Chapter 26 #3
‘I… you… too,’ he squeezes out. It takes him one last thrust before he comes, both arms wrapping around me to pull me into him, his head buried in my boobs. I ride and ride, until the earthquake shifts into tremors, and collapse into him when I can’t take anymore.
I might have passed out, because when I come to, he’s already slipped out of me, and he’s dusting tiny pecks over my shoulder.
‘We should move before we get cold,’ he says, his voice quiet and tired. ‘I’ll go sort myself out and bring you back a washcloth. Then I’ll put you to bed.’
I grumble about it when he moves me off him, but my eyes stay long enough to watch his freckly backside retreat to the bathroom. He returns with a flannel, cleans me up, then takes my hand to lead me to bed.
He tucks me in, but doesn’t join me. He yawns then says, ‘I’ll leave you to get some sleep.’
‘Stay… please?’ Sleep already weaves its tendrils around me, but I prop myself up on my elbows.
‘It’s only two doors down, Luce. I’ll survive the trip.’
‘I don’t care. I won’t be able to sleep without you.’ And I can’t kick his naked backside out. ‘We only have two hours before we have to get up again. Please don’t waste them.’
He watches me for a moment before nodding. He places a kiss on the tip of my nose, turns the big lamp off then climbs into bed with me. Our limbs are already tangling together as he whispers, ‘Night, Luce. I love you.’
‘I love you, too.’
I linger next to the bus a few hours later, ignoring the barbed looks Deryn throws my way. We can’t leave. Not yet. Not until everyone is on the coach.
‘Thought you said if people aren’t here on time, we go without them,’ they complain down the steps. ‘He can make his own way to Cardiff. C’mon, Lucy. I wanna go home.’
‘If he’s not here in five, I’ll go and find him. I promise.’
‘And then I’ll leave you both in…’
But their grumbling fades out as Rhys flies out of the house. It’s a good job all our luggage was collected earlier, because his poor suitcase wouldn’t handle the velocity at which he’s running towards us, his laptop pinned tight to his chest.
‘Sorry. Sorry.’ He skids to a stop and throws his suitcase into the hold. ‘I got caught up watching the CCTV footage and lost track of time and—’
‘Again? You promised me you’d save it for the journey.’
‘I know, but I thought that maybe there was something—’
‘And?’
His shoulders slump, but he perks up straight away when I slip my hand into his.
‘Couldn’t find anything. But it’s okay. We’ve got at least four hours on this damn bus for me to go through it all again.’
‘Great.’
He gives my hand a tug. ‘You ready to do this? Did you read your contract?’
‘Yes. There’s absolutely nothing there that stops us from doing this. Also, I spoke to Gethin about it before breakfast.’
‘And?’
‘Just muttered that it wasn’t what he meant by working together better as a team, then wandered away to get coffee.’ I didn’t get told off, though, so I’m taking that as his approval.
‘Perfect. I’m excited.’
A ridiculous ginger puppy dog has replaced my boyfriend. He bounces on his feet and his arms wrap around me. Before we can fall into a kiss, though, Deryn blares their horn.
‘Come the fuck on, you two,’ they shout. ‘You can do all the snogging you want on the damn bus.’
And that’s our announcement made for us.
‘Come on.’ Rhys pulls me up the stairs.
I act as a deadweight, trying my best to slow him down. What if we get up there, and everyone’s eyes are on us. A bead of sweat trickles down my spine. I’m not here for that much attention. My job is behind-the-scenes for a reason.
He tugs me into the sitting area, but nobody makes a big deal of us showing up attached. Deryn rolls his eyes, but that’s it. Everyone else carries on with their conversations, or already have their heads stuck in their books or their work.
My internal thermometer starts to drop, but then we slide into the booth opposite Cai and Bethan.
She has her lips clamped shut, her cheeks puffing out with the attempt of keeping everything in. Before she can explode, Cai blurts out, ‘Ohmyfuckinggodfinally,’ in one big breath.
He holds his hand up, and Rhys high-fives him.
‘How long?’ Cai asks.
‘Since we got to Manchester,’ I reply, and Rhys squeezes my hand.
‘Dammit!’ Cai rummages in his pocket, finds his wallet, and pulls out a wad of ten pound notes. ‘Which of you fuckers had six weeks?’
A wave of hands rising into the air travels down the coach. Rhys raises his eyebrows at Cai. ‘You took bets on us? Not cool, man.’
‘It was Bethan’s idea,’ he tells me, as he doles out cash. ‘If it helps, I made a loss. I knew you two fancied each other, but didn’t think you’d actually act on it straight away.’
‘Couldn’t resist her.’
I lean in for a kiss, but Bethan blurts out, ‘No. Not here. Not in front of me.’
‘Yeah,’ Cai chimes in, ‘there’s no time for kissing when I have a million questions.’
Turns out he’s our biggest fan. The knowledge that he’s okay with us helps me sink into my seat more. I rest my head on Rhys’ shoulder while Cai starts his inquisition. Rhys can deal with it. It’s been ages since they’ve had the chance to chat.
Cai asks Rhys to tell him in detail the moment we decided to stop fighting with each other and start kissing and I drift off to sleep.