Two days had passed since the kiss.Two days spent avoiding Ren in Everly Heath.Two days spent trying not to replay the stupid, reckless kiss in his apartment.And now, I was avoiding him in another country – Wales.North Wales, specifically, just at the foot of Snowdon, the largest mountain across both England and Wales.
Gen, Amy, and I sat at the breakfast table of the Red Dragon B&B after a sleepless night.Not because of the beds.The rooms had been perfectly cosy.Mandy had good taste – she never picked a place that wasn’t up to scratch.But I hadn’t been tossing and turning over thread count.Ren had kissed me.And now, as he sat at another table with Jade and Amara, lazily picking at the bacon and sausage on his plate, my brain was stuck in an endless replay of that kiss.
Scene by scene.His hands, his lips are on mine.The way the playback would slow, stretching every moment to something almost unbearable, only to speed up again – his lips brushing mine, his husky voice in my ear.
You have no idea how much I want you–and how much of it is not friendly.
Pure torture.
I watched as Ren leaned towards Jade to make a comment that had her laughing.I clung to my spoon until it dug into my palm.
‘Are you gonna kill someone with that?’ Gen asked, her eyebrow raised.‘’Cos fine.But you need to warn me so I can get some solid alibis.’
I released the spoon, pushing away the yogurt and berries.
‘You should eat,’ Claire said as she sat her plate next to us.‘You look a bit peaky, love.’
‘I’m okay, but thanks, Claire.’ I smiled, but it came out like a grimace.I hated that I was bringing down the energy.I baulked when several of the ladies asked if I was okay this morning, as if sensing my low mood.I needed to pull myself together.I needed to put up a better front than this.
So I pulled the yogurt back towards me and ate a spoonful as Claire smiled.I swallowed, hoping I wouldn’t bring it back up.
‘So what next?’ Amy asked a few moments later, lowering her voice so she wouldn’t interrupt Claire and Gen’s conversation about our route to Snowdon today – our most challenging hike yet, with steep climbs, scrambles and rough landscapes.
‘I don’t know.I just left.’ I bit my lip.‘I think I should just… ignore him?’
‘Ignore him?Can you do that?Can you forget and be friends?’
‘I don’t know, Amy.I’m not sure we can ever be friends.It would mean rewriting that night.It would mean being happy if another woman came into his life, leaving lipstick smudges on his cheeks and cold cups of tea on his nightstand.’
Amy shot me a sympathetic smile.‘That sounds like you want to bemorethan friends.’
I groaned, ‘No.It would never work.We’ve been there, and we ruined it.I would never want to risk that again.’
‘So,’ Amy whispered.‘What was the kiss like?’
‘Don’t make me talk about it, please.’
‘Oh, come on.’ Amy shot me puppy-dog eyes.‘I’m living vicariously through you here.’
‘It was…’ I thought about his palm on my jaw, his hands on my waist as he effortlessly lifted me on to the island.My cheeks warmed.‘Something else.’
‘Wow.That good, huh?’
‘Yes.’ I bit my lip.‘But it can’t happen again.’
It didn’t matter that I’d woken up this morning from a dream where we continued our kiss, feeling his body pressing me into the mattress, him settled between my thighs, and I woke up agitated and confused.
Amy and I glanced over to Ren, but found he was already looking at me.His gaze was intent, unwavering, eyebrows drawn like I was a puzzle he couldn’t quite crack.
I looked away fast as heat rushed to my cheeks.
But when I dared another glance, he winked.
The sheer cheek of it stole my breath.My eyes narrowed.His grin widened.
He knew we were talking about him or, most likely, about the kiss.
‘Bastard,’ I muttered, stirring the yogurt pot.
