Page 57 of The Wedding Pact
‘What’s with the Malibu?’
‘Liquid courage.’
‘You need that with me?’
‘Probably not, but I was a lot more confident about kissing strangers in my younger days, and I always drank Malibu on nights out.’
Her breathing slowed, like she was afraid of falling if she breathed too deep, as his gaze softened and he began to make his way towards her.
Wait. Should they?
Flynn stepped over to her, standing right in front of her. He put one of his hands on her shoulder, and with the other he stroked her hair off her face. ‘I’m not a stranger,’ he said, his lips, level with her eyes, curling into a gentle smile.
Should they, though?
August felt like time had slowed right down, all of her worries dropping over the ledge of her mind, and now it was just about Flynn’s lips, inches from hers. Without turning, she placed the Malibu bottle somewhere behind her, she wasn’t sure where, it could be suspended in mid-air for all she knew; she certainly was. And then she moved her hands to his forearms. ‘No, you’re not a stranger,’ she confirmed, her voice quiet. She felt completely safe.
Chapter 36
Flynn
Holding August, touching the skin of her face, really looking at her in close-up, Flynn tried to push away thoughts of whether or not they were doing the right thing. This had the potential to change their whole relationship, and they already had a really good thing going, living together as flatmates. The more seconds that passed, the more he took her in in front of him, the deeper he thought he might fall.
The decision was taken out of his hands the moment she inhaled, looked him straight into his eyes and said, a smile playing on her lips, ‘So kiss me.’
They moved closer together until they were breathing the same breath, and their lips grazed each other’s, barely a kiss to begin with, more of an exploration.
They smiled into each other, Flynn’s arm tightening just a touch around her waist, August’s hands on his upper arms, tiptoeing upwards until her fingers touched the back of his neck and he tilted his head down further, pressing his lips a little more onto her hers.
As they discovered each other’s lips, Flynn tried to keep himself in check, afraid of showing too much of what he was feeling right now, and he hadn’t even had a chance to process exactly what that was himself yet. He only knew he wanted to remember everything about this moment.
This kiss was light years away from the accidental peck that time he’d first walked into their flat and he’d met Bel. That one was laced with guilt over his recently ended relationship with Yui, while this was all about August. Only about August.
Chapter 37
August
The minute their lips touched, August was swept away, all at sea in Flynn’s arms. He kissed her, and she kissed him back, and it was delicious. She didn’t need that liquid courage; this was so much better than a moment with a stranger in a club. She kissed Flynn with everything she had, all the happiness she’d felt since moving into Elizabeth Street with him, all the lonely moments she’d felt since James left, and she kissed him hard because she didn’t want it to end but she knew this probably shouldn’t happen again.
This didn’t feel like a practice kiss, or a fake kiss in the name of acting, to her at least, this felt like a first kiss. Oh God.
Should they have done that?
A small bubble of nervous laughter made its way up through August’s chest, and though she tried to suppress it, out it came. Flynn pulled back, the moment ending, their lips unlocking. He laughed too.
‘I think we nailed it,’ he said.
‘I think you’re right.’ She blushed a little, and then briefly hid her face against his chest, giving herself just a few more moments in his arms.
Flynn looked down at August, and he seemed reluctant to let her go. ‘We could keep rehearsing, if you want,’ he suggested, his voice quiet.
August was a doer, a risk-taker, someone who grabbed onto life, or at least that’s what she aspired to be. Many, many times she had just gone for what felt right rather than being someone who thought things through carefully first. And though it hadn’t always worked out in her favour, she liked that about herself. Right now, a huge part of her was enjoying Flynn in this new and exciting way, and it would be so easy for her to throw her arms back around his neck and spend the rest of the day making out with him. But her conscience, that real killjoy part of her she hated to listen to, was shouting at her loud and clear today.This is not a good idea, things could get very complicated, very fast. He’s your flatmate. It will become awkward and one of you will want to move out. Don’t do this.
But –
NO. Have some damned self-control.
‘I think we’d better leave it there,’ she answered, eventually, and Flynn nodded, dropping his arms, breathing a little sigh of relief.
