A Thousand Salt Kisses Later (Book 2 of Salt Kiss series)

A New Era?

I dropped the last box on the floor and groaned. My back was throbbing from the weight.

"Err, I told you to wait for me!" said Sam, looking up at me from the other side of the room and holding up his hands, in a What did you do that for? gesture. "That was the one with all the books in."

"Well, I don't need you for everything, you know," I snapped.

Sam shook his head. "I don't know why you are so edgy with me today. I know you don't need me for everything."

I stood up straight again and looked up at him, my eyes filling with tears.

He got up immediately and came over to me, putting his hands on either side of my face.

"I had no idea you were so upset," he said softly.

With nothing but a string of job rejections and the imminent trip to Starfish Island, I had had to move from my own bedroom into his. There was just no way I would have been able to afford next month's rent.

Sam had eagerly suggested the whole thing, and I had found myself unable to refuse. Where else would I go, and what would he have thought if I had said no?

He had a job at the uni bar and had offered to pay for both our rent and food until I got some work of my own. As soon as I found my own source of income, he proposed that we would leave the house entirely and go find our own flat, just the two of us.

He was doing everything to support me; he had even found a lodger for my old room on the internet. It should have been a massive weight off my shoulders, but instead, I just felt trapped.

"I'm sorry," I said as I let a tear trickle down my face. "It's just everything's changing."

He pulled me to him, and I buried my face in his t-shirt.

"It's okay, sweetie," he said, stroking my hair. "Yeah, things are changing, but you have to look at it positively. It's a new era."

I nodded, but I couldn't look up at him. I just couldn't share his enthusiasm, and it was making me uncomfortable.

"I might go and see Jemima," I said eventually pulling away.

"Okay..." he said, sounding surprised.

I walked into the center of the room, weaving around the stacks of my boxes and bags as I went. It was a large and spacious bedroom, painted a warm, yellow color. There were decks in the far right corner and a big double bed.

I remembered when we had all first moved here; we had played a drinking game to see who would get to live in this room. Sam had won much to my envy.

"You can share it with me anytime," he had joked after the game, sitting next to me as I sulked on the sofa.

We were not a couple at this point, and I had just rolled my eyes at him and smiled. I had always had a soft spot for him, and I knew through friends that he really liked me.

It had only taken a couple of weeks living here for us to get together and then I had ended up spending most of my time in his room anyway.

"I always said you could share with me," Sam said now, as though he were reading my mind.

I paused, turning back to look at him.

His face relaxed as he saw me smile. "I'm really excited," he said.

"Yeah, me too," I lied.

***