Page 11

QETESH

It was strange waking up in a bed with someone else in it. It was hardly the first time I'd shared with someone, but it had been a long time.

I shifted in the bed, bringing me closer to the warm cocoon of Jacob's arms. He tightened his grip around me, and I relaxed further into him. I wasn't sure precisely when the two of us had started cuddling in the middle of the night, or which of us initiated, but it felt good to wake up like this.

Jacob cleared his throat. "I'm going to need to move, Tesha."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to take up your space."

"You're fine. It's just that certain things are reacting."

"Ah." I shuffled away and he laid back, but opened his arm, inviting me back into the cuddle. I should say no. I should say that now I was awake, I should leave and go sort out my missing key situation, but instead, I rolled back towards him and rested my head on his shoulder.

"Thanks," he murmured.

"No problem. I don't want you to be uncomfortable."

"I appreciate it." There was something in his voice that made me think there might be more to it than I first thought.

"Is this the kind of situation your ex wouldn't understand?" I asked without really thinking about whether I should. It was morning now, there was a chance he didn't want to have the same kind of conversations we'd been having last night.

"Yes." His voice cracked slightly as he said the word. "She'd say that my body was telling me that it was time to have sex, and when I said that wasn't how it worked, she'd tell me that I was wrong. Often while trying to get me to have sex with her."

"That doesn't seem like a very good way of getting anyone in the mood."

"No, not really."

"I'm sorry she did that."

"We were young."

"That's not really an excuse," I pointed out. "Unless you were sixteen and just coming to terms with hormones, she should have understood that you saying you didn't want to have sex meant that you didn't want to have sex. Especially in the morning when these things just happen."

"I wished she'd understood that. But in reality, that was only one of our problems. I stayed with her longer than I should have done."

"How long?"

"Five years. That's probably nothing to you, but it feels like a long time to me."

"It is a long time." My chest aches for him. "Especially when someone is forcing you to do something you don't want to."

"It wasn't always like that," he said. "It grew and became too big of a thing over the years.

Maybe we should have talked to someone and we could have gotten through it, but in the end, it was just better for us to part ways.

Thankfully, she cut off everyone in my life, so she won't be at Ella's wedding. "

I snorted. "Is it really a lesbian wedding if there isn't an ex there?"

"I think that's meant for the ex of one of the brides, and as far as I know, there are going to be four of them."

"I should really research them so that I can make sure I keep them away from Ella and Nadia."

"Oh, one of them is the other Maid of Honour."

I groaned. "Of course they are."

"You'll be fine. I can point them out to you at breakfast."

"Great, I appreciate that." My stomach rumbled. "Speaking of, I should probably go and see if they've found my key, otherwise my choices for breakfast attire are last night's dress, or your shirt, and I'm sure both of those would cause some questions we'd rather not answer."

"Mmm. Fair."

"Though it's hard to get out of bed," I admitted. "It was nice to wake up with someone, even if this was unplanned."

"Unplanned cuddling is fine," he assured me.

"Oh, good. I didn't want to have accidentally cross a line or something." I sat up, regretting leaving his arms, even though I knew I needed to.

He smiled at me in a way that made me certain everything was fine.

Reassured, I got off the bed and scooped up last night's dress.

As much as I didn't want to go traipsing around the hotel wearing it, especially because I didn't want to run into Ella and have to explain where I'd been, there really was no other option.

I brushed my teeth, grateful for Jacob's spare toothbrush, and got dressed.

He was propped up in the bed by the time I got back, and I paused for a moment, feeling as if I should do something more before I left, but not knowing where we were in whatever this was in order to do it.

In theory, we'd agreed to a date, but that didn't mean that we were more than just friends yet.

"I should go," I said, gesturing towards the door.

He nodded, though there did seem to be a hint of disappointment on his face. "I'll see you at breakfast. And I'm going to be keeping you away from the mimosas."

I laughed. "One is fine. Two is not."

"Got it."

I pulled open the door, looking back at him and lingering for a moment.

Neither of us said anything, but that didn't stop the atmosphere from feeling like there had been something.

I pulled the door to a close with a click, trying to ignore the smile that was pulling at my lips.

That had been a good night, even if it hadn't been anything like I'd planned.

I turned around, my whole body going cold as I came face-to-face with Nadia.

She looked at me, then at the door, her eyes widening.

"It's not what you think," I said quickly.

"I don't think anything," she said. "But isn't that Jacob's room?"

I closed my eyes and groaned. "Yes, but it's really not like that.

" Except that we'd stayed up for hours talking, and then woke up embracing.

"I lost my key in the dining room last night, and there was no one in reception, so Jacob offered me a place to crash.

Please don't tell Ella. She's just going to see things that aren't there, and I don't want to take any of her attention away from the wedding. "

Nadia chuckled. "I don't think you're going to manage to do that."

"True. But please?"

"Of course I won't. I was actually coming to see you anyway. I went for an early morning run, and when I came back, one of the staff members said they'd found the key for your room, and gave it to me to give to you."

"Shouldn't they have waited until I came to claim it? You know what, never mind." Now wasn't the time to get into the ins and outs of hotel management.

"I think it's because the rooms are technically booked under us, but yeah, maybe not the best," Nadia said. "Anyway, you'll be glad to know that you don't have to go down to reception in last night's dress and heels, which is probably a good thing because the lift is still out of action."

I wrinkled my nose, the memory of the lift still fresh in my mind.

"Here." Nadia held out my key to me. "Though maybe don't lose it again."

"I don't intend to," I promised. Though how I was going to do that was beyond me when I hadn't meant to lose it the first time. "Thanks, Nadia."

"No problem. I'll see you at breakfast?"

I nodded and turned to my door.

"Oh, and Tesha?"

"Yes?"

"If you really don't want Ella to know that you're into her brother, maybe be a little less obvious about it." She walked off before I could question her further, leaving me staring after her and not really knowing what else to say.

I wasn't being that obvious. Was I?