Sunshine Kisses

‘Prick,’ Abby mumbled against his lips with a smile.

‘Yeah, but you love me,’ he murmured back.

‘I do,’ she said, pulling back to look at him. His eyes closed in pleasure as she raked her fingers through his hair. ‘I really do. I can’t pretend I’ve understood my feelings for as long as you have. But you’ve always been my everything. Even when I didn’t know, it was always true. When I realised how I felt about you…it was like all my memories had a haze around them, and you brought them into focus. Everything I’d ever done or said or felt made more sense knowing that I’m in love with you.’

Erik’s eyes pierced her, filled with emotion as his thumb rubbed small circles into her waist.

‘Have you ever wondered why I love cinnamon so much?’

He nodded.

‘My twelfth birthday. I was staying at your house while my parents were at a conference. Your mum let us make a fort and spend the night in the living room. You were still asleep when I woke up, but you were holding my hand and the whole house smelled like cinnamon. I opened my eyes and decided I never wanted to leave that moment. We spent the day in our fort, eating apple crumble and watching movies and playing board games, and it was the best birthday I’ve ever had. Erik, all my happiest memories are bursting at the seams with you.’

‘I’m a little scared to kiss you right now.’ Erik’s eyes were misty, his voice shaky.

‘Why?’

‘Because if I do, I don’t know if I’ll ever stop.’

Abby tugged on a small fistful of shirt, pulling him closer. ‘Don’t.’

When they finally pulled apart, only one thought centred itself in Abby’s mind.

‘We should tell them. Our parents. I know I was the one who said no. But I’ve spent long enough hiding how I feel about you. I don’t think I should anymore.’

Something sparked in Erik’s eyes, and she wondered if he’d been waiting for this. If it was the last step he had wanted them to take together. The last sign he needed that she was really in this.

‘I would shout it from the fucking rooftops if you’d let me.’ He stroked her cheekbone gently with his thumb. ‘But as for telling them, I think I have a more fun idea.’

Chapter 22

anything 4 u – LANY

D

inner with her parents felt like a cruel form of torture after a day filled with teasing touches, longing glances, and emotional revelations. It didn’t help that when Abby left the shower, already defaulting to Erik’s room as her exit, she found him squeezing her remaining clean clothes into his tiny wardrobe. Her bag of books was neatly stacked in front of the desk, and her suitcase now stood in the corner of the room, right next to his.

Across her years of reading and studying romance books, she’d considered a long list of kinks she might have. But until Erik turned and smiled at her, one dress still in his hand, she hadn’t realised quite how high good old-fashioned domesticity might feature in the rankings.

‘I moved you in. Is that okay?’

The wardrobe door groaned when she pressed him against it in response.

Erik’s plan to provoke their parents into outright asking if there was anything between them seemingly consisted of touching her more than he ever had before. Nora’s eyes tracked their way across the dining room as they walked with their hands clasped firmly together. He didn’t let go as he helped Abby into her seat, but brushed his lips over her fingers with a sly smile as he sat down.

All throughout dinner, he was relentless.

He rested his hand low on her back as they waited in the buffet queue, his thumb kneading firm circles into her spine that made her arch delicately into him.

‘Are you trying to make them suspicious, or me desperate?’ Abby finally asked.

Feigned hurt flashed across Erik’s face, and he pulled her closer to him as they approached the pasta station, where he would indulge in his nightly portion of lasagna. ‘As if I would ever tease you.’ The lingering kiss he ducked to press to her jaw didn’t do much to prove his point.

Dinner conversation continued politely and mostly without them, although two pairs of beady eyes focused in their direction each time Erik tucked her hair behind her ear, or ran his fingers over her bare shoulder, or leaned in to kiss her cheek, normally accompanied by a whisper she hoped only she could hear. They ranged from sweet—’You look so beautiful tonight’—to filthy—’I’m going to need you to make that sound again later’. The latter came after she took a sip of a cinnamon chocolate martini so good that a small moan escaped her. He responded to her flushed face with a wink as he slid out of his seat to fetch dessert.

On his return, he bent over her to slide a bowl of ice cream onto her place setting. Later he would say he’d been aiming for her cheek, but the sharp lift of her head as she looked up to thank him had their lips colliding instead. There was a split second where they might have been able to pull apart and brush it off as an accident. An opportunity that was shattered when Erik softened his lips, tilted his head, and placed a hand on Abby’s shoulder to lean into the kiss, as if it was already second nature to him.

It only lasted a moment.