28. Olivia
DAY FOUR OF THE 2024 OLYMPICS
That was how Olivia found herself hovering just a couple of centimeters away from Zeke’s face for ten minutes. Taking her time as she plucked his eyebrows hair by hair until they started to resemble the form they’d been shaped into for his magazine cover shoot. She kept looking back down at the photo as a reference image, and each time it was a relief to be able to look at something that wasn’t his actual face. Somehow the photo captured Zeke exactly as he was up close, so handsome that Olivia couldn’t look at him for too long without wanting to touch his beautiful eyelashes or kiss his absurdly gorgeous lips. She caught a glimpse of the hair-thin necklace that had slipped under his shirt, the gentle ripples of fabric accentuating all the hours he clearly spent in the gym. His cologne was warm and musky.
“How’s it going up there?” he whispered after a few moments of silence.
“Just thinking about how you talk a big game for someone whose eyes started watering two seconds into this,” Olivia said. She gently stroked the skin around his eyebrow, absentmindedly tracing a line around it. His skin was soft and smooth.
“My eyes aren’t watering, it’s… it’s just the light and the angle,” he said unconvincingly. She shook her head, smiling to herself.
“All right, I’m done,” she said softly, sitting back to check that his eyebrows were completely symmetrical.
“How do I look, Olivia?” he asked.
She loved hearing her name on his lips. “Good,” she said. For some reason, she didn’t feel the need to follow it up with a joke or fill in the silence. While she’d moved back a little bit, their faces were still just a few centimeters away from each other. Everything in her wanted to lean nearer and close the distance between them. And, it turned out, he felt the same.
Zeke moved a little bit closer, and so did Olivia. They leaned closer, and then closer again, like they needed to be together. Like this was inevitable. As Olivia breathed in, she felt Zeke’s nose gently touch hers. Her heartbeat quickened. He placed his hand on the side of her face and softly cupped it to bring her closer still. Without thinking, she gripped his shoulder to bring him forward. Zeke brushed a strand of hair out of her face and traced his finger from the top of her head, down over her cheek, and then across her lips… so achingly slowly that Olivia could feel herself trembling.
“Zeke,” she whispered, her voice shaking at his touch.
“Hmm?” he said, his nose grazing her chin as his hot breath swept up across her neck, leaving each inch of her skin feeling like it had been set alight. She was going to lose her mind if he didn’t just hurry up and kiss her.
“Zeke,” she said again, her voice strained. They were so close now that they could feel each other’s breath and hear each other’s heartbeat. All that separated them was a sliver of distance so delicate she could almost taste it. She really wanted to taste it. And then their lips crashed straight into each other. Olivia’s breath hitched at the contact. His lips were soft, and the kiss was hot and urgent. She wrapped her arms around the curve of his neck, and he snaked his hand around her waist to pull her closer. The sides of her shirt had lifted a little, and the sensation of his firm hands against her sensitive skin sent a trickle of pleasure down her spine. She deepened the kiss, tilting her head and gently biting his bottom lip, smiling into his mouth as she heard his quiet moan. Her self-control weakened as she felt the slide of his tongue inside her mouth. She was melting at her core.
In one effortless swoop, Zeke lifted her up from the floor and placed her firmly on his lap, his hands gripping her thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist, realizing how thin her shorts were when she felt him beneath her. She wanted to get closer. There couldn’t be any space between them. She was intoxicated by the sensation of her body against his. She laid hot, breathless kisses on his lips, and his hands tangled up in her hair. She traced circles on the firm, soft skin underneath his shirt. She gently began to lift it up and then retreated as he kissed her with such passion and urgency that she began to feel lightheaded. He ran his hands down the sides of her body, creating a need so visceral she felt it crackling under her skin. They were both getting so lost in the blinding intensity of the moment that it would only take a few more seconds to tip over the point of no return.
“Is that your phone?” said Zeke. Olivia opened her eyes, came to her senses, and climbed off Zeke’s lap. She was flushed and a little disoriented. Zeke’s shirt was rumpled and his mouth was covered with her lipstick. His face was still wearing an expression of heady, breathless desire. And she was the cause.