Page 14 of Only ever you-Ana & Byron (Blindsided #2)

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The car was packed. The last of the boxes was finally wedged in, boot closed with a soft thunk.

"You are going to crush my mugs, Papa", Ana complained as he tried to sit on the boot to get it closed.

Her mum kept dabbing her eyes, pretending she had something in her eye. But it didn't last because she was bawling by the time Ana got in. Her dad stood beside her, arms folded, watching Ana with a mixture of pride and melancholy behind his eyes.

"Call me once you get there, tesoro ," he said, ruffling her hair like she was still ten. "If someone gets too clever, remember the dropkick I showed you. Practice. Then call me and I'll drive down and beat him senseless. Just say the word."

Ana smiled, her throat tight .

They had already driven up together earlier in the week to see the campus. Her hostel accommodation was small, but they had an ensuite which she shared with another girl. As she had immediately introduced herself because her parents had the same idea, "Fion. Like Fiona but with more flair."

Fion was a riot. Barely five feet tall, dyed lavender curls, and all the chaotic energy of a theatre major who drank Red Bull for hydration.

Ana thought that probably accounted for the energy and tried to tell her that energy drinks were not good for her.

She was studying Fine Art, wanted to be an actress-slash-activist-slash-creative-icon. Ana liked her instantly.

"I'm taking you to a party tonight," Fion declared, after Ana finally finished unpacking her laptop and books. "And tomorrow, we're going to the Freshers Fair. You can't live like a librarian on day one."

Ana had laughed. "I'm not changing. I just unpacked all my stuff!"

Fion looked her up and down-jeans, white tee, plain sneakers-and made a disgusted noise.

"You're a tragic level one NPC. We need sparkle to make you an MVP."

She dove into her wardrobe and emerged with a glittering green slip dress so short Ana was fairly sure her dignity would fall out with one wrong move.

"This is a top. What about covering my bottom?" Ana said flatly.

"That's the point. It’s a peekaboo dress," replied Fion.

But it did fit. Just barely. And as Ana stared at herself in the mirror, something bold stirred.

At the party, under pulsing lights, she looked across the crowded dance floor only to lock eyes with a blond boy who looked like he belonged on a Greek beach. His light brown eyes had been watching her .

Her heart stuttered.

She looked away but not before she smiled.

A small trickle of regret curled through her ribs, mingling with anger for what might've been. For what would never be. Byron, how could you do this?

Byron would always be her first heartbreak.

But not her last.

***

Week 2

"You always have ink on your fingers," Harvey said.

Ana glanced up from her notebook, startled.

The boy in front of her was tall, with fair, neat brown curls and a dimple on his left cheek. His smile was warm, and his blue eyes were clever.

"Do I know you?" she asked.

He grinned. "Harvey. I sit behind you in Creative Writing . You always ask questions I was too scared to."

***

Week 6

She tried to keep her distance. Polite smiles and polite rejections for his invitations.

But Harvey was relentless in the gentlest way, leaving little notes, walking her halfway to the hostel, offering her chocolate frogs when she's stressed.

Ana texted Cadi: He's dangerously earnest. Like, Nicholas Sparks earnest.

Cadi texted back: Nothing ventured nothing gained, Ana.

***

Week 9

She finally gave in .

They got coffee. It was only supposed to be once.

Harvey talked about his plans to be a writer and his part-time lifeguard job.

When he mentioned swimming, she instinctively thought about Byron's body-broad, battle-hewn, chaos in motion. Like a warrior.

Harvey's frame was leaner, sculpted in neat symmetry. Aesthetically more perfect.

She hated herself for noticing the difference.

***

Week 12

She woke up one morning and found his hoodie draped over her desk chair.

He hadn't left it on purpose. But she tentatively tried it on.

There are Polaroids on her noticeboard now. Her and Fion. She and Harvey, making stupid faces outside the Radcliffe Camera.

He's in the background of her life now. Always there, quietly staking ground.

***

End of Term

"Come with me," he said. "Just for the weekend to Inverness. I want to see the Straths and Glens with you."

There was snow in the forecast, and a hopeful boyishness in his smile.

She said yes.

***

Inverness, B&B, Single Room

The room was warm and cosy. Harvey brushed her hair back gently, as if to calm a skittish animal .

Harvey reached for her slowly, giving her space to say no. His fingertips brushed the side of her neck, then her jaw, like she was something precious.

"Ana," he said softly, voice barely above a breath. "You sure?"

He kissed her like a whisper. His fingers felt her skin under her T-shirt. He peeled her jumper over her head with careful hands, pausing when her fingers trembled slightly as they fumbled with his buttons. He kissed her palms and then let her move at her own pace.

The room was cold, but his touch was warm, his hands skimming over her ribs, her waist, her hips. He undressed her slowly, like unwrapping something fragile.

He kissed the curve of her shoulder. Her collarbone. The space just below her breast. Then he paused, forehead resting against hers.

"Tell me if you want to stop," he murmured. "At any point. Doesn't matter when."

Ana only nodded again and pulled him closer.

When he entered her, he moved with tenderness, like he was afraid she would change her mind.

His hand found hers and held it tightly between the pillows.

He whispered her name more than once, told her she was beautiful, the only one he had ever wanted.

His body never rushed hers, never demanded more than she could give.

She closed her eyes and let him move inside her like waves lapping a shoreline, unhurried and endlessly tender.

When it ended, he didn't let go. He stayed wrapped around her, skin to skin, his lips pressing soft, uneven kisses into her hair, like he was trying to reassure her

She closed her eyes.

Tears were already spilling down her cheeks, quiet and unchecked, soaking into the pillow beneath her.

Harvey didn't see them. He just held her closer .

And Ana lay there, barely breathing, letting herself grieve everything she'd never said to someone else.

***