Page 15 of Pillow Talk (Rally Romance #1)

‘There was this one kid who hated me. He pushed me against the wall and beat me up pretty badly. At least, it felt like that at the time. When they left, we headed for the lake. I was furious. I wouldn’t stop swearing and threatening to get back at them.

Anni tried to get me to calm down by crying herself.

Anni, I have to ask, how was that calming me down? ’

‘It was empathy, you fool,’ she replied, a big smile taking over her face.

Sen chuckled and shook his head.

‘I think I was pretty annoying and went on and on and then, when we got to the lake, Shona was so fed up with my whining that she pointed to a scrawny little tree and said, “Look it’s a Wishing Tree”.

Of course, at the time we didn’t know that there was no such thing as a Wishing Tree.

But Shona spun an elaborate tale to get me calm down.

She said whatever you wished for at the tree would come true.

I wished that the boys who terrorised us would have the worst summer ever.

The next day they were all admitted to hospital for food poisoning after eating a bad batch of lollipops.

They were confined to their beds and bathrooms for a while.

Of course, we believed it was the power of The Wishing Tree,’ Sen explained.

‘Wow, what an enchanting experience. Did you ever wish for anything else?’ Kaavi asked.

Shona nodded. ‘We made wishes all the time. And sometimes for the most ridiculous things.’

She looked at Anni and they both giggled.

‘For my Maths teacher to retire,’ Sen said.

‘For that beautiful blue dress in the window of Dora’s boutique,’ Anni added.

‘For time off from the shop,’ Shona said.

Sen almost reached out to hold her hand, but he pulled back. The sadness on her face brought back so many memories that he’d forgotten about.

‘I have to ask this and please don’t answer if I’m overstepping, but did any of you date Sen?’

Sen wanted to wring Kaavi’s neck for that question.

Shona looked away.

‘Sen was always like a brother to me. And I’ll never forget that,’ Anni said. She smiled at him. He knew she was remembering the day he untied them in her childhood house.

‘What about you, Shona?’

He was definitely going to have to wring Kaavi’s neck.

At first Shona looked like a deer caught in the headlights but then she sat up straighter.

‘I’m going to be honest because it makes no difference now…’ she began.

Sen sat up straighter too. Was she going to tell them about their fling?

‘I had the biggest crush on Sen. I started to take notice of him when I was around 15. Of course, I didn’t act on it but then…’

‘Oh no,’ Anni interrupted.

Shona looked at her friend. ‘You remembered.’

‘How could I forget?’ Anni replied.

‘But then what, Shona?’ Sam asked.

‘Anni convinced me to make a wish at the Wishing Tree to get him to like me back. But the whole summer went and Sen was just Sen; he didn’t take much notice of me.

And I was a teenage girl, with a huge crush and a best friend who convinced me to seize the day.

Didn’t you use those exact words?’ She looked at Anni for an answer.

‘I did. I said, “Seize the day, Shona. You have to tell Sen.” We plotted and finally decided that she would tell him at the beach bonfire that was taking place the night before he went back to school. Sho, why were we such dorks?’

Shona shrugged.

‘So did you tell him?’

Sen did not expect that question from Sven.

Shona shook her head.

‘Nope. I didn’t get a chance to,’ she avoided eye contact with Sen but then suddenly looked him straight in the eye.

‘We had good memories together, things we can laugh about. And things we moved away from, like my embarrassing teenage crush on you,’ Shona said.

Sen was too dumbfounded to respond or react.

Shona had a crush on him, and she never got to tell him? He remembered the night of the bonfire. Andrea. And the last time he saw Shona until years later.

‘Let’s get drinks and drink a toast to the good times and friendship,’ Shona said cheerfully.

The others agreed and broke up into different conversations. Sen didn’t move. He didn’t blink. Anni was watching him. He looked at her. She smiled and then shook her head.

‘You okay?’ Kaavi whispered in his ear.

He ran his hand through his hair and turned to her.

‘What the fuck just happened?’ His voice was low.

‘Cuz, I think you already know the answer,’ Kaavi replied.

Sen stood up, excused himself and went to the bar. Sam followed.

‘I can’t believe Shona is dating Dr Kristiansen. He’s world-renowned for his work,’ Sam said.

Sen ordered two beers and handed one to his friend.

‘However…’ Sam started and then stopped.

‘What?’ Sen asked, taking a gulp of his beer. The bar was suffocating.

‘He’s openly gay,’ Sam said.

‘You sure?’ Sen asked and tried not to show the joy on his face.

Sam leaned in.

‘I’ll show you.’ He pulled out his phone, tapped on the screen and handed Sen the phone.

A magazine article popped up. It was about Sven going to work in a hospital in Grayston. It said his long-term boyfriend planned to move to Rally.

Sen handed the phone back to Sam.

‘Well, isn’t that something,’ he said.

‘Do you think everything is okay with Shona?’

Sen pretended he was indifferent. ‘What makes you ask that?’

Sam looked puzzled.

‘She’s supposed to be happy. She finally left the shop. She’s doing what she always wanted to do but she looks so unhappy,’ Sam replied.

‘Change can be scary,’ said Sen.

‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m going to head back to the table.’

Sen nodded.

He took the last gulp of his beer and noticed Shona walking up the stairs to the second floor where another bar and the ladies’ room were situated.

He looked towards the table. Kaavi was talking to Anni and Sam to Sven. They didn’t notice him. He followed Shona.

The muted lighting of the first floor counted in his favour. He waited at the corner for her to come out of the ladies’ room. Just as she walked past him, he reached out, grabbed her hand and pulled her against his chest into the dark corner.

Shona gasped, but as she looked up to see who it was, the fear on her face disappeared. And then his lips were on hers. The kiss was needy and she tried to get closer. She wanted more. He wanted more. Only when she moaned, Sen realised where they were and slowly ended the kiss.

They both stood there staring into each other’s eyes. Eyes filled with desire.

‘I want you.’ Sen broke the silence.

‘Then have me.’

Before he could answer, she added, ‘But with rules.’

He raised an eyebrow. ‘Rules?’

‘Yes. Just sex. Really no strings attached this time. No suppers together. No staying over…no pillow talk.’

Their eyes had adjusted to the dark and Sen could see every emotion on her face. He searched her eyes to see if she was being serious. She was.

Could he really give up all that just for sex? Maybe it was all he was going to get from her.

‘I’m in. Make an excuse to leave. I’ll meet you at your place, or I could pick you up to head to my place in 45minutes.’

Shona nodded. ‘My place, please.’

‘Shona, are you sure you really want to do this?’

‘Yes,’ she said before turning around and heading to the stairs.

Sen waited a few minutes and followed her.

When he got to the table, Shona and Sven were standing and saying their goodbyes.

‘Sen, Shona and Sven are leaving. I’m sorry but can we head home too? I have a headache,’ Kaavi said.

He nodded.

‘It’s the subtropical heat. If you’re not used to it, it can make you ill,’ Anni said sympathetically.

‘Let’s head home too,’ she said to Sam.

He’d already paid the bill, so the group left together.

Sen took the lift. Shona opened the door before he knocked. She pulled him in, pushing the door closed behind him in one fluid movement.

‘That was longer than 45minutes.’

‘We had to stop at the pharmacy for something for Kaavi’s headache,’ he replied.

Shona nodded.

‘Before we do it, I need to know if there’s anything going on with Sven.’

Shona shook her head.

‘Sven is the mysterious neighbour. I’d forgotten about the cousin you used to visit upcountry. I thought Kaavi was someone you were seeing so I asked Sven to come along because I didn’t want to be the only single person at the table,’ she explained.

The relief on Sen’s face was obvious and he didn’t try to hide it.

Shona reached to the hem of her body-hugging dress and pulled the garment over her head. She dropped it on the nearby armchair.

Sen drank her in. She was a vision.

She reached out and led him to her bedroom.

Shona’s heart was still racing and she was trying to catch her breath when the weight on the bed shifted. Sen had got up and was heading to the bathroom.

Shona pulled the covers over her and yawned. She expected him to come back to bed, but instead he started dressing.

Shona didn’t speak. She just watched him. Sen was a gorgeous specimen. His height, dark hair and beautiful eyes could make any woman’s knees turn to jelly.

‘I’m heading out,’ he said. He didn’t look directly at her.

‘Okay,’ she replied, a little too casually.

He walked towards her as if he planned to kiss her goodbye but stopped, turned and left.

Shona heard the door close and the Yale lock click into place.

She got out of bed and went to the bathroom. She removed her makeup, then had a shower.

The last two hours had been more than satisfying. In fact, they were pure ecstasy.

Why did she feel so empty?