looked on with amusement.
Jared groaned. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”
“You shouldn’t have?”
He tugged gently on the rogue strand of hair that broke loose and was currently hiding the disappointment on my face.
“We need to talk, Evie.”
We did?
“We do?”
“You’re moving to Sydney in a week, and I think it’s time that—”
I cut him off quickly, worried about the direction the conversation seemed to be taking. “Actually, it’s time for me to get going.”
His eyebrows lifted in surprise, and shifting around him in a manoeuvre that would impress James Bond, I raced back to the table and picked up my bag.
“I’m sorry,” I said to the table, “but I have to go.”
Panicking because I could feel Jared coming up behind me, I avoided the questioning gaze directed at me by both of my best friends and escaped the building with all the grace of an elephant charging through the scrub, no doubt making a spectacle of myself that had me burning with embarrassment.
Not quite ready to face Jared, or the cavalry, or that kiss, I stayed the night at Cam’s apartment, snapping off a message to Henry to let him know where I was. Not long after, messages came through from both Mac and Jared while I struggled to find sleep.
M: It’s come to my attention after tonight’s events that nothing is more perfect than you and my brother together. I know you, Sandwich. Give it a chance.
When I didn’t reply, because I planned on fighting it with all the arsenal I had at my disposal, her messages became, unsurprisingly, more direct.
M: Sandwich, stop being so retarded and come home.
Then there was Jared.
J: I’m sorry, Evie. I didn’t intend to upset you. Please talk to me?
I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to say, so I didn’t reply to that either.
A week later, I hadn’t heard from him at all, apart from that one text. I could only conclude that he either thought I was an idiot and decided I wasn’t worth the effort, which I tried to tell myself was a really good thing, or he was waiting for our move to Sydney so he could talk to me face to face.
Now, I found myself surrounded by traitorous bastards formerly known as my friends, wondering if it was going to be the former or the latter and knowing that I would soon find out.
Chapter Three
“Sandwich, the two of you need to talk,” Mac insisted.
Maybe we did but that didn’t mean it was going to happen. Regardless, I tried to curb my irritation with my friends. They meant well and I did appreciate that they wanted to see me happy, but the sooner they realised a relationship with Jared was not in the cards the better.
I heard heavy footfalls on the stairs, followed by Jared appearing in my bedroom doorway. I watched his eyes find Mac first as she bounded off the bed to wrap him in hug and start a rapid fire of questions about what had called him away last night. Henry scooted to the edge of the bed to join the conversation, but my mind tuned out, unable to listen to his answers as my eyes drank him in. His silky hair was damp as though he’d just showered, and he was wearing his usual vintage t-shirt teamed with a pair of low slung cargo shorts.
Jared’s gaze cut to mine as he spoke, his eyes lowering lazily in a full body scan. Glancing down at my scantily clad form, I remembered I was still only wearing my usual night time attire of a thin silk camisole and tiny matching shorts. I owned numerous sets in various colours and patterns, and this one, a deep rose with ivory lace trim, was my favourite. I quickly shifted my bare legs, scooting them back under the heavy white covers and out of sight, before turning a scorching glare his way.
His eyes flickered in amusement, and he grinned at me, revealing a dimple as Henry spoke to him. A dimple! How was I supposed to fight that? I could feel battle lines being drawn.
My mind tuned back in after I’d finished pulling the covers to my chin.
“How did you get in anyway?” Mac asked.
Jared’s frown included all of us. “No one answered the door, and it wasn’t locked. Why the f**k wasn’t the door locked?”
The three of us shared a guilty expression because the cab ride home was a little vague. Frankly, we were lucky the front door was even closed after our hard-earned night of celebration.
I winced when both Mac and Henry mumbled awkwardly obvious excuses and vacated the room. I heard a loud thump that sounded like someone banging into the wall and then the bathroom door slammed shut. It was, no doubt, a skirmish for dibs on the shower which was a regular occurrence in our household, and Henry, the bigger of the three of us, was no gentlemen and usually came out trumps.
My eyes warned Jared that he too should also vacate the room, but he ignored it. Instead, he chose to gift me with another grin and shifted to the end of the bed where he proceeded to slip off his shoes and stretch his long, sexy length out next to me. He turned on his back and tucked his arms under his head to contemplate the ceiling.
“I thought they’d never leave.”
He smelled nice. I pulled the sheet up higher.
“Maybe you should wait for Mac downstairs,” I suggested.
He didn’t respond to my words. He lost his smile and small lines furrowed the middle of his brow.
“You didn’t return my message, Evie.”
He was, of course, referring to the message he’d sent post kiss that I had no idea how to respond to. I itched to pull the sheets up and over my head, but instead, I tried to form a response that came out badly worded.
“That’s because your lips on mine was a colossal mistake, and I wasn’t sure where we should go from that.”
My eyes flickered to his lips, and I tried to shake the feeling that it wasn’t a mistake at all. When I shifted my gaze to meet his, I almost missed the brief flash of hurt he carefully tucked away.
“Well, I can’t say being called a colossal mistake is a nice feeling.”
It wasn’t how I’d meant it to sound, so I tried to explain without giving away too much. “Not you, just you and I together. It was a nice kiss. I just think we work much better as friends.”
Jared’s eyebrows raised as he turned on his side to face me, propping his head on his hand. “Just nice?”
I flushed and the urge to burrow reached critical levels. “Um…” I offered in response. Really, what was I supposed to say? “It was a lip-locking, body-burning, mind-vacating experience like I’d never had in my entire life and please could you just keep kissing me until the end of time?”
“Was this what you wanted to talk about?” I blurted out.
Then I cringed internally for throwing myself into the fire.
Amusement returned and flickered in his eyes as he noted my flushed skin and seemed to like the reaction. “No, but it’s a good start.”
It was?
“It is?”
I shifted the covers down a little so my arms could escape the confines. It was getting hot. Jared took the opportunity to reach out and tuck my hand in his, threading our fingers together. He expanded no further at my question, but his gaze on our linked hands was contemplative.
“Jared?”
He took his time answering, now watching me intently with an expression I wasn’t able to read. “I’m not really sure you’re ready to hear what I have to say.”
I frowned. “Isn’t that for me to decide?”
Irritated, I tugged my hand out of his and scooted out of bed, hurrying to my wardrobe to shrug on my silk robe, tying it in knots so tight I thought I might have to get the scissors out later just to get out of it.
When I emerged from the wardrobe, Jared hadn’t moved.
“I need to have a shower, so you know, maybe you should wait downstairs.”
He merely looked at me and pulled the covers up and over his chest, his actions telling me he wasn’t planning on moving anywhere any time soon.
“Evie?” he called out when I turned to leave the room.
I rested my hand against the doorframe and half turned. “Yeah?”
“I’ve missed you. You’ve always been a good friend, even living in another city, it was nice knowing I had you to talk to. Just a random simple message in the middle of the day meant more to me than… Well, anyway, I’ve missed hearing from you, so let’s get back to that okay?”
Because I’d missed it too, I nodded with smile. “Okay,” I agreed.
“Good,” was his response. “Wake me when Mac is ready to leave.”
He closed tired eyes and before I left the room, I tried not to notice how hot he looked all wrapped up in the frilly white confection of my bed, but really, it was a wonder the sheets didn’t catch fire.
* * *
After my shower, during which Mac and Jared left, I hit the kitchen of our duplex to start making the slice. As it was newly renovated, the walls were painted in a stone colour, the cupboards were glossy white and housed big stainless steel appliances. Thick, pale caesarstone benchtops ran the length of the room. It suited my kitchen implements fetish seamlessly. A Breville juicer sat on the counter for when I decided to shock my insides with something healthy. It sat next to my kettle, toaster, and KitchenAid mixer, all in cherry red because everyone knew red was faster.
I came out of the walk-in pantry with an armload of ingredients as Henry stumbled in. I shoved some Panadol at him and took some for myself while I was at it.
He swallowed them gratefully. “Thanks, Evie.”
“Want some breakie? I could annihilate a bacon and egg burger right now.”
Watching Henry flinch and turn green, I realised that he was suffering the effects of the Hangover Stalker. It was when you woke surprised at how great you felt, only to have a shower and start moving around, and then realised you were slowly losing the will to live.
I patted his arm in sympathy, but really, this was karma for the stunt he and Mac had pulled on me this morning.