The phone rang just as Kate was putting the finishing touches to the nail polish on her feet. She looked at the clock. 10pm. Her heart started racing. It was probably Steve informing her that the concert had finished.
She'd spent the evening getting ready for Steve to spend the night. A bath where she'd taken the time to shave all unwanted body hair followed by exfoliating and moisturising. Nail polish had been applied and the bed sheets changed. She was as ready as she could be. Picking her phone up she tucked it between her cheek and shoulder as she helped the nail polish to dry. "Good concert?" she asked.
"Really good thanks," Steve said.
"So you want me to come and pick you up?" Kate asked as they'd arranged on a previous phone call. Since London, Steve and Kate had spoken daily. "Steve?" she asked when he didn't reply immediately.
"Umm….," he said.
"What's happened?" Kate asked, suddenly worried that their plans were going to be changed at the last minute.
"Well Chris the fucking idiot, forgot to reply to the email from the hotel asking for booking confirmation for our rooms," Steve explained. "So they've given them away," he continued. "Is there any chance you can put all three of us up?" Steve ventured. "We've asked around but unsurprisingly all the hotels are full,".
"Someone would have to sleep on a sofa bed," Kate proposed as she thought about how she could accommodate Steve's request.
"As long as it's not me," Steve joked. He was fairly sure he knew where he would be sleeping that night but didn't want to presume anything now there plans had changed.
"I'm afraid you'll be sharing," Kate replied and Steve was a little worried until, "with me," was added.
Steve swallowed. "Not a problem," he added huskily.
"Where are you?" Kate asked.
"Outside the Premier Inn in the middle of town,".
"I'll come and get you," Kate said. "I imagine the taxi's are fairly busy this evening,".
"Thanks Kate. I owe you," replied Steve before hanging up.
"Here we are," Kate said as she led the three men in to her flat a little later. Brian came up to greet the visitors with his traditional sniff.
"Hi Brian," Steve said as he scratched the dog's head in greeting. "Afraid it's just me and two friends today. Mia is back in London,". Steve thought Brian looked a little disappointed before leaving the humans alone and going back to his bed.
Kate set about making them all a drink and Steve took the opportunity to glance around her flat. It was a lot more spacious than his small one in London and very tastefully decorated. His was much more messy.
"Cheers, Kate," Joe said as she appeared with their drinks.
"Yeah, thanks," added Chris sheepishly. He felt bad that Kate had had to rescue them due to his mistake. He also felt extremely guilty at gate crashing Kate and Steve's first night together.
"No problem," Kate said as she took a seat next to Steve. "Have you decided who's gonna take the sofa bed?".
Joe and Chris looked at each other. It was fairly obvious. "I fucked up so I will," Chris said.
"I'll get the bed made up when we've finished drinking," Kate said.
It was quickly done and Kate was showing Joe and Chris where the bathroom was and making sure they were set for the night. A quick check to make sure Brian was ok and wouldn't disturb her visitors followed before she turned to Steve. "Now it's our turn," Kate murmured as she walked past Steve, taking his hand and leading him to her bedroom.
"Sorry about the extra company," Steve whispered to Kate once they were alone in her room. "It isn't quite how I envisaged our first night together,".
Kate silenced him with a kiss, picking up where they had left off the previous weekend. "That more like it?" she asked as she pulled away from him.
"Oh yeah," Steve replied, grinning. That was exactly how he had thought the evening would go. "Joe and Chris have both promised to use the ear plugs they've bought if you wanted to do anything else," he added. He didn't use the phrase 'shag each other senseless' that Chris had so eloquently put it whilst they were waiting for Kate to pick them up.
"Good to know," Kate replied nonchalantly. She wanted to keep Steve guessing. "You wanna use the bathroom first?".
"Ok," he replied before taking his toiletry bag in to the en-suite. He returned shortly after in just a T-shirt and his tight boxer briefs which Kate came to realise were his favourite type of underwear. Whilst he'd been using the facilities, Steve noticed Kate had turned off the main light leaving only bedside ones illuminating the room in a soft glow.
"Won't be long," she said seductively as she headed to the bathroom. "Get yourself settled,".
Steve looked at the made bed. He deduced that the bedside table which had an array of face and hand creams on it was probably Kate's 'side' so he got in the other and made himself comfortable. He looked around the room. It had a nice relaxing feel to it only it wasn't working on him at the moment. He'd been thinking nonstop about seeing Kate all week, wondering if they would take things further this time. After their heavy make out session in his parents guest room he had a feeling they'd be quite good at the physical side of a relationship. But he reminded himself, that was without two near strangers in the flat. Kate might just want to go to sleep and he wouldn't blame her. He wouldn't push her to do something she felt uncomfortable with. He was just going to take her lead. It felt like an eternity but soon he heard the bathroom door unlock and he got his answer about what lay in store that night .