Eight
Eight
I can’t believe he actually just said it. I bite my lip, incapable of replying.
“W-we’re together? Like, together-together?” I look at him, uncertain but full of hope. He just keeps staring at me through the cloud of smoke rising from his lit cigarette. After another very long moment, he nods.
“And you’re not just saying that because I yelled in your face that I wanted to end things, are you?” I murmur, staring down at his shirt, almost afraid of seeing the bitter truth on his face.
Thomas tosses the cigarette into the toilet bowl, takes my chin in his hand, and tilts it up.
“I told you that I don’t do relationships.
That I don’t know how to do them. That they only make trouble.
And that’s all true.” He pauses and moves his thumb delicately over my bottom lip, tracing its contours.
“I could tell you that I want you in my life because I desperately need you, but that wouldn’t be the truth.
I learned the hard way never to need anyone.
I want you with me because you, more than anyone else, actually make me believe that all this shit is worth living through. ”
Even though I find it hard to believe I could mean so much to him, his words make my heart skip a beat. “So now we are…a couple?” I ask again, still astonished.
Thomas lets out one of his usual derisive snorts and nods. I bite my lip again, trying to hold back my expression of joy mixed with satisfaction. I stretch up to give him a kiss, which he responds to by rubbing my bare thighs.
“Do you know what this means?”
“What?” he asks, arching a skeptical eyebrow.
“From now on, you’re gonna have to do so many nice things for me. Take me to the movies, go out to dinner with me, buy me flowers, and, most importantly, you will cuddle with me while we watch TV like a good boyfriend.” I lay it all out with wild enthusiasm, just to tease him.
“I don’t cuddle, Ness,” he chides me.
I give him an exaggerated pout. “Well, in that case, you will have to compensate me for the lack of cuddles with lots and lots of gifts. Just so you know, peonies are my favorite flower, I don’t like dark chocolate, and if you’re ever undecided about what to get for me, a book will always be a safe bet.
Well, except for those Russian bricks; I really can’t handle those.
” I keep teasing him, twining my arms around his neck and trying to keep from exploding with laughter.
The expression of pure dismay on his face is too hilarious.
“I’m not doing any of that, and you know it. Now, let’s get out of here; the stale air is starting to get to you.” I imagine he wants to look serious, but his eyes betray him with an amused twinkle.
When I turn to open the door, Thomas grabs the bottom of my dress and tries to pull it further down my thighs with little success. “Did you really have to come here dressed like that?”
I turn and raise my eyebrow at him. “And how else was I supposed to come to a dance club? In overalls?” says I, the girl who once attended a full day of classes on campus wearing her pajama shirt.
He grimaces. “At least that way no one would look at you. Not how they’re looking at you with this dress on at least.”
I give a resigned shrug and push the door open.
On my way out, I meet the eyes of two boys standing at the sinks.
They look at me, perplexed. But as soon as they see Thomas emerge from behind me, their expressions change.
Their lips twist into sly smiles, and they give him knowing looks.
My cheeks burn, and I look down at the floor, pulling some hair over my face to cover my blush. We wash our hands and leave in a hurry.
Once outside, Thomas puts a palm on my back and brings his mouth close to my ear. A little bit of his hair, soft and nice smelling, falls over his forehead and tickles my cheekbone. “Are you sure you want to stay?”
I nod.
“Okay, you want something to drink?”
“No thanks. I don’t want to push my limit.”
“Come on then, let me introduce you to the guys.” He slides his hand over my butt, almost as if to hide it from the depraved eyes all around us. He guides me toward his table, but I stop him just before we get there.
“Wait, I have to find Tiffany and Leila first. I came here with them, and then I disappeared for a long time; they’ll be worried.”
“My sister’s here?” he asks, troubled. “And neither of you felt the need to tell me?”
“I guess not,” I reply, shrugging.
He gives me a look that is both irritated and resigned.
He’s about to say something else, but behind him, I spot a boy waving his arms to attract our attention.
In the glare of the strobe lights, I almost recognize him.
But yes, of course…it’s Vince. And it seems that he’s just noticed me as well, because he gives me a sly smile and greets me with a mouthed “Hello, Little Gem.” I ignore him, rolling my eyes.
Next to him, another boy sips a cocktail.
I notice Shana is perched on his lap, but she doesn’t do anything except glance in our direction.
Thomas waves Vince away and turns back to me. “Okay, go find the girls, and then come back here,” he orders. “I don’t feel comfortable knowing you’re alone in this place.”
He’s about to leave, but as soon as I see Shana’s triumphant look, I instinctively grab his arm and pull him back to me. He looks surprised. “What’s up?”
I stare at him. I look at Shana then back at him. “Don’t go over there without me. Let’s look for the girls together.”
Realizing that I’m jealous, Thomas barely restrains a laugh, which I manage to silence with a menacing glare. Not giving him a chance to reply, I drag him along after me by the hand. We move through the crowd, scrutinizing the faces around us.
Thomas walks right behind me with his hands firm on my hips and his groin pressed against my ass.
Every time his hands tighten, he pushes me harder against his body, and I’m overwhelmed by a series of electric bursts concentrated between my thighs.
He’s doing it on purpose, I know, and so I smile when I feel a slight protrusion rubbing against my ass.
Then he bends down to give the hollow of my throat a kiss so languorous that I cannot help the moan that slips from my mouth.
“Just so you know, that first one was just a taste. Tonight, I plan to fuck you so hard that the walls shake,” he whispers into my ear.
The feeling in my stomach is less butterflies and more like…
elephants. Doing somersaults. I lay my hand over his and intertwine our fingers, but I don’t have time to answer him, because Thomas is intercepted by Blake.
Shockingly, he’s rude, giving me only a condescending look and a barely perceptible nod in greeting. God, he really is unpleasant.
As he leans close to Thomas’s ear, I move aside and let the two of them talk.
The club music drowns out their voices and I can’t understand a thing they’re saying.
They both seem very serious; Thomas even looks worried.
They continue to have an animated discussion as Blake is joined by an attractive blond holding two beers.
She stands there stock-still, just like me, waiting for them to finish talking.
But this conversation doesn’t seem to be coming to an end, and it’s starting to bug me.
I untangle my hand from Thomas’s and mouth to him that I’m going to look for the girls.
He looks a little irritated, but he nods and continues talking to Blake.
What can they possibly have to say to each other that is so important it can’t wait until another time?
I head for the corner of the bar where I think I’ve spotted Tiffany, when suddenly the girl herself appears in front of me, as though she fell out of the sky.
“Where the hell were you?”
I jolt. Clearly that wasn’t her sitting at the bar.
“Uh…” Images of Thomas and me in the bathroom stall, him with his hands all over me flash through my mind.
But I try to keep a straight face. “I was with Thomas… We made up,” I add vaguely.
“We’re together now. He even suggested that I move into his room at the frat house,” I finish, giving her a toothy grin.
She looks dumbfounded. “It’s great that your insane relationship is back to normal and that you’ve even upped the ante just to make sure you didn’t miss anything, but we have a real problem here,” she exclaims, her eyes so wide she looks like a bush baby.
“What?” I ask, alarmed.
“Junior Collins is out.”
My forehead wrinkles as I look around, as though I’m going to find her here in the midst of all this chaos. “She’s gone? But we drove here with her?”
“No, I mean out -out.” She points at a sofa behind me with a worried look. I turn and spot her. Oh no. Leila is sprawled on the cushions, her head slumped back. She must have drunk herself into a stupor.
Elbowing through the crowd, we quickly make our way to her sofa, where I shake her slightly, trying to wake her up.
I give her cheek a gentle slap, but she doesn’t react at all.
We call her name over and over to no avail, so we try to prop her up to standing.
She clearly doesn’t agree with this decision, however, because she emits a whining moan and tries to push us away.
Perfect; at least we finally got a reaction.
I turn to Tiffany with a dirty look. “Why’d you let her get like this?”
“Hey, this had nothing to do with me. When I saw she was starting to get wobbly, I told her to stop. I even took the drink out of her hand, but the girl is stubborn. She wouldn’t listen, and she just kept telling me that she could hold her liquor.” Tiffany defends herself with a shrug.
“And you believed her? Come on, Tiff, she’s tiny! A glass of wine would have been enough to have her seeing pink elephants.”
She runs her hands through her hair and sighs. “Okay, I screwed up. But there’s no use crying over spilled booze, right? What do we do about it now?”