Page 69 of Always Beth
She waves her hand towards the table, silently pointing to two things. I hover over the items and stop when she nods. A banana and Marmite? I raise my eyebrow and wrinkle my nose as she shakes excitedly.
I slowly peel the banana and remove the lid from the jar, and I have to bite down hard on my hand as she dips the banana in, covering it in the thick brown tar-like substance. As she raises it to her mouth, she immediately gags. I can’t believe this is how they used to get their kicks as kids.
James’ laugh is low and heavy and makes my toes curl. ‘You’re disgusting, Lauren.’
‘No. No way. There’s no way you know what that is.’ I stare in disbelief.
‘Come on, bro, what is it?’
His face contorts. ‘Marmite and banana.’
Lauren snorts hard as tears stream down her face and James rips the eye mask from his face. ‘Can we do something else now?’
‘Fine, fine, but first I need to rinse this rancid taste from my mouth!’ She winces.
‘I still don’t know why you didn’t have some chocolate instead,’ I cry, wiping the tears from my eyes.
‘It’s the chemo, it kills my taste buds, at least I could taste the onions. I’ll be back in a bit.’
James sighs, tossing the mask on to the side, and smiles gently at me.
‘What? Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘I love that you both get on,’ he says softly.
‘She’s amazing.’
He nods firmly and I know my words have caused him to reflect. He picks up the mask from the table and hands it to me. ‘Want a go?’
‘Oh err, no. I’ll be no good, you two have the twin thing going on, I won’t get it.’
‘Let’s mix it up a bit.’ He places his hand on the chair between my thighs and firmly tugs it towards him until I’m mere inches from his face. Placing the mask over my eyes, I’m distracted by the rustling of packets of snacks from the table.
‘I’ll feed you something and you tell me what you think it is.’
I laugh as my nerves kick in, all of a sudden this feels more intense than it ought to be.
‘Open,’ he says, gently tipping my chin downward. I flinch the moment he places a small piece of food on my tongue and as I close my mouth around it and take my first bite, I break out into a smile.
‘It’s a custard cream.’
‘See, you’re good at this.’ He chuckles. The sound of his laugh consumes me, not being able to see him makes everything that little bit more magnified. I sense him getting closer and the warmth of his breath dusts my cheek.
‘How about this?’
His lips brush softly against mine and the warmth and taste are unforgettable, and if I could have it every day I would. ‘I don’t know. I need another taste,’ I rasp.
He takes my lips once more, deepening our kiss, and as much as kissing him in the darkness is turning me on, after weeks of nothing, I need to see him. I tear the mask from my face, curling my hand around the back of his head, pulling him in closer to me. Before I realise what’s happening, he’s pulled me from the chair, and I’ve wrapped my legs instinctively around his waist. Any concerns I had that he might have gone off me are immediately abolished as I feel how hard he is beneath me and as we simultaneously grind against one another, our desire escalates.
‘You two should take your kinky shit upstairs.’
I jump from his lap, stumbling back into my chair, as Lauren hovers in the doorway.
‘I thought you were coming back in a bit,’ James forces out. I roll my lips as I try not to laugh, clearly he’s not handling his frustration as well as I am.
‘Sorry, I didn’t realise you were scheduling a lap dance.’ Her smile beams from ear to ear and she takes a seat opposite, looking back and forth between us, waiting for an explanation, but as I look to James, I know that one isn’t coming. Nothing has changed. We may not be able to keep our hands off one another, but that doesn’t mean he can commit to me anymore than he could two weeks ago.
‘I, erm, I’m going to go.’ I hastily stand, collecting my things.
