How could anyone do things like that where anyone could see them? Sophie sprang immediately into her mind. Sophie probably would. Sophie probably was right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWant to sit down and have a drink?\u201d<\/p>\n
The guy was talking to her. His voice was as mellifluous as his eyes were brown. And his face. Masculine, chiselled jaw, low-cut hair. Not exactly handsome, but totally attractive. She could even smell him\u2014slightly sweaty and very masculine\u2014just like he had smelled last time. Not that she minded the sweat. Not on him. Not at all.<\/p>\n
And those muscles on his arms. She remembered what he had looked like in shorts and a tight shirt in the gym that day. How could anyone be so perfect? Wunmi found herself wanting to just roll and purr all over him like a kitten. Her nipples.<\/p>\n
Oh my god, they were so hard, pushing the thin top out. Visibly. She was so going to kill Sophie.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes please.\u201d God, she sounded so girly and polite. Surely she could say something more intelligent. But her brain seemed to have died. All she wanted to do was look at him and have him hold her hand.<\/p>\n
Maybe even hold her the way he did when she was bumped. Could she pretend to fall in love with him so that he would hold her again?<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, what\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWunmi.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Jide, and I wanted to ask you that in the gym last night. But I was too shy.\u201d He grinned.<\/p>\n
Wunmi giggled. \u201cI wanted to ask you the same thing. And I was too shy too.\u201d<\/p>\n
They smiled at each other. That smile made her feel as if she had suddenly come alive, as if she had been plugged into something that made her more alive, more \u2026 more her. She realized neither of them had said anything for ages. They had just been looking at each other. They both seemed to realize it at the same instant in time. They both laughed, a laugh that shared that knowledge without words.<\/p>\n
\u201cHang on a minute, Wunmi; stay right here; don\u2019t go anywhere; okay, I\u2019ll be back in two minutes with a drink, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before she could say, \u201cDon\u2019t go,\u201d he was gone, jumping down the stairs and threading past people. Wunmi watched him until he disappeared. She waited, watching for him to reappear. Instead, she saw Ike climbing the stairs, looking around dopily. Oh God, was he looking for her?<\/p>\n
Wunmi searched desperately for an escape. No way was she going into those rooms where she could see all that making out going on. She glanced again. Not just making out either. Yuck! That was just so disgusting that people did stuff like that in public, where anyone could see them.<\/p>\n
Ike was getting closer. He was on the landing below; any second, he would glance up and see her. Wunmi stepped back hurriedly. If she couldn\u2019t see him, he couldn\u2019t see her. Maybe he wouldn\u2019t come up that last flight of stairs.<\/p>\n
She saw the top of his head. She so did not want him to find her.<\/p>\n
Wunmi panicked.<\/p>\n
Backing up, she was stopped by the wall. Turning, she saw a closed door, opened it, and bolted through, hurriedly closing it behind her, her heart pounding. What she thought might be another room was instead a stairwell.<\/p>\n
Narrow carpeted stairs that led upwards. To the roof? Through the door, she heard Ike\u2019s voice\u2014not what he said but the tone. Wunmi bolted up the stairs, almost running. At the top, she found herself with two choices \u2013 two doors, one on either side under the V-shaped roof. The door below opened, and light shone in, illuminating the stairs below. The top of Ike\u2019s head appeared.<\/p>\n
Wunmi opened the nearest door, and slipped through, closing it gently behind her. The room she found herself in was dark, lit only by the streetlight coming in through the small window at the room\u2019s other end. There were people already in the room though.<\/p>\n
A large bed under the window on which two guys and a girl lay, making out.<\/p>\n
Wunmi didn\u2019t care. Disgusting or not, it was better than Ike finding her. To one side was a couch with someone at one end. Some couple, Wunmi quickly corrected herself as she eased herself down onto the end furthest from them. The end is where she would be almost hidden by the door if someone opened it.<\/p>\n
Seated at the darkest end of the room, right beside the door, she couldn\u2019t help noticing that the couple on the sofa next to her were locked in a passionate kiss \u2013 and the guy\u2019s hand was under the girl\u2019s skirt.<\/p>\n
Neither of them had even noticed her. Opposite her was another old couch, with yet another couple on it. Nobody even looked at her; nobody said a thing. She could have been invisible for all the attention they gave her and for all they cared.<\/p>\n
God, was everyone at this party except her making out? She tried to look away, wondering what to do. Whatever direction she looked in, she saw the same thing. Looking away from the couple opposite her wasn\u2019t such a great idea \u2013 the first thing Wunmi saw was the girl on the bed between two guys with her top pushed up to her armpits, exposing both her breasts.<\/p>\n
One of the guys was busy kissing and sucking one of those breasts. The other was kissing the girl, their mouths locked together, his hand inside her panties while her jeans were halfway down her thighs.<\/p>\n
Wunmi frowned. That girl? How could she? With people watching? With two guys? It was shocking, it was embarrassing, and somehow it was also exciting. All at the same time. She thought Sophie was shocked.<\/p>\n
This was worse. It was also impossible to tear her eyes away. Wunmi\u2019s breath came faster as she continued to watch, aware that she could even hear the girl, hear her moaning softly as the guy\u2019s hand moved inside her panties. She wondered when it would be safe to leave. How long would it take for Ike to disappear? When could she go back down? Jide would think she had run out on him. She hoped not. She did. She had screwed up in the gym. She so did not want to blow it again. But she probably had.<\/p>\n
The door beside her opened slowly. There was a moment of suspense, that sank in her stomach, the dread that Ike had somehow followed her up here.<\/p>\n
The head that peered around was him.<\/p>\n
Her brown-eyed guy.<\/p>\n
Her saviour.<\/p>\n
Jide.<\/p>\n
Wunmi smiled as their eyes met. Jide slipped into the room, easing the door shut behind him, seating himself on the end of the large old chair, and squeezing Wunmi closer to the couple making out. He handed her a drink, a bottle of something.<\/p>\n
She drank gratefully without even looking to see what it was. Then spluttered a little at the unaccustomed alcohol. He grinned.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost you in the crowd.\u201d His voice was a whisper. Up here you could barely hear the music. On the other hand, it meant she could hear that girl on the bed. She was almost as noisy as Sophie. Jide\u2019s arm slipped around her shoulders, so huge and strong, so gentle. Wunmi nestled into him happily. She felt as if she belonged in his arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s okay,\u201d Wunmi whispered back, relieved. \u201cI was hiding from my date.\u201d<\/p>\n
She took another drink. The mango coconut flavour was lovely, cold, and slightly sweet. She drank thirstily. It was much quieter up here, for which she was grateful. Jide looked at her and even in the dimness of the room, she read his expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlind date,\u201d she whispered, \u201cmy housemate set it up; he was awful. I was going to book a taxi home when you rescued me. Then I saw him coming upstairs so I came in here to hide.\u201d She tilted her head to smile up at him. \u201cI was worried you might not find me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have searched the whole house from top to bottom before I gave up.\u201d His smile lit his face up, and made her heart beat faster. \u201cThen I would have hung out in the gym waiting for you.\u201d His eyes swallowed her, holding her enthralled. She could look into those eyes for hours.<\/p>\n
Wunmi giggled. \u201cI went to the gym this morning to hang out and wait for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
His body shook with silent laughter. \u201cI guess we missed each other, and so did I. I was really hoping I would see you again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, you found me.\u201d His arm felt so good holding her.<\/p>\n
He glanced around at the couple on the couch beside Wunmi, chuckling silently before whispering in her ear. \u201cYou found a great place to hide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wunmi looked. The girl\u2019s top was unbuttoned, and the guy\u2019s hand was inside that top, moving. The girl\u2019s eyes met hers. She smiled. Wunmi frowned, looking away from them, looking across the room instead, only to see the girl and the guy there entwined in a tangle of moving limbs and dishevelled clothing. <\/span><\/p>\n The bed by the window held an even more disconcerting sight. The girl there now had her jeans and panties down around her ankles, her t-shirt still pushed up around her armpits, making it all too obvious what the two guys with her were doing. From the noises she was making, she was enjoying herself.<\/span><\/p>\n Jide leaned in towards her, his arm drawing her closer. He wasn\u2019t. Was he? Her heart did its little flutter-thing again. The next second, he kissed her softly on the cheek. Wunmi felt almost grateful for the distraction. He settled deeper into the couch, his arm urging Wunmi a little closer to him.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYour hair smells nice.\u201d His voice was a soft murmur in her ear.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cUh-huh,\u201d Wunmi was non-committal but she liked that he liked the smell of her hair. She liked the way he smelled too. She raised the bottle to her mouth. Whatever Mango Coconut was made from, it tasted great, and it certainly made her glow. <\/span><\/p>\n She giggled at the thought that Jide couldn\u2019t try to kiss her if she was drinking. Thinking about it, she decided she wanted him to kiss her. He seemed to be a nice guy as well as looking good. Good. He looked great, and those eyes. But she didn\u2019t even know him. <\/span><\/p>\n Apart from the last time in the gym, where they had both been surreptitiously looking at each other for an hour, she had only met him fifteen minutes ago. She found herself thinking about kissing him anyhow as she took another sip. That was ridiculous. Besides, her last experience with kissing hadn\u2019t been great, and it had been last year, back in high school.<\/span><\/p>\n Buy Oniranu Books on Selar.co from anywhere in the world<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n