Page 7 of Strip Bare

I looked anxiously at Kit, but he didn't look like he'd even heard what my mother had said, still dazed from the previous contact of our lips. I couldn't blame him. If it wasn't for my ability to rigidly compartmentalize everything in my life, I would probably be falling apart over the fact that I had just kissed one of the only real, true friends I'd ever had. I could only hope I hadn't fucked things up permanently between us.

"You should have called," I tried to say gently, but knew my tone must have been off by the way my mom's mouth turned down at the corners. "I mean," I scrambled, trying to recover, "that I have exams coming up and I don't know how much time I'll get to spend with you."

Her smile returned and I let out a breath of relief. "Oh, don't worry about that darling. We won't get in the way of your studying. Now, it's been a long day—how about you show us to your place? I'm not sure I remember how to get there."

I glanced quickly at Kit and then sharply away again when I found him watching me. "Um, sure. Let me just get my stuff."

"What about your—"

I cut her off, not wanting her to repeat the words I knew had probably screwed everything over already. "Kit has to finish his shift."

"No," KIt said roughly and I froze part-way through packing away my notes. "Harley can cover for me."

"I thought he was new." I tried to keep the alarm out of my voice and knew to most people, they never would have noticed anything amiss. But Kit was not most people. "Surely you need to stay and—"

"Nope," he repeated, popping the letters with force, and my mouth went so dry all I could do was nod.

My mom beamed as she wrapped me in another hug, making me crumple the notes sticking out of the textbook as it was crushed to my chest awkwardly. "Excellent. I can't wait to spend some time with you both."

I didn't bother to reply, just nodded at Harley as he watched the group of us file out of Cocoa & Rum with something like disappointment on his face. I gave him an apologetic smile but couldn't maintain it when I glanced behind me and found Kit following close behind, blue eyes burning into my back.

"Kit," I murmured as we headed into the park but he shook his head, jaw tight. It was rare that he looked serious, normally so quick to smile.

"Later."

Dread pooled in the bottom of my stomach. I'd never had a fight with Kit before, had never really seen him angry at all. I had no idea what to expect from him and that made me more nervous than anything else.

The streetlights in the park had come on in the short time I'd sat in the bar and their warm glow made everything feel cheery despite the anxiety that churned inside me. I wasn't hugely in touch with my emotions, but even I could tell that what I was feeling was a dose of worry, confusion, and shame about lying to my parents and putting Kit in this position. But there was also a part of me caught up in the memory of Kit's mouth, the way he'd tasted and the way he'd gasped like he'd felt just as electrified as me. That was unlikely though, a fantasy spinning out only in my head. In reality, it was probably the shock that had him gasping into my mouth like he'd die if he didn't get to taste me.

My dad ducked his tall frame under a low-hanging branch as we walked down the off-shoot of the main pathway and the familiar gesture soothed some of my panic. This was my family. They had always supported me. Sure, they might be a little upset or disappointed, but I’d thought it was a little white lie. I should have known it would come back to bite me in the ass.

People still milled about, the perks of a student dominated city, so despite the dark everything still felt very much alive. My mom was chattering on at Kit and under normal circumstances I would have been amused for him to meet someone who talked more than him, but now it only made me nervous about what they might be saying.

I should just tell them that I’d lied. Rip the band-aid off. But when Kit looked back at me, his eyes appearing almost black in the low-light, the words dried up on my tongue. It was selfish, but I couldn’t help wondering what if this is all I get of him? What if this small taste was all I could have? So instead, I swallowed my confession. At least, until I could speak to Kit.

"Where are you guys staying?" I asked my dad and he blinked, brushing a strand of hair as light as my own out of his face.

"Is that not where we're going?"

"What?"

"Well, we just thought we'd stay with you, darling.” My mom said, eyes bright as she beamed at me. “You can share with Kit for a few days, right? Saylor can take the sofa and your dad and I will share your room."

"Right," I said faintly. Because what else could I say? Of course it wouldn't be a problem for me to share a bed with my boyfriend. Fuck, this was spiralling out of control. Sure, Kit had the biggest room in the house, but I couldn't just share his space, his bed. It wasn't fair to him. None of this was his fault. I needed to come clean. Now. "Mom, actually I—"

"Sounds like a plan," Kit interrupted and I choked on my own spit. "Leo and I are happy to share."

Saylor shot me a look and I fought back a grimace. She was two years younger than me and we'd always been relatively close, even if I was terrible at keeping in touch with her. In fact, most people assumed we were twins when they saw us together and it wasn't an unreasonable assumption to make—her hair was a slightly lighter shade of white-blonde than my own but her eyes were dark just like my mom's. In the dark, she nearly glowed and I wondered if I looked the same to anyone else passing by.

We rounded a corner and ended up on the west-side exit of the park, just a few blocks from our place. I looked automatically to our left as we walked, my eyes taking in Ryan and Aaron's house opposite the large line of trees. It was force of habit, nothing more, but my dad looked at it expectantly and turned in that direction before I caught his arm.

"That's where our co-captain's are," Kit said. "We're not too much further away."

"That's nice," my mom murmured and we walked the last part of the way home in near-silence.

A warm hand brushed my own and I jolted, looking up at Kit in confusion as his fingers slid between mine and squeezed once before letting go. Was that his way of saying he understood? That he wasn't mad? I curled my fingers inwards, annoyed at the way they still tingled from his touch as we shepherded my family through our front door. They chatted amongst themselves as they kicked off their shoes and my heart seemed to speed up as I raised my eyes to find Kit watching me, an unreadable expression on his face.

Xander walked out of his room shirtless and leaned over the railing at the top of the stairs as we filed past into the kitchen. "Guests?"

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