“I’m going to run to the bathroom.” I slipped in there, trying to get my head together. This was turning out to be less simple than I thought. The attraction between us was heavy, so much so it felt like a true weight had come over me, dragging me along. Maybe acting on it would be for the best. It was obvious she was feeling it too, I just had to find some way to bring it up to her.
With that in mind I went back out to the bedroom where everyone was crowded around Juniper, who seemed to be holding something.
“Ellery, you didn’t tell us you bought this candle for her. It was the one she was looking at in the store.”
I froze. In Juniper’s hand was the candle I picked out that first day. I had kind of forgotten about it. Not wanting her to find it, I had put it back behind the towels in the dresser, but someone must have found them when looking for extras.
For her part, Juniper had her eyes transfixed on it, her expression unclear.
“Sorry,” I said, clearing my throat. “Yeah it was a gift. I was going to save it for Christmas, but it seems you found it.”
“Oh, sorry. Yeah it was sitting in the cupboard when Juniper went to grab towels.”
Figures. It wasn’t a very good spot anyway. “Do you like it?” I asked.
She blinked up, as if just tuning into the conversation. “Yes, I love it. But you didn’t have to buy it.”
I shrugged. “I know your favorite is turquoise.” I couldn’t tell her I’d overheard her conversation with Rachel, but that was how I found it ultimately.
“Well thank you. I love it.”
“Let’s light it outside and see how good it is.”
“Sounds good. Lets get that tub started,” Samuel said as he and Rachel started towards the balcony, leaving Juniper and I alone once again.
“Thank you,” she said again, her eyes shimmering.
“It’s really no problem. I bought it because it reminded me of you.”
We were gravitating together once again, getting closer than we should.
“Ellery I think—”
“You guys coming?” Samuel’s voice cut from behind her.
“Yep,” she squeaked, walking out with the candle in hand.
God dammit.
Juniper
What was wrong with me?
I almost kissed him. Not only did I almost kiss him, but Iwantedto still. This was not how it was supposed to go. It was supposed to all be fake, no feelings, no strings. Just because we hooked up once didn’t mean we couldn’t do it. We were adults, but something about the way he held me yesterday, and the care he put into everything he’d given me had blurred those lines. But they couldn’t. Casey was counting on me.Iwas counting on me.
We were all in the tub now, the jets going and the candle Ellery got me flickering on the table. It was really pretty, with the turquoise jar and pretty turtle top. When I saw that price tag there was no way I would splurge for something like that, but when I went to the cupboard to grab extra towels when Rachel told me they forgot theirs, it almost tumbled to the floor. It made me think Ellery was listening all those times he asked me questions, and made me even more confused than ever. I stared at that flickering candle every once in a while, just watching the flame burn as hot as I felt.
Ellery and I now sat side by side, keeping enough distance so we didn’t actually touch.
Rachel was right, being in a hot tub after freezing outside and straining my muscles truly did feel good.
It was nice to talk with them more. I really did like Rachel, and hoped she wouldn’t hate me too much after our fake break up.
As we sat and chatted, Samuel pulled out the hard seltzers he brought, and we drank our way through more than we should have.
Soon it was obvious Samuel was getting drunk, and he and Rachel started getting handsy. It started with a move closer, and a kiss to her neck. Then they started whispering and giggling together. Ellery seemed to be in his own world, sipping his drink and not paying much attention to them.
The bubbles agitated the water enough that I couldn’t see everything. But I could see the outline of his hand headed up towards her upper thigh, and even higher. His other was positioned higher, and he started playing with her boobs under the water. There was something so… erotic about watching them that made me hot all over.
