Chapter 29 - The Kiss

Arik had never been a fan of massages, but he had to admit, that felt good.

“Am I hurting you?” she asked him. She was standing right behind him, her legs pressing against his shoulders.

“No,” he replied. “In fact, you’re…you’re pretty good at this.”

There was a pause before she resumed massaging his head. “Thanks.” She ran her fingers through his hair once more before pushing his head under the tap again. “You have really nice hair,” she added thoughtfully.

He grinned as she rinsed him off, and then closed his eyes and mouth when the water started running down his face. They repeated the process for about three times until he heard her turn the tap off. She gently reached down with a towel and wiped the water from his face, and then she towelled his hair dry.

“All done,” she said, obviously proud of herself.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, you better thank me,” she said, grinning and snapping her towel at him and making him laugh. “My hands are so wrinkled they look like prunes.”

“In my opinion,” Arik said with a straight face, “prunes look so much better.”

She narrowed her eyes and was about to walk away from him when she slipped on some water that was on the floor. Arik got to her just in time, careful to avoid the water puddle.

“Thank you,” she breathed. “I didn’t know you could move so quickly.”

He didn’t either. “No problem.” They didn’t move. His eyes strayed from her eyes to her lips and back again. Her eyes, the colour of gold and honey. Her lips, so full and luscious. He licked his lips subconsciously.

She swallowed visibly. “You…still have some paint here.” She reached up to his forehead and flicked the piece of paint away.

He moved so quickly and so suddenly he surprised even himself. He bent down swiftly and pressed his lips to hers gently.

He felt her gasp softly but other than that she didn’t move. And neither did he. Her lips were soft and warm, and they felt good on his. He looked at her and saw that her eyes were closed, and when she finally opened them to look at him, he saw that they were glowing a warm golden colour. Desires stirred in him against his will, and he pulled away reluctantly, pulling her up with him so that they were standing upright again.

“Well,” she breathed. “That was…unnecessary.”

“Unnecessary,” he agreed. “And unprofessional.”

“Very unprofessional.” She turned away from him. “Uh…we should probably get down to dinner.”

“We should.” He thought about shifting her to the dining room, but was uncomfortable with the thought of touching her again. “Let’s go.”

“Right.”

***

“Hey, K, hey, Arik,” Drake greeted them. “Why are you two blushing?”

Arik felt himself getting hot in the face. “We’re not…we…kind of…it was really hot in the room.”

“Yeah,” the girl said smoothly. “Arik had to take a lot of hot showers to wash off all the paint, and the air conditioner wasn’t working.”

Her voice appeared in his head. You really are a fantastically horrible liar.

They caught me off guard.

Oh, so ol’ lighting wit strikes again.

He sighed. “I…I’m going to go get something to eat. Do you want something?”

“Okay. Thanks.”

When he got to the buffet table, he looked over at his table, where Carter and Drake were interrogating—that was the only appropriate word for it—the girl. They had a look of wicked glee on their faces while she was blushing. Hard.

Without even looking, he grabbed something for both of them and headed back to the table.

“Thanks.” She took her plate, still blushing slightly while Carter and Drake sat back in their chairs and looked at him, a mixture of amusement and mischievousness on their faces.

He ignored them and ate quickly and quietly.

“I’m done,” the girl announced.

“I’ll put back your stuff,” Carter offered, and he took the plate she handed him.

“Uh…” she looked around almost desperately. “Joshua, can I talk to you for a bit?”

All four men at the table raised their eyebrows in surprised, but said nothing. Joshua nodded, got up and followed the girl out of the dining room, leaving Arik with the fearsome twosome.

“So, what happened?” Drake asked him. The gleam was back in his eyes.

“Did she not tell you?” Arik asked him wearily.

“No. She just blushed and said nothing happened, which means something happened. Now spill.”

“Why do I have to be the one to tell you?” he asked them somewhat childishly.

“Because only two of you know what happened, and she didn’t tell us, so you’re going to tell us.”

Arik sighed. “Leave me alone.”

“You know we’re just going to keep bothering you until you tell us what happened.”

“She dunked my head in the sink.”

“Don’t give me that shoot.”

“I’m serious.”

“Fine. Then what happened next?”

“She washed my hair.”

Drake squealed like...well, like a girl. “And then?”

Arik bit into his apple and chewed absentmindedly. “And then I kissed her.”

“You what?!” Carter and Drake yelled simultaneously.

“I think you heard me.”

Drake was practically hyperventilating. “And then? And then?”

“We agreed that it was unnecessary and extremely unprofessional and decided to come down to dinner.”

“You’re lying.”

“I am not.”

“He’s not lying,” Carter told Drake. “You know I can tell these things.”

Drake sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. “You oldies really need to act your age and screw each other like bunnies.”

Arik snorted. “That is not acting my age.”

Drake scoffed. “Whatever. Carter, let’s leave this old fuddy-duddy to play with himself.”

Carter laughed and patted Arik sympathetically on the shoulder before leaving.

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