I’m nearly at the studio so I suppose my reminiscing is going to have to be put on hold. I park in my usual space and go to find the others. ‘There you are Avi.’ Scott is the first to greet me. ‘Is everyone here?’ I ask, already knowing his answer. ‘Everyone but Kirstie. She’s been late a few times recently, it’s really unlike her.’ As we walk through to where Kevin, Mitch and Ben are standing I make a mental note to ensure Kirstie’s on time from now on. After greeting Kevin and Mitch we all sit down to discuss our latest track. It’s the last one left to record for the album since we wanted to have it finished way in advance of the release date.
We’ve been discussing it for about ten minutes when Kirstie walks in. Her hair is loose instead of in the braid it was in before and she’s changed her clothes. ‘Um Katherine where have you been?’ Mitch asks. ‘Sorry guys, lost track of time.’ She puts down her bag and moves to sit on the empty chair next to Scott. She tosses her hair back and that’s when I see it. I guess Kirstie didn’t check too closely in the mirror before she went out and I guess I wasn’t as gentle as I thought I was. On her neck, just above her collarbone, is a very visible hickey.
I desperately try to think of some way to tell her without alerting anyone else. How could we not notice? We were pretty caught up in the moment, but afterwards? I’m almost as familiar with her body as I am with my own, I should have seen it. That’s it, I’m going to have to text her. Just as I’m reaching into my pocket for my phone Kevin speaks. ‘Hey Kirstie what’s that on your neck?’ Due to the position it’s in she has no chance of seeing it but that doesn’t stop the others. ‘Oh my god Kirstie has a hickey, did you get some girl?’ Kirstie practically dives into her bag to get a mirror and I try to hide the panic that I’m feeling.
‘Kirstie, is there something you want to tell us? Who’s the lucky guy?’ Kirstie snaps her mirror shut ‘no one’ she stammers. ‘I mean no one that you know. It’s early days you know, we’re keeping it casual, nothing serious.’ It’s not exactly early days and they definitely know me but the other stuff was true so she did pretty well. ‘Urgh, I can’t believe he left a hickey. I’m going to kill him the next time I see him.’ Oops. Well that’s not good. She doesn’t look at me but I know if she could that she’d be glaring. ‘And when do you think that’ll be?’ Mitch’s natural instinct to gossip surfaces and this time Kirstie does look at me. ‘Tonight.’
We go back to talking about the song but we’re not quite as focused as we were earlier. Kirstie is way too concerned about covering up her hickey to be able to concentrate and I’m just trying my best to stop myself from staring at her. There’s something about seeing the mark I left on her neck that if I’m honest with myself really turns me on. ‘Listen guys, we’re getting nothing done. I think we should just call it a day and come back tomorrow.’ Scott breaks up my thoughts to be the voice of reason. ‘Yeah I think you’re right.’ Kevin says and we all start getting our stuff together and preparing to leave. ‘Have fun on your date Kirstie.’ Mitch yells as she walks out of the studio. ‘Shut up Mitch.’ ‘Hey Avi, before you go can I talk to you for a minute?’
Kevin and Mitch take that as a cue to leave. ‘Fine. I’ll wait for you in the car Scott.’ Scott nods and then waits as they walk out the door. ‘Are you ok Avi? You’ve been pretty quiet since Kevin noticed that hickey on Kirstie’s neck.’ Shit he knows. How though? We weren’t that obvious were we? ‘Listen Avi, I get it. She’s gorgeous and everything but if she’s with this guy then you just have to get over it.’ Oh. He thinks I’m jealous of the guy who gave Kirstie the hickey. That’s a reasonable interpretation of the fact that I spent basically the whole session staring at her neck. If I tell him I’m not interested in her then he’ll think I’m just trying to cover it up. Either way he’s going to think I like her.
‘Yeah. I kind of like her. It’s nothing too serious though, I think it’s just because I’m single and we know each other pretty well.’ Not even a lie. I’m pretty proud of myself. ‘That’s a shame man. Still if it’s not too serious then you’ll probably be over it fairly soon.’ ‘Yeah. I won’t let it get in the way of the group though, don’t worry.’ ‘Obviously. Always the professional.’ I grin at him. It’s nice that he’s concerned about me. Even if he is a little off with his deductions. My phone vibrates in my pocket. ‘You gonna get that?’ I pull it out and open the text < my place. 8. > no kisses no extra words. Most of our texts read like that now.
A/N: So yeah this chapter was pretty short. I have exams coming up so I'm not going to be able to write all that often. I've got a couple of chapters already written so I'll still update and hopefully there'll be enough to last a little while.
