Page 105 of You, As You Are

It was half past nine, and her friend would be working at her florist, but she had to try. Her veins were going to combust if she didn’t.

“Pick up. Pick up.” Phone to her ear, she muttered as she followed Ted’s seemingly random path of sniffing.

“Hi Maise?—”

“I’m in trouble,” Maisie blurted.

“What? What’s happened?” Sienna’s voice changed to that hardened tone she did whenever one of them was being daft as she said, “Was it that Iain guy?”

“Yes!”

“Are you okay?”

No. No – she was absolutely not okay. Her body was … Maisie didn’t even know it could have this kind of sizzling reaction without ever being touched.

“I saw him naked, Sienna.” She didn’t care if there were fairies or goblins orAdar Llwch Gwinsin the awakening woodland to hear her. “There was steam and water and rippling muscle and skin and?—”

“Jesus—breathe,Maisie.”

She slapped her hand to her neck where the skin was hot and flushed. “I think I forgot how.”

Ted stopped ahead of her, turning an unimpressed glance that told her to pull herself together before loping onwards. He took a turn down a narrower trail, and Maisie followed him without giving their direction any thought.

“Hang on,” Sienna said, and Maisie could imagine the fold in her arms, “you saw this guy naked and now you’re in trouble?”

“I don’t know what to do with him.”

“What do you mean you don’t know what to do with him?” Sienna calmly rebuffed.

“I saw him without his shirt on, and now I don’t know what to do.”

“Maisie, it’s not like you’ve never seen a half-naked man before.”

There was a little bit more to it thanhalfnaked…andlittlewasn’t exactly the right word.

Fallen twigs of bracken crunched underneath her boots. “I know, but … he’s different than the men I’ve dated before.”

“Different how?”

“He has abs. ABS! Those chunky ones that look like little bricks, not some flat, washboard surfer. Andoh-my-godhis chest, shoulders, arms – it’s intimidating!”

Sienna absolutely rolled her eyes on the other end. Maisie knew that she wouldn’t understand – the woman pulled sculpted,David-shaped men every week. “But why? I know you’re doing this fake dating thing so that the old folk will leave you two alone, but it is just fake right? You’re not sleeping with him, so why would that kind of body fluster you?”

“It shouldn’t,” Maisie argued. “And that’s what’s freaking me out. I shouldn’t have any reaction at all. I should be completely apathetic. But I’m walking around and—ohmygodit’s too hot in these clothes.” She wasn’t even wearing much: a pair of workout leggings and a loose t-shirt that made her hyper-aware of her breasts acting like pendulums as she speed-walked away from her feelings.

“Breathe, woman.”

She sucked in air.

“Maybe it’s because it’sIain’sbody?” Sienna pondered, and before Maisie could get a word in, added, “You’re already attracted to him on an emotional level, and now you find out that he’s conventionally attractive too?—”

“Woah, I–I am not attracted to Iain.” Hand pressed out in the air like it would stop the conversation, she halted, adding, “Onanylevel.”

“If you say so, babe.”

Her phone beeped warningly. Maisie looked at the screen and realised she’d used a chat app to call over internet instead of the actual phone function.

She held it back to her ear. “Damn it, I think I’m getting out of range of the Wi-Fi. There’s no signal here.”

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