Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
NAOMI
The best possible outcome for my day was fighting with Sam about who was going to pay the bill. It was one that I lost, but he then lost carrying both his bags back to where we were staying.
For two people with legs as long as ours, with bags slung over opposite shoulders, we were walking back too slowly.
Our fingers kept almost tangling with one another’s, but neither of us seemed to want to fully commit to holding hands yet.
Almost like we thought if we caved to this, then we would also be the first to cave to that stupid pseudo-bet about kissing.
“How long are you in Paris for?” he asked, breaking the comfortable silence as he finally linked our hands together. I smiled to myself at the matching callouses under our middle fingers.
“Wow, Wyatt really didn’t tell you anything. Leesh and I are with you until after Turin.”
An adorable crease formed in his eyebrow. “Oh. Why did I think you were working while you were back in London? You said you saw a client, right?”
“I did. I saw a couple, but I wasn’t back in an official capacity.
Which is why I could drop everything and close out the tour with you two.
Plus, being in Paris is a good excuse to get some Christmas shopping done.
And we’ve never been to Turin before, which is weird when you think about how all over the place we are. ”
His shoulder brushed against mine. Even through the layers we were wearing, it was like I could feel his body heat searing my skin. I looked at his profile, and his nose was scrunched up.
“What’s that face for?”
Sam’s features smoothed out. “I forgot about Christmas. I usually spend it with the whole family, but…”
“You’re still not talking to your dad,” I filled in as I gently squeezed his hand. “You can spend it with us. We do it early as a family, then my parents fuck off on a festive cruise, and we go to Australia.”
“And what about Logan?” There was a loose smile on his face now.
“That’s where the blond boyfriend comes in,” I teased, which somehow made Sam smile wider.
“Does he know he’s acquiring a dog for Christmas?”
“Obviously, Isaac agreed to look after Logan. He agreed months ago when my parents asked if they could return to their cruise tradition. The invitation still stands. We can have a summer Christmas, and even though I’ve done ten of them or something, it’s still always a bit weird, but Alisha makes a mean lunch. ”
A low hum of agreement rumbled through Sam.
“I’ve missed Alisha’s cooking. Wyatt can’t quite recreate the magic.”
“She’ll be happy to hear that. Even if it will make her insufferable, and nobody needs that.”
We arrived at the door of where we were staying and came to a stop. It wasn’t that I thought things would be all that different when we walked through the door, because Wyatt knew what he was doing, but things had changed. And my brother and sister were probably gonna give me shit for it.
For reasons unknown, it hadn’t occurred to me that Wyatt and Alisha had been conspiring together on this whole thing with Sam.
But when I walked into the space we were renting, I realised I’d been stupid to ignore the fact that these two were always up to something.
The flat was a two-bedroom. Fine, considering it was just supposed to be Wyatt and Sam staying here. Not so fine when Wyatt knew both his sisters were coming.
There were a couple of sleeping combinations we could set up, but when I saw where my luggage was resting, I knew which one had been decided for me.
Alisha was in the bathroom cleaning her face when I found her. She smiled slyly when she caught my reflection.
“How was your daaatttteeee?”
I felt heat rise along my neck and across my ears.
“How are you even sure I went on a date?” I teased.
“You said you were gonna talk to Sam earlier, and well, you’ve been gone for hours, so I can only assume it went well.
What else have you been doing in one of the most romantic cities in the world if you’re not on a date?
Plus, you look calmer than you’ve looked in weeks, while you were weighed down by the burden of embarrassment. ”
I stepped further into the bathroom and leaned against one of the his-and-hers sinks, facing away from the mirror, while Alisha continued her skincare routine.
“It was very nice. We cleared the air. Drank good wine. Ate good food. He ordered three desserts because I couldn’t choose one.” I could feel my ears going from a faint blush to a rosy one, and Alisha was close enough to notice.
“A real keeper.”
I hummed. “Yeah, it was a very nice first date. And now I come here to discover there are only two bedrooms, and I’m not sharing one with my sister.”
She leaned over the sink and started rinsing her face, raising her voice to be heard over the running water.
“In our defence, we didn’t know how this first date was gonna go.
He might’ve been too tired to have a conversation, or you might’ve decided to be too stubborn to make the first move.
If you’ve gotta share a bed, you’re bound to figure out your shit somehow. ”
“Of course it’s a ‘we’. You can tell you’re a writer, with this hare-brained scheme.”
She started patting her face dry. “It’s not hare-brained.
It was a solid plan. Now you’ve just gotta share a bed with the guy you’re starting to date.
Please tell me this is leading to calling him your boyfriend, and I’m not about to watch you crash out repeatedly over a situationship.
” I nodded. “Thank goodness for that. So yeah, you’ve gotta share a bed with the boy you like.
Things could be worse. Have you forgotten that Wyatt snores? ”
I snorted. “Yeah, well, good luck with that. You wanna go shopping tomorrow, see if we can lock down Mum’s gift?”
“Oh, I thought you’d be with Sam and Wyatt. Uh, yeah, we can do that.”
“Leesh, my tennis season is over. That means the racquet doesn’t touch my hand until we’re in Australia for pre-season. Shopping and pastries are all the plans I need tomorrow. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night and good love.”
“Good night and good love.”
After I’d texted Lois to give her an update about how I went on my date, and her reply was an immediate series of exclamation points before an ‘I told you so’, I entered the bedroom to find Sam in just a T-shirt and his boxers.
He’d moved my bags from outside the door to in the room next to his kit bags.
“I guessed you were sleeping here,” he said when he saw me in the doorway.
“Either that or the sofa.”
“The sofa isn’t that big,” he replied quickly, making the corners of my mouth tip into a smile.
“Then I’m sleeping here.”
In the morning, for the first time ever, I woke up with the heavy weight of an arm wrapped around my waist and a forehead pressed in between my shoulder blades.
I sank into the warmth of it and fell back asleep.