“I'm going to freshen up. You two should come tonight, meet some of my girlfriends. Ali, they would love you. Harry’s told me all about you and I think you’d all really hit it off.”
I smile, my heart doing that weird flutter again. This is all so foreign to me.
He's told his sister about me.
“Sure, sounds great. I’d love that.”
“We'll grab some dinner at that Italian place, Little Italy,” Harry suggests.
“Hmmm yes, their meat calzone is to die for,” she moans. “I’ll shower and we’ll head out at six.”
She heads down the corridor, and I hear a door close. I let out a breath, covering my face with my hands.
“Oh, my god, I can’t believe I met your sister when I was straddling you.”
“If she had come in five minutes later, she would have walked in on you riding my dick,” he says, walking towards me, muscles rippling with every step.
I smack his naked chest. “Stop it. God, I hope she doesn't think I’m a slut or—”
“Stop! My sister already loves you. I can tell… call it a twin thing.” He wraps his arms around me, pressing a kiss to my forehead.
“What are we going to tell her, you know, about us?”
“What do you want me to tell her?”
“Well, I thought we were going with the whole ‘I’m here on a business trip thing’ but after she walked in on me saddling up, I don’t think she’s going to buy that.”
“She won't ask and if she does, we’ll say we’re friends.”
I eye him curiously. “Friends?”
“Yeah, friends… that have mind-blowing sex.”
I roll my eyes, shifting in his hold. A pang of sadness hits me at the friend label. I don’t really know what I was expecting him to say to his sister other than that, because that’s what I would have expected him to say. So why does it bother me?
“Speaking of my dick, it has been straining against my sweatpants for the last hour, we're gonna need to do something about that.”
Before I can answer he scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder.
“Harry.” I giggle like a teen on a fairground ride as he runs towards his bedroom, throwing me down on the bed, hismuscular frame crashing down on me, the air whooshing from my lungs as he peppers kisses along my jaw and down my neck.
This weird relationship of ours just reached a new level and I don't know what to make of it, but I don't want to unpack that now, not here. Here in London, we can just be, we don't need to overthink, so for now I’m just going to enjoy this for what it is and think about what all this means when I leave, and the idea of leaving hurts more than it should.
Chapter Thirty
Harry
Today is Ali’s last full day here and I don’t want her to leave. Dread pools in my stomach at the idea of not waking up to her, not sharing my morning coffee with her, not starting my day with her. Somehow, somewhere on this trip we have gone from fuck buddies to more. I know she prefers tea to coffee; she has to start her morning blasting music and eating something sweet; she likes odd numbers, she cries at movies and she… fuck, I’m more gone for this girl than I realized.
It's gone beyond a physical thing, I enjoy her company; I love just hanging out doing the mundane everyday things, but with her, they feel anything but. However, even though I feel I’ve got to know her more, I know there is still so much more, things she won’t share, a vulnerable side of her I am yet to see. I reluctantly roll away from Ali, not caring that I’m naked. Knowing my sisterhas left for work already, I head to the kitchen to make Ali her morning tea. We’ve fallen into this comfortable routine, and I don’t want it to end. I think I need to speak to Jack and Brad about coming back to New York sooner because this can’t be it; I don’t want this to be over.
I head back in the room, and Ali has started to stir. I set the steaming cups of tea and coffee on the nightstand and settle back into bed next to her, pressing myself against her warm back. She’ll sleep with nothing on below, but her bra or some kind of top will forever remain on her top half. I haven’t asked why, sensing its deeply personal and I hope when she’s ready, she may feel comfortable opening up that side of herself to me.
I press my face into her hair, inhaling her coconut scent and groan, “mmmm, good morning, Ali Cat,” I purr.
She stretches, rolling to face me, her sleepy ice blue eyes meet mine, and she looks beautiful, her hair hanging messily around her face and that ache in my belly comes back when it hits me that after tomorrow, this won’t be how my mornings start.
“Morning, H. Did you sleep okay?”