Page 97 of Only Ever You

She’s not.

The shudder that began this wasn’t because she’d been cold. Her hands were a little rigid and her nose was frosty … but Faye didn’tneedBash’s warmth. She just wantedhim.

Whatever had changed between them was quickly digressing from harmless flirting and Faye was unprepared for it. She let him settle her in his lap, her back against one side of his chest as he wrapped the shared blanket around her, followed by his arms.

This was more intimate than any way they’d ever sat before.It’sjust to keep warm,Faye repeated internally, though they could easily go back inside to the actual heat.

All of her thoughts went directly to the sensation of her ass quite literally meeting Bash’s crotch where her mind had wandered far too much lately. When she looked at him these days, it was with the same eyes as the smitten girl she’d been when they’d first met.

Bash had never held her like this before, steady breaths warming down her neck and tickling the tiny hairs there. Easily, she could lean back, close her eyes, and fall asleep right where she was knowing that when she woke up, he’d still be here, and he’d still be holding her like this.

There was little choice but to look towards the log burning chiminea and the pinpricks of golden embers rising against the blackened backdrop of the landscape, to where hills of farmland dipped beyond the lawn.

Faye didn’t have one thought of London or Manchester or her bakery. She couldn’t even recall if she’d checked her phone today after sending Christmas wishes to her family and friends in the morning.

Right then, Faye was exactly where she wanted to be in the arms of the man she wanted to be with, and she didn’t want to leave.

“Smile, you two!” She dragged her eyes to where Michèle pointed the camera of her phone in front of her beaming face in their direction. “Faye’s first Christmas with us.”

All of the heat in Faye’s body rushed away from her vitals and gathered in her cheeks. She tried to sit up and move away becausehello,this was not how friends sat with one another, but Bash’s arms circling her came down tighter.

Michèle was oblivious to all of the bulging eyes. “What? It is,” she said as if there was no subtext beneath that particular prior statement.Firstbeing the ominous word.

“She’ll be inviting you for Easter, next,” Bash whispered in her ear, which was enough to make Faye chuff away a fraction of her awkwardness.

She smiled for however many photos Michèle took of them both. There were a few, given how many times Michèle tilted and changed the angle of her phone. Faye wondered if next year there would be a new frame upon the living room cabinets. Maybe she would be in it?

Whilst it was everyone else’s turn for a photoshoot, she relaxed back into the warmth of the wide chest behind her. Bash adjusted the position of his hips so she was right in the centre of his lap with his chin settled on top of her head, which only made Faye worry she’d weighed him down for too long.

“Should I get up?” she asked quietly, not wanting him to lose feeling in his legs.

“No.” Bash’s fingers began to stroke back and forth in the fur of the blanket and Faye could feel the movement along her ribs through her coat. “Do you want to?”

Her chest expanded as she tried to process an answer. This didn’t feel like they were talking about their seating arrangement anymore.

“No,” she answered honestly.

Bash’s shoulders shifted in a shrug. “Then stay.”

Her body moved.Shemoved, though her feet weren’t on the ground. Nor were her eyes open.

“Wh—” Faye began to ask where she was going, but the ability to open her mouth evaded her.

“You fell asleep,” the voice by her head said softly.

“I fell … sleep?” she slurred.

Peeling her eyes open and blinking slowly, dimly lit pictures and paintings moved past her face. The jostling was like they were going up stairs.

A quiet chuckle reverberated in the chest pressed against her cheek. “Yes, you did.”

“F’how long?”

“Less than an hour, maybe,” Bash said quietly. “It’s after eleven and we’re all turning in.”

“Oh … okay.”

Another few amused puffs of air caressed the crown of her head.

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