Chapter 23
Twenty-Three
JESSE
T he only thing that saved me from feeling bad about myself as my orgasm crashed through my body, while my hand tried to find purchase on the shower tiles, was that I came so quickly, I didn’t even have time to fantasise that Clara was with me.
The memory of her leg dragging over my cock was enough for my body to try and go again, but a quick blast of cold water and all the unerotic thoughts I could muster kept it at bay.
By the time I exited the bathroom, Clara was nearly finished getting ready. As I put my sleep T-shirt underneath my pillow, she was shaking out her curls and getting them to settle how she wanted against her back and shoulders.
Lifting her arms overhead pulled the hemline of her black crop top up to reveal her equally black bralette. To round off the look, she wore a black skirt that hit her mid-thigh. She was in her standard summer outfit. I had seen her in various versions countless times over the years, yet something about it felt different this time.
“Oh good, you’re done. That means we get to brag to Becky about how we only needed thirty minutes.”
“The least we could do is be early, seeing as we were the ones who forgot to set an alarm and had to be woken up in the first place,” I teased. Clara spun around, her skirt flaring out, and stepped towards me.
She placed a hand on my chest, slightly cool against me even with my T-shirt between my skin and hers. “Promise me this, Jesse. Always be in my corner, even if it’s the wrong one. And especially against Becky.”
My eyes dropped to her mouth for a split second, and I saw her sharp intake of breath before I looked back at her eyes. The air around us shifted.
“Done. On your side. Always,” I said. My voice was deeper than I expected, and Clara swayed into me a fraction before she blinked and pulled her hand away.
She took a slow step back, and her eyes focused on the spot where her hand had just been before she turned away.
“Good. Let’s go before we end up being late,” she said as she grabbed a backpack resting against the wardrobe.
I checked that I had my phone and a card on me and followed.
* * *
“If it isn’t my favourite Sleeping Beauty,” Becky joked as Clara and I entered the kitchen. It was just the twins in there. Everyone else was milling around in the dining room.
Clara stuck her tongue out as she slotted in beside Becky, resting her forearms on the kitchen island.
“If it isn’t my favourite alarm clock,” Clara said as she nudged her shoulder against Becky’s.
“I’m sure you could find another favourite if you tried hard enough,” Lucy said from her position on the other side of the island as I settled in next to her. Clara threw her a look but didn’t say anything as Becky pushed a plate of buttered toast in Clara’s direction.
“Eat some bread, Clara,” she said.
Clara wordlessly took a piece, then pushed the other slice over to me. As I picked it up, Drew appeared.
“Careful, Clo here doesn’t share food,’ he said, clapping a hand unnecessarily hard against my shoulder.
Clara stopped chewing. “It’s just toast.”
“And you’ve chewed me out for less. Pun not intended,” Drew jeered.
I took a bite of toast and watched Clara compose herself.
“You would take stuff off my plate without asking first. I literally pushed the plate towards him. I was offering it. There’s a difference.” There was an exasperation to her tone that I’d never heard before when she spoke to Drew.
Becky clapped her hands twice, loudly, making me jump while the other three remained unbothered. Clearly, they were used to it. “Now that everyone is here, I think it’s time that we head out!” Becky shouted, making sure that everyone heard her.
Drew walked away reluctantly, followed by Lucy.
“Oh, there’s coffee behind you,” Becky said to Clara before she walked out. Clara shoved the rest of her toast in her mouth and turned around to collect it.
A sharp snap of laughter rang out around the room as she turned back around, two coffees in hand.
“What’s funny?” I asked. She handed me a travel mug with a crab on it.
“It’s only funny if you like unsubtle gestures and believe in astrology,” she said as she turned her mug around to reveal a scorpion.
I didn’t know much about astrology, but I did enough to know that the two symbols represented Cancer and Scorpio. Clara was born in October and the twins in July.
“What about Rachel?” It seemed weird that they would only represent three out of four.
“She’s a fish. If you believe that sort of thing, it means that we’re all compatible in terms of friendship. And love,” she almost whispered the last sentence as she walked past me to join the others.
It was almost like she realised at the same time as me that my birthday was July 20th.
A perfect match.