Page 10 of Retrograde

‘Mars did mention something about fries.’

‘Uh-huh.’ Lucie took a deep breath and scanned the room.

The dance floor was more crowded, fewer people were observing from the sidelines and more of those scary, gorgeous women she’d taken note of before were flinging their limbs around in an effort to dance and embarrassing themselves in the name of fun. Now that , Lucie could relate to.

‘Do you want to leave? If you’re uncomfortable, we’ll go.’

‘Do you want to leave?’

‘I mean…’ He shrugged, trying to pretend that he didn’t care either way, but Lucie knew him better than that.

This was his night. A night he looked forward to every year.

Besides, the others would probably come back soon, the night was still young.

And if they didn’t? Brett and Lucie had been a duo for years.

They took trips together, spent months at a time in Australia with his family, spent their working weeks together.

They were used to hanging out one-on-one.

What difference did it make if the rest of tonight was just the two of them?

‘Just answer the question, Brett.’

‘I’d like to stay. But only if it’s with you.’

‘Then we’ll stay.’ She offered him a small smile and he took that as his cue.

A wicked grin spread across his features as he placed the empty shot glasses on the table beside her and took her hand in his, enticing her into the mass of people.

Lucie rolled her eyes playfully when she realised the DJ’s latest song choice.

Only Brett Anderson could get away with dancing to ‘Get Busy’ in this day and age and look good doing it. Sean Paul would be proud.

‘You know you want to dance with me, Sunny,’ Brett smirked as she gave in.

He was right, she did want to dance with him.

She wanted every other woman in here to know that Brett had chosen Lucie over and above them.

Because their friendship topped anything they could offer him.

Call her possessive, she didn’t care. That green-eyed monster was even more prominent when she’d had a few to drink, whether it should be there or not.

Before she could start stressing about what anyone else thought of her dancing or her outfit, she was letting Brett turn her around so her back was against his chest, his hand on her hip.

One look at them and you would think there was more to it, but this was just how they were.

There were no boundaries between them, and yet no lines would be crossed.

Whether it was a hand squeezing the curve of her waist, his breath on her neck, or their bodies touching where no platonic friends’ bodies ever should, Brett and Lucie didn’t know how to not act like this. This was their normal.

How they had only crossed the line once in those ten years, when they had behaved like this since day one, was a miracle.

Or maybe it was Lucie’s stubbornness. Regardless, on nights like this with everyone watching, her confidence rocketing and her skin tingling from his touch, her head was scrambled.

‘You are truly,’ Brett said, spinning her round to face him, ‘the most perfect woman on the planet, Miss Carolan. Anyone ever told you that?’

‘Ha! You’re funny. Also, you tell me that regularly. And every time you do, I laugh in your face.’ Lucie looped her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer so they didn’t have to shout above the music.

‘Yeah, why do you do that? You don’t believe me?’ Brett maintained his signature cheeky grin, and she wanted to wipe it off his face. He was still in that teasing mood he’d been in earlier, and she didn’t doubt that he’d stay true to his word and throw her over his shoulder.

‘You could have anyone, Anderson.’

‘That’s true. And yet it’s always you that I want to wake up to.’

‘You wake up to me frequently, fully clothed.’ She shrugged, pretending that when they shared a bed she didn’t consider herself extremely fortunate to be greeted by the sight of a shirtless Brett in nothing but his boxers.

‘Yes, but I know, thanks to our night in Italy, that you unclothed is a real treat.’

‘Do you ever behave yourself? Like, even for two seconds of your life?’ She tried to brush away the comment, the mention of Italy.

‘If I did, would I do this?’ He ran his hand along her jaw and even though she knew what he was doing, she allowed him to close the gap and capture her lips with his, their tongues dancing in a way that was far more magical than the way their bodies had been moving mere seconds before.

This was only the second time they had ever kissed, and it felt just as right this time as it had the first. Lucie didn’t want it to.

She wanted it to feel wrong, for them to both want to pull away and go back to dancing like nothing had happened.

But they had chemistry that they, or rather she, had been pushing aside for their entire friendship.

Maybe they were supposed to be friends who kissed on dance floors and in hotel rooms in the Italian Alps. Friends who took one look at each other and forgot the rest of the world existed.

‘Brett–’ She took his pause for breath as an opportunity.

For what? She wasn’t quite sure. All she knew was that whatever she had been about to say went out the window once she saw the desire written in his expression, ten times more intense than it had been all night.

It was just them. Their friends were gone, they weren’t at a work event, nobody would know.

So, when Brett glanced over her shoulder at the exit to the club, a silent invitation, she took it.