27. Leif
27
“Thank you for taking me out.” Aunt Georgia smiles as we walk along the street.
The mid-morning sun brings a steady warmth. Paired with my full belly of food, I feel ready for a nap.
“It’s always nice to get out with the whole family.” Tristan smiles down at his mum as he pushes her wheelchair along the sidewalk.
When Tristan was fourteen, his mum was in a car accident, leaving her paralysed from the waist down and needing permanent care. She moved into a facility, and Tristan came to live with us. He’s more like a brother to me and my sisters.
I throw an arm around Thyra’s shoulders and hug her closer to me.
I’ve always been close with my family, and it’s the exact feeling I’ve wanted to recreate for myself with my own children when the time comes. It’s not an endgame I’ve been actively pursuing. I’m only twenty-seven. I’ve been enjoying meeting people until now, but as my mind takes me back to Claire, it stops. Because I only see her.
Thinking back to one of our last conversations, I get the impression she didn’t have a family upbringing like I did.
It makes sense that she lives with high walls, warding off deeper connections, if she was raised to assume a partner would be unfaithful or lie straight to her face. It just makes me want to prove to her even more that I’d be worthy. I’d show her the way to be loved and cherished.
Fuck, I have never felt so strongly in my connection to another person.
I felt it from that very first night we met at The Wayside.
There was something undeniable in the way she carried herself with such confidence, but it was armour. Her sass was protection from being too vulnerable. It’s like she didn’t trust herself. To feel. To give in. She wanted the pleasure, damn well demanded it, but always on her terms.
I think that’s why it felt like such a high to have her submit to me. To be soft and unrestrained. She gave herself to me, trusted me to look after her, against her will. It only made me want to nurture that. To prove I had earned her trust, and not only would I protect her, I’d take her higher. And it scared her. Her fear was palpable when I saw her last night at the festival.
Words failed her. We were stuck posing for the artist, and she didn’t say a damn thing. When he told us we were all done, she fled, escaping into the crowd, leaving me with a sketch of a beautiful woman who holds my heart in her hands and a man who looked absolutely okay with that.
Her heart, however, was untried in a court of love and emotion. She’d never tested it out in the real world, against an opponent who could really do it damage. But she hasn’t figured it out yet. I don’t want to break her. I want to be the sword and shield that this woman commands with the power that makes her so damn beautiful. It’s her who’s going to break me .
“Jesus, do you bathe in your cologne?” my sister sasses from under my arm, so I pull her in closer with a noogie. “Oh my god, you beast! Get off me! Mother!” she yells, only causing me to laugh until I’m interrupted by Tristan’s upbeat greeting.
“Claire!”
My eyes snap up, searching for her. I'm always searching for her.
I don’t have to look too hard because there she is. Staring right at me with deep golden eyes is the very woman consuming my thoughts.
“Hi, Tristan.” She smiles at my cousin before returning her gaze to me, and with a soft whisper that owns my soul, she says my name, “Leif.”
“Leif?” Mum asks, her eyes filled with delight as they bounce between Claire and me.
Clearing my throat, I reluctantly drag my gaze from my Bombshell.
“Ah, this is Claire,” I say. “She owns the salon we’ve been renovating over the last few weeks.”
“And she calls you Leif?” Mum asks.
“I thought you only liked family calling you that?” Astrid asks.
“Yeah, Leif Axel,” Thyra says with a dig to my ribs that she knows damn well tickles me. I squirm away with a high-pitched squeal that I quickly cover with a grunt.
“You’ll pay for that, Thyra Rayna.”
“Ha! My names mean thunder and queen. I fucking own that shit.”
I pull her into me once again, this time burying her head under my armpit, making her gag before I push past her to get closer to Claire at the same time my mother does.
“You’re very beautiful,” says Mum. “I hope my Leif has been looking after you.”
Claire’s short hair is tied up in a wild ponytail on top of her head.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen her hair pulled back off her face, and it’s entirely mesmerising. A soft pink scarf is tied around her blonde tendrils, the tanned skin of her neck on display, making me want to dive right into the space and inhale.
A pretty pink blush paints Claire’s cheeks, and she offers my mother a tight-lipped smile.
“Yes. He’s been very good,” she says before turning to me. “Umm, I was going to email Westley later to see how the cabinetry is going. I don’t want to go down to the salon until it’s all finished.”
“We just need to get the locker station finished in the staffroom, and then all the doors go on tomorrow. The electrician and plumber will be there to finish what they need on Wednesday.”
“Have you seen it?” she asks, but my mind short-circuits for a moment while I take in how cute she looks in her denim overalls. A Rolling Stones T-shirt underneath and pastel pink sneakers on her feet.
Thyra nudges an arm into my ribs, shattering the stupor.
“Yeah, it’s looking great.” I nod. “The chandeliers were delivered late Friday, as well. I opened the boxes and had a peek. Mostly, to make sure they weren’t damaged.” I shrug.
It was mostly to make sure they were up to my girl’s standard, but no one here needs to know that.
“How long until your project is finished?” Mum asks.
“We do handover on Friday,” I say, swallowing down the bile that threatens to come up. Ignoring the way it reminds me that my time with Claire is almost up. The time to convince her we could be something worth not giving up on.
“Maybe Leif will let me have a sticky beak and see it before he hands it over to you.”
“I’m having a launch party in a few weeks. You’re welcome to come. Leif and Tristan will be there. I mean, I think they will. Umm, will you be there?”
“I’ll be there, Bo—” I suck back the nickname before it can pass, “Uh, Claire. Of course I will.”
From: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Project Update
They weren’t bad, although I particularly liked the pink mosaic flowers. Told you there’s no such thing as too much pink. How does it feel to know I was right?
Hmm, most daring thing I’ve done for someone’s attention. I was at a karaoke bar and took my bra off right before I got on stage to sing Pony. FYI, I can’t sing. At all.
CLAIRE.
PS. What’s your favourite sexual position?