Page 56 of Lovers in Lockdown

He stares at her. She stares at him. Neither of them blinks for a concerningly long time.

Ultimately, Honey reigns victorious.

‘Oh alright,’ Reid throws his hands up in the air in defeat. ‘I just needed an excuse to get out, okay? Ihadto get out. I can’t take one more minute trapped inside that house withher.’

‘Who?’ I ask.

‘Laura, his girlfriend,’ Honey whispers to me before turning back to her brother. ‘Why would you move in with her if you can’t stand to be around her?’

‘I didn’t know what I was getting myself in for, okay?’ he sinks down the door frame and sits cross-legged on the floor. ‘She didn’t really give me a choice either. And I thought that living together would mean I’d get sex every day, since I’m working from home now. But clearly, she had other ideas. She’s spent the whole of lockdown yelling at me for fuck-knows-what and accusing me of shagging every woman in the country instead. I can’t wait for all this to be over so I can get as far away from her as possible.’

Honey laughs, ‘Do you know what’s crazy, Ellie’s going through the exact same thing.’

Reid eyes snap to hers, his jaw clenching at the mention of Ellie’s name, but he says nothing.How strange.

‘Seriously though,’ Honey levels. ‘You should talk to her about it, let her know how you’re feeling to avoid her getting hurt.’

His brows knit together, ‘Caught her sexting some dude the other day, so I don’t think she’ll be all that bothered.’

‘What are you going to do?’ I ask.

‘I’m just gonna have to stick it out, aren’t I? I’ll move into the guest room or something ad watch a shit-tonne of porn to entertain myself until the government says I can move out and rent somewhere.’ His words are positive, but his face is pained.

Another wave of guilt washes over me at the realisation that he can’t get out of his shitty situation because he’s letting me live in his apartment. For free. And I’ve thanked him for his generosity by screwing his little sister.

Fuck,I’m the worst friend in the world.

Reid stands up off the floor and dusts his knees down, ‘You got my plant, then? I should be going.’

I keep a smile on my face while Honey goes to fetch his stupid tree, like it’s not at all uncomfortable to be standing in front of Reid in an almost transparent pair of boxer briefs. He doesn’t seem to care though. Wouldn’t be the first time he’s seen my junk, anyway.

When Honey’s out of earshot, I scrub a hand down my face and ask, ‘Dude, are you sure you’re alright with this? I totally get if you wanna hit me right now. I’d let you too, if I wasn’t scared of catching the lurgy from you. But honestly man, I tried so hard to stay away from her, I really -’

‘Dude, stop,’ he cuts me off. ‘I told you months ago that you guys can do what you want. I don’t give a fuck.’

I squint my eyes at him disbelievingly, ‘But I thought you were just being too nice to tell me to keep my hands off her. It’s bro code, you know?’

‘Jeez, you’re so dumb.’

I blink at him.

‘As a general rule,’ Reid continues, ‘I don’t take an interest in who my sister is shagging. Why would I? Gross.’ He sticks a finger in his mouth and mimes being sick. ‘But I wasn’t lying when I said that you guys can do what you want. Truth be told, my sister could do a lot worse than you, man. Just don’t knock her up.’

Relief floods through me, my grin so wide it hurts my head. But I don’t have time to respond because Honey rounds the corner clutching Reid’s stupid plant to her chest.

‘Here,’ Honey deposits the banana plant on the floor in front of him. She’s got a brave face on, but I can tell that it’s difficult for her to be around her brother and not be able to get within two metres of him.

All they’ve ever had is each other and it must be killing them both that they’re not able to give each other a hug.

‘Thanks, Honey Bee,’ Reid says quietly, his voice tinged with sadness, though he tries his hardest to hide it from his sister. ‘Stay safe, yeah?’

She nods, her eyes red and puffy with the promise of tears. But like her brother, she fights hard to hold back her emotion, neither one of them wanting to worry the other.

Reid rubs his hands down his thighs, preparing to leave, but not really wanting to. As he turns to go, he meets my eye. ‘Look after her, man,’ he whispers and then he’s closing the door behind him.

The rest of the day is spent in bed, not fucking, but making love. If I can’t show her that I love her in words, then you fucking bet that I’ll show her in orgasms. And I do, over and over again until we’re both exhausted and our bodies are crying out for a rest.

Honey settles in my arms and rests her head on my chest, drawing slow circles over my skin with her index finger. I breathe in the smell of her hair, vanilla, sandalwood and honey.Obviously, honey.I’ll never be able to eat the stuff again without thinking of the blue eyed, free-spirited woman who stole my heart.

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