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‘Okay,’ he repeats, a small smile loosening the lines on his face. As the smile spreads, I grow too, a flower bud tasting the start of spring. It seems unfair that he can do this to me while all I ever do is bring the clouds to him.
After far too heavy a silence, I break eye contact to look around us and am suddenly aware again of the fact we’re out on the street wearing nothing but towels. ‘This whole thing is absurd,’ I say at last.
I’m not sure what to do with myself, so I start digging through my bag.
‘Sure you didn’t orchestrate it to get out of climbing?’
‘If I had, I probably wouldn’t have set it up to go off while my naked body was writhing around a shower cubicle.’ I glance up just in time to see a vaguely pained expression cross his face before he clears his throat and returns to nonchalance. Before I can unpack that, I spot something I’d completely forgotten about in my haste to leave the changing room.‘Oh my god. I have a dress.’
One expression after the other flicks across his face like an old stop-motion animation. Confusion, amusement, fondness, repeat. Every single one of them makes my heart hurt, just a little bit. I can only hope that wearing real clothes will stifle the tingling on my skin any time he looks my way.
‘You’re gonna leave me to be the only towel-clad person in this duo?’
‘Sorry,’ I say, tugging out the midi dress I’d stashed at the bottom of my bag. I’ve never had a baby, but I imagine this moment is akin to a first-time parent looking at their newborn. ‘I’d offer it to you, but I have a sickening feeling you’d look better in it than I do.’
‘You’re probably right.’ He runs a hand through his hair, the strands reflecting more red in the sunlight. ‘I think the toga thing is working for me at the moment anyway.’
I risk another glance at his torso. Yeah, I’d say it’s working for him.
Focus, Ava. You are here for your nice, easy date with a man who’s staying in London and doesn’t muddle every thought inyour brain.
So, making sure I’m stable on the wall, I position my arms in the sleeves of the dress and try to squeze my head through the neck hole.
I should’ve seen it coming. Just as my head catches in the opening, my towel slips. I don’t even have a chance to gasp before Finn’s standing between my legs, grasping the dress in an effort to help pull it down. For a brief second I’m concerned he might’ve seen something he shouldn’t have, but I’m not exactly in a position toaskhim about it.
My hand clutches at the towel in a desperate attempt to preserve a modicum of modesty, but the more I twist, the more I seem to get stuck in the dress.
‘Just stay still,’ he says in a measured voice, warm hands brushing against my skin, careful and commanding. I have to remind myself to breathe. Because I’m panicked.Not because I like the way his hands feel.
When my head finally makes contact with the outside world again, the first thing I see is the underside of his clenched jaw and the hard movement of his throat as he swallows. I wonder why he’s so tense. But I am, for all intents and purposes, straddling the poor man; two measly layers of fabric between us. Which is why, when he moves closer to pull the rest of my dress down and his lower half presses flush against me, I instantly understand the jaw clench.
As soon as I’m covered, he leaps back like I’ve electrocuted him, and in a moment of what can only be described as pure comedy, his own towel starts to unravel. I yelp, he yelps, people turn to look at us, and tears well in my eyes at the sheer chaos of the situation.
‘Fuck,’ he mutters, sitting next to me on the wall at last. My eyes shift to the right and we both notice hispredicament at exactly the same moment, and he frantically grabs my free towel and sets it on his lap. He puts his head in his hands and after a few seconds his muffled voice says, ‘That was—’
‘Absolutely disastrous,’ I finish, and delirious tears start to stream down my cheeks as silent laughter rolls through me.
Still with his head in his hands, Finn’s shoulders start to shake too. ‘I’mmortified.’
Every pained laugh I hear from him elicits more tears from me, and I bump my side against his. He’s as solid as ever. ‘Thought you didn’t get embarrassed?’
‘I can say with confidence,’ he turns his head to peek at me through the cage of his fingers, ‘that you’re the only one who gets this reaction out of me.’
I wipe a tear from my cheek and try to pick up my heart from where it’s dropped to somewhere below my stomach. ‘It was equally embarrassing for the both of us. I’ll never mention it again if you don’t?’
‘Deal.’ He reaches a hand out to shake mine but his towel shifts again and he shakes his head and mumbles, ‘Nope, not doing that.’
We sit there for a while, my mind spinning as the final chuckles leak out of me, until Finn lifts his head from his hands and shoots me a smile that feels like a secret. He opens his mouth to say something, but then—
‘Ava!’ a voice calls, and I spot Jacob jogging towards us.Jacob. Who I’m meant to be on part two of my date with right this second. I wave meekly. ‘I’m so glad I found you, I left my phone inside and didn’t know how to contact you. You still up for the café?’
‘Absolutely.’ I ramp up the enthusiasm, eyes wide.
He glances over at Finn. ‘Oh, hey. I’ve seen you around before, right?’
‘Yeah, I swim here a few days a week,’ he replies, fullyrecovered. ‘I’m Finn. And you’re Jacob? I know Ava from work. She was really excited to meet you.’
Jacob laughs, and it doesn’t make me feel like a flower opening up in the spring, but it’s still a nice enough sound.
