It had been months and those strange thoughts about Dan hadn't gone away and were currently ruining everything. I couldn't see him in the morning without getting the stupid impulse to run my
hands through his messy sleep-quiff, I couldn't look at him bent over the stove, trying and failing to make eggs without suppressing the urge to come up behind him, wrap my arms around him, and kiss the back of his neck (among other things, but I won't get into details). I'd repressed these notions as much as I could, but they just kept bubbling up to the surface every time I saw Dan's stupidly hot lip bite, or a glimpse of his stomach when he lifted his arms. Once, he even came into the kitchen shirtless, and I had to excuse myself for a moment to fix my, uh... Physical evidence of attraction.
I hoped it was just a case of serious blue balls. But, knowing my luck, it was possibly much worse and probably something destructive and life-altering.
"Phil! Phil, where are you!"
I groaned, closed my laptop, and made my way to Dan's room.
"Here. What?"
He was on his bed, and even though he was only dressed in rumpled sweats and no socks, my breath got a little shorter.
"PJ, Chris, and Louise want us to go swimming with them this afternoon," he informed me, not even looking up from his phone. "Which will entail us actually leaving the house."
I sighed. "Shame. But Louise will murder us in our beds if we don't show up to another social event. What d'you say?"
Dan shrugged, finally meeting my eyes. "I'm game if you are."
I nodded. "Okay, sounds fun. Although I don't know if you'll survive seeing me in a bathing suit."
Dan laughed. "Why, because you're so built?" He didn't say it in a mocking way, but a smile played on his face.
My face warmed because we were actually talking about this. "Yeah, right. Nah, because I'm extremely pale and might blind you if you stare at me too long in direct sunlight."
He smirked. "What, worried I'll stare?"
Jesus Christ.
I laughed uncomfortably. "It's a general hazard."
"Ah." He was still staring at me in a weirdly amused way. "Okay, we'd better get ready before Louise shows up with a knife."
"Agreed."
I left the room with butterflies flying madly around in my stomach and a horribly embarrassingflush to my cheeks. Damn my pale skin!
...
It took me fifteen minutes to choose which pair of swimming trunks to wear. I only had two pairs. It was pretty sad.
I eventually settled on a pair of bright blue ones, half-seriously wondering whether they'd bring out my eyes, which were the physical feature I liked most on myself.
"I'm ready!" I called, waiting by the door, wearing thick flip-flops and a thick layer of high-strength sun cream.
"Coming," Dan huffed, lugging a huge suitcase.
I frowned. "What do you need all that for?"
"Shit, I forgot to tell you that Louise invited us to stay the week. It is your holiday time, after all. And my job doesn't start till next month." Dan looked at me guiltily. "Sorry."
I rolled my eyes. "I'll just go throw some stuff into a duffle."
It took me twenty minutes to pack, and it would have taken less without Dan being "helpful," and shouting instructions to me from the door.
"Jesus," I panted, heaving my duffle into the cab. "Why did we agree to this, again?"
Dan scrunched up his nose, in a way I couldn't help but find adorable.
"Because Louise is hell-bent on getting us to socialize," he replied. "And I haven't gone swimming in ages, and something tells me it's actually going to be fun."
He made some good points. I shrugged and got in the cab, hoping the weekend wouldn't be too awkward.
...
"Dan! Phil!"
Louise gave us huge bear hugs when we reached the tiny house she was renting. Apparently she'd gotten an enormous bonus at work, and wanted to share her new place with us for the week. Louise was so generous sometimes, it made me guilty.
"Hi, guys." We gave bro-hugs to Chris and PJ, making Louise roll her eyes.
"Boys. Come inside, I'll show you where you're sleeping."
We followed her inside, thanking her every step of the way for her generosity, to which she squeaked and blushed furiously.
"So, Dan and Phil, you'll have to share a room. Sorry, but we just don't have room," she explained, blowing a stray curl out of her face. "Chris and PJ are sharing too."
I cringed, knowing how Chris must feel about that. Dan elbowed me, and we shared an alarmed look. Louise, of course, was completely oblivious.
"How come you get a room all to yourself, huh?" Dan was obviously trying to change the subject, as Chris was looking at his feet and PJ was shifting uncomfortably.
Louise giggled. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I?" She knocked on a door adjacent to ours. "Hey, Elle?"
The door opened, and a girl stepped out, rubbing her eyes. She squinted, then visibly perked up a bit at the sight of us.
"This is my friend, Gabrielle," explained Louise, looking like a proud mama. "She's rooming with me."
"Hi," said Gabrielle, waving at us with a small smile on her face. The smile was mostly directed at Dan. I supposed Louise had told her all about us, including our sexualities.
"Hey," Dan and I said simultaneously.
She giggled and flipped a lock of shiny black hair over her shoulder. Gabrielle was extremely pretty, a fact neither Dan nor PJ failed to notice. And she knew it, too.
Normally I'd be happy to meet a confident, empowered woman, but God, the way she looked at Dan, like she was a shark and he was dinner... it made my throat constrict and my stomach churn like I was going to throw up.
Dan didn't appear to notice, instead grinning at her cheerfully. Maybe a bit more than cheerfully. And I couldn't be imagining the way his eyes flicked to her chest, could I?
