Page 78 of The Reality of Us
He took a steadying breath of her flowery shampoo. “Sounds good to me.”
Alice pinched his side, her eyes sparkling. Seeing her so happy and relaxed was dangerous. His mind was liable to run away from all common sense, letting all the wishes he hadn’t verbalised to anyone, least of all himself, run rampant.
“It’s so different here,” Alice said quietly as she looked out at the inky blackness in front of them. “I’m not used to it. The niceness, I mean.”
“Do you think you could get used to it?” he asked. It didn’t take a genius to figure out the barely concealed message hidden in his words.
“I’d like to.”
So would he.
“Hey Owen …” she said, her fingers scratching at the longer-than-usual hair curling at the nape of his neck.
“Mmhmm.” He twisted his head, encouraging her to scratch harder while he waited for her to finish her thought.
Alice breathed out slowly, her fingers stilling. She was going to say something important. He’d bet all the stars in the night sky.
“What do you want?” she asked.
Owen remembered his brothers’ words and made a silent wish that this wouldn’t be too much.
“You.”
27
Alice pushed open the door of Owen’s place, warmth spreading through her chest when he looked up and smirked. Just like she’d known he would. Murphy sprinted past her, leaving muddy footprints all over the polished concrete floor.
“Didn’t want to do two trips, huh?” Owen’s long strides ate up the distance between them, and he took the hessian bags full of groceries out of her hands and lifted the multi-coloured tote she always brought with her when she stayed over off her shoulder.
“Wanted one of these more,” she said, wrapping her now empty arms around his shoulders. She pressed her lips against his, immediately sliding her tongue into his mouth. He let her dominate, groaning against her mouth. Her grip loosened, and they broke apart when a bag of rice flopped to the floor. She giggled before kissing him again. When she pulled away, his eyes filled with heat and a pang of longing burnt low in her belly.
God, she was so happy.
“You know,” he said, the hint of playfulness in his voice that would never not thrill her, “I have rice here.”
“You have brown rice.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “It’s not the same thing.”
Owen followed her to the kitchen and started unpacking the ingredients for a chicken stir fry. As she poured them each a glass of wine, she told him about her day. A few women staying at Kathleen’s Place had come by to help pack orders, and then she’d gone out to the nursing home teaching knitting again. Alice’s voice rose steadily, her cheeks flushing as she described how the day had flown by before she stopped. This was the hard part. Hard because it had been so unexpected. She paused. Took a deep breath. Reminded herself that unexpected wasn’t always bad.
Owen stopped slicing mushrooms. “What?”
Alice skirted around the bench, her hand lingering on his hip. It’d be easier if she was touching him.
“Then my parents came by,” she said. A little wine slopped over the side of her glass when she put her drink down.
“They came out here? Did you know they were coming? Were they impressed?”
She watched as he lifted his wine and took a drink. The tip of his tongue appeared, chasing a drop across his full bottom lip. Don’t get distracted.
She started to shrug but stopped, shoulders up near her ears. “Sorry,” she whispered.
“What for?”
“I was going to say I didn’t know if they were impressed, but that would’ve been a lie. Can I?” She gestured for him to open his arms.
“Always.”
Her heart rate slowed the second she was in his embrace. Regardless of what happened, her parents’ visit had been a good thing. They’d had a nice time together for the first time in as long as she could remember. Until right at the end.
