Kisses and Other Necessities

《 kisses and apartments 》

please believe me when i say that i'm very, very sorry for not updating sooner. thank you for being kind and patient x (i'll reply to comments on the last chapter and this one asap)

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Sean Foster skimmed his eyes absently over the line of people waiting at the arrival gate of Los Angeles International Airport. He was thinking of hailing a cab as he tugged his Rimowa suitcase behind him, and with the other hand, he shifted his Louis Vuitton duffle bag higher up on his shoulder. He was told that this was the way to travel in style.

When he was almost through the exit, a smile entered his view, one he wasn't expecting. Like turning on the radio to find his favorite song, the tune bloomed pleasantly in his chest cavity as she greeted him, the hem of her floral dress fluttering against her legs. She was the most alluring girl he'd ever seen (he'd thought so then, years ago when he'd first met her, and he still thought so now), and he would unabashedly admit that it was part of the reason he was so obsessed with her. She never failed his superficiality.

"You didn't have to come get me." He smiled, glad that she did anyway. "I told you I'd—"

"I couldn't wait to see you!" Flora touched his face as she often did, in a half indulgent, half admiring way that made him feel very much desired. Her fingers were warm. Obeying an impulse, he bent down to meet her in a kiss.

Sean liked how much she welcomed him. Flora's enthusiasm never wavered, and ever since their first kiss, he'd known that he was lucky and he felt chosen. For a while he lost himself in her lips, even though he was faintly aware of the crowd around them.

Flora seemed to be aware, too, and when they broke apart, she glanced at the older woman standing next to them. "I haven't seen my husband for eight months," she explained before they left. Slipping her fingers through his, she led him toward the sliding doors.

"What was that for?" he asked when they were waiting to cross the street.

She shrugged. "I don't know. It sounds more legitimate than saying, 'I haven't seen my boyfriend for five days.' She was staring at us the whole time."

"Who cares? Let her stare."

She smiled. "You're not self-conscious anymore."

"No, and you don't need an excuse to make out with me." They neared her Porsche in the parking lot, and Sean glanced at her. "But whatever you say, dear wife."

Flora chuckled, and a soft glint lit up her eyes. She was still smiling when she handed him the brown paper bag she'd been holding, which he found with delight to be a burger from Five Guys. Sometimes he got the fleeting suspicion that she liked playing house, especially when she jokingly referred to their relationship status as "so married," but whenever he tried to start a serious conversation, she'd quickly dismiss it. She also claimed that she was as uninterested in children as she'd always been, a fact he was more than relieved to learn.

Flora leaned over. "Wanna hear something interesting?"

"Sure."

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm not wearing anything underneath my dress."

"You ran out of clean underwear because I wasn't home?" Sean pretended to make a disgusted face, but this—her picking him up in her car, buying him fast food, and teasing him before they even got home—was everything he dreamed of. As selfish as that sounded, he hoped she stayed his sexy, fun girlfriend for as long as possible. "You could do laundry once in a while too, baby."

Shaking her head, Flora smacked him lightly on the shoulder. "Hey, according to the research I did on Reddit, this is the number one thing boyfriends want to hear when they're getting picked up from the airport. That, and 'I got you a burger.'"