Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
EWAN
Istudy myself in the mirror one last time. My hair isn’t sticking up. I’m shaved. My shirt is neatly pressed. My chinos are clean.
I look nervous.
Why am I so nervous? I really don’t know. I’ve been on dates before, but for some reason, this is different. Maybe it’s because Josh and I work together. Or maybe it’s because we’ve done this ass-backward, sleeping together before dating.
Whatever it is, I like him so much.
Leaving the bathroom, I stop quickly in my room and grab my keys. It’s warm enough that I won’t need a jacket. Sticking my head into the kitchen to thank Daniel for taking my turn with the animals so I could get ready, I freeze when I see the ghosts.
All of them.
“What’s going on?” I ask cautiously.
“You look so handsome,” Maisie gushes, clasping her beringed hands in front of her chest. She’s wearing a green T-shirt that says Spank Me Harder over a long orange skirt with a large bustle.
“Uh, thanks.”
Freddie clicks his tongue. “But so casual. Why aren’t you wearing a suit? Josh is wearing jeans.” He sounds scandalized as he straightens the lapels of his suit jacket.
“They’re very nice jeans,” Hattie consoles. “A lovely dark indigo. No holes or anything.”
“And they fit so well.” Maisie titters.
Oh my god. This can’t be happening. I meet Daniel’s gaze, and he grins evilly.
“Do you have condoms?” Carter asks. “Or does Josh use the PrEP too? How does that work, exactly?”
“Yeah, Ewan, how does it work?” Daniel asks innocently.
“I don’t have time to go into it, but you should ask Daniel to help you google it.” I smirk. “Have lots of fun!”
I’m still chuckling over the look on Dan’s face when I get to the house and find Josh waiting out front. I turn off the engine and get out of the car as he comes forward, my nerves returning in a flood.
“Hi. You look great.” He does, but he also looks just as nervous as I am, making me feel better. We’re in this together.
“…and then as I walked out, Maisie was asking if PrEP is what you need lube for, because she had a recipe for a ‘lovely’ lubricant that her ‘gentlemen’ always thought was the real thing.”
Josh is laughing so hard, I think he might choke. Good thing he’s already cleared his plate. “Did…,” he wheezes, “…did Daniel tell her that men don’t have ‘the real thing’?”
I shrug. “I didn’t stick around, but I hope so. Because that would have led to so many questions.”
He sits back in his seat, sighs, and swipes moisture from the corner of his eye. “They were waiting in the hall outside my apartment to ‘wish me well,’ as Hattie put it. Johnny wanted to know why I wasn’t bringing you flowers.”
I shake my head. “Don’t get me wrong, I love them all, but they’re hard work.”
Nodding emphatically, he says, “Yeah. I’m pretty sure they’re all going to be waiting impatiently for a debrief when we get home. Wanna delay going home?” He chuckles, but it works perfectly with my plan.
“We could take a walk and get some ice cream,” I suggest, and the smile that spreads across his face is warm and intimate.
“That sounds perfect.”
We settle the bill, only squabbling a little bit over who’s paying. I win when I say, “Let me get this one, and you can pay for our next date.” He gives in with a grin that matches mine.
It’s almost ridiculous, the way we’ve both reverted to being gushy, moony teenagers.
But I can’t stop the little thrill that runs through me when we exit the restaurant and I take his hand.
I can’t remember the last time I held hands with someone, but it’s one of those things that’s so innocently intimate, and doing it with Josh settles satisfaction over me like a warm blanket.
Weird, right? Sex has gotta be more intimate than holding hands, but this feels so much more important…
like a declaration. And I’m happy about it.
The ice-cream place is just down the street, so we stroll over and order, then cross to the park in the middle of the town square.
The trees are strung with fairy lights, and there are plenty of people taking advantage of the balmy spring evening, but still it’s like we’re in a fairy tale.
If I believed in fairy tales. Which, even with all the stuff I’m tangled up in right now, I don’t.
Although I don’t exactly disbelieve.
Josh sighs.
“Okay?” I ask, studying his face. “Are you cold?”
He shakes his head. “No, I’m good. I was just thinking that I’ve never considered myself to be the romantic type, and yet…” He grimaces. “You’ll think I’m an idiot.”
“And yet, this is like a fairy tale?” I finish dryly. “I was thinking the same.”
His gaze flashes up to meet mine. “So we’re both idiots, then.”
“Looks like.”
He bites his lip. “Is it bad that I’m okay with that?”
I don’t even try to hold back my smile, giddiness rising in me. “Let’s just go with it.”
He rises on tiptoe, his face turned up, and I instinctively lower mine.
Our lips meet. It’s not like the hot, wet kisses we’ve exchanged in private, not the light, meaningful-yet-casual ones I’ve been giving him when others are around.
This is… deeper. Our bodies don’t touch, except at the mouth, but I can feel the heat of him, so close, and fine tremors vibrate through me.
I could happily spend hours just kissing him like this.
Somewhere close by, people erupt into cheers and laughter, and the spell is broken. I pull back, hoping we’re not the focus of their attention—Josh would hate that—but the small group is just as absorbed by their own news as Josh and I were by our kiss.
“Shit,” Josh mutters, and I look back to see him swiping ineffectively at the melted ice cream on his hand with the single tiny napkin that was wrapped around the cone.
Come to think of it, my hand feels kind of sticky...
yep. I don’t know how long we were kissing, but it was long enough for our ice cream to give up.
I grimace. “This is not the kind of cream I expected to have all over my hands tonight.”
Josh gives a choked gasp, then starts laughing so hard, his face turns red. “Me either,” he wheezes.
We dump what’s left of our cones in the trash, then go in search of somewhere to wash away the stickiness, our arms brushing together as we walk. The romantic haze might have dissipated, but what’s left behind is just as wonderful, if not more so.
I pull the car into the staff parking at the side of the house and park.
Dan and I have our own little portico to park under behind our cottage, but I don’t want to make Josh walk across the estate in the dark.
Plus, I’m hoping he’ll invite me in. The ghosts are much more respectful of his personal space than they (read: Carter) are of ours.
For a moment, we sit in silence, enjoying the quiet hum of the dark and the suspense of these last few minutes of our first official date.
“Are you coming up?” Josh asks quietly at last, stirring in the dimness.
“If you want me to, nothing could stop me.” I feel oddly invincible in this space, with just the two of us. His quiet chuckle just reinforces it.
We get out and slip into the house, moving sneakily in an attempt not to alert the ghosts to our presence. If we can just get into Josh’s apartment, they won’t disturb us… probably.
Too bad they’re lying in wait for us in the hallway right outside it. We skid to a stop, and I sigh.
“Busted,” Josh mutters. A hysterical giggle bursts from my throat. It does feel kind of like we snuck in after curfew and were caught by our parents.
“Ooooh, Ewan’s not going home! We all know what that means,” Maisie titters.
So, not quite like being caught by our parents.
“I still have questions about the PrEP,” Carter says. “Can I watch?”
“NO!” Josh and I shout it in unison, then glance at each other. I gesture for him to take the lead. He’s the ghost expert, after all.
Before he can say anything, Johnny whines, “I ain’t gonna watch, but I got questions too.”
Josh clears his throat. “If you think I’m going to answer questions about sex, you’re so wrong. Go away.”
“You heard him,” Joe snaps. “Leave them in peace.”
Hattie starts shooing the others away over their complaints, until only Joe is left.
“Something you need?” Josh asks warily.
Joe squints. “I was going to warn you not to let this ruin our family, but…” He eyes us both so hard, my palms begin to sweat. “…I don’t think I need to.”
I’m still blinking in surprise when he walks away.
Josh shakes his head and unlocks the door, and I follow him inside. “Did Joe just give us his blessing?” And why am I so pleased about it?
“Consider our relationship ghost official. Let’s seal it with a kiss.”
I close the door behind me and lean against it as Josh stalks toward me with a predatory gleam in his eye. I like this side of him—how he takes control and goes after what he wants. I especially like that I see it most when he wants me.
He snakes a hand around my neck, rises on his toes, and yanks my head down. We crash together in a kiss that goes from zero to a hundred in the space of a breath, and I haul him closer, wanting to feel him pressed against every inch of me.
But he wriggles away. “Shirt off,” he demands, grabbing my shirt in both hands and tugging. “You should always be shirtless. It’s a law. Hiding those muscles is criminal.”
Chuckling, I free my shirt from his grip and take it off, enjoying the way he stares with glazed eyes. I flex, unable to help myself, and he moans.
“Oh my god, how am I this lucky?” he mutters. “How do you exist? Nobody’s as nice and fun as you and also has a body like that.”
“I’m a unicorn. Why are you still fully dressed?”
“Shhh. I just wanna bite you.” He eyes my pecs with a hunger that I’m only 99 percent sure is sexual.
“I’m beginning to think putting out on a first date might be a bad idea,” I say dryly, crossing my arms over my chest.
He pouts. “Fine, I’ll strip. But you need to get the rest of the way naked too.”
“Deal.” Within a minute, we’re both stark naked and surrounded by discarded clothing. This is starting to feel a bit weird, so I grab Josh, haul him into my arms, and kiss him.
Much better.
He grabs my shoulders and boosts himself up so he can wrap his arms and legs around me, and I brace my hands under his perfect ass and spin to press him against the door.
“Yeeeeeeessss,” he moans as our cocks rub together. He bites my lip, then licks it. “Make me come like this.”
Oh fuck yeah.
Adjusting my grip on him, I line my dick up with his perineum, trapping his between us, and begin a slow thrust-and-grind. The sound that’s wrenched from Josh’s throat makes me smile against his lips.
He wrenches his mouth away from mine, letting his head fall back against the door, then meets my gaze. “Harder.”
It takes only a dozen more thrusts to bring me to the edge. “Are you close?” I gasp, burying my face in his sweaty neck. His response is a visceral groan as his cock spurts between us.
That’s all it takes to make me explode.