“Not possible.” We rocked together in sync, clawing just to get closer. Years or pent-up lust locked away. Tonight, the doors had been opened. Caps undone. Inhibitions loosened. “I’ve wanted you for a lifetime. Watched you from a distance. Admired every part of you.”
I loved this side of him, the one kept hidden, the sheer gravity of what we had to lose that he’d pushed aside with ease. I felt his hands slide into my hair. They’d been there before when he helped me dye my hair lilac after losing Elliott and I wanted to escape my identity, my life. It was stupid to think the colour of my hair could change me.
Only Will did.
He pulled me from the despair of grief, carried me, held me. Loved me. I gasped as his hand reached places he’d never touched before. Parts of my body that were surely asleep before tonight. He was waking me up, surging me with heat and power.
“No one else touches you,” he panted.
“No,” I managed to get out.
I didn’t know where this would take us. I’d been hesitant and frightened to ruin what we had. Shackled by the terror that I’d fuck us up, but as I pressed my lips to his, I’d never felt so free.
He kissed. He devoured.
He knew what I needed and he took me there.
Pulled my hair before holding my hand.
Light and dark and every colour in between.
We were brand new, yet discovering.
Voices and whispers and branding.
His hands dug into my flesh, fingers roamed, and this kiss would sear itself against my mouth forever. Our lips meeting, merging, connecting.
I was falling, but he was holding me steady. Hands to my ass cheeks, yes, but something more.
He was finally stepping into my heart and settling there.
“What the F?”
Our heads both turned on the word, mouths still moulded together. An adorable, yet hot, nose smush.
“What’s going on?” Stacey continued, holding her hand to her forehead, her mouth open, shock opening her eyes wide. “He’s eating your face, Skye!”
“It’s not what you think,” I mumbled against Will’s mouth.
“How have I missed this?” she asked, ignoring the contradiction of my words against our body position, slammed against a wall by Will’s erection.
“Maybe because you’ve had a male escort permanently between your thighs,” Will replied, softly letting me down to the floor.
“Humour isn’t helping here, Will!” she replied. “Where are we on the fine line of friendship here? Kissed? Groped and fiddled?” She did some hand actions that had me twisting my face. “A bit of tongue action? Sex?”
“Sweetheart, I think you may have interrupted some fine line balancing,” Matt said from behind her shoulder as he tried to move her away.
“We’ve done nothing,” I said, wiggling my corset back into place as Stacey covered her face.
“Oh, my life!” she cried, stifling a really big sob with her hand. “My best friends are…having it off!”
“No, Stace,” Will said, bumping his forehead against the wall. “But we were so fucking close!”
He smiled as I smacked his arm.
“This is complicated,” I said, walking towards Stacey who was still a blubbering mess. “We have a lot to work through.” She wiped her nose with the back of her hand. She always was classy. “And a lot to discuss.”
“I’m made up,” she said, her voice cracking. “Really.” She pulled me in for a magical Stacey bear hug and I got lost in her arms.
“Can you leave us? Just for a minute,” I asked, as Stacey pushed me forward by my elbows.
“Shit! You were mid-snog,” she said, “I’m so sorry.”
“Come on,” Matt said, pulling her back by her waist. “Let’s get a drink and leave them to it.”
I folded my arms as I watched them walk away, knowing we were left alone again and wondering if the moment would click us back into place or propel us forward into unfamiliar territory.
“What do you need from me?” he whispered behind me.
“The truth,” I replied. “The truth of us and how long we’ve been dancing this dance?”
“The moment we met, Skye. I don’t bullshit. Not anymore.”
“I’m scared,” I replied. “I don’t want to mess this up.”
“I won’t let it happen.”
He pulled me against him, and my body sagged. This man had saved me in so many ways I’d lost count.
A tap on my shoulder broke us apart. “Sorry, guys,” Matt said as Will bit his fist at yet another interruption. “Stacey sent me because she didn’t want to witness any more shenanigans, but there’s also a problem. Margot’s asking for you.”
Will stabbed his hand through his hair. “Christ.”
“Go,” I said, able to think clearly now the cloud of lust had left me and the shackles of our friendship were creeping back in. This time, would they be tied twice? A double knot securing them?
“I’m not leaving you,” he replied. “Not fucking now. Not ever.”
“We need to sort this out,” I said. “Margot’s really into you. Earlier, she was talking about how meaty your calves are.”
“Hold on, this isn’t just my mess. Jesus was studying your arse!” he said. “I nearly tripped him up on his way to get a plant-based beer.”
Matt turned to me. “Actually, Karma left with a woman who had a forked tongue and scales tattooed under her eyes.” I stifled a smile. “He said to tell you it was good to catch up.”
“Good to know he hasn’t changed.”
“Skye!”
“What?”
“I need to go and let this woman down gently,” Will whisper-shouted. “Without losing the deal of letting you film at her studio.” Bombshell moment. I’d completely forgotten Will and I were risking more than our friendship.
I clapped my hand to my head. “Crap on a cracker.”
“Come on then,” he said. “What shall I say?” I paced the corridor, thinking, feeling, getting side-tracked by both. Will crouched to the floor, his back against the wall. “Skye?”
“Stop! I’m thinking.” I put my hands on my hips and faced the ceiling.
“What do you want?” he asked calmly. I bit my lip, confusion flooding. Regret testing me. Hypocrisy bleeding into my skin. I caught his gaze and wrapped my arms around myself. Christ, this wasn’t me. I had values and morals and I stood up and fought for them. I called him out for this second date bullshit, but now I was on the edge of asking him to arrange a third. What the fuck, Skye? “Tell me what to do.”
“I’m trying to come to that,” I shot back, annoyed with myself for even considering it. This was a colossal hole of shit and I was in danger of falling in headfirst. “Is there another way we could do this? Could we film it somewhere else?”
“I don’t know,” he muttered. “Don’t we have a storyboard for this?”
“She’s offering equipment that we can’t get our hands on anywhere else,” I replied, ignoring his sarcasm, thinking out loud. “Professional equipment. Not just a handheld that will look like an amateur Pornhub clip.” I couldn’t let this be a cheap, smutty take on our big ideas, our focus, our plan. “Will–”