all this. I feel like an awkward teenager who’s never even kissed someone. “Bex, it’s okay. Everything you are is enough. Let’s just relax and do what comes naturally and give each other some grace. It’s been a long time for the both of us.” With that, I feel his strong arms embrace me as he lies back on the bed and pulls me on top of him. We instantly bump heads, and this time I burst out laughing.
“Weren’t you just saying something about ‘grace’?” I tease, and he laughs good-naturedly. I rub my forehead and roll to the side, reveling at the sight of his smile in the moonlight. There is a pause. And the proverbial “reset button” is pressed.
Devon kisses me deeply, then slowly peels his shirt off. My white sheets makes his skin stand out in a beautiful contrast. His kiss feels warm and magnetic—I can’t get enough.
After a passionate make-out session, our clothing eventually disappears and we lose ourselves in each other.
“Bex, you are a treasure.”
Devon had to get up early and head home, but not before he ravished me again, for the third time, I should add. It may have been over four years since I’ve had a roll in the hay, but I have a feeling that Devon and I will make up for that lost time pretty quickly.
After he left, I didn’t shower right away, wanting his smell to linger on my skin for a little while longer. I get chills just thinking of his body next to mine, and the memory of his touch makes me weak with desire. And now, I’m having trouble focusing on the matter at hand, which is making my morning coffee. I’m floating around the kitchen in a groggy, gleeful post magic glow, relishing the memory of Devon all over me.
As the coffee machine brews a steaming gurgle of coffee, I reach for my phone to text Liv. I know she’s probably landed in London by now, and I’m dying to share my news with her.
Hope ur flight was good! My flight was prob better! Devon sent me into orbit. I haven’t landed yet! Call me! Must give BIG report! Hahaha!
Love you
Miss you already
Thank you for being a friend. You always show up right when I need you.
Chapter Twenty-One
High Dive
LIV
The crash of the service trolley into the back of my seat jolts me awake. I blink into the bright light of morning, looking around at my fellow passengers who are placidly hunched over their tray tables, eating cold, chewy croissants, and sipping glowing orange juice. There’s no way I could have slept the whole flight. I have a new respect for the ’50s housewife drug of choice and wonder how hard it’ll be to get a valium prescription in London.
I try to get the attention of a flight attendant so I can have a cup of coffee, but she’s already sweeping through the cabin, dumping half-eaten breakfasts into the trash and hurriedly preparing for landing.
I peer out the window as we start the descent in to Heathrow, leaning forward to see beyond my window seat neighbor who’s reading the inflight magazine, every passenger’s last ditch effort to stay occupied before giving up and catatonically staring at the seat in front.
She puts the magazine down in her lap and pushes the window screen up all the way.
“There, now you can see what a beautiful English morning we’re coming home to,” she says with gentle sarcasm in a Queen Mother accent. “Are you looking forward to seeing Adam?” She gives me a little wink.
“Adam?”
“You were saying his name in your sleep. Sounds like somebody’s going to have quite the reunion today.”
“Oh, uh…Yes.” I’m at a total loss for words. I’ve been valium-high-altitude-sleep-talking about Adam! Maybe she didn’t hear me right.
As we taxi to the gate, the captain’s reassuring voice booms, “Welcome to London, folks. As you can see, we’ve got light rain. Temperature of about sixty degrees Fahrenheit, fifteen degrees Celsius. You may now use your mobile devices.”
Against a symphony of seat belts unsnapping, and chiming devices, I check my phone. A string of messages from Bex pops up, starting with:
Hope ur flight was good! My flight was prob better! Devon sent me into orbit.
Good on you, Bex. I smile and give a silent high five across the ocean. Then I stand up to get my carry-on bag from the overhead bin and join the shuffling line of passengers waiting to leave the plane, each one on their own journey—to rush for a connecting flight, to look for a chauffeur holding a sign with their name on it, or to be met by a partner, maybe even with flowers. And my journey…? I’m bouncing up and down on the high dive, getting ready to jump.
Authors Note
Thank you so much for reading The Yes Factor! If you want to hear what happens next with Liv, drop us a note on our social media. We’d love to hear from you!
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Erin Spencer and Emma Sable are two Southern girls who met in L.A. at a mutual friend's engagement party. They bonded over their shared love of fried shrimp, queso and The Golden Girls. After a girls' night out in Hollywood to celebrate Emma's birthday, the two were inspired to begin writing The Yes Factor, their first novel together.
To celebrate finishing the novel, Erin and Emma travelled to the Amalfi coast where they enjoyed a week of sunshine, pasta and Pinot Grigio. And where a few notes might have been scribbled for their next book!
Erin lives in L.A. and Emma now lives in London.