: ̗̀➛ part three of the
one for the road series
SNOWFALL / CL16
in which two childhood friends reunite. a formula one driver wants to learn how to snowboard and it just so happens that the daughter of his mum's be...
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✧ ˚ · . CHAPTER SIX . · ˚✧ devils roll the dice
palermo, sicily, summer 2014
A rapid tap-tap-tap-tap tore me out of the little bubble my earbuds had created, the last notes of Something Great fading away as I pulled them out. My sketchbook was left behind on my bed as I made my way to the door, opening it only to find Charles on the other side, leaning against the doorframe.
His arms were crossed, his eyebrows raised as he took in my figure and the state of my room behind me. I realised it must be a mess—my suitcase was half unpacked and the closet thus half filled, but I'd focused on making my room feel like me first. I moved to close the door, self-conscious about the bras and other items that could possibly be lying in the open, but Charles' hand stopped me. He took a step inside, chest brushing mine, no words passed between the two of us.
His gaze roamed the bedroom, taking in all of the changes since the last time he'd been in here just a couple of days ago. Most of what I'd changed had been accessory wise—I'd put up a couple of pictures and brought some of my favourite prints that I'd hung above my bed. It was easy to bring a lot of luggage when your dad (or Charles) offered to carry them for you. Some of the things I'd bought on a quick run into town with Mum and Pascale.
"How did you even think to bring all of this with you?" Charles asked, shaking his head as he turned on his heel, fully observing every aspect of my room that had changed. No more blank spaces on the wall and I'd even added a couple of dark blue throw pillows to my room to enhance the coziness. "Your bed looks so much more comfortable than mine now, I want to jump into it."
I barely had a chance to tease him about his words, to urge him to do that or to maybe pull him back, before he threw himself onto my bed—carefully avoiding my sketchbook and discarded iPod. The bed suddenly seemed tiny with him splayed out on it, his head disappearing between the soft pillows. A sliver of golden skin peeked out from under his soft baby blue t-shirt, and the urge to throw myself onto him and touch him was immense, licking at my limbs like flames.
"Oh I was right!" Charles laughed, shimmying his shoulders and settling further into the cushions. "This is the most comfortable bed I've ever slept in."
I laughed with him, taking a couple of steps towards him to pick up my sketchbook and iPod and place them on the nightstand, beside the picture we'd all taken at the resort last Christmas. I was entirely prepared to stay here and wait, until he decided he had enough and to speak up about what it was he had come here to say, but then his warm hands wrapped around my legs, just below my knee, pulling me forward until I lost my balance.
My heart stuttered in my chest the moment I caught myself with my hands, the bouncy feathers of the mattress softening the fall and the pressure on my wrists. Charles' body, however, was everything but soft, the toned muscles of his chest tensing against mine. With blood rushing through my veins to my cheeks, I tried, and failed, to find my balance and create more distance between us.
