Anonymous

“How did your talk with Maria go?” I asked Jess as we lied on the couch together. Her head was resting on my chest, her body tucked between mine and cushions that lined the back of the sofa. Her fingers were tracing absentminded patterns on my stomach, and it was all I could do to keep from succumbing to the ticklish sensation.

“It went well. She’s convinced that she’s going to get older, get huge boobs, and Harry will fall in love with her. And then she’s going to reject him painfully.”

I couldn’t help but snort softly as I pictured that happening. It seemed plausible, definitely, and I had a feeling that Harry was kind of keeping an eye on Maria to see how she grew up. Which was fucking creepy, but he wasn’t a normal bloke.

“Sounds like a good plan,” I agreed, tightening my grip around her waist.

There was a short silence before I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “So remember the other day when you saw me naked?”

I felt her shudder against me, though it was clear she was trying to suppress it. After a second to figure out what she was going to say, she propped herself up and mumbled, “Yeah. What about it?”

“What did you think?”

“I think,” her voice was soft, her warm breath tickling my ear before she pressed her lips against my neck, “that you’re very tan.”

I couldn’t control the burst of laughter that exploded out of me, shaking Jess up and down as I struggled to get myself together. “Of all the possible things that you could say about my naked body, you say that I’m tan?!”

“Yup. I covered my eyes, remember? I didn’t really see much else, so I won’t be complimenting the specific part of your anatomy that I think you want a compliment on.”

I snickered and pressed my lips to the top of her head. “Jess, you make me sound incredibly perverted and cocky. I think you’re confusing me with Harry.”

“Ohhh!” she cooed, giggling a couple of times. “Although, now it’s awkward to think about Harry as perverted because he kissed my sister.”

“You’re never going to let him live that down, are you?”

“Nope, never.”

I kissed the crown of her head one more time before getting up, straightening out my pants where they bunched underneath me when I was sitting. “Hey, do you think you’d want to get frozen yogurt or something? I kind of have a craving for some.”

“A craving?” She laughed. “Do you have something to tell me? Are you pregnant?”

“Or am I having sympathy cravings?” I teased back, wiggling my eyebrows.

“What the hell are sympathy cravings?”

“Like sympathy pains?” Her face was still blank. “Well, sympathy pains are when a husband starts feeling symptoms of pregnancy when their partner is pregnant. So I guess sympathy cravings would be when a man starts to have cravings because his pregnant partner has cravings.”

She blinked at me a couple of times before asking, “How the hell do you know that? I didn’t even know that.”

“I lived in a house with a lot of women,” I answered coolly. “Now come on, let’s get frozen yogurt.”

We were both silent as we walked down the hallway to the lift, both of our eyes locked on the velvety carpet underneath our feet. Once we were inside and Jess hit the lobby button, she asked, “Should we have asked Harry if he wanted anything?”

“No,” I scoffed. “If he wants frozen yogurt, he can get it himself. I’m not his mum.”

“It’s not about being his mum! It’s about being nice.” Jess sighed as the lift doors open, and once our feet were in the lobby, she extended her hand. “Give me your mobile. I’ll give him a ring and ask if he wants anything.”

“No,” I objected, shaking my head. “This is time for you and me. Let’s not even think about Harry, okay?” I was irritated enough that he’d insisted on staying in the flat and watching the telly when he knew that Jess was coming over, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. After all, it was just as much his home as it was mine, and I couldn’t kick him out for any length of time.

I pulled Jess close to my side, looping my hand around her shoulder, trying to be affectionate. But she took advantage of the situation, slipping her hand into the back pocket of my skinny jeans and taking my mobile, going immediately to Harry’s number and pressing the Call button.

“Jess…” I trailed off warningly, but she shook her head and held up a finger to silence me.

After some light conversation and a few pity-giggles from my girlfriend, Jess hung up the phone and handed it back. “He wants Chocolate Fantasy,” she told me, as if I cared enough to remember.

“Okay, keep that in your brain,” I laughed. “Since you wanted to get him the yogurt so badly, you can order it for him.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “God, don’t you ever think of Harry at all? Do you guys all live like it’s every man for himself?”

“Pretty much.”

She nudged me with her elbow and grinned. “You confuse me so much.”

Soon enough, we made it to the parlor, and we walked up to the front counter to place our orders. The teenaged girl, who didn’t seem to notice in the least that I was in One Direction, took our orders and rang us up before flitting around to fill the demands.

“Pomegranate?” I teased, raising an eyebrow at Jess. “This place has four different kinds of chocolate yogurt, and you want pomegranate instead?”

“It’s passion fruit,” she corrected, narrowing her eyes. “And I don’t feel like chocolate yogurt, or chocolate minty yogurt, or dark chocolate yogurt with cookie pieces.”

“I don’t even know who you are anymore,” I joked, turning to smirk at her so she knew I wasn’t being serious in the least.

“I hope she spits in your food,” Jess responded with fake venom. “Just a big ol’ wad of spit.”

“That’s crass.”

“Thank you.”

Laughing, I pulled her close and kissed the top of her head, nodding to acknowledge the girl as she brought us three small cups, all adorned with the appropriate toppings. My stomach immediately started to rumble with anticipation. “Thank you,” Jess responded as she took hers and Harry’s, while I reached for my own, immediately tearing off the cover and reaching for one of the brightly colored spoons.

As we walked down the street, I took spoonful after spoonful and shoved it into my mouth, letting the rich taste wash over my tongue.

“You know,” Jess pointed out, “you’re going to finish that before we get back to the flat, and you’re going to have to watch Harry and me eat ours.”

“Then I’ll just have to steal some of yours.”

“My passion fruit yogurt?”

I scrunched up my disgust as I rethought my statement. “Okay, I guess I’ll have to steal some of Harry’s, then. And take out those gummy bears that he insists on getting, even though they don’t go with chocolate at all.”

“Have fun with that,” Jess responded, looking like she was trying her hardest not to make fun of me as I scooped up a mound of yogurt and plopped it into my mouth. “God, you’re like a little kid who can’t stand to wait a few minutes before eating.”

“Oh, please,” I garbled through a full mouth. “You love me.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” she responded in a weak voice. When I looked over at her, her face was enveloped with a blush worse than I’d ever seen it, and I couldn’t help but smile to myself. Because I knew that finally, I’d won her over, whether she was willing to admit it or not.