Page 53 of Falling Together

“Thank you.” Erin got herself into a comfortable position on her towel and shut her eyes. She honestly couldn’t remember the last time she feltthisrelaxed. She listened to the sounds of the ocean and enjoyed the laughter of the children that didn’t belong to her. “You know I love Nolan more than anything in the world, but oh my god, this is wonderful.”

“I’m really glad you’re happy,” Blair said softly.

Erin opened her eyes to find Blair watching her with complete awe. It was as though Blair actually saw her as something magnificent. When Blair looked at her that way, it made Erinbelievethat she was special. For the first time in much too long, it felt like she was important to someone other than just Nolan. It felt like floating. “Blair, I…” Erin cut herself off because she had no idea what she was about to say and nothing good could come of whatever was about to come out of her mouth.

Blair nodded as though she understood every word Erin was holding inside. “I know. Just get some rest, okay?”

Erin listened to Blair and drifted off to sleep feeling as though nothing in the world could hurt her. It felt like she had just fallen asleep when there was a tap on her arm. Erin struggled to open her eyes as the bright sun shined down on her. “Did… did I fall asleep?”

Blair laughed. “Yeah. You’ve been out for over an hour. I was just wondering if you wanted to keep resting or if there is anything else you want to do before we start getting ready for dinner.”

Erin definitely didn’t need more rest. She felt amazing right now. But she also didn’t have any sort of idea what to do next. “What if we… go back to the hotel and get ready now, then once we are, we can go for a walk on the boardwalk until it’s time for dinner.”

“I love that idea.”

They gathered up their beach supplies, then headed back to the hotel where they both took showers to wash off the sand. It took all of Erin’s willpower to not touch herself in the shower the way Blair clearly had the day before, because she knew Blair would somehow figure out what she was doing and it would make things very tense at dinner.

“Want me to put on some music?” Blair asked as soon as Erin, wrapped only in a towel, came out of the bathroom.

Much to Erin’s surprise, Blair was still in her own towel as well. Knowing the only thing separating their naked bodies was two thin pieces of fabric made Erin’s heart race.Calm down. Nothing is going to happen. Control yourself.

“How about you put on that deejay you like? What’s his name again? Scratch and Sniff?” Erin knew that wasn’t actually his name, but she loved to tease Blair about her horrible taste in music. Still, she was willing to listen to it if it would make Blair happy.

Blair rolled her eyes at Erin. “It’s Skratch Sick. And are you sure? His music is a little loud.”

Erin put her hands on her hips to try to act as if she was offended. “You think I can’t handle a little volume to my music? I might be older than you, but I’m notthatold.”

“Fine. You win. I’ll put on the best music in the world.”

Blair hit a few buttons on her phone before noise that Erin would never in a million years refer to asthe best music in the worldstarted to scream from the speakers. After a few beats, the song grew on her the slightest bit, so she decided to make the most of it. She danced around the room in her towel, something she had forgotten she used to do all the time before… well, before life got so damn hard. It was fun and freeing to let her body move openly like this, so much so she didn’t even care she probably looked like a complete idiot.

“No, please.” Blair stepped in front of her and grabbed her hands. “Please tell me you’renotdoing finger guns right now.”

“I’m—” Erin looked down at her fingers that were, indeed, still in the shape of tiny guns. “What? Are finger guns not rizz enough for you?” Erin was sure she wasn’t using that word correctly, but she had heard it on TikTok so many times, she figured she could use it to take the attention off of her terrible dancing.

Blair chuckled. “Please never say that again.”

Erin laughed along with her but stopped abruptly once she realized the position they were in. She and Blair were standing face to face, just inches apart, both in towels, while Blair continued to hold her hands tightly. Erin struggled to catch her breath as her heart beat out of her chest. She had done such a good job controlling herself around Blair, but what the hell was she supposed to do now? She couldn’t even form a coherent thought. Blair was essentially naked and standing right in front of her, looking at her as if she wanted to eat her up. And that was exactly what Erin wanted.

“I can’t ever stop thinking about kissing you,” Erin whispered between deep breaths. It sounded so sultry, she barely recognized her own voice.

Blair moved her gaze to Erin’s lips before looking deeply into her eyes again. She felt like she was crashing through every layer Erin had tried to put between them and staring right into her soul. “Then do it.”

“I can’t. We can’t. It’s—” Erin tried to think of all the reasons why this was a bad idea, but right now, all she could think about was finally having Blair the way she had been dreaming about.

“Just this once. It doesn’t have to mean anything. We’ll get it out of our systems and then maybe we can move on.”

Erin wasn’t suremoving onwas a possibility when it came to Blair Breckenridge, but she was too far gone to stop where this was clearly going.

Blair moved closer, so her lips were just a breath away from Erin’s. “Tell me to stop and I will.”

Erin shook her head. “I can’t tell you that. I don’t want you to stop. I… I need…”

Instead of finishing her sentence, Erin closed the little bit of distance left between them and finally… finally…finallykissed Blair. It was everything she had dreamed of, plus so much more. Blair kissed the same way she did everything else in life, with a passion that made Erin feel like they were the only two people who existed in the entire world. Her kisses were soft and slow, as if she was worried that if she moved too fast, Erin might break.

Erin wasn’t sure who opened their mouth to the other first, but when their tongues met for the first time, her body sprang to life. It was as though she had lost all power, and someone finally flipped the switch to turn her back on. Even though Blair was barely touching her, Erin could feel her everywhere. But she wanted more. She needed more.

When Erin pulled away to tell Blair that, it was too late. Blair already knew. Shealwaysknew. Blair brought her fingers to the spot where Erin’s towel was tied together. The only thing keeping her covered.Safe. But she didn’t want to be safe. Not right now.

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