“That makes sense. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“Stop apologising.”
“Never. I’m British. It’s what we do. You should know that.” She closed the box that had the kebab in. “Are you done?”
I nodded and helped her clean up the food. We boxed it all up and put it on the desk, then I removed the blanket while she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. I tossed it on the sofa and knocked on the door.
“I need to brush mine. Mind if I come in?”
Addy opened the door with her toothbrush sticking out of her mouth and grinned a very foamy smile.
I shook my head and fought a smile as I grabbed my brush and added my toothpaste. We stood side-by-side in front of the sink, and something warm rushed through me when I glanced into the mirror.
Adelaide finished brushing her teeth and started wiping her face with make-up wipes. Our elbows bumped a few times as we both moved our arms to prepare for bed, and the longer we stood here, going about our respective routines, the more comfortable it felt.
And that feeling in itself was… discombobulating, to say the least.
I couldn’t remember the last time I felt so comfortable with somebody. Doing something as mundane as a night-time routine in a bathroom with her…
It was alarmingly intimate.
I supposed the mundane things like that always were. They were the things that happened more than six months into a relationship, if not longer, and they were the signs that you were close enough to do that kind of stuff.
Pass toilet paper hand-to-hand instead of throwing it through the door.
Buy feminine hygiene products for your partner.
Wash the clothes left at your house.
Brush your teeth side-by-side…
I shook off those feelings as I finished brushing my teeth and rinsed the toothbrush off. Adelaide was done brushing out her hair right when I was, and she tied it up into a loose knot on top of her head.
“Does the TV work in here?” she asked, walking back into the bedroom.
I shut off the light. “It should do. If not, I want to know why.”
She laughed and turned it on using the remote as she climbed under the covers.
I did not want to share that bed with her.
Not because it was horrible to me—but because I was still wrangling with the intimate feelings I’d just had in the bathroom.
There was a sentence I never thought would pass through my brain.
She looked over at me. “I promise I won’t bite if you get into this bed.”
I shook my head and shut off the light, then used the illumination from the TV to get into the bed next to her.
It was terribly awkward.
We were both as close to the edges of the mattress as we could be, and there was a giant gaping space in the bed between us.
I looked over at it, and so did she.
Addy pressed her hand to her mouth, and her entire body shook with what I was pretty sure was silent laughter. “This is daft.”
“Well… yes.” I shuffled over to the middle of my side, and she did the same, meaning we were lying in the double bed as was intended. “What do you want to watch?”
“Hmm. I don’t know. I’ve been eyeing up The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. Have you watched it?”
“I have not. I don’t watch much TV.”
She navigated to the Netflix app on the television and logged in using our room information, then typed the show’s name into the search bar.
“Oh, it’s about chess.” I propped myself up on my elbow. “Is it good?”
“Gabi said so, and my mum loves it. A lot of the hotel guests raved about it when it first came out, too, but I didn’t have a chance to watch it.” She looked over at me. “Want to watch it?”
“Yes. I love chess.”
She raised her eyebrows. “You do? I didn’t know that. Do you play?”
I hesitated. Was she a potential chess opponent? I was banned from the local tournaments because I kept kicking everyone’s arse, and the only people left who would play me were Boris and Gabi. Gabi only did it because she was so bad that she didn’t care if she lost or not.
“Do you play?” I shot back at her.
“I do. I don’t know if I’m any good, but I play.”
“I play, too. We should have a game or two when we get back.”
She smiled. “So can we watch this?”
“Yes, let’s.” I lay back down in the bed and fluffed up the pillows so I could watch, and Adelaide hit play. “What even happens in this show?”
She looked at me and rolled her eyes. “Just watch it, Alexander.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN – ADELAIDE
The bed was empty when I woke up.
I propped myself up and wiped sleep from my eyes, looking around the huge hotel room.