Chapter Eight
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,”I hissed to myself, practically pacing a hole in my bedroom carpet as I awaited the imminent phone call from Rowan, telling me he had arrived.
I groaned, sitting on the edge of the bed and resting my face in my palms. With only a few minutes until ‘the date’, my nerves had finally gotten the better of me. I sat still for less than thirty seconds before leaping up to check my appearance for what felt like the billionth time. I glanced at my phone. He was two minutes late.
I felt a wave of nausea hit me, hearing a car pull into the street. I held my breath, startling as my phone buzzed.
ROWAN: I’m here. Do you want me to come up?
MAX: Sure. It’s number seventeen.
ROWAN: I remember from new year’s.
I stood still and silent, listening as a car door slammed shut in the street outside. My heart leapt into my mouth as I heard the faint chime of the buzzer and I rushed from my bedroom. I deactivated the lock and waited impatiently in the hallway, fussing with my hair in the mirror that was hung on the wall. Hearing a knock, I took a deep, controlled breath and opened the latch on the door.
“Hey, come in.” I smiled, opening the door and stepping to the side to let Rowan into my flat.
“Thanks,” he replied, stepping swiftly through the doorway so I could close it behind him. I dared not look too closely at him. I already knew he’d be looking really good. He certainlysmeltreally good as he walked past me; aftershave and clean linen.
“Take a seat. I’m just going to pop to the toilet, and I’ll be ready to go.” I gave him a smile, gesturing to the sofa whilst I strode toward the bathroom. I quickly disappeared into the cool tiled room, shutting the door behind myself. I didn’t really need to go, but I figured it would help with the nerves a little.
I unzipped my fly and took a deep, steadying breath. It wasn’t like me to be so nervous. I worked with Rowan five days a week; it was ridiculous to worry about going out with him. It’d be just like work, but over a meal instead of a patient. Taking advantage of the fleeting feeling of confidence, I flushed, washed my hands and checked myself over in the mirror one last time before exiting the bathroom.
I walked back into the lounge, alarmed to see Rowan casually flicking through a lesbian porn magazine that had been left out of the coffee table – aptly titled ‘Quim’.
“An interesting choice of reading material, I’ll give you that.” He laughed, looking up at me. I felt my face flush.
“Fuck, God, I’m sorry! That’s not mine,” I exclaimed. “My flatmate must have left it out.”
“No, I figured that.” He turned the magazine around to show me a centrefold spread of two blonde women in a rather compromising position before throwing the magazine down onto the tablet with a loud slap.
“Sorry,” I sighed. “At least you weren’t bored whilst you waited for me.”
“Honestly, more people should put porno magazines out for their guests,” he mused, throwing me a grin as he got to his feet. I cocked an eyebrow at him whilst grabbing my keys from the set of drawers opposite the coats.
“You look great, by the way,” Rowan said quietly as he slowly made his way across the room towards me.
“Thanks, you too,” I replied, turning to face him. He stopped in front of me, stood so close that I was certain I could feel the heat emanating from his body.
“Is the girl-on-girl fanatic at home tonight?” he asked, his voice low and gravelly.
Oliver was out at a party. Given that Tom and Evan had picked him up, it was almost a certainty that he wouldn’t be dragging himself home until dawn.
I swallowed my nerves and held Rowan’s gaze. “No. He won’t be back until tomorrow morning.”
“Interesting.” Rowan leant in closer. “Then I suppose it’s safe to do this?” He ghosted his lips over mine.
Words escaped me, so instead I pushed forwards and pressed my mouth to his. When Rowan parted his lips slightly, I took full advantage and teased the tip of my tongue between them. The soft grunt he made in response sent a shiver down my spine. I took his face in my hands, kissing him and allowed Rowan to walk me backwards a few paces until I was pressed against the set of drawers.
As our kiss grew increasingly passionate, my interest in going out for a meal waned. Rowan’s hands smoothed down over my stomach before sliding around my body to grab my ass. When I pulled my mouth from his, he immediately latched onto my throat.
“Did you make reservations or anything?” I grated, pushing Rowan’s coat down off his shoulders.
“Yes, but the fantastic thing about reservations is they can be cancelled,” he replied, obediently shrugging out of his jacket, keeping his mouth on my neck throughout.
“Fuck it, we’ll just order in.” I felt Rowan’s lips curve into a smile against me. Once he had wriggled out of his coat, I pushed him away from me and took it from him, moving to hang it on the coat rack. I swiped my hand over my face, hot and clammy from our clinch, before turning back to look at Rowan.
He smiled at me, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up over his forearms. I eyed them keenly. You knew you were in trouble when you even found someone’s forearms sexy.
