15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
“I guess that’s the thing,” Hope said to the slightly buzzed partygoer who’d been talking her ear off for the last half hour. “You’re not getting your needs met and it’s important that you express that.”
“Would you stop encouraging the woman?” her dad piped up from where he reclined in one of the vintage deckchairs, eating a party pie he’d somehow discovered amongst the otherwise immaculate catering table. “We’ve already got more garden than we’ve got time for. A greenhouse that size practically needs its own mortgage.”
“Do you hear him?” Her mother shook her head, her wine sloshing slightly in her glass. “It’s like he has no respect at all for my aquaponics dreams.”
“Sad, really,” agreed Magnus, where he was kicking back next to Hope’s dad .
“Suck-up,” accused Dave, looking at him, wounded. He could usually count on Magnus to take his side, but this evening Renee had won early favour, arriving with a plate of the homemade caramel slice that made Magnus weak at the knees.
“Magnus gets it,” Renee said smugly. “He’s always been wise beyond his years.” Magnus shrugged at Dave as he accepted another piece of gooey chocolate baking. “Magnus,” Renee pounced. “Who’s the gorgeous brunette my daughter keeps staring at?”
“Mum!” Hope went scarlet. She’d been doing everything she could to strike the right balance: not draping herself all over Alison but visually checking that she seemed to be having a good time. It wasn’t her damn fault her gaze kept lingering; the sunset was hitting and Alison glowed in the deep rose twilight, her throat curving back in laughter at something Flynn said. Even epically gay Flynn looked slightly mesmerised with all that beauty pointed right at him.
“That’s Alison Hartmann,” Magnus volunteered. “She was married to an asshole who fell in with the mob. They made a TV show about it. She’s really nice though,” he added as all three Sullivans stared at him.
“Jesus Magnus,” Hope muttered. She looked across to her mum. “Ali’s cool,” she said, defensively. “We’re friends,” she added.
“Uh huh,” her mother said, looking at her closely. “Yoo-hoo!” she called out, to Hope’s intense discomfort. “Flynn!” She waved the plate of caramel slice in his direction and like some kind of dark magic, Flynn too, was drawn into her diabolical spell, nudging Alison to join him.
Hope sucked in a breath, watching slightly helplessly as Alison sauntered towards her parents. Damn, even her walk was elegant - across grass, in flats - like she was ready to take the stage. There was something about the fit of those jeans that made Hope want to grab hold of her hips. Oh shit, her mum was watching her.
“Hey Mama Sullivan.” Flynn gave Renee a lanky-armed hug. She hugged him back, then looked closely at Alison.
“You must be Ali,” she said immediately, as if Hope had been talking about her forever. Hope’s face went hot. Alison smiled and nodded. “Renee,” said Renee. “And David. We’re Hope’s parents.”
A faint hint of colour hit Alison’s cheeks and her eyes widened slightly. She shifted her feet, spine straightening even further.
“Of course you are,” she said, quickly recovering. “You look just like her.” She glanced over at Hope, her gaze warm and something flared in Hope’s chest.
“My mini me,” Renee said fondly, a wry smile on her face. Her mother was a confident woman, but she’d spent years trying to shrink herself and no amount of body positivity movements could quite shift all the scars from living life on this planet in a fat body. Hope went quite dizzy with rage when she thought of the judgement her mother faced in her daily life.
“You’re both gorgeous.” Alison refused Renee’s self-deprecation with matter-of-fact admiration. “I’ve threatened her with all kinds of bodily harm to reveal her skincare secrets, but now I see it’s all genetic. It’s rude, really.” She looked from one woman to the other and shook her head, her smile captivating.
“I don’t know why no one falls all over me to congratulate me for passing on my impressive stature,” Dave pretended to grumble.
Hope snickered at him. She watched it all happen: her mother, Flynn, Magnus, her father - god, herself - practically crumbling in a puddle at Alison’s feet. Hope was sure it wasn’t something she did on purpose; Alison just drew everyone’s rapt attention, simply by entering the vicinity. It was more than the blinding fact of her obvious beauty; there was a magnetism there that had everyone watching her, waiting to see what she’d do next. Or maybe that was just Hope, she realised, as the world rushed back in and she noticed both her parents were staring at her.
“So,” her father said slowly, as he looked from his daughter to Alison. “You’re not still married, then?”
“Hey,” came the voice from just above her a couple of hours later. Hope looked up from where she sat on a long, low log near the bonfire. Night had fallen and Alison looked slightly frozen, her beautiful woollen jumper no match for the icy chill. Hope felt bad all over again, for not letting her go home first to get changed. “Are you avoiding me?”
There was a tease in Alison’s voice, echoing Hope’s accusation from earlier. Hope rolled her eyes. She had, in fact, been avoiding her.
Hope was the one who’d dragged Alison out here, who’d missed her presence and wanted to be closer, but tonight, it had turned out, she’d bitten off more than she could chew. Because Alison was too much . Watching her charm the hell out of Hope’s parents, seeing her laugh and play off Hope’s friends, seeing the tension melt out of her shoulders, soft with wine and her social success, all with her eyes flicking regularly to Hope, to include her, to check in… it was all a lot.
Add to that the lust that Hope was struggling to keep in check, especially with the wine in her bloodstream, and she was genuinely worried she might lose her control… slip her hand into the back pocket of Alison’s jeans and squeeze her ass, tug her down by the back of her neck into a searing kiss. Even just getting caught out by her traitorous, desirous gaze that kept raking Alison’s curves, desperate to linger. All of it seemed possible.
So she’d avoided her. She’d let Camille cuddle her into her side and giggle in her ear over the antics of her guests, let Flynn pull her into an aching heart-to-heart where he moped over Magnus and let her get away with nothing but an ugh when he asked her about Ali. She’d lost track of Alison as darkness fell, deliberately so, flirting vaguely with a pretty stranger for a while, until her own mother had tugged her away for a heart-to-heart she was still slightly blistered from .
And now, Alison was before her. Tall, beautiful, and frozen to the bone with a question in her eyes, perhaps wondering what she’d done to be abandoned so thoroughly. Guilt hit her with a pang. She was supposed to be this woman’s friend. Quickly, she tugged Alison down by her hand to sit next to her by the fire. She’d only meant to bring her in close so she could get warm, but the touch of her skin was as electrifying as she’d known it would be. Stupid wine. Don’t touch this woman , Hope reminded herself.
Alison settled in next to her, leaning closer to the flames to warm her hands. The glow of the firelight played on her skin, gleaming off her dark hair and reflecting in her eyes. Hope swallowed, hard.
Suddenly she was lost for words, for easy teasing, for any conversation at all. Alison tucked her hair back and looked at her and just like that, Hope wanted, like she’d never wanted anything before, to lean in and kiss her, to say fuck it, I don’t care that it’s going to get messy. Just an inch, and oh what a mile it would be.
Good god, she thought to herself. I really need to go and get laid.