I grab her hand before she can move off of me and stare deeply into her eyes. “My list of favourite things about you grows every time I’m with you.”
Her head tilts to the side and she looks at me thoughtfully. “But what about your plant? And your dog?” Anxiety fleets over her face.
“Maybe I can just help you with yours.”
She smiles at that. A soft, sexy, secretive smile. The kind of smile where she’s not celebrating a win, but encouraging the removal of a loss. Her cheeks flush a rose hue that makes her look like she’s just returned from a jog. I can’t contain myself another second. I pull her lips to mine and push all of my feeling into this one simple act. All the feelings I’ve been hiding from the world. All the secrets. All the pain. All the loss…and I let it go.
And I realise with delirious happiness, that kissing Vi is different…Every. Single. Time.
FIRST DATE
Time ceases to exist with Hayden Clarke. I look at the calendar and can see that two weeks have passed since that day on the balcony when we agreed to be…well, something, as opposed to nothing. But each moment with him feels like nothing and everything at the same time. When Hayden left my flat that Sunday, there was a small part of me that feared, as soon as he walked out of my door, he’d change his mind about wanting to give us a try. It seemed like it was hard for him to leave, though. We ended up talking by my lift door for nearly an hour, like horny teenagers who couldn’t decide which one would say goodbye first on the phone.
“Are you close to your brothers?” he asked, his eyes scanning my neck as he dropped soft kisses on my shoulders in a way that made it difficult for me to form a coherent thought.
“You’re going to make me late for Sunday dinner at my dad’s with them if you don’t leave soon,” I chastised, grinning playfully while he held me in the foyer.
“I want to know. I have to know…before I go.” The lift door closed for the third time due to inactivity, and I sank into his embrace in silent surrender.
“Yes. Annoyingly so.”
“Still? Even after you’ve moved out?” His grey eyes watched me curiously.
I nodded, “Yes, well, like I said, I still see them every Sunday. Not to mention they like to pop over here whenever they feel like being little sods.”
He chuckled softly. “Do you have a favourite?”
I squinted as I considered his question. “Not really a favourite. Rather I appreciate them all for different reasons. I like Booker when I need someone to confide in. I like Cam and Tanner when I’m looking for a fun laugh, and I like Gareth when I need help.”
“What do you mean…help?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “He’s my big brother. He’s protective and I know he will do anything for me at any time. Last year I was in a crap situation with my ex, and while the way Gareth reacted was dangerous and could have ruined his career, it’s touching to know he’d risk anything for me like that.”
Hayden’s eyes hardened. “What happened?”
“Oh God, nothing all that original. Pierce was a guy I had been dating for a while and he started cheating on me. The affair was all over Chigwell because the woman was the wife of a famous footballer, and no, I will not tell you which one.”
“Wasn’t even going to ask,” he said, his eyes trained on me, silently urging me to continue.
His reaction gave me a secret thrill, knowing that what he cared about most in the story had everything to do with me and nothing to do with football. “It was one of those ‘everyone in town knew but me’ situations, which made me feel like the biggest loser.”
“Why would that make you feel like a loser? He’s the prat in this scenario.”
I shrugged, feeling a tad too transparent. “It’s nothing.”
He frowned and his eyes grew scarily serious. “Tell me, Vi.”
Sighing, I looked down at his chest, and played with the buttons on his shirt as I replied, “It’s just a daft fear I have. My dad and brothers have always been great at showing me how much they love me…They didn’t give me a complex or anything.”
“But…”
“But growing up…I always felt a bit invisible to all their mates.”