“Lily might wake up and overhear us,” Georgia murmurs. “Your room is more private since you can close the door. Come on.”
She walks away, flicking the light off in the kitchen and plunging the house into darkness other than the tiny night light I leave on near the bathroom for Lily. I’m left with no choice other than to follow her as she leads the way to my room.
Just talking, I tell myself. We’re going to have a calm, rational discussion about this.
At least, that’s what I try to convince myself of, right up until the moment I snap the door closed behind me and Georgia pushes me up against it.
“Georgia?” I ask shakily.
“Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear those words from you?” Georgia asks huskily.
“No,” I say. Her hands are sliding under my shirt. I swallow.
“Since I was fifteen,” Georgia breathes.
My thoughts stutter to a halt. When she was fifteen? That’s around the time I met Polly. Then…
“Wait,” I gasp. “You mean...”
“I’ve been in love with you for thirteen years, Ethan, just waiting for the moment you would notice me,” Georgia says. She presses a kiss against my neck and I shudder. “I’ve wanted you all that time, but it was never the right moment. You were so scared, both ten years ago and last week, that you thought you took advantage of me. But you didn’t. I wanted you. Did it never make you wonder why I slept with you so easily last week? Why I didn’t push you away?”
“You said…” I trail off with a gasp as one of Georgia’s hands finds a nipple and pinches it lightly. “You said it was because it had been so long since you’d last been with someone and that you got carried away.”
“I’m more surprised that you believed that,” Georgia murmured. She licked a stripe over my fluttering pulse. “No, I couldn’t resist you the moment you touched me. Even if I knew it wasn’t going to lead to anything, I couldn’t help it.” She looks up. My eyes have adjusted to the darkness, and I can see the way she’s looking at me hungrily. “I’ve waited for you all this time, Ethan. And you think you can tell me, finally, that you feel the same way I do and then try to ignore it?” She nips at my earlobe. “I don’t think so.”
“Georgia,” I gasp. Fuck, I can’t think with the way that she’s touching me. I’m already hard. I know I need to push her away, to stop this so we can talk about it properly.
But I can’t.
“Yes?” Georgia murmurs. She looks at me daringly. “What are you going to do now, Ethan? I’ve just told you how long I’ve been in love with you. You, apparently, have been falling in love with me. Now we’re here, and I can feel how I’m affecting you. You want me, and I want you. So what’s holding you back?”
There’s so much holding me back. Polly is back and trying to take Lily away from me. All I can remember is that terrible feeling of abandonment when I returned home ten long years ago. Georgia is my best friend and I can’t bear losing her when this all falls apart.
But it’s hard to think about any of it right now. Georgia’s fingers are dancing over my skin and my mind is going into overdrive, asking why I can’t have this when it feels so good. I can’t deny that I want Georgia any more than I could deny it last week, drunk as I was. She’s beautiful and I noticed it even when I thought she was nothing more than a platonic friend. She’s strong-willed, kind and a wonderful person. She’s perfect.
But I can’t…
“Georgia, please,” I say, swallowing. “I can’t do it again.”
Georgia leans in close. Her breath is teasing my lips, her hands now still on my ribs, branding my skin with the heat of her palms. She’s so near that it’s dizzying.
“What happened with Polly…will never happen with me,” she breathes.
She presses a soft, chaste kiss to my lips, which is unexpected with the way her hands had flown over me, building lustful heat. This kiss is sweet and full of promise, and I can’t help but kiss her back. I want to believe her, I realize. I want to believe that this is real.
And, just like that, the fight goes out of me. She’s right. I want this. I want to feel Georgia again and taste her skin. I want to keep laughing with her and watching movies with her. I want to see her every day. I’ve always wanted this, which is why it was so difficult for me to consider sending her away for her own sake. But now, here she is, offering me all this. How can I say no?
Slowly, we part. Georgia’s eyes are searching mine, looking for my answer, wanting to know if this was still okay. I’m not sure if it is. But, if it’s with Georgia…then I want it to be.
My heart is beating fast. This feels like too big a decision to be making right now. Georgia must have seen something flash across my face, because she chuckles and kisses me softly once more.
“Stop thinking,” she murmurs. “Just feel. What do you feel right now?”
Right now? That’s easy. I lift my hands and put them on her hips, feeling her heated skin beneath her shirt. I know what I want right now.
“Right now, I feel like I want you,” I say. “I want to feel your skin against mine. I want to fuck you.”
The air stills and then changes all at once. Instead of calm, sweet and promising, it becomes fierce and heated. Georgia’s grip on me tightens and she steps in impossibly close, her eyes darkening with lust. Her curly hair brushes against me, the softest touch that sends shivers down my spine.