Could I drag her wherever the hell I wanted to go?
She stirred beside me, stretching out her legs under the covers. She was hot, squirming, her arms reaching out of the warmth in pursuit of cooler air. I’d opened the drapes before I slipped in bed, happy to admire the dawn over the sea if sleep didn’t find me, and it was coming. The first signs of morning light, blooming over the orange hue of the street lighting down below, and it illuminated the perfect little creature at my side beautifully. She squirmed again, and rolled in my direction, and her arm landed over mine. A flutter of her eyes and they opened, and she started, just a little.
I turned to face her and she put a dainty little hand under her cheek, stared at me.
Rick was out for the count behind her, star-fishing as usual with one leg out of the covers.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“Hot?”
She nodded. “Three in a bed, quite some heat.”
I smiled. “Yes. Quite.”
I slipped out of bed and pulled on some boxers, then went to the balcony doors to let some cool air in, but Katie slipped out after me. Her wince as she got to her feet didn’t escape me. As much of a travesty as it was to cover her nakedness, I handed her the shirt I’d discarded, and she pulled it on, buttoned it up just enough to hide her modesty, and then she went outside.
I slid the door closed behind us.
“Wow,” she said. “This is amazing.”
“Yes. It is.” She was looking at the sea, but I was looking at her. The messy cascade of blonde down her back, her eyes in the morning light. “How are you feeling? Are you… sore?”
She smiled. “I feel like someone shoved a boot up my pussy and kicked my ovaries. Repeatedly. Clodhoppers, with steel toecaps.”
“Sorry about that.”
“I’m pretty sure I’ve got internal bleeding.” But she was laughing. “If I slip into unconsciousness, please call me an ambulance. It will likely be my womb falling out of the gaping hole you guys left me with.”
“Maybe we should give you danger money. For the risk.” But I was laughing, too.
“I just hope my bits go back together again.” She grinned and her eyes were sparkling. “I’m too young for a saggy pussy.”
“Pelvic floor,” I said. “You’ll be fine, I promise.”
“It was worth it. Probably.”
“Only probably?”
She shrugged. “Depends how long it keeps me from riding. There’s no way I’ll be mounting up for the next few days.”
“Sorry,” I said. “Should have thought.”
“I was joking. It’s all good.” She leaned over the railings to check out the street below, and my shirt hitched up her thighs, draping beautifully over the rounded curve of her ass. Another day. Definitely.
“Yes,” I said. “It’s all good, Katie.”
She turned to me and her eyes met mine, and there were nerves there. Nerves and questions.
“Was I ok?” she said. “I mean,” she brushed her hair from her face, “did I meet your… criteria?”
Direct. I liked that.
“Yes. You were ok.” I stretched out my arms, enjoying the morning breeze, and her eyes roved my chest. Landed on the swell in my boxers. “You were more than ok. You were incredible.”
It made her blush. “Thanks.”
“You want to continue? With our arrangement?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I want to continue.” She smirked. “Definitely. Really definitely.” Her eyes twinkled.
“Rick’s quite something,” I remarked.
“Yeah, he is.” Her smile was so easy. So honest. “He says the same about you.”
“He flatters me.”
“I’m not so sure.” She laughed. “I don’t think you’re all that bad.”
“Not all that bad?” I tipped my head. “Is that supposed to be praise?”
“Yeah.” Her laugh was intoxicating. Light and unguarded and fresh. “That’s praise.”
I watched the waves break on the pebbles, the litter pickers on the front, the straggle of people making their way places down below. Quiet. The calm before the storm of a sunny tourist Sunday. An illusion of stillness amongst the chaos that Brighton offers.
And that’s how I felt. Like this was an illusion. A moment of quiet connection with a storm on the horizon.
My heart picked up its beat, and there was the urge in me. The urge to lay it all out on the table. Negotiate. Hammer out the details.
If there would even be any details. We never usually made it that far.
Chill, Carl, just give it a fucking minute, man.
“What do you want out of life, Katie?”
She raised her eyebrows. “That’s quite a question for stupid o’clock in the morning.” She paused. Took deep