Page 3 of Midnight Wishes

‘Yeah, let me grab my curling wand.’

Abby slumped into an armchair in front of her, dress wrinkling, as Sarah wound sections of her thick, dark hair around the barrel.

‘What’s Erik’s brother like? I can’t believe I’ve known you so long and never met him,’ Sarah said.

Thanks to Alex’s work schedule, they’d been hard-pressed to find an evening all four of them were free for dinner since Erik had moved back. But upon being appointed best man and maid of honour respectively, Abby had insisted Alex and Sarah finally meet, if only so Sarah could have some input into the engagement party Alex was hosting the following week.

‘I haven’t seen him much in the past few years. At Christmas, really, and a handful of times we’ve bumped into each other around town. He’s as unlikely to slum it in Ealing as I am to live it up in Holland Park, and before Erik came back, we just didn’t have much reason to hang out.’ Abby shrugged, but her voice was warm with affection as she continued, ‘He’s great though. He comes on a little strong, and he loves messing with people, but he’s fun. And kinder than he’d ever let on.

‘He’d take every opportunity to rib me when we were kids, but when it mattered, he always looked out for me. And he really, really loves his brother. They look a lot alike, actually. What was that awful thing Gregg tried to convince me would change the face of amateur photography? An HPV filter? RHD? At any rate, Alex is a little like if you ran Erik through one of those. He’s just…sharper? Blonder hair. Bluer eyes. Bit taller. Bit bulkier.Same frankly ridiculous bone structure. But where Erik stays a little rough around the edges, Alex is very smooth and polished and—’

‘Hey!’ Erik pouted, steam escaping the bathroom as he walked out, rubbing a towel over damp, messy hair.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, did you hear the words smarter, funnier, more attractive, or otherwise better in any way leave my mouth?’ Abby frowned at him over the back of her chair. It didn’t last long, her forehead smoothing when he leaned over to kiss it gently. ‘Besides,’ she said quietly, stroking his stubbled jaw, ‘I like that you’re rough.’

Normally, Sarah would remind them that she was sitting right there, and she heard enough of their sex life accidentally, without them engaging in obvious verbal foreplay right in front of her. But she was too busy analysing Erik’s face and upper body, using her skilled artist’s eye to make the changes Abby had described, until he turned into—

No.

It couldn’t be.

It was.

Sarah had grown increasingly uneasy as their Uber wound through London, memories of that night flashing through her mind. More pieces of the puzzle slotting into place along the journey. Erikhadmentioned once that his brother worked in finance. A few times, upon arriving at their flat, Erik had said Alex was going out for the night. And he and Abby had certainly spoken about Alex’s playboy tendencies while at uni. A one-night stand in a club seemed par for the course in the picture that had been painted for her.

Dread settled deeper as Erik unlocked the front door and ushered them in to follow the exquisite smell coming from the kitchen. She slowed her steps before she reached the doorway, hearing a low voice greet Erik warmly and praying one last time that she was wrong, even if that voice murmuring a string of quietfucks against her skin was seared into her memory.

‘Hey, Squirt.’ The same voice became louder as she stepped into the kitchen and saw two strong arms wrap around Abby in a tight hug.

Then he’d looked up, and she’d found herself eye to breathtaking blue eye with the guy who had fucked her on a slightly grimy bathroom counter three months before.

Shit.

She hadn’t cared to get his name, and would it have made a difference if she had? There had to be thousands of Alexes in London. Erik barely updated his social media, and the only photos Abby had of Alex in her room were from when they were kids. She likely still wouldn’t have made the connection before today.

While she stood, frozen, trying to figure out what to say when you discovered you’d had sex with your best friend’s future brother-in-law, Alex sidestepped Abby smoothly and held out his hand.

‘Hi, I’m Alex,’ he said politely.

Sarah tried to force the images of those hands on her thighs and breasts out of her mind. They pushed back in as she unfroze and took his hand. The warmth of his skin on hers, the pressureand strength in his grip… Now her brain was steering her towards memories of that pressure around her waist as she was lifted into position.

She waited a beat longer than was appropriate to respond. He didn’t remember her. A little insulting, sure, but the club had been dark, and she’d established that their encounter wasn’t an entirely out-of-pocket thing for him to do. This was better. Maybe she could get out of this with minimal embarrassment.

‘Nice to meet you.’ She offered what she hoped was a pleasant, not at all panicked, smile. ‘Sarah.’

‘Sarah.’ Suddenly, she regretted not introducing herself at the club. Her name sounded like honey dripping off his lips. If he’d slipped it between the moans he’d pressed into her neck… She shook herself out of the memory as Alex turned back to the oven, muttering something that sounded like, ‘Appropriate.’

‘Where’s Celine?’ Abby asked, either oblivious to or ignoring the tension between them.

‘Upstairs,’ Alex answered, poking at something in the oven. ‘She doesn’t love new people.’ He grimaced slightly in Sarah’s direction.

Ah.

If he did remember her, he wasn’t going to address it while his girlfriend was around. So they both had a reason to keep this quiet. She could work with that.

Despite Sarah’s panic and slight awkwardness, dinner was pleasant. Abby and Alex bickered exactly like siblings. Erik ran interference occasionally, asking his brother questions about work (apparentlyinvestment bankerwas a real job and not just a term made-up to describe douche-bro characters on TV)and soothing his fiancée with gentle touches and kisses. But mainly he enjoyed their banter with quiet affection. When they reminisced on shared childhood memories, they took care to bring Sarah into the conversation, providing context she might have missed and profiles of some of the more colourful starring characters.

And finally, Alex’s attention shifted entirely to her.

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