Sunshine Kisses

‘Obviously.’

Her fingers tightened in his hair. ‘Mine too,’ she whispered.

His heart jumped in his chest at the admission, timed to perfection with a buzz emanating from his pocket.

Erik groaned and checked the text, prepared to flay his brother.

‘Are you ready to go? Alex says he can pick us up on the way home from his date.’

‘His date’s ending now? It’s almost midnight. There’s nowhere to go in this town after ten.’

Erik chuckled. ‘It’s Alex.’ And, well, there was one place to spend a private moment late at night. He was counting on them visiting it a few times in the coming summer holiday.

When his brother stopped in the parking lot a few minutes later, Abby was bundled in Erik’s jacket and wrapped in his arms. He’d always taken advantage of her addiction to touch, and now…now he was never letting her go. They held hands for the duration of the brief car ride, Abby glancing up at him shyly every few minutes.

He’d never thought of her doing anything shyly.

He liked that he was the cause.

Up in his bedroom, Erik found his smallest shorts and his biggest shirt, handing them both to Abby. It didn’t matter that she still packed her own pyjamas when she spent the night. She said his were more comfortable, and every stupid, primal part of his brain loved seeing his clothes on her.

He wrapped her in one final embrace, wishing he could spend the night holding her close. ‘Goodnight, Sunshine,’ he whispered, smiling into hair. He pressed a quick, chaste kiss to her lips, and as he left the room to sleep on the sofa downstairs, he thought he might be the luckiest man alive.

‘You finally got your head out of your arse and kissed her, didn’t you?’ Alex leaned in the doorway to his bedroom, his lazy, chronic smirk firmly in place.

Joy threatened to spill out of him and Erik didn’t trust himself to speak at a volume that wouldn’t wake his parents. He just nodded, face splitting into a huge grin, and ran a hand through his already unruly hair, remembering the feel of Abby’s fingers twisting it less than half an hour earlier. Before he could continue walking, Alex surprised him by pulling him in for a tight hug.

‘Don’t fuck it up.’

Chapter 15

Dress – Taylor Swift

D

inner was torture.

A far cry from the way they were normally mostly ignored, they spend a solid forty-five minutes entertaining questions about their day and their food poisoning.

Erik wasn’t great at lying under pressure, so Abby took the lead, spinning a tale involving a long drive to a nearby town to account for their absence that afternoon.

Considering her mouth went dry every time she so much as looked at him, eating was almost out of the question, which at least lent credence to the food poisoning charade. She pushed a mound of broccoli around her plate, garnering sympathetic glances from Nora.

At six-thirty, they were ushered into the lounge, where a piano tinkled gently. Erik immediately steered Abby towards the corner of the room furthest from their parents. They’d been sent to ballroom lessons from primary school, and previous evenings of a similar nature had been spent executing flawless waltzes and foxtrots. Tonight though, Erik pulled her close, one hand stroking the exposed skin on her back. There was no thought of technique or counting steps as they swayed together slowly, Abby’s head resting on his shoulder.

She glanced towards her parents, dancing with their heads pressed close together, and smiled. For all her difficulties with them, she’d always admired their marriage. Theirs had been a whirlwind romance. They had fallen in love in the space of a week, and her father had proposed after six months. Thirty years later, they were still best friends, and more affectionate than any middle-class couple in their fifties had any right to be. Abby had always craved what they had, and as she leaned into the strong chest supporting her, she was struck by the thought that finally, finally she might have it.

Her mind conjured images of more nights together. Dancing in her tiny bedroom. Cooking together in his parents’ kitchen when they went home for the holidays. Playing board games late into the night.

On the surface, everything was much the same as they’d always done.

But the visions were overlaid with a rosy glow that felt new.

Now Erik danced her towards her bed, where they fell into a tangle of limbs and giggles. His hands rested on her hips when he moved behind her to grab an ingredient. She huddled into his side as they moved their pieces across the board.

Erik tapped lightly on her back, returning her to her body. ‘Where’d you go, Sunshine?’ he asked. She could hear the smile in his voice.

Abby refocused her eyes, lifting her gaze from where it had hovered somewhere over his shoulder to rest on his face. Those always stunning grey eyes radiated intensity, and the contrast provided by the soft curve of his mouth made him even more handsome. His smile broadened as she said, ‘I’m just really happy.’