The One and Only by Sophie McKenzie

the time we found a place – a motel off the motorway in Somerset that the car hire guy had recommended – it was nearly two am. Eve had started yawning as much as Alejandro.
    ‘I didn’t sleep much last night either,’ she told me. ‘I was too excited.’
    I was so focused on getting her alone, that I actually opened my mouth to tell her not to plan on sleeping too much tonight either. Then it suddenly struck me that she might be assuming I’d share with Alejandro. After all, we had never spent the whole night on our own together before.
    The double horror of this – not being with Eve while having to share a room with someone gay – filled my head as I watched Alejandro pay cash for two rooms. I was sure he and Eve hadn’t discussed the sleeping arrangements in the car. Maybe they’d talked about it earlier.
    As we trudged upstairs I tried – and failed – to catch Eve’s eye.
    Alejandro, clearly dead on his feet from tiredness, stopped halfway along the corridor. He muttered goodnight and stumbled inside the room to his left. The door shut behind him.
    Yes. I slipped my arm round Eve’s waist as we walked a bit further along to our room.
    Our room.
    ‘Can I share your toothbrush?’ I whispered as Eve turned the key and opened the door.
    She smiled sexily at me. ‘You can share everything,’ she said.
    The room was small and girly-pretty, dominated by the big, flowery-quilted bed against the far wall. Fluttery pink curtains were drawn open at the window. Eve went across and looked out, into the dark countryside around the hotel.
    She shrugged off her jacket and raked back her hair, unaware of how intently I was watching her.
    There was something different about her. I’d sensed it earlier, without realising it properly. Now, seeing her move around, it was obvious. Eve’d always had this deep-down sexiness, this natural way of moving like a cat. But now she seemed more sure of herself too. More confident.
    She drew the curtains and turned around to face me. Her cheeks were a little pink. ‘Luke,’ she said slowly. ‘I’ve been thinking . . .’
    ‘What?’
    She was so beautiful. So sexy. I couldn’t believe she was real. And here. With me. All night.
    ‘Before, I thought it might be weird seeing you after such a long time. I thought it might feel awkward. But it just felt right. Really natural. Didn’t it?’
    I nodded. There was a long pause.
    ‘Anyway, I was thinking about how it used to be, before, with us, and I . . . I’ve realised I’ve changed.’
    I stood rooted to the spot. What was she talking about?
    How had she changed?
    ‘I don’t understand,’ I said.
    Eve smiled. ‘I used to worry about what other people would think of me and . . . and I guess it just felt wrong but now . . . now it’s different. Before, I didn’t really want to. Now, I can’t see how I can stop myself. Or why I should. D’you see?’
    I shook my head, fear threading like a worm through my head. ‘Eve, I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
    She took a deep breath. ‘I’m just saying that I want to . . . I want to . . . you know . . . with you,’ she said. ‘I’m ready.’
    My heart seemed to stop.
    ‘That is, if you want to,’ she grinned.
    I stared at her, in total shock. Sex – full sex – had always been this kind of forbidden topic between us. Eve’s six months older than me and, when we met, her boyfriend Ben was pushing her to do it with him. At first I was just desperate to get her away from him, so I was always careful not to be pushy myself. Then, later, when I got all jealous over other guys lusting after her, I was too scared of her going off me to even talk to her about actually doing it. It was only in the last few days of our holiday that we’d come close. Really close, sometimes. But even so, she made it clear it wasn’t an option. I mean, maybe if we’d had more time . . .
    ‘You do want to, don’t you?’ Eve was now frowning at me.
    A massive smile spread across