Forever For You 🌷

30th September 2013

The sun was high in the sky when they made it into town on that late Monday morning, unforgiving in the way it burned down and everything felt tangibly sticky, not that it came as a surprise to Izzy anymore. The AC had been turned up high in the car, but she still felt as if her makeup was sliding from her face and didn't know why she'd bothered with blush at all as her cheeks were flushed naturally, both from the heat and the way Alex's constant presence weakened her.

She was dressed in a white and pale orange checked sundress which at least provided a little breeze, white trainers with frilly socks and she had a cardigan tied around her waist just incase, blindly hopeful that she'd need it, but as she closed the car door behind her, and planted her feet firmly on the ground, she knew it'd had been foolish to dream of a chill.

As soon as he was out of the car, Alex leant against the door to light a cigarette, eyes closed, inhaling with relief for a moment as the cloud of smoke calmed him.

They had so far that morning managed to keep their distance from each other and Izzy both regretted and trusted that choice, secretly craved his attention but also knew she was unable to handle the intensity of it. Alex lifted his gaze to her. The memories of his hands on her skin the day before still had her mind reeling and she was sure he'd added an extra layer of his spicy cologne in the bathroom that morning just to make her knees weaker as he came close to her in front of the car.

He was wearing a generously unbuttoned peach-toned shirt, the sleeves rolled to draw attention to his biceps. He had a glow to his tanned skin and his hair was styled in his characteristic perfect quiff, the gel having withstood the temperature so far. As always, his lips were pouty around his cigarette, and he took a drag, then blew the smoke away from her. "Yeh readeh?" he asked, clenching his jaw tightly.

Izzy nodded with a confident smile, then Alex began to lead the way, a clear spring in his step.

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously, tucking back a loose curl behind her ear which had sprung from her braid already.

"Can't I surprise yeh?" he drawled, adding a wink for good measure.

A second later, Alex's hand was on Izzy's hip to draw her close, didn't care about the sweatiness of their proximity or the recklessness with which he expressed his need to touch her.

She could feel the heat of his palm through the material of her dress, felt it bunch slightly under his grip as his fingertips pressed into her and she exhaled shakily, hoping that her slowed movements didn't draw attention to how intoxicated she was by him. With one arm around her, he sauntered down the street, dragging on his cigarette.

Alex allowed himself to shamelessly imagine she was his and that this was a typical activity for them, their usual walk into town, their default position together, wanted to believe that his hand belonged permanently on her hip. Her shoulder was partly exposed from the cut of the dress neckline and Alex promised himself that if she belonged to him for good one day, that he'd never waste an opportunity to press his nose and lips to her soft skin there, would never deny himself the chance to inhale the unique scent of her.

Izzy thought several times about wrapping her arm around his waist, threading her fingers through his belt loop and resting her head on his chest as they strolled, longed for the security and thrill of being dangerously close to him, being intertwined as they strolled lazily, but knew that she wouldn't want to let go whenever they finally reached the mystery destination Alex had set his mind on.

They walked a few blocks in comfortable silence, until he gradually slowed and stopped in front of a small shop with a red door. He slowly drew his hand from her hip and took a step back, desperate to drink in her reaction as he took a final few drags from his smoke.