Page 86 of Midnight Wishes

Sweet Tooth | Cavetown

Finding his girlfriendsnoring softly on his chest was about the best way Alex could consider waking up. She looked so fucking beautiful in the morning light. The violent beam of sun streaking through a gap in the curtains left her hair glowing. The bedding had wound around them during the night, and while one of her legs was tangled with his, the haphazardly twisting sheet left the other exposed. He wanted to stroke it, kiss it, bite it, just because he could. One of her hands lingered low on his stomach, while the other lay on his pillow. He could feel her fingertips brush the ends of his hair when he moved.

This could be his life. Waking up with her every morning.

‘I can feel you staring at me,’ Sarah mumbled, her breath warm on his skin.

‘Am I not allowed to enjoy looking at my girlfriend?’

At that, she stretched out, her fingers moving to trace the curve of the Loki horns he had bracketing his hip. ‘I like that. Being your girlfriend.’

‘Does that mean you won’t run away this time when I try to have breakfast with you?’

She had the grace to look embarrassed, at least, as she said, ‘I’d love to have breakfast with you.’

‘You know it means facing them, right?’ He ran a hand lightly down her side, avoiding her eyes.

‘Aleksander, even if they didn’t already know, I don’t think they missed your tongue going into my mouth last night.’ Her amusement was audible, but—

‘What do you mean, even if they didn’t know?’ They’d promised—Abby hadswornnot to tell her.

‘I spoke to Abby earlier this week. And much as I would like to believe she keeps my confidences, I fear Erik is an exception.’ Alex felt her sigh, her chest expanding and contracting against his.

‘She didn’t need to tell him. Both of them figured it out weeks ago.’

‘So when I spoke to her on Thursday, she was playing dumb?’

Alex tapped a pattern into the base of her spine. ‘Yeah. Trying to keep my feelings a secret, I think. Sorry.’

Sarah tilted her chin up, honey-coloured eyes meeting his. Soft, beautiful, but with a slice of annoyance he half hoped would never disappear when she looked at him. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? That they knew, and that they didn’t care?’

‘Erik cared at first. He was pretty pissed until I talked him down, actually. Then it probably helped that Abby was apparently trying to orchestrate all of this.’

Sarah nodded. That part wasn’t news to her then. ‘So?’

‘I didn’t want—’ His eyes shuttered, and he hated it. Hated that even now, even knowing she loved him, it was instinct to hide from someone. So he forced them open and said, ‘I didn’t want you to be okay with it just because they were. I…I wanted to be worth the risk.’

Maybe it made him selfish, maybe it was borderline manipulative, that he’d wanted her to choose him over them, even if he’d known that wasn’t the choice at all.

But somehow, she saw everything he couldn’t put into words. Saw it, understood it, didn’t flinch from it. Because her face softened and she cupped his cheek, stroking gently. ‘For what it’s worth, I brought it up. I told her about us. I told her I wanted to be with you, even if it made things awkward. It didn’t hurt that she was excited and supportive. “Weddings are a great place for a grand gesture,” she said. But I would have come for you anyway. Because you are worth it.’

‘You’re not supposed to be this nice to me,’ Alex murmured, leaning in to nip at her neck, letting the feeling wash over him. Settle into his bones. She wanted him. This was where he belonged. ‘It’s disconcerting.’

‘Let me have this weekend. I’ll go back to calling you a preening peacock tomorrow.’

A laugh exploded from him then, and even if he was prepared to start letting more people see his joy, for now, he was content to keep it just hers.

Sarah’s lips onhis were drugs. The sights and sounds and feelings of sex with her a high he would never get used to. Buther warm hand sliding around his waist, her thumb rubbing gently into his back, was surely the essence of heaven distilled into a single casual touch.

Abby and Erik were already at breakfast when Sarah and Alex arrived in the dining room, all the decor from the night before stripped away, leaving only the crisp white tablecloths behind.

‘Nice outfit,’ Sarah said to Abby as they sat down. ‘Classy.’

Her oversized white shirt—rumpled, a smudge of lipstick on the collar—was very clearly her husband’s from the night before.

‘Thanks.’ Abby snorted. ‘My mother thought so too. “Abigail Jennifer Briar, what are you wearing?” she said.’

‘At which point I reminded her that my wife’s last name changed yesterday.’ Erik’s voice was thick with tiredness, but his eyes were alight with love as he stared at Abby, and Alex thought, hoped, that was how happy he looked when he turned to Sarah.

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