Ethan laughs, silently, and rolls his eyes.
‘So long as you don’t think it will cause a threat to society,’ he replies sarcastically.
I take off my things – my clothes and my jewellery, but I decide that my make-up can stay on for tonight – and climb into my sad little single bed. Ethan takes off his shirt, then his trousers, and I’m pretty sure he’s only doing it in a normal way, but the thirst trap is real regardless. This is like pay-per-view stuff.
I avert my eyes quickly, although I’m pretty sure he catches me looking because I notice his smile creeping onto his face.
Finally, Ethan gets into bed next to me. At first, he tries to go back to back with me, but he’s a muscular bloke, so we struggle to both fit.
‘There’s only one way you’ll fit, you’ll have to lie facing me,’ I tell him.
‘There are definitely other ways we could fit better,’ he points out. ‘We’d stack on top of each other better than we’d fit side by side.’
I laugh softly.
Ethan does as instructed, spooning up behind me. His body fits with mine perfectly. It feels as though he goes to put an arm around me, almost instinctively, but then he quickly returns it to his side.
For a moment we’re just silent. I can feel the heat from his body, his breath on my shoulder, his hips pressed tightly up against my own.
‘I can’t believe you tricked me into your single bed,’ he jokes, lightening the mood.
‘I mean, if we’re saying things we can’t believe – I can’t believe you flooded a hotel,’ I reply.
‘Erm, you meanweflooded a hotel,’ he corrects me. ‘That bath was for the two of us.’
‘Okay, but you were the one who left it running,’ I point out.
‘You were the one distracting me,’ he replies. ‘It was an honest mistake – I can’t believe they kicked us out.’
‘They said they were fully booked,’ I say, shrugging my shoulders.
‘Yeah, well, I would have kicked us out too,’ he says, laughing quietly. ‘And don’t shrug your shoulders because when you do, your bum wiggles – now is not the time to be bumping and grinding on me. Unless you’re actually planning on bumping and grinding on me, that is.’
‘Sorry,’ I say, smiling to myself.
I subtly but intentionally arch my back, pressing myself against him slightly.
‘You’re doing that on purpose,’ he says.
‘Doing what?’ I reply, making it a bit more obvious this time.
‘Hey, you’re the one who’s too scared to go through with it,’ he points out. ‘I could do this all night…’
‘I know you could,’ I reply. ‘But having sex with you is like a bin fire.’
‘Can I put that on my sex CV, please?’ he asks jokily.
‘Sorry, I don’t mean that as bad as it sounds, it’s just that, you know, it’s really hot and it’s really dirty but it’s…’
‘A bin?’ he replies.
‘Yeah, so as much as I want to do this…’
I wiggle back into him with intent, even though I know I shouldn’t, and the universe is in there like a shot. My sad little single bed gives way, crashing to the floor with a loud bang. There is no way Steve didn’t hear that.
‘Shit,’ I say under my breath – not that there’s much need for that now. ‘Can you hide?’
‘Where, under the bed?’ he jokes as he glances around.
