The Five-Year Plan: The utterly heart-warming and feel good rom com of 2020

by Carla Burgess

  When I get back, Aiden’s getting another beer from the ice bucket next to the barbeque. Someone’s got a wireless speaker and there’s music playing. ‘Hey,’ I say, going over to him. ‘I think I’m going to go to bed.’

  ‘What?’ He laughs and slips his arm around my waist, pulling me against his body. ‘No, you’re not. There’s still beer. There’s still dancing.’ He gestures with his beer bottle to the girls dancing by the fire and then starts to sway against me. ‘Come on, Orla.’

  ‘I still think it’s, erm …’ I lose my train of thought as he starts to kiss my neck, still swaying against me, holding the lower half of my body close to his. My body’s a mass of goose bumps as his lips move down my neck to my shoulder and then back to my throat. I arch against him, and the hand I originally put on his shoulder to push him away slides round his neck and into his hair as his mouth finds mine. Soft lips, soft beard, soft tongue. My head spins and I want the kiss to last forever, but he pulls away and instead presses his forehead to mine.

  ‘Okay?’ His voice is thick and husky.

  I nod and smooth my hands over his wide shoulders, down to his chest. We’re just swaying to the music, looking into each other’s eyes, and it feels like we’re a million miles away, floating on our own cloud. The songs keep playing, changing tracks, some old, some new. I lay my head on Aiden’s chest, and he kisses my forehead. His hand is on my back, beneath my top, and his thumb stroking my bare skin sends sparks of electricity zinging through my body.

  ‘Do you know what you do to me, Orla?’ he whispers, making all the hairs on the back of my neck lift. ‘You drive me crazy.’ He presses his cheek to the side of my face, traces his nose along the outside of my ear. ‘I think about you all the time. And I mean every minute of every day since the moment I met you.’

  I raise my head to look at him, thinking, Christ, he’s really drunk, but I find his eyes are deep and steady and deadly serious. My lips part to say something, but he kisses me and all sensible thought leaves my mind.

  ‘Shall we go to bed?’

  Taking my hand, he leads me up the beach, calling goodbye to the three guys still sitting next to the campfire as we pass. I’m surprised by how deserted the beach has suddenly become. How didn’t I notice everyone leaving?

  The sand is cool as it fills my sandals, gritty between my toes. We climb the steps back up to the road, and Aiden helps me climb up into the back of the truck, his hand on my bum as he pushes me up. We collapse giggling onto the mattress together, the sky spinning above us, a kaleidoscope of stars.

  ‘We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, you know,’ he murmurs, kissing the edge of my mouth, my chin, my throat. ‘We can just sleep if you like?’

  ‘No, I want to,’ I whisper, already undoing the buttons on his paisley shirt.

  ‘You’re sure?’

  In answer, I kiss him, rubbing my hands over the soft hair on his chest. He groans against my mouth, pulling me on top of him and kissing me so fiercely that he leaves me breathless. I thought I’d feel shy and awkward, but right now I want to get as naked as possible with him. Straddling him, I rip off my top, arching as his mouth closes over my nipple, sucking it through the pale pink lace of my bra. His hand is burrowing under my skirt, pushing up the layers of material so it sits at the top of my thighs.

  ‘What day are you wearing today?’ he asks, rubbing circles around my hips, down my buttocks and back up my thighs. It feels nice but is nowhere near where I want his hands right now. ‘I’ll be very disappointed in you if you’re not wearing Friday.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ I can’t think what he means for a minute, but aah, my days of the week pants. ‘I’m not wearing them … look … here.’ I know he’s trying to be funny, but I don’t want to be distracted right now. Unzipping my skirt, I pull it up over my head so he can see my pink lace thong by the light of the moon. ‘There you see, not a Mr Man in sight.’

  Aiden looks entranced as he gently trails a finger over the front seam of my pants. I writhe slightly, pressing against him, craving his touch. I want him so badly right now, but he takes his time, exploring me slowly, all the while dropping butterfly kisses on the soft skin of my stomach. I feel like I might go mad with desire if he doesn’t get a move on, but with one hand on my hip, he holds me firmly in place as his kisses get lower and his probing gets deeper. My legs are trembling so much I’m not sure they can support me for much longer.

  ‘Aiden,’ I beg, as the tension builds to an almost unbearable level. ‘Aiden.’

  He looks up at me, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. I’m quivering all over as he lays me down on the mattress. I hear the rustle of a condom packet and then he enters me, slowly and carefully.

  ‘Open your eyes,’ he whispers, as he starts to move inside me. But my eyes are already starting to roll as my orgasm builds with each thrust. He moves faster and harder, and suddenly I’m over the edge and falling, my fingers entwined in his hair as I experience the most powerful orgasm of my life.

  It takes me a few minutes to come down, and even then I can still feel the odd flutter between my legs. Aiden’s still breathing hard, his face buried in my neck.

  ‘Reanna really was lying, wasn’t she?’ I say, after a few moments of lying there, staring up at the stars. ‘Wow! That was pretty good.’

  ‘Pretty good?’ Aiden laughs in disbelief as he props himself up on his elbow to look at me. ‘Did you expect it to be bad or something?’

  ‘Well, from past experience, sex is usually pretty disappointing.’

  He blinks at me, his brow creased with concern. ‘But that was okay?’

  ‘More than okay.’ I smile up at him. ‘Do you want to go again?’

  ‘Christ, Orla.’ He laughs as he reaches for the bottle of water again. ‘I’m older than you, remember. Give me five minutes.’

  ‘That’s okay, I can wait.’ I give him a cheeky smile and he chuckles before taking another good glug of the water.

  ‘Have you really only had crap sex?’ he asks, passing me the bottle.

  ‘Yeah, pretty much.’

  ‘Oh no! Well, I feel it’s my moral duty as your friend to show you that sex should be fun.’

  ‘Okay, you’re on.’

  ‘Excellent!’ Taking back the bottle from me, he screws on the lid and places it back down next to the mattress. ‘Well, to begin with, I think we’d better remove this bra, don’t you?’ he says. ‘I can’t think what I was doing letting you keep it on.’ His hands slide under my back as he undoes the catch on my bra, then he slowly peels it away to reveal my breasts. My nipples harden in the cool night air and he gently blows on one before circling it with his tongue. I’m fascinated by how erotic it feels to be watching his tongue flick back and forward over its dark pink point, and without even realising it, my legs open wider and my breathing quickens.

  We make love again while the pale moon watches over us, and once again I’m astounded that sex can feel this good. If Aiden wants to teach me how fun sex can be, then I figure I’m more than happy to let him.

  ‘They don’t call me Aiden the Sex God for nothing,’ he says afterwards as he lies back on the mattress.

  ‘Oh really? Who calls you that?’ I scoff.

  ‘Well, no one, but you could start if you wanted.’

  ‘I’ll think about it.’ I smile as I rest my head on his chest and close my eyes.

  ‘I’ll be your own personal sex guru. How’s that?’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ I murmur as I drift off to sleep.

  Chapter 14

  I awake early, blinking in the pale morning light as gulls circle and scream overhead. Aiden is still fast asleep, his arm thrown across me. Reaching for the water bottle, I prop myself up on my elbows and gulp it down. My head is throbbing and I’m so thirsty I feel as if I could drink a river dry. There’s no one else around, so I take the opportunity to put my clothes back on, just in case we get early morning visitors.

  Aiden looks so peaceful. His hair is a
ll ruffled and falling over his face, and his thick black lashes are resting on his cheek bone. I readjust the blanket so it’s covering his shoulder and lie back down next to him. To my relief, I have no regrets, though he might have been right about the truck. In the cold light of day, it looks a bit like a skip and I don’t dare look at the state of the mattress. Instead I keep my eyes on Aiden. At least the man was right. Always a silver lining.

  I must fall asleep again, because the next thing I know Aiden is up and making coffee by the side of the road on his tiny gas stove. He’s surrounded by three of his friends, and they’re talking in low voices so as not to wake me.

  ‘Morning,’ I say, peering over the edge of the truck at them. ‘How are your heads?’

  ‘Oh, don’t ask,’ one groans, rubbing his forehead with a pained look on his face. ‘We slept by the fire and carried on until the early hours.’

  Aiden looks up at me, and I can tell he’s wondering if I’m regretting last night. I smile at him. ‘Can I have a coffee?’

  ‘Sure.’ His eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles back, and I feel myself blush. It’s embarrassing to feel this giggly and girly, especially with his three friends looking on. As if realising they’re intruding, they step away and turn to look out to sea, talking among themselves. Aiden makes the coffee and stands up to give it to me, kissing my nose as he does so. ‘How are you feeling this morning?’

  ‘Fine. I woke up earlier with a headache but I feel okay now. You?’

  ‘I’m good.’ He leans his forearms on the side of the truck and watches me take a sip from the coffee. ‘Still not as good as your sexy coffee man’s?’

  I wrinkle my nose. ‘It’s better, because you made it.’

  ‘Now I know you’re lying.’ He nods to the back of the truck with the bare mattress on the floor. ‘How d’you like your chariot this morning?’

  ‘It felt a whole lot more romantic last night.’

  ‘Yeah, sorry about that. Maybe you should get out and sit in the cab before you realise just how horrible it is.’

  ‘It’s fine.’

  A shout goes up from the men, and they’re pointing out to sea. ‘Dolphins!’

  And there are. About three of them, joyfully leaping out of the water, the spray glinting silver in the morning sun. I’ve never seen dolphins in the wild before and the sight of them brings tears to my eyes. Aiden helps me down from the truck and we stand with the others by the wall, watching them play. ‘I should have my camera,’ Aiden sighs.

  ‘They’re too far away to get anything decent. You need to go out in a boat.’

  ‘I don’t know. I’ve got a pretty decent zoom.’

  ‘Still doubt it would be good enough. Not from this distance.’

  Aiden hesitates, and I see him open his mouth to argue, but then he just shrugs and laughs, as if he doesn’t want an argument. ‘Ah, maybe you’re right.’ He puts his arm around me, rubbing the goose bumps that have appeared on my arms from the cool morning breeze. ‘I suppose we’d better get going before all the holidaymakers arrive. Shall we help clean up?’

  The other guys clear away the barbeque while Aiden and I fill bin bags with beer bottles and cans. Aiden throws the bags in the back of the truck to take to the recycling centre, then we say our goodbyes and start on our journey home.

  ‘Do you want me to share the driving?’

  ‘No.’ He smiles across at me, rubbing a hand up his arm.

  ‘You sure you’re not tired?’

  ‘I’ll stop if I feel tired. I can always get in the back for a nap.’

  ‘Among the bin bags?’

  ‘Yeah. Classy.’ He laughs, deep and throaty, making my stomach clench. The sun is already hot and burning my arm where it rests on the edge of the window. I watch the landscape rise and fall, the green fields dotted with sheep, the yellow fields of rapeseed that make my nose itch. The radio plays songs, but we don’t sing along. We don’t even talk. But Aiden smiles his smile and I smile mine and the truck eats up the miles to home. He calls in at a recycling centre and we dispose of the bottles and cans, and Aiden slings the old mattress into a skip, explaining it was just an old one that Bill and Ivy had asked him to get rid of.

  ‘So what happens now?’ I say, when we finally reach my flat. I don’t want to get out and go inside, back to my normal life. I want to stay here in this truck with Aiden, watching the countryside fly past, with endless possibilities ahead of us.

  ‘What do you mean?’ He reaches over and tucks a strand of hair behind my ear.

  ‘Are you coming inside?’

  He shrugs. ‘Sure.’

  ‘Have you got otter things to do today?’ I ask as I open my flat door and go inside. The window blinds are still drawn and everywhere’s in shadow. Crossing to the window, I open them and let the light flood in.

  ‘Yeah, I’ll have to go through a ton of trail cam footage.’ He sits down heavily on the sofa and groans, pushing his hair back from his forehead. ‘Will you help me?’

  ‘If you want me to?’

  ‘Of course I want you to.’ Reaching for my hand, he pulls me down onto his lap and starts kissing me. ‘But we don’t have to go straight away. We could hang around here for a bit.’

  ‘Oh no, let me go,’ I laugh, between kisses. ‘I need a shower. And so do you.’

  ‘Well, that’s rude. Can I take one with you? Save water?’

  ‘No, you cannot!’ Giggling, I struggle out of his hold and head for the bathroom. ‘You can have one after me, if you want?’

  ‘I’ll wait ’til I get back to the farm. All my stuff’s there and I need to change out of these clothes. They stink of the fire smoke.’

  ‘Okay, I won’t be long.’

  I shower quickly, then we head back to the farm. It’s such a beautiful day, I can’t think of anywhere more perfect to spend it than next to the river with Aiden. I sit on the river bank while he showers up at the farm. The water sparkles almost as much as my mood. I keep smiling at nothing in particular. A dragonfly darts across the water, and a school of silver fish crowd around my bare feet as they dangle in the water. Aiden comes back and squats next to me.

  ‘See the kingfisher?’ He points across the water and I squint, following Aiden’s line of vision until I see it sitting on a branch of the tree. It’s smaller than I expected, but I’m still startled I didn’t see it before.

  ‘How did you see that?’

  He sits behind me, and pulls me back against his chest, pressing a toothpaste-scented kiss to the side of my face. ‘Just used to looking for things, I guess. Plus, I know that’s where it sits, so I cheated a bit.’

  His warm breathy laughter in my hair sends chills down my spine and when he kisses my ear, he makes my skin tingle.

  ‘Right,’ he says, after a few minutes of relaxing in the sun. ‘These trail cams aren’t going to check themselves. Come on, let’s get on with it.’ He stands up, pulling me with him, and we head over to the tent to watch his camera footage.

  I’m glad it doesn’t feel awkward today. Really, it feels like nothing’s changed at all. We’re still laughing at each other and joking around. We’re still talking about the otters and the surrounding wildlife. We’re still friends, and for that I’m so grateful. It’s just a bit of fun, that’s all. How funny to think I was so worried about it affecting everything. Imagine if I’d said no; I’d be missing out on all this joy.

  It’s great that we can do this without labelling what we have as anything more than being friends. It takes the pressure off. I don’t have to feel guilty about putting my work first, and he doesn’t have to feel bad about leaving soon. It’s a win-win situation. We both know where we stand, and everything’s honest and open.

  *

  The first couple of weeks after we slept together pass in a rose-tinted haze where I believe we’ve found the answer to the universe. Being with Aiden feels so, so good, and we have so much fun that I don’t need anyone or anything else.

  And then I realise I’m in lov
e with him.

  It shouldn’t come as a shock, but it does. It feels like the sky is falling. Literally. The three-week heat wave we’ve had expires in a spectacular thunderstorm, with the wind thrashing the trees and the rain cascading down on a biblical scale. The river is tumultuous as it rushes by and Aiden’s standing in the middle of it, stripped to his waist with his arms held out, laughing up at the sky. He looks like a mad man, with his long dark hair plastered to his head, his eyes closed, and the rain running in rivulets down his naked torso. I was about to call out to him, to laughingly demand that he come inside out of the rain, but something stops me and instead I just stand and watch him, getting soaked to the skin myself in the process.

  He’s so beautiful and so, so wild. Love slams into me, leaving me winded and furious to realise I’ve fallen so hard and so fast without realising. Apparently, my heart wasn’t listening when we’d agreed to be just friends that slept together.

  Aiden opens his eyes and catches me watching.

  ‘Come in,’ he shouts, holding out his hand to me. ‘It’s wonderful.’

  I’m already drenched, so I take his hand and step into the raging water that rushes and bubbles past my thighs. The rocks are slippery beneath my feet, but he holds me steady as he pulls me against him, smoothing back my hair as he looks down at me. I’m almost afraid to meet his eye, fearing he’ll see the emotion that lurks there, but he just smiles and kisses me while the rain continues to hammer down around us.

  Chapter 15

  ‘Shall we go for a swim?’ After last week’s storm, the hot weather has returned with a vengeance and I’m lying on the river bank in a heat-induced haze.

  ‘Where?’ Lifting my head, I look doubtfully at the shallow river, its stony bed clearly visible through the clear, rippling water. ‘It’s a bit shallow.’

  ‘Not here. There’s a deeper pool further up.’

  ‘Won’t it be cold?’

  ‘That’s the idea. Aren’t you too hot now?’