“Tom,” she whispers. “Don’t go yet. Stay with me a little while longer.”
And she pulls on his hand, drawing him into her room.
* * *
Marnie’s face is like stone. “You slept with her? After what... twelve hours of knowing her?”
Tom felt indignation pulse through him. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Well, what was it like? Because, I have to say, this whole story sounds seedy. A young girl trapped in an airport, seduced by a trickster with a fake name. I knew when you were playing your role as Tom Miller that you did some shitty things, but this...”
Tom sat up taller in his hospital bed. “It wasn’t like that, I told you. What Ari and I had was special. And that night was special. That night was the moment that changed my life. That night was the—” He stopped, taking a moment to catch his breath. “That night was the best of my life.”
* * *
She lets him use her shower, and the water on his skin is like a balm to his soul. Both excitement and trepidation run through him concurrently, because he feels like he is walking on the precipice of something incredible. And that feeling both excites and terrifies him, because he’s tired of drifting. Tom knows that Ari can change his life. He’s known her a little under a day, and already he’s doubting his previous life decisions.
For her, he’s ready to live. For her, he’s ready to change.
And that makes him want to both jump for joy and shake with fear.
He dries off with a towel, and is considering putting his filthy clothes back on when he hears a tremulous knock on the bathroom door. He opens it, and Ari is there, a hotel robe wrapped around her. Delicate ankles and smooth calves peek out from under the faded terry cloth, and she plays with the sash nervously.
All the blood in Tom’s body rushes south at the knowledge that under this robe she’s naked, and he jerks his eyes to the floor, taking deep breaths.
“Um, I thought we could give our clothes a quick rinse in the bath,” Ari explains awkwardly. “And then hang them to dry on the shower curtain. It means we won’t have to, um, that is—”
“No, it’s a good idea,” Tom replies, keeping his eyes firmly on the floor. “I’ll, uh, wash mine first. Then, when they’re dry, I can get out of your hair and let you sleep.”
He feels a shaking finger run across his jawline, and he tingles at Ari’s touch. She pushes his chin up so that he’s forced to look her in the eye, and she smiles at him softly.
“You don’t have to rush,” she tells him. “I kind of like having you in my hair, magician man.”
They scrub at their clothes with cheap hotel soap, and when they’re wrung out and hanging on the shower rail, Tom sits nervously on the edge of the bed.
“What now? More magic tricks?” He’s trying to joke, but Ari’s face is thoughtful, and she licks her lips once more.
“Ari?” he asks nervously, and she shakes her head.
“I’m just contemplating something,” she replies.
“Oh, okay, well—”
But Ari’s mind is made up. In one fluid movement, she pulls the robe from her body, and moves towards him, straddling him firmly. Instantly, Tom clutches at her, his heart pounding wildly, relishing the feel of her naked skin under his fingertips. She runs her hands into his hair, looking down at him.
“You showed me a trick earlier,” she tells him. “Maybe it’s my turn to show you a trick or two.”
“I don’t think this is a trick, Ari,” Tom whispers, moaning gently when Ari takes his hands and places them across her breasts.
“No?” she asks, kissing the pulse point in his neck, making him writhe beneath her. “What is it then?”
Tom snakes one hand into her hair, pulling her lips towards his. “Magic,” he whispers, before silencing them both with a kiss.
* * *
Marnie had apparently been rendered silent, and Tom shifted uncomfortably in his bed.
“It wasn’t seedy, like you think,” he said, his voice almost hoarse. “It wasn’t planned, or... I don’t know, aseduction. We were just two kids who fell in love.”
