Page 35 of The Rival in South Africa
“Jesus fucking Christ, that was embarrassing.”
“Well,” I said, cleaning my mouth off with my fingers, “can confirm, you don’t taste like treacle.”
He laughed. “You didn’t believe me? Too bad for you.”
I slipped off the bed and immediately shivered in the cold. Alex followed, and we brushed our teeth side by side at the sink, eyes all over each other.
Back in bed, Alex let me settle in on my side and then curled around me. “That was perfect.”
FOURTEEN
The next fewdays passed by beautifully. The drives were entertaining and exhausted us every day. Every opportunity we had in the tent or in the back of the Jeep, we’d make out, saving the best for the end of the day, providing our own heat under the blankets.
I had an obscene number of photographs from the drives, but I had no idea if they were good enough yet; I hadn’t pulled out my laptop to check.
Finally, it was our last day in Kruger. We had different flights booked back to London, and Alex offered to switch his itinerary to be with me.
“It’s fine, don’t go through the trouble,” I said as we rode on our way to the airport.
“Sick of me already?”
I pressed a kiss to his smooth cheek. “Not nearly. Your flight lands a few hours before mine, though, so should I come over to your place when I land?”
“Well, actually, er….” He looked at his watch and did some mathematical gymnastics. “Time zones, red-eye…I get in on Sunday?”
“Right. Today’s Saturday, and you’ve got a red-eye.”
“I’ve got dinner with my parents that night. We always have Sunday night dinner.”
“Of course, you do. And then you’ll need to go to bed early and get back to the workforce on Monday.”
Alex winced. “Yes, the emails are piling up, I’m sure. You could join us for dinner?”
I thought for a moment. “No, I’ve just had you for a week. I’ll let your parents enjoy some quality time with you.”
Natasha Boyd was a superb mother, as I’d seen growing up. I’d always been a little jealous of Alex with his mother, and they’d continued their close relationship as we became adults. I could never work for my mother or father, but it seemed to work out pretty well for Alex and Natasha.
It was surely nepotism to start, but Alex did a damn fine job at her company, working in the User Experience department. And he had been promoted—several times.
Alex had a space in the world, and he knew where he belonged: at Boyd Technologies, with his parents, with his schoolmates.
What was I going back to? Unlike Alex, I hadn’t kept up with our schoolmates, and now Ion’s friends were no longer mine. My mother and I had a regular weekly phone call, but she was busy being a socialite. And Father…well, I had never really known what Father did, and I didn’t really want to learn now. It was probably best if I didn’t know.
Alex grinned at me. “You just don’t want to tell our mothers we’re together now.”
I threw my hands up. “They’re going to be horrid! All smug and thinking they were right all along.”
He laughed. “You know I’m going to tell Mum tonight, right?”
“Yes, and she’ll call my mother and celebrate.”
Alex laced his fingers through mine. “I actually have something for you, to celebrate too.”
“Oh? You have my attention.”
Alex reached into the backpack at his feet and pulled out a bracelet. It was one I recognized from our village tour, made of carved bone and porcupine quills the locals had strung together.
“Alex.” My heart melted a little bit. “We hadn’t even kissed yet. You bought this for me?”
