Page 56 of Promise Me Ever After
My gaze roamed his body, taking in the way his t-shirt clung to his chest. I bit my lip and mentally fanned myself. “Stripping, you say?”
A belly laugh ripped out of him. “You know what I mean.”
Shame.
While Alex went to get sandwiches and cake, I stepped into the courtyard and had a well-earned cigarette. I watched the smoke plume into the air as I thought about our day so far. When I’d asked him to help me, I hadn’t really expected him to say yes. Decorating was something couples did together, not people who had slept together twice with no discussion about the future. It took all of my willpower not to ask where it was going, what we were to each other, how he saw things. I needed to take a step back, chill out, let things happen at a natural pace.
26
Alex
The next week flew by.When I wasn’t working, I was at Georgie’s bringing her house into the twenty-first century. I spent most nights there, and the whole thing was starting to feel like a proper relationship — something of a first for me. On one of the rare days I was at home, mostly to do my laundry, my phone pinged with a message.
Curtis: You coming over? Amber’s got plans to see a friend. Could get in a bit of Call of Duty.
I debated his offer. I could go to Georgie’s, spend a bit more time with her or I could have an afternoon of boy time. Neither Georgie nor I had to work tonight, so I could have the evening with her. Best of both worlds.
Alex: Sounds good. Give me twenty minutes.
It took me less than that to pull on a hoodie, grab my coat and leave the house. No point in changing to go and play video games with my best mate. I took the stairs up to the apartment two at a time, breathing heavily by the time I got there. I knocked on the door and waited.
“Didn’t take you long to get here.” Amber answered, barely acknowledging my existence. She turned and walked towards the living room, leaving me to follow her.
“Thought Curtis said you were going out?”
“I am in a minute.”
When I got into the room, my gaze immediately fell on two very familiar faces sitting on the sofa.
“Justin! Lennon! No one told me you were coming.”
Justin jumped up and grabbed me in a man hug. “Good to see you, man. How’s it going?” He drew back and Lennon took his place, hugging me hard.
“Hey, Alex, how are you?” she asked.
“Surprised to see the pair of you here. How come you didn’t say anything?” Once Lennon let me go, I looked between the two of them. “And Amber usually knows all your movements.”
“Total last-minute decision. Lennon’s off to New York next week for a press trip.” Justin winked. “We thought it would be good to come and catch up with you guys.”
Ha, New York. The place where Lennon should have been this past summer and didn’t we all know about it. It was good to hear she was finally getting her chance to go there.
“Come on, we don’t want to be late for the spa.” Amber grabbed Lennon’s arm and pulled her towards the door. “We’ll see you guys later.”
Once they’d left, Curtis went into the kitchen, while Justin and I settled down on the sofa.
“Not too early for a beer, right?” he asked.
Justin and I laughed. “Never too early.”
He took three bottles from the fridge, popped the caps and handed one to each of us, before dropping down into the armchair. We clinked our bottles and took a slug of beer.
Justin looked between the two of us. “Things have certainly changed for us since the summer, haven’t they?”
Curtis nodded. “Sure have. Never thought I’d move in with Amber. It’s going okay. So far.” He made a face. “Took a bit of getting used to, but we’re getting there.”
“Haha, same,” agreed Justin. “Plus, there are three other flat mates to deal with, so it gets a bit crowded sometimes. Not much time to be alone, if you get my drift.” He winked and took another slug of his beer. “Bet you don’t have that problem, do you, buddy?”
“Alex’s bird has her own place,” chipped in Curtis.
