We’re both laughing when we reach the trees, and then, suddenly, we aren’t laughing. I have my back against a wide tree trunk, and Dominic’s standing, one hand on the trunk either side of my head, gazing down at me with a very serious look in his eyes. I hold my breath,wantinghim,sofrustrated that he seems to be devouring my face with his eyes but not actuallydoinganything, and then, finally – after what feels like minutes – he lowers his head towards mine. We remain there, only millimetres apart, so close that our breath mingles, justlookingat each other, and then, just as I’m on the brink ofscreaming, he leans slightly forward, as do I, andfinallywe kiss. Even though it’s very gentle at first, just a whisper of a touch, my heart rate immediately begins to skyrocket out of control. I don’t think I’ve ever felt such intense anticipation in my life.
Dominic kisses me again, a little more firmly, and I kiss him back, and then the kiss deepens, and then he brings his hands down so that one is in my hair, and the other around my waist. I sink into the kiss, almost sighing out loud.
It’s magical. I could stay here forever, enjoying his warmth, his hardness, the full-body tingling that I’m getting from the feel of his lips on mine, his hands holding me.
Except… also, I want more. We’re pressed so hard against each other now that it’s almost impossible to feel where my body ends and his begins, and I want to feelallof him. I want to do things that we definitely can’t do outside, with a lot of people we know not far away.
I pull back a little and he groans, and then I take his hand and tug him to follow me, and then lead him across the garden and into the house.
* * *
I’m woken by light streaming through the still-open curtains of my childhood bedroom and am confused at first: there’s a heavy weight on my legs and body. A hairy heavy weight, but nowhere near as hairy as our Labrador, Elsa, who does have a tendency to sneak into the bed of anyone who’ll have her.
Oh. My. Goodness.
Everything’s come flooding back.
Dominic. Dominic Rock. Dominic Rock is in my bed. My childhood, small-double-sized bed. Fully, gloriously naked, one leg over both of mine and one arm spooning me into him. As I stir against him, I feelhimstir against me, in a very, very inappropriate way given that we’re in my parents’ house,next door to their room.
He nuzzles into my neck and I squeak.
Then I remember my parents, and think that the squeak was far too loud, and whisper, ‘Dominic!’
He laughs into my neck. ‘Flavia!’
‘My parents are through there,’ I hiss, pointing at our joint wall.
‘The door’s closed though, and kissing’s quiet.’ He kisses my neck and then trails a finger all the way down from my neck to my tummy, which makes me shiver in averynice way.
‘Ican’t,’ I say, very weakly though, because I really, really want to.
Dominic, it turns out, is able to do a lot of very naughty things very quietly.
It isn’t long before we have, in full daylight, done a lot that you wouldn’t imagine you’d ever want to do in a room surrounded by your family’s bedrooms.
When we’re lying entwined and panting and beaming at each other, Dominic kisses my forehead and says, ‘Something that has just occurred to me is that unless pretty much everyone has gone out this is going to be aspectacularwalk of shame.’
‘You know what I think,’ I suggest. ‘I think it would be a lot better if you took that walk solo, because then maybe you’d look like someone who just went to sleep in a random room after a truly excellent party, rather than someone who has just… done what we’ve done.’
‘You know whatIthink.’ Dominic’s hands are extremely delightfully straying all over me again, and I can’t help running my own hands over his deliciously firm body in response, so I don’t get to hear what he thinks for a while.
Eventually, though, I look over at the clock on my bedroom wall and give a little scream. ‘It’smidday. Youhaveto leave,now, or everyone will be havinglunchwhen you go.’
‘Okay. Yep. On it.’ Dominic does actually get out of bed, and I lie there unashamedly enjoying the spectacle of him walking butt-naked across the room, gathering his clothes and then dressing. And then he listens at the door, which makes us both laugh a lot, until we hear my mother walking past saying something about linen, which makes me dive under my duvet (like that’s going to help if she comes into my room and finds Dominic here), and Dominic laughs even more.
And then he judges that the coast’s clear, and off he goes. He knocks on the door two seconds later, comes back in and says, ‘We need to exchange numbers.’
Once we’ve done that – and had a lovely, long, lingering extra kiss, off he goes again, properly this time.
And then I just lie there, smiling away to myself.
I feel as though I’m never going to stop smiling.
I mentally apologise to Jenna. Ofcoursetwenty-two isn’t too young to meet The One. I think I just have. And I also think it was what I’m going to call love at first sight for me. Two clichés in one.
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FLAVIA – NOW
