Page 44 of Only Ever Yours
“Probably just as well. Liam threw up outside while we were waiting for a taxi. At least, he did it before we got in the car. I don’t think any of us had the money to pay for interior cleaning.” Finn laughed, then swigged his drink again. “Do you think I should talk to Ella?”
“That’s your decision, mate.” I was hardly in a position to advise Finn on the right thing to do after what had happened with Hollis.
He leaned back in the armchair, resting his head. “Maybe I should ask Hollis and find out what she knows before I go ahead and make a total dick of myself.”
“Sounds like a good idea.”
Finn nodded vigorously. “I’ll talk to her in the morning.”
I needed to talk to her, as well. To tell her this evening wasn’t a drunken mistake. That I had wanted to kiss her, had wanted to take things further. Her brother’s untimely arrival had scuppered any chance of anything more. And I felt I needed to tell her sooner rather than later before things got awkward between us.
Like right now.
“I’m going to head up,” I said, watching as Finn’s head drooped to his chest, the gentle snoring increasing in volume. I got up, went over to my friend, and took the glass from his hand. The last thing I wanted was for him to spill his drink and think he’d wet himself. Taking both glasses into the kitchen, I rinsed them out, then downed a pint of water. I was pretty sure I’d have a headache in the morning, not just from the amount I’d drunk.
Trudging up the stairs, I hesitated outside of Hollis’s room. Maybe I could make it all right between us tonight before she got the wrong idea. Gently, I knocked and waited. Perhaps she was already asleep and hadn’t heard me. Or she knew it was me and was deliberately ignoring me. I sighed and turned towards my own door.
“Jase?”
I did a one-eighty to see Hollis standing in the doorway, and I grinned. She wore the forest green Hollister T-shirt, which barely grazed the top of her thighs and clung to her tits. “Nice T-shirt.”
The corner of her mouth curled up, and I knew it had been a deliberate choice.Maybe we are on the same page.She sucked in her lips, then let her tongue trail over her bottom one as it slowly popped back out.
Fuck, does she know what the action does to me?
“Did you want me?” she asked.
Oh, Hollis. If only you knew just how much.
Placing one foot in front of the other, I walked back towards her door, my heart beating harder with each step. Her eyes were smudged with mascara and looked a little glassy as if she’d been crying.Did I do that to her?I let out a hard breath and nodded, suddenly incapable of speech. Hollis reached out and grasped my wrist, pulling me in before quietly closing the door behind us.
We stood there, neither of us saying a word. I raked my gaze down her body, lingering over her tits and her legs before finally moving back up to her mouth.
“Fuck,” I hissed.
“Is that a statement or a request?” Her hands went to her hips, the movement pushing her tits out even more.
“Both?” Running a hand over my chin, I took the sensible option instead. “Can we talk?”
“We probably should.”
“Look, Hollis, about what happened tonight. It was—” I began.
She held up a hand, her shoulders sagging, the smile falling from her face. “I know, I get it. It was a mistake. We’d both had a few drinks. We were at a joint stag and hen party. The emotions of the moment got to us. And it shouldn’t happen again.”
My jaw dropped. “Are you fucking serious right now?”
“Isn’t that what you were about to tell me? When we were downstairs, you couldn’t get rid of me quickly enough.”
“What was I meant to do? Finn had turned up. I couldhardly say, ‘Oh, hang on, mate. Can you wait a minute while I nail your sister on the living room couch?’”
She giggled, then glared at me. “You wanted to do what?”
“If your brother hadn’t come home when he did, what did you think was going to happen between us? A cup of tea and an episode ofFriends?” I thought back to the night we’d spent at the hotel in the motorway services, where that had happened.
“Well, I kind of hoped it might go further, but I wasn’t sure you thought the same.”
“Since you’ve been back, it’s been hard to distance myself, and the more time we spend together, the more I…” I broke off.Just spit it out, Jase. Tell her how you feel.Taking a deep breath, I went on. “The more I want more. And I think you do, too.”
