Page 46 of The Geography of Happiness

“I can imagine,” I sympathised.

He huffed and shook his head. “I doubt that.”

I thought about my blithe response and winced. “You’re absolutely right. If it had been me, I would’ve likely fucked anything that moved as a stress release, if nothing else.”

Terry snorted. “NowthatI can believe.” He flipped his hand and threaded our fingers together. “It’s so weird. I feel like I’ve known you for a long time, not just a couple of days.”

“Me too.” I squeezed his hand, and for a long minute we sat staring at each other across the cab, neither seeming to know just what to do with that particular revelation.

“You wanna tell me about him?” We both knew who I was referring to.

Terry sighed and then nodded, and over the next ten minutes, I learned about a talented ballet star growing up in small-town New Zealand. From Terry knowing Judah in high school and the homophobia he’d contended with, to Judah’s illustrious professional ballet career, and then his return toPainted Bay with a debilitating health condition. And finally I learned about his friendship with Terry.

“He’d been home months before I realised I was developing romantic feelings for him,” Terry explained, red-cheeked. “I didn’t know what to do about it, if anything, and then it was too late. He and Morgan were falling madly in love, and I was stuck watching from the outside.”

“You never considered coming out to your own family at least?”

Terry freed his hand and ran both down his thighs. “My parents would be fine,” he said with certainty. “But like I said, I’ve been too busy raising Hannah to think about any kind of relationship, so it was simpler to just ignore it. As for my brother? Kelvin is a good man, but he’s the kind of guy you have to book an appointment with just to have a beer, you know?”

I did.

Terry rolled his eyes. “Not to mention, his success is incredibly intimidating. It’s kind of difficult to bare your confused soul to someone who appears to have all their shit together.”

“Yeah, that sucks.” And it struck me again just how isolated the guy really was. And how lonely it had to feel.

“That’s it. I’m done.” Terry held up his hands, then rubbed them together. “Now can we please move on to the fun part of the day?” He shot me a look, those blue eyes glistening in the dim of the cab.

“Absolutely,” I agreed. “But first...” I leaned across the console, placing our faces just centimetres apart. “You never told me what you decided.”

He arched an amused brow. “About?”

I brushed my nose against his. “About whether it was a mistake when you kissed me yesterday.”

“Oh, that.” His mouth curved up into a slow sexy smile. “I’m still... gathering information.”

“Mmm.” I caught his gaze and held it. “Maybe I can help with your... research.”

He nipped me on the nose. “Maybe you should just shut up and kiss me.”

I grinned. “I can do that.” I leaned as far over the console as I could manage and brushed my lips over his, noting a sharp intake of breath that matched my own. It felt so damn good to be touching him again.

I sank into the kiss, pushing him back into his seat. He murmured something I couldn’t make out and ran his hand around the back of my neck, holding me in place to deepen the kiss. Harder and longer this time, his tongue sliding along the crease of my lips, the sweet taste of him bursting over my tongue, igniting a craving somewhere deep in the unexplored places of my heart.

I wriggled to get more comfortable and he groaned and tried to pull me closer, but the console got in the way. On and on we kissed, drinking each other in until we finally broke apart, leaving me gasping for air and something I couldn’t,wouldn’tname.

“Jesus Christ, what was that?” I puffed, kissing his forehead, then his cheeks, then once again his lips.

He chuckled. “Research, remember?” He gripped my chin, holding me in place so he could kiss me again. “And thank you.”

“For kissing you?” I huffed out a laugh. “I mean, sure, it was a difficult job, but I managed to see it through. I’m tough like that.”

His eyes sparkled with mirth, the colour muted by the shadows to a softer blue. “No, you crazy man. Thanks forlistening. For clearing things up. For being honest. I didn’t realise how much I needed to talk about all that.”

I cupped his face and ran my thumb over his cheek as he leaned into the touch. “Thank you as well. It goes both ways. Gil is always lecturing that nobody doeslife on their own, that we all need a helping hand. I figure he should know.”

Terry turned his face to kiss my palm, and a surge of lust warmed my belly. “He’s a wise man.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “Just don’t tell him that. He’s insufferable enough as it is.”

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