He closed his mouth around the bit of strawberry sticking out of my mouth and kissed me as we ate the sweet and sticky fruit. Juice mingled on our lips, so we kissed and licked it off before washing it down with champagne.
“You can see yourself still wanting me by Christmas?”
Jae’s cheerful expression didn’t falter. “Yes.”
I sipped more champagne to dislodge the inexplicable knot of emotion in my throat.
“Can you?” Jae’s voice wobbled a little.
I put my champagne on the table, grasped his cheeks, and kissed him. It was a kiss born from the emotion building inside me. The quiver in my belly and the thump of my heart. The spinning of my head and the tingle down my spine. The kiss tasted of bubbles, summer days, and winter nights. It tasted of promise. The kiss left us gasping and staring at each other, wide-eyed.
“I hope that was a yes,” Jae squeaked.
“It was.”
“This is more than a proximity fling, isn’t it?”
“It feels like more than that, doesn’t it?”
Jae nodded slowly.
We inhaled simultaneously, holding our breaths as we stared at each other. My chest tightened. The quiver in my stomach turned into a full-on tornado. My heartbeat was so loud it seemed to fill the room.
“We should tell Dillon.” We spoke in unison, the words escaping us in a rush.
Jae laughed. “We need to stop doing that.”
“Talking together?”
He nodded.
“Why? It’s cute.” I leant forward and rubbed my nose over his. “I like being cute and couple-y with you.”
“You don’t look like the cute, couple-y type.”
“Looks can be deceiving.” I pecked his lips and was rewarded by a strawberry being shoved into my mouth.
We flopped against the sofa cushions, staring at the twinkling fairy lights above us.
“What do we say to Dillon?” Jae asked.
“We’re attracted to each other and want to be together.”
Jae sucked in a breath. “I’ll be going home soon.”
“You don’t have to.” I threaded my fingers through his and turned my face to stare at him. “You could stay. I’m pretty sure there will be more modelling opportunities here than in Leeds.”
“Lots more.” Jae sipped his champagne and put his glass and the almost empty plate of strawberries on the coffee table. He angled his body so he was facing me. His knees were drawn up, touching my thigh. “But that’s not the main attraction.”
The thunder of my heart turned into a fast pitter-patter. “What is?”
“You.”
My head spun, my heart soared, and my stomach flipped. A laugh bubbled out of me.
“We haven’t been together long,” Jae said, bringing me back to earth.
“We’ve known each other most of our lives.”
