Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
LOUISA
It's finally getting warm outside, and B is meeting up with some friends from college for a bonfire. She invited me to go with, and I have nothing else to do, so I tag along.
The party is at someone called Big Mike's house. When I questioned B about his name, she just shrugged and said it's what everyone has called him as long as she's known him. Big Mike was B's weed dealer in college, and I'm pretty sure he still is because I've seen his name pop up on her phone from time to time.
We Uber there because B told me to be prepared to get super fucked up. That's not my plan, but I don't want to stop myself from letting go and having a good time.
When we pull up, I'm slightly surprised by the place. I was expecting a total dump, but it's actually really cute and looks well taken care of. Maybe he still lives with his parents.
I grab the case of beer, and B grabs the case of seltzers we brought. We hate showing up empty-handed. I follow B up the driveway, and she heads straight around the house to the backyard. I can hear people laughing, and when we round the corner, I see a big group in lawn chairs around a bonfire. I love bonfires but don't get them often since moving to the city.
B walks right up to someone I don't recognize and throws her arm over their shoulder, startling them.
"Hey losers, the party has arrived!"
Everyone greets us, and B introduces me to the people I haven't met. There is no way I'm going to remember anyone's name.
I hear noises coming from the house, and when I turn to check it out, I realize there are a lot more people here than I thought. A group is walking out of the house, and through a window, I can see more people mingling inside. I honestly like big groups because then I can just blend in and observe. Parties with B's friends have always made for great people-watching.
Someone brings out some more lawn chairs, and we take a seat near a guy smoking.
"Want some?"
B reaches over to take it from him. "Yes please!" She takes a hit and offers it to me.
"No, I'm good for now; I'll probably smoke something later. I don't trust myself to get high this early in the night."
The guy takes it back from B and takes another hit. "Fair enough. At least you have keen self-awareness."
I laugh because I'm not sure I would say that, but he's not totally wrong.
The group around the fire starts playing a drinking game, so I crack myself a seltzer. The game is more luck than skill, and the universe is not on my side tonight. I fly through my four-pack of seltzers quickly, and I'm not in the mood for beer, so I sit out a round .
B tells me to go inside and grab a drink. When I give her a skeptical look, she reassures me that the drinks in there are for everyone and that it wouldn't be weird. I'm not sure why she doesn't just offer to go in and grab one for me since they’re her friends, but she doesn't. She's pretty into this game and pretty into the guy sitting next to her.
Although I'm uncomfortable walking into a stranger’s house and helping myself to their alcohol, I do need to pee. I don't bother to ask her to come with me because she'd just tell me to be a big girl.
I walk up to the back door and let myself in. Most of the people have migrated outside to the bonfire, so the house is pretty quiet. I look around and locate the kitchen off to the left. I walk in and see a bunch of coolers on the floor, and I sheepishly start opening them.
Rummaging through other people’s things feels wrong, but B swore it wasn’t an issue and told me to grab her one, too. I brought the beer in here with me to put in the coolers, which makes me feel a little better.
I eventually locate a cooler with more seltzers in it and dig through the ice for a flavor I like. My hand is freezing by the time I pull out a pineapple for B and a lime for myself. I shake off the ice stuck to them and find a dish towel to dry them off. Then, I run my hand under warm water to warm it up.
With the sink running, I don’t even hear someone walk into the kitchen behind me.
“Hey, how’s it going?”
“Jesus!” I jump about a foot in the air, so startled by the sudden voice behind me. “Oh, you scared me so bad.” My back is now to the counter, and my hand is keeping my heart from pounding out of my chest. I let out a little laugh because now I’m embarrassed by my reaction when I see that it’s a really cute guy behind me.
He laughs too. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. Just came in here to grab a lighter.” He fishes through one of the drawers and grabs one out without taking his eyes off me.
“It’s all good. Do you, by chance, know where the bathroom is?”
He smiles; I’m not really sure why, though. He leans through the entrance to the kitchen and points to a hallway to the right. “It’s down that hall, the door straight ahead of you.”
“Thanks.” I grab our drinks off the counter and squeeze by him to head to the bathroom. It’s a pretty small bathroom with no counter to set the drinks on, so I just hold them while I pee, and now my hands are freezing again.
I finish up and walk out, heading for the back door. I spot that same guy sitting in the living room, packing a bong. He looks up and catches me staring at him.
“You want some?”
I honestly don’t want to go back outside just yet, so I figure, why not?
“Sure.”
I walk into the living room and sit on the couch next to him. “My name is Lou, by the way; I’m B’s sister.” I guess I just assume that everyone knows B without even thinking if he knows her or not.
He smiles. “Yeah? You’re the big sister?”
I scrunch my eyebrows together, confused. So he does know B. Does she talk about me to her friends? “I hope the fact that you know who I am isn’t a bad thing…”
“Nah. B only says good things about you. She says you used to have fun when you were in college, but now you are a lot more tame. A “mature” adult, as some would say. ”
I laugh at the idea of B telling people I’m mature. But, I guess up until this summer when Jay dumped me, I had gotten pretty boring and didn’t do anything that wasn’t good for my future.
“Did she also tell you that I’ve recently learned to let loose again?”
“She may have mentioned that.”
I smile at him, and he hands me the bong. I take a hit and inhale the cool, smooth smoke, letting it out after a couple seconds. I almost instantly feel it since it’s been so long since I’ve smoked.
I turn to hand it to him and realize something. “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“I’m Mikey.”
“Mikey? As in Big Mike? Or are there two of you?”
He chuckles. “No, that’s me. I prefer Mikey, but everyone calls me Big Mike for some reason. I honestly can’t even remember how it started.”
I look him over, and it truly doesn’t compute. This man is not what I expected someone called Big Mike to look like at all. This guy is clean-cut, handsome, and has clear, bright eyes. He doesn’t look like any dealer I ever met in college.
“Do you live here alone?” This is my attempt at subtly finding out if he lives with his mom or if he really just isn’t the stereotype at all.
“No, I have a couple roommates. I own the house, but I rent out rooms to friends who need cheap rent. It helps pay the mortgage.” I look at him, and my face must ask the question because he answers it. “I bought the house with money from my college adventures, but I don’t do that anymore. I work at a bank in the next suburb over.”
My eyes widen, and I can’t help but giggle. It's likely the weed, but that seems really funny to me for some reason. A college dealer is now working at a bank. Why not, I guess. I used to smoke in college, but now I have a very respectable, professional job.
In my head, people who did this a lot only had fun, crazy jobs like B or worked in the service industry. But Mikey surprises me and reminds me that I shouldn’t subscribe to stereotypes.
My body feels lighter, and my brain feels clear. I need to do this more often. I forgot how nice it is to escape all the anxiety that clutters my thoughts and affects my everyday life. I lean into the euphoric feeling and sink back into the couch.
“Hey, Mikey?"
He leans back onto the couch alongside me and looks over. “Yeah?”
“Do you have any snacks?”
He laughs. “I think most of them are out by the bonfire.”
I grumble. "I don’t want to talk to people right now.”
“There’s a gas station just down the street. We could walk there and get some new snacks.”
I look over at him, and I can feel my eyes light up. “Can we?” Oh my god, I probably sound like a little kid whose parents told them they could go out for ice cream.
“Let’s go.” He stands up and grabs my hands to help lift me off the couch. My purse has been strung over my chest all night, and I’m thankful I don’t have to run outside to grab it.
He walks to the front door, and I follow him. We make our way down the sidewalk, side by side, and I can see the lights of the gas station up ahead. Wow, he wasn’t kidding. It is really close.
The fresh air feels good on my skin, and I breathe it in, filling my lungs.
We walk in silence for a while, which I don’t mind at all. But he eventually strikes up a conversation.
“What do you do for work?”
“I’m an architect,” I say, but I quickly correct myself. “Well, not quite yet. I graduated with my degree, but before I'm officially licensed, I need to complete a certain amount of hours and then pass six licensure exams.”
“That sounds pretty intense.”
“It is. I have my first exam coming up this summer, and I’m super nervous about it.”
“Well, if you’re half as smart as B is, then I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
I know how smart B is, but I didn’t know that her friends knew. She never really shows that side of her, especially when she’s partying. People usually think she’s all personality and no brains. But she landed the job with Daniel Perez for a reason. And it’s not just because of her knowledge of designer jackets.
“Are you and B pretty close?”
He shrugs. “Yeah, I’d like to think so. We took some classes together in college and would study together.”
“Did you guys ever…you know, hook up?”
He laughs and shakes his head. “No, it wasn’t like that. I honestly thought she was a lesbian, so I never tried. It’s probably best we didn’t, though.”
“Why’s that?”
He shrugs and then turns his head toward me. I look back at him, and he’s giving me that look. I narrow my eyes and smile at him, then roll them.
Is he hitting on me?
We get to the gas station after what seems like hours. But it was more than likely a five-minute walk in total. I grab some chips, a bag of sour candy, and a hot dog. Man, I’m hungry. We check out and walk back to the house.
I finish my hot dog before we even make it a block away, and I catch him staring at me while I lick ketchup off my fingers. I stare at him with a blank face until he looks away, smiling.
The walk back is mostly silent because we’re both stuffing our faces. But every now and then, I feel the bare skin of his arm brush against mine, sending a tingle up to my shoulder. I look over at him and catch him staring again.
"You have really pretty eyes."
"They're brown," I say. I've always hated my brown eyes.
"Yeah, but they're a light caramel-colored brown."
My cheeks heat up, likely turning red. Sam called my eyes caramel brown when we first started talking. I don't know how to respond, so I look back down at my feet and continue walking.
When we get to his house, he opens the front door and lets me in first. I immediately go to the sink to wash the chip residue off my hands and the crumbs off my face. That had to be attractive.
I dry my hands and face on the kitchen towel and turn to look for Mikey, but I don’t see him.
I hear the toilet flush and realize he went to use the bathroom. While the sink runs, I only have a minute to make a decision: go back outside or…
I quickly walk down the hall to the bathroom and get there right as he’s opening the door. He’s surprised to see me at first but then gets this cheeky grin on his face as if he already knows what I’m about to do because he was thinking it, too.
I walk into him, push him back into the bathroom, and shut the door behind me. He had already shut off the light when he was coming out, and I don’t bother turning it back on. I grab his shirt in my fists and pull him toward me.
Our lips lock, and we start wildly kissing, tongues flying everywhere. He reaches behind me and turns the lock. Then his hands rest on my ass and squeeze. I frantically start pulling his belt off and unbuttoning his pants. As I do that, he starts to undo mine, our arms fighting each other for the space between us.
Once we get each other undone, we each pull down our own pants before reconnecting. He must have grabbed a condom from somewhere before going to the bathroom because he pulls one out of the pocket of his pants on the floor. He tears it open and puts it on.
I’m already so wet and ready for him, but he doesn’t know that, so he runs his fingers along my center and quickly finds out for himself. He groans when he feels me and lifts one of my legs up over his hip. He continues to hold my leg up for me as he grabs the base of his already solid cock in his other hand. He pushes into me, and I involuntarily whimper. It echoes through the bathroom, and he cups his now free hand over my mouth and whispers in my ear, “Shhhh.”
His breath on my neck sends chills down my spine as he thrusts in and out of me. He releases his hand from my mouth and grips my jaw instead, tilting my head away from him to give him better access to my neck.
He trails his tongue up the length of my neck, then sucks his way back down that same path to my collarbone. That’s definitely going to leave a mark.
He starts pumping faster, and I can tell he’s not going to last much longer. And thank goodness for that because a few seconds later, the knob rattles, and then there’s a knock at the door .
A female voice calls out, “Is anyone in here?”
He stops moving and replies to her, “Uh yeah. Be out in a second.”
“Oh, sorry! Take your time.”
He looks at me, and I can see the disappointment on his face.
I can't help but laugh. “We should hurry up and finish so that poor girl can pee.”
We both laugh at how awkward and ridiculous of a situation we put ourselves in. Especially since he has a bedroom we could be in right now. We clearly didn’t think this through.
He starts pumping again, and I pull him in to kiss me. His movements get fast and wild. My mouth hangs open as I pant, and he sucks on my lower lip, biting it gently. He thrusts hard one last time, and his body tenses under my hands as he comes.
By the end, we’re both breathing heavily and have to collect ourselves before we leave the bathroom. I’m not sure why we bother; she’s going to assume we were fucking in here anyway. Knowing she’s waiting on us made it impossible for me to come. But whatever, he didn’t seem to care and neither do I. I think.
He opens the door, and I follow behind him. The girl had the courtesy of at least waiting in the living room rather than the hallway. As soon as she sees us, her face turns red. She definitely knows what she intruded on. “Sorry, Big Mike. I really have to pee, and your bedroom was locked.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s all yours now.” He gestures down the hallway to the now unoccupied bathroom. She jumps up from the couch and sprints, slamming the door behind her.
He turns to me and drops my hand. I didn’t even realize he was holding my hand when we left the bathroom. “Well, that did not go as planned.”
I lean against the wall, trying to act super casual. “You planned this?” I tease.
“No, I definitely didn’t. I mean, once I saw you, it was on my mind, but not the way it happened. I thought I’d have you spread out on my bed upstairs.”
A smile spreads across my face, and I can feel my cheeks heating up. I’m not sure why that makes me blush when he literally just had his dick in me. I shrug. “What can I say? When I see something I like, I’ve gotta have it.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “You Blake women and your jokes.” He reaches out and tucks my hair behind my ear. “Want to go out to the bonfire? I’m sure B is wondering where you ran off to.”
“I doubt it. But yeah, let’s go.”
He doesn’t grab my hand this time, and that’s fine because I don’t think I want to give anyone the wrong idea. After all, this was just for fun. I’ve learned to stop falling so fast because that only gets me hurt. So I’m just living my life in little moments and trying not to look too far into the future, but that's easier said than done.