Her heart missed a beat.
“Hey there,” she said cheerfully. “What are ya doing here?”
Jay, with his greeting smile still fixed on his face, said, “I’m staying here for a little while. Love the view.”
Alex nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Waverly’s great.”
She waited for him to take a step back to let her through the door, but he didn’t budge. He just stood there looking down at her from his great height. She made an attempt to enter through anyway and ended up squeezing herself between him and the side of the door.
She glanced up at him as she passed, her face red because he was so close to her that she could feel him. She could feel his warm breath on her skin and his muscular chest brushing against the side of her arm. Once she passed the threshold of the house, she bent down to take off her shoes.
“Alex, that you?” Margaret’s loud voice came from the living room.
“Yes. Hi, Margaret,” Alex said, shooting up as she did so.
Bam! She collided with Jay.
“Sorry,” he said, grinning at her, and his face seemed to be moving closer to her.
Alex smiled apologetically and stroked her fingers through her hair. “That’s okay,” she managed to say, avoiding his eyes as she walked into the living area, with Jay following close behind her.
“Oh, my dear, I haven’t seen you for such a long time,” Margaret said as she came around the bench, her arms wide open. She hugged Alex, patting the girl’s back as she did so.
“Sorry, I was quite busy with work and all,” Alex explained, moving back. “Here, it’s from Mum.” She handed Margaret the bag filled with lettuces and silver beets. “Mum said hi.”
“Well, she doesn’t have to do that. Tell her I say hi back and thank you for these.” She gestured to the bag in her hand. “What would you like to drink, honey?” she asked as they both walk into the kitchen.
“Ribena would be good, thanks,” Alex replied, watching Jay, who was now on the other side of the spacious, modern living room, picking up his bottle of beer.
“Ribena? You got it,” Margaret said, opening her large stainless steel fridge door.
That was better—seeing him sitting on the other side of the room made her feel better. Space. She needed space. She needed to breathe properly.
She left her satchel on the bar and then took off her jacket. Margaret handed her a glass of Ribena.
“Thanks,” she said, taking the cool glass in her hands. “How come Jay’s staying here?”
Margaret glanced up with raised brows. “You know each other, huh?”
“I met him at the hospital. Peter was there with him.”
“Peter thought Jay needed company and a change,” Margaret said as she took out the roasted pork and vegetables from the oven. She grunted as she carried the hot, heavy tray across the small space and placed it on the chopping block. “Why don’t you set the table, dear?” She started picking out the roasted potatoes, kumara, and carrots, and put them into a large serving bowl.
“Sure,” Alex replied, put down her drink on the bench, and proceed to roll up her sleeves. “Smells delicious,” she commented. Then she shook her hair and tucked the strands behind her ear so they were out of her face. “Where are the plates?”
“Behind you,” Margaret replied without looking up from her pork.
Alex nodded and turned. “Shoot!” She gasped as she felt a hard body against her.
Jayden caught her arm with one hand to steady her. He placed the now-empty bottle onto the benchtop as he searched her face.
She glanced up, and her heart started to beat faster. Oh, God, he was touching her. Then she felt something wet about her breasts. She glanced down and saw her jersey was soaked with a dark liquid.
“You all right?” Jay asked in concern, still searching her face, his body way too close for her comfort.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you behind me.”
Margaret looked up from her pork. “Just an accident. Why don’t you clean up before dinner, Alex?”
Alex turned to smile at Margaret. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Excuse me.” Then she squeezed herself between Jay, who didn’t seem to notice she needed some room and wouldn’t move an inch, and the bench.
Once Alex left, Jay said, “I think she’s upset with me.”
“Oh?” Margaret looked at him.
“I better go and see how she’s doing since I’m the culprit.” Jay grinned gingerly and left the kitchen.
Margaret smiled and went about preparing their dinner, humming to herself.
* * * * *
Jayden wandered along the hallway, cursing himself. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he showing so much interest toward Alex? And why did he have to stand so close to her just then?
No, wait. Pause right there, hot shot!
He knew why. It was because she smelled great, like spring or something. He wasn’t able to help himself because he wanted to smell her again after she had squeezed past him through the entrance door into the hallway. It wasn’t a strong, perfumery smell like most of the women used back in New York, but rather a subtle scent, just a hint of lovely floral that pricked his interest, just a hint that made him want to inhale more.
He reached the bathroom door, put one hand on the knob, and knocked lightly a couple of times with the other. When he didn’t hear any reply, he opened the door slightly and popped his head in.
He saw her busy cleaning herself with some Kleenex. She had her jersey off, which was lying on the floor. She was wearing only her white singlet and her skinny jeans. He cleared his throat. No response. He knew she probably didn’t hear him because she was too busy frowning at her stained singlet. Jay had no doubt she didn’t like the look of the dark stain on the white fabric. The singlet looked new. Maybe that was why she was upset. Then she yanked the material to her nose and sniffed. She made a face as though she were disgusted. Jay guessed she didn’t like the smell of that beer either. Then she started pulling the hem of the singlet from her waist, ready to take it off.
Shoot!
Not wanting to be seen peeking in on her while she was undressing, he said loudly, “Alex, you all right?”
She had gotten half her singlet up and covered her face when he said that. Holy Mother of God! He could see the lace of her bra coiling with her singlet, and it was going up.
Alex turned around as she yanked the singlet all the way off her body. She blinked once it was off her person.
“Jay!” she gasped.
“Holy shit!” Jay swore under his breath, staring at her, the top half of her body naked. She had beautiful breasts. They were milky white, full, and round with light pink nipples.
Alex glanced down and her face went bright red. She quickly covered herself and started mumbling something that Jay couldn’t hear.
Jay said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“No, no, no. It’s my fault. I didn’t lock the door. But that’s okay because you’re gay.” The moment she said that, Alex wanted to die.
Where did that come from? You stupid girl! What have you done? You’ve hurt Jay’s tender feelings. You know very well that gay people are very sensitive, not only about this subject, but in everything else as well.