Page 59 of Love You Like That (Excess All Areas 4)

He hoped they weren’t talking bullshit.

The bus was quiet.

Guitars had been put away. Muted voices had silenced. Just the rumble of the engine as the miles passed.

His phone flashed, and he glanced at it.

I can’t sleep.

He glanced at Zoe and then removed his hoodie. Come over here for a hug. Everyone is asleep.

With one hand, he opened the covers for her to come and climb in. He’d taken to sleeping in just joggers anyway. Zoe was in the delicious men’s pyjamas he’d been dreaming about. He caught a glimpse down the front of them as she climbed up into his bunk, the tiny bed creaking and groaning.

Her breasts, small as they were, were perfect.

He lifted her over him and placed her near the wall. Partly because, if the bunk collapsed, he’d hit the floor first. And secondly, he had no intention of letting her leave.

“You said a hug,” she whispered.

Once he was certain the covers were tucked in around her, he turned on his phone to get a bit of light. “A w-h-o-l-e- n-i-g-h-t h-u-g. J-u-s-t s-l-e-e-p,” he fingerspelled, before placing his phone in the little pocket on the bunk wall.

Zoe shook her head and sighed. “You’re a bad influence, Alex King.”

He pressed his lips to hers softly. The kind of kiss that led everywhere and nowhere. The kind that reassured, the kind you remembered twenty years later. It was like high school all over again. Trying to make out with the person you were with without anyone else in the house knowing exactly what you were up to.

He slid his hand beneath her pyjamas, squeezing her hip, stroking her waist. There was so much of her he wanted to get to know, it was hard to keep his impatience at bay. Especially when she hooked her knee between his, placing her flush with his dick. The urge to grip her arse and pull her to him strong.

She placed her palm on his chest and he laid his hand over hers as he adjusted to the feel of her against him. Her toes stroked his calf, and her hips wiggled against him as she got comfortable. None of it was deliberately sexual, yet…

Alex could tell the moment she finally settled against him. The pattern of her breath against his chest slowed, her body relaxed, and suddenly he felt her bone-deep ease within himself.

Allowing his eyes to close, he wondered at the little miracle of falling. Just like his Nan had said.

The shaking of the bus woke him hours later, but as he came to, he realised that beyond the turbulent motion and the sound of rain battering the side of the bus, inside it was otherwise silent. From the lack of light in the tour bus, dawn hadn’t broken yet. His eyes adjusted well enough to the darkness, and he glanced down the bus to confirm everyone else was still asleep. They’d obviously completed the plan to travel close to London and were parked up at a service station.

Wrapped up in Zoe, he hadn’t moved in the night. Still on his back, Zoe was snuggled up against his side, curled up like a contented cat. Gently, he placed a kiss on her head before easing his hand from beneath her to reach for his phone.

Six in the morning. His stomach rumbled and he wished he was back home where he could head over to his Nan’s for one of her totally indulgent breakfast baps.

“Zoe,” he whispered, before realising she wouldn’t hear him. Placing his hand on her hip, he shook her gently until she slowly opened her eyes.

“Alex,” she sighed, and he caught the whispered word as it fell from her lips with his own. God, the way she melted into him. How stupid could he have been? What had he been thinking when he’d let her leave with Mark?

He turned his phone on so they had a little more light. “B-r-e-a-k-f-a-s-t?”

“Now?” she whispered.

Alex nodded and rubbed his stomach. “I’m hungry.”

She ran her fingers over his lips. “Okay.”

“F-i-r-s-t t-h-i-s.” He shifted them so she was beneath him, so he was cradled between her thighs. Using his elbows to take his weight, he cupped her cheeks and kissed her, grateful he finally got to wake up next to her and for it to mean something.

Sure, it was still a spark. The beginning of something.

But it was precious.

He rubbed his thumbs along her cheekbones and stared down into her eyes. Jesus, she was pretty.

---