It was the closest they had got to a summers day all month.
As she packed up her belongings, he spent the afternoon in a bar. He played a little with his guitar, catching the eye of the pretty brunette sat in the second row.
He brought her a few drinks, flirted and by seven, she was rolling around in his cheap linens, sighing and moaning to the thrust of his body.
Emma surveyed her childhood room for the last time, sighing at the vast emptiness of it all. The room she had grown up in, the place where she had studied for her finals and let Ryan Frio touch her breast in the eleventh grade.
Across town, Will showered himself, washing the stale stench of cheap perfume that lingered on his skin. His life was on the same monotonous cycle as it had been for three years. Twenty-four, and still waking up to nameless faces, pouring his heart into song writing and getting nowhere, discovering that life wasn't the dream he had believed in since high school.
At the time, Emma had been plucking up the courage to move out of the place she had lived her entire twenty-three years of existence in. Her friend Sally had a boyfriend at the time that was looking for a roommate and Emma's face had lit up. As Emma took the chance to unfold another chapter in her life, Sally now had the task of finding a guy that wanted more than a three week fling.
Emma had never met Will, but his repertoire with Sally had given her enough reason to be cautious. Her parents weren't easily convinced either. Sally's mother and father belonged to the Red Oaks society as well, a society dedicated to conserve those of natural red hair. Apparently, Will's genetic makeup didn't help matters, and nor did his wandering eye when it came to women Sally's father had told her parents one night.
Rusty had told her he didn't want his little girl living with a man like that, while her mum drowned her sorrows in a bottle of red, crying about how her daughter was abandoning her roots, and her family.
But Emma was strong willed, decisive in all areas of her life.
Will wandered into the kitchen, rummaging round in the fridge to find anything half edible to eat. Settling on nothing more than a cold beer he flicked on the television for a few minutes before the door went.
Still in his towel he went over to answer, not expecting visitors at ten in the evening.
When he answered, he could help but stare. She was unmistakably pretty, not usually the type of woman he'd normally go for, and not the type of woman he had in his bed right now. But striking, there was a sense of undiscovered mystery about her he couldn't help but feel magnetised to.
She was a bit taken back by his appearance, and lack of attire. Clearly he hadn't been expecting her, or had he? She had left a voicemail on his machine, maybe he had got it and this was some sort of game for her to fall into. She was suspicious of him already.
"Hi, I'm Emma". She offered her hand to him, and he stared straight at her, flashing his signature smile.
"Will, your new roomie." He laughed, and she felt a blush creep up on her unexpectedly. She removed her hand from his hold almost immediately, attempting to compose herself.
"I left a message, saying I'd be here tonight" she said shyly, and he turned round, staring at the flashing machine. He hadn't got the message.
"Sorry, would you like a hand with your bags?"
She found him genuine, unlike her opinion three minutes ago. He was soothing, dangerously so and the way he spoke, so politely and elegantly made her insides tighten. She wondered if he felt something to, something that went beyond a casual greeting.
"My cars out back."
He nodded, grabbing his flat keys and a quick change of clothes before accompanying her out.
"So what do you like to do Emma?"
His tone was suggestive, and although she wouldn't admit it, she liked the way he looked at her. So lustful and sexual. As they walked out back his hand brushed past her hip and she began to think that maybe it wasn't just her that felt it too.