Page 33 of Adrift

“Nnngh!” I arch and push away from the door. It’s all I can do not to cry out Kieran’s name as I cup my other hand around the head to contain the mess.

And what a mess it is.

As the seconds settle back into their normal rhythm, I’m left sprawling against the door with all my fingers covered in sticky warmth, and an equally warm dizzy pleasure flooding my veins.

I roll my head to look at myself in the mirror, and I’m… I’m actually smiling.

Who is that guy in the mirror?

It barely looks like me. I mean, I’m not in my middle school emo phase anymore. But I’m more grumpy than sunshine by nature. I’ve never really smiled for photos, and I don’t really have a mirror to see myself when I’m caught up in fun moments.

I have the feeling I’m going to see this version of myself a lot more often now.

It doesn’t take long to get dressed. The first place I head is the kitchen sink—and the mountain of dishes.

I helped out in big farm kitchens during my gap year. It’s not daunting for me. And it gives me a few minutes of thinking time so I can try to figure out what all those fantasies about Kieran might mean.

And what I want them to mean.

We’re obviously into each other. And my intentions are… pretty damn far from pure.

I don’t just want to admire him from afar, like a sculpture trapped behind museum glass. I want to know all the living, breathing, growing parts of him. I want to run my hands across his body so I can make sense of him, and I want to press my lips against every single thing I find.

Even the parts of him that he won’t let me see yet.Especiallythose parts.

If I have to take it slow before Kieran trusts me enough to share his sadnesses as well as his joy, that’s fine. I can be patient. In the meantime, I’ll keep letting him draw out the new parts of me I’ve never known before.

I just hope Kieran wants them.

Chapter

Thirteen

GAGE

Cooking breakfast has been like Hercules’final labour.

Of course I wasn’t going to know where anything is in Kieran’s kitchen… but I’m not sure he does, either. It was one of the most bizarre experiences of my life to open the cupboard doors under the sink and find a single, perfect loaf of bread sitting there.

Thankfully, the bacon was in the fridge—where itreallybelongs—and I won the scavenger hunt for bread, butter, and eggs.

After frying up the bacon, I just had to pop the bread in the pan, cut holes out of each slice with a drinking glass, and crack an egg in.

“Voila: egg-in-the-middle.” I slide the flipper underneath the second piece and transfer it to the plate.

I heard Kieran rustling about in the bedroom a few minutes ago, so I think I’ve got the timing just right.

“Gooood morning!” Kieran announces himself as he swans out of the bedroom in a tiny black crop top and blue denim Daisy Dukes. “Did you sleep all right?”

Suddenly, I don’t know where to look—or what to say.

Obviously I like the view… I can barely keep my eyes on his face. But something is unsettling me, and I can’t work out what it is.

“Morning, sunshine,” I greet him. I frown, turning back to the plates to arrange the bacon on them. “Good, thanks. You?”

“Great.” Kieran giggles as he sashays up to me like he’s wearing six-inch heels on a catwalk. And I can’t say I’m not into it. It really shows off his legs, for one thing. “Not a morning person?” he teases, leaning on the counter next to me.

I swallow hard as I glance up from those miles-long smooth thighs, trying to fix my eyes on his face again. “Uh… no, I am. This is just my natural face.”

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