Page 93 of Harper's Holiday Romance

“Are you done?” Julia’s expression was strained but cocky. It made me want to throw the contents of my handbag one by one until she was showered in a puddle full of beauty products and Mexican pesos.

“No, you’re an asshole too. And quite unattractively sarcastic. I thought it was endearing; I take it back. It’s not endearing, it’s just assholey.”

Now I was done. I turned to walk off again, but Julia caught up with me before my foot fell in line with the first bench.

“Will you just take a breath, please.”

“Don’t patronise me.” I scowled.

“You clearly didn’t stay and eavesdrop on the whole conversation,” Julia said.

I didn’t like the way she said eavesdrop, even though that’s technically what I’d done. It sounded seedy.

“Are you going to say I missed the part at the end where you made it difficult for her before you opened your arms and allowed her to fall back into your vagina like she’d never left.”

“Okay, I understand you’re annoyed, but if you’d just let me—”

“I am more than annoyed, Ju—”

“Harper!” she yelled, and I was unable to respond because the palm of her hand was over my mouth. I had to resist the urge to bite her. “Please, let me explain. Will you stop talking for a minute?”

I nodded. Julia released her clammy palm from my face and proceeded.

“If you’d have listened in long enough you would’ve heard me tell Natalie that originally that’s what this was, a distraction. I thought it would be nothing more than a holiday romance, as I’m sure you did too. I don’t think it was unkind of me to think that way, but I also told her...” She paused.

Told her what? My body screamed.

“...that it is so much more than that now.”

The tight pressure in my chest eased. My rigid shoulders relaxed.

“It is?” My eyes searched hers. I felt my body melting into soft goo fromthat one simple sentence.

Julia stepped forwards, pulling me closer to her, and I let her. I let my body merge with hers. I let her hand run the length of my arm until it cupped my cheek and her eyes burned deep into my soul. The moonlight glistened, and it was beautiful, but Julia, she outshone everything.

“Yes. It’s so much more,” she whispered. Her lips closed in on mine, and I let my defences slip away.

“Your smile makes me want to smile.” She pressed her mouth to mine. “The sound of your voice brings me joy.”

I smiled against the kiss. “Oh, yeah?”

“And.” She inhaled, “At the risk of sounding stalkerish, you always smell... incredible.” She kissed my neck, and I collapsed into her arms. I thought going weak at the knees was a myth.

“God, that does sound stalkerish, doesn’t it?” Julia laughed.

“It’s a little stalkerish, but I’ll take it.”

Julia leaned back. She traced a line from my fringe down to my ear where she tucked a loose strand of hair away delicately.

“I don’t want to think about the end,” she confessed.

“Let’s enjoy the now.” I was fighting every urge to cry. I categorised myself as an emotional person. I’d cried over a lot lesser things, but I fought and I fought until Julia pulled me in close, and I allowed a solitary tear to roll down my cheek and break on the surface of her shoulder. I knew in that moment I would miss everything about her.

This time it wasn’t my lack of coordination that had me falling. No, falling insinuated I had some control; I had none.

I was crashing.

I was spiralling.