Sunshine Kisses

Abby was still trying to control her breathing when her phone beeped with a text.

If you’re struggling to relax again before bed, you could always engage some help…

She replied instantly.

Fuck you.

His laugh echoed through the wall between them as his reply sent another bolt of heat through her.

Soon, Sunshine 😉

Eight years before

Take Me to Church – Hozier

C

hristmas lights twinkled lazily in the corner of his vision while Erik watched his favourite person watch her favourite movie. On the screen, Fred Savage complained about kissing. Abby laughed, the way she always did, and Erik’s arm tightened around her, bringing her even closer to his side as she offered him another mince pie.

Perhaps it wasn’t standard Christmas eve viewing, but they had a tradition. Since they’d received the DVDs for their respective tenth birthdays, each Christmas eve for the previous seven years had looked the same: Jurassic Park (his choice), The Princess Bride (Abby’s choice), then midnight Mass with their families. Alex watched with them from time to time, but this year he had merely smirked when Abby had invited him to join.

‘No thanks, Squirt. I think I’ll leave you two alone.’

Erik wasn’t mad about it.

That was until Abby let out a wistful sigh as The Man in Black effortlessly navigated The Cliffs of Insanity.

‘They really destroyed an entire few generations’ chances at happiness. How is any man supposed to measure up to Westley? Especially when young Carey Elwes is that dreamy.’

It was silly for him to be jealous of a fictional character. But his body stiffened anyway. If Abby noticed, she said nothing.

He distracted himself from how dreamy Carey Elwes was by staring at Abby’s hair, illuminated in the pinks, greens, and purples of the tree. He knew she was excited for later, when she’d get to wear the new dress she’d bought, but for now, he thought she looked adorable. Distractingly so, in the dinosaur Christmas sweater she had given to him when she arrived at his house, then promptly stolen because she was cold. When he put it on tomorrow, it would smell like her perfume: a light, summery scent that always conjured images of Abby lying in a lush meadow, her thick, curly hair woven through with flowers.

In a world of scents that he found stressful and offensive, it was his favourite.

The fragrance hit him again a few hours later when Abby climbed out of her parents’ car in the St Dwynwen’s parking lot. Erik only realised he was staring—mouth slightly agape—when Alex elbowed him sharply in his ribs.

Erik thought he’d had a valid reaction.

Lovely.

Stunning.

Beautiful.

Those were the words that typically came to mind when he saw Abby. Tonight though…she looked sophisticated and grown up and—there was really no other way to say it—sexy.

Her dress should have been modest. The sleeves came to her wrists. The hem fell below her knees. But the dark red velvet clung to the curves she’d been developing over the previous few years. The rounded neckline opened up just below her collarbones, and something on them shimmered as she moved. He tried to drag his eyes up to her face, but they snagged on her lips. It was the first time he’d seen them painted red. The black heels she wore brought her almost to his height, and he drifted to his favourite imagined world. One where he was allowed to greet her by tilting her head that final inch and kissing her. When he walked her home and said goodbye on her front steps, she would arch her neck and allow him to press his lips to the pale skin under her jaw. It looked so soft.

Horror wrenched him from that daydream as his trousers began to tighten. Over the last year, his body’s reactions to Abby had caught up to his mind, but outside church? That felt cruel. He couldn’t exactly deal with it. And the mental tricks he normally relied on when her hips slid too close to his during a hug or her lips rested on his cheek a moment too long—mainly counting backwards from twenty in French or reciting the Kings of England song from Horrible Histories—weren’t helping.

He heard a snigger above his head and looked up to see Alex smothering a laugh with his hand.

‘You want to go take care of that? The stalls in the men’s room are pretty soundproof.’

Erik quickly fastened his jacket, hoping it would be enough to hide his situation.

‘Fuck off,’ he seethed as Abby closed the distance.