by R. S Burnett
Once I have paid for my lunch I walk past the table that we usually sit and choose a table in the corner of the café to sit alone.
Sophie looks at me and frowns from the other table but I hold my hand up and indicate that I’ll be over in two minutes. She nods at me but keeps watching me after she has said something to both Matt and Tucker.
I dial in the number that Luke’s dad gave me and hold my breath until I hear the deep voice of the man who used to be my dads best friend.
“Hello”
“Umm … hi … I know this might sound strange but my friend’s dad gave me your number, he told me you knew my dad?” I stutter through and squeeze my eyes closed waiting for his reply because he’s silent for a few minutes.
“Oh right, Brooke is that you?”
I blink surprised “Umm yeah it’s me?” I didn’t mean for it to come out as a question but to my surprise he laughs softly.
“I’m Will, You might not remember me but I came to your tenth birthday party”
“Oh” I can’t remember my tenth birthday, as a matter of fact I can’t remember any of my birthdays before my Thirteenth “Umm, not I don’t remember, sorry”
“Not a problem, god you must be what twenty now?”
“Twenty One, two weeks ago” I answer automatically.
“You should visit, a few of your dads friends live up here. He was an amazing man your dad”
“I know” I sniff as the first tear runs down my cheek.
“We had a lot of good times together, he always spoke about you, you meant the world to him. God … little Brooke. I can’t believe it’s you. Look I have to go but feel free to call me anytime you want to talk or anything. I’m going to send you a picture to your phone in a minute okay?”
“Umm sure… bye”
He hangs up the phone and I stare at it waiting for it to beep. What could he possibly want to send me a picture of?
A few seconds pass and then my phone beeps, I open the picture message and watch amazed as the photo loads from top to bottom, it’s a photo of my dad running across the beach chasing a football with me in his arms. The tears fall freely now as I look at how happy we are. My phone beeps again and a photo fills my screen again, this time it’s of my dad swinging me around grinning.
“Brooke are you okay?” I jump up out of my seat and hug Luke tightly.
“Thank your father for me please” Is all I say to him and I guess that he knows what I’m talking about because he laughs softly.
“Come on lets go sit with the others”
“Are you crying?” Sophie frowns at me when I take the seat between her and Tucker.
“Yeah” I laugh wiping away the tears from my cheeks. My phone beeps and I open the message from Will, it’s an address followed by the message that says it’s for a pub that was my dads favourite I smile and shake my head before replying that I’ll be down this weekend.
“Who’s that?” Sophie asks leaning over to try and see who I’m texting.
“Will. I’m going on a road trip this weekend. There’s a pub I want to go to”
“Are you going alone?” Sophie asks me.
I look across the table and catch Luke’s eye, I grin at him and he rolls his eyes at me. ”I promise not to cry and I won’t get stupidly drunk, we can stay in a hotel” he smirks at the hotel room comment and gestures to everyone around the table “You can bring Katie, please Luke don’t make me go meet this man on my own” I know I’m begging but I don’t care.
“Fine then we’ll all go. I want to meet this guy before you spend any time with him. As long as you promise not spend any time with him on your own remember you don’t know him.”
I squeal excitedly drawing the attention of everyone else in the café. “I promise” I smile now I have something to look forward to, some way of being close my dad.
“Okay what’s going on?” Sophie asks looking between me and Luke.
“The other day Luke’s dad sent me the number of a man who used to be best friends with my dad. I just rang him and he invited me up this weekend, he gave me the address of my dad’s favourite pub and sent me some photos. He said he knows me and has met me before. I just want to go up and have a look around. Its three hours away from here. Are you coming?”
She looks at Matt who shrugs and then turns back to me grinning “Hell yes! Road trip” she hi-fives me making me laugh and shake my head at her.
I turn to Tucker and raise an eyebrow “Are you in?” I ask hopefully.
“Sure” he grins at me and puts his hand across my back to squeeze me “Wouldn’t miss it for the world”
* * *
He’s leaning over me; we’re touching, chest to chest, skin on skin. He lowers face to mine and our lips meet softy, I feel his hand move up my body from my leg and stopping to caress my bare breast. I let out a moan and his tongue slides in, moving against mine. I run my hand along his chest and down his back; I can feel his chest vibrating as he groans. He keeps moving inside me and I can feel the pressure building up inside me, I let out a moan when he shifts slightly but he silences me with a kiss. I turn my head to the side as he trails kisses from my jaw to my neck. I call out his name as the orgasm takes over me.
I feel myself convulse and I snap my eyes open, Tucker is laying next me deep in sleep, fully clothed. “Shit, shit, shit, shit” I groan and carefully as to not disturb him get out of bed and sneak out of his room.
I am completely embarrassed and a little bit in shock. I’m not actually sure what happened to me but that’s the first time I’ve ever … well been left feeling relaxed. And it would happen over a dream of Tucker. I have no idea how I’m ever going to look at him in the eye ever again without blushing.
I’m still embarrassed by what happened to me as I make my way to wards the usual table full of my friends and ... Tucker.
“Hey, where did you rush off to this morning?” he asks me as I take my seat next to Sophie.
“I had to … umm I had some stuff to take care of” I answer not looking up from my plate.
“Are you okay Brooke?” Sophie asks me quietly. I shake my head at her. I see her stand up from the corner of my eye and she pulls me up with her. We walk over to the vending machine out of earshot of everyone.
“What’s wrong?” she asks looking at me but I don’t meet her gaze.
“I’m pretty sure I had my first orgasm” I tell her quietly.
“And that’s a bad thing because …” she asks frowning at me.
“I was asleep, it woke me up. I was dreaming about … we we’re … I had a dream that I was having sex with Tucker and I woke up because I was ... you know … coming” I whisper the last word.
I’m not sure what I expected her reaction to be but laughing so hard she has tears running down her face isn’t it. I clear my throat to get her attention.
“I’m sorry it’s just, you’ve never and then you get woken up by … and over Tucker” she says through her laughing.
“It’s not funny. We’re friends and I can’t even look at him. What am I going to do? You have to help me. I have to stay in a hotel room with him tomorrow night” I plead.
“Umm I don’t know. Just don’t tell him” she says suddenly serious.
“Well obviously” I say dryly just imagining the field day he would have with that information.
“Look, I’ll think of something. You’re coming to that party tonight right?” I nod at her “Well, we will have to find you someone to hook up with that should get it out of your system” she smirks.
“Great” I mutter.
“So … was he any good?” she asks smiling mischievously. I glare at her. “Well at least it keeps the nightmare away” she smirks and heads back to the table grinning at everyone, letting a laugh slip out every so often.
“What was that about?” I hear Matt ask Sophie as I sit back in my chair and start talking to Luke about the party tonight.
“You’re going right?” I confirm.
“Of cours
e, it’s supposed to be a good one” he replies.
We both turn to see what happening at the same time and see Matt choking on his drink hitting his chest as Sophie laughs.
I glare at her, in this moment I swear I could kill her.
She smiles sheepishly at me “Sorry, it’s too funny not to” is all she says.
Matt looks up at Tucker and then to me and starts laughing again. “Matt” I warn.
Tucker just watches us all confused. “What’s so funny? I didn’t grope you again or anything did I?” he asks looking worried making Sophie and Matt laugh harder.
“No, it’s nothing, don’t worry about it” I assure him without actually looking at him.
“If I did. I’m sorry” he says again.
“You didn’t. You kept your hands to yourself” I tell him only adding fuel to Sophie and Matt’s laughter. “That’s it I’m going” I say and then leave.
I decide to skip the rest of my classes and head into town to but something to wear to the party.
Once I’ve finished getting ready I step out of the bathroom and walk past Sophie and Matt that are sat on her bed waiting for me.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Sophie asks taking in my black dress.
“Uh…. No. This is what I’m wearing on the way there, I’m going to put some jeans and a t-shirt on when we’re in the car” I reply dryly.
“It’s a bit BDSM isn’t it?” she asks.
I smile to myself at the description she just gave it. My dress is black, strapless and has no back to it just straps of black lace with a strip of black leather in the middle of each strip criss crossing up my back.
“Come on, let’s go and no more dirty comments please” I beg as we head out to Matt car.
When we arrive the party is already in full swing. We head straight into the kitchen to get some drinks; obviously we have some catching up to do.
An hour, four beers and four shots later Sophie’s pulling me towards yet another group of guys.
“Is this really necessary?” I groan to her as she adjusts my dress for me before we reach them.
“Yes, you just need someone to distract you, you’re spending too much time with Tucker, that’s what the problem is here” she says impatiently as I focus on standing upright without swaying.
“Right so that’s why every time he walks into a room you’ve been literally dragging me away into another room” I reply dryly but slightly slurred.
“Oh god. No more drinks for a while for you” she says looking me over.
“I missed lunch” I snap.
“Hey Brooke, having fun?” Ethan says joining us. He watches her with amusement as she adjusts my dress in different ways to make the best of my breasts.
“I was until this one decided to take over me” I say not attempting to stop Sophie, I tried once and got a lecture.
“What exactly is she doing?” he asks not taking his eyes from mine.
“Her mission is to make sure I have sex tonight” I announce amazed that Sophie hasn’t caught on to the fact that we’re not alone.
“I’m not even going to ask”
“Thanks” I reply gratefully “Hey, you wouldn’t mind helping me out would you?” I ask.
“Uh … what did you have in mind?” he asks nervously.
“Distract her so she leaves me alone please” I beg.
“Sure” he shrugs.
Sophie stands up and pats my shoulders “Right you’ll do” she smiles at me and slaps me on the bum before pushing me away from Ethan and in front of two men that are in one my classes.
“Hey Brooke” They greet me smiling.
“Hey, umm if you’ll excuse me a sec” I say and quickly walk away before Sophie can hunt me down and throw me in front of anymore men. I head to the bathroom but there is a queue so I head upstairs to use the ensuite.
In the bathroom I adjust my dress to attempt to cover up some of the flesh Sophie put on show but it’s no use, I prick my finger on something and pull the top of my dress back to see that she has pinned it to my bra. Where the hell did she get pins from? I walk out of the bathroom shaking my head at her randomness and stop when I see Tucker standing by the bed waiting for me.
“Hi, Tuck. You okay?” I ask eyeing him nervously, this is the first time I am looking him in the eye since the dream.
“Yeap … I’m fine are you?” he asks watching me sway slightly.
“I’m good” I nod
“You need a ride home later?”
“No, I’m actually going to head home now” I start pulling the pins out of my dress so I can pull it up a bit, just so I have something to do with my hands, trying to avoid wringing them nervously.
“Brooke … have I done something to upset you?” I look up at him when I hear his footsteps coming closer.
“Umm, no why do you ask?”
“Well you’ve been avoiding me” he’s looking into my eyes so intensely I have to look away.
“That’s Sophie, she’s been pulling me around the party since we got here, thrusting me in front of as many men as possible”
“And this morning? This afternoon? Was Sophie pulling you away then?” he asks frowning.
“Umm … no” I swallow.
“Then why have you been avoiding me?” he asks softly.
I look up at his face, his eyes are concerned, his brows are pulled together and there is no hint of a smile on his lips. Taking a step forward so we are almost touching but not quite I rise up a little and kiss him. I brush my lips against his softly to see if he will return the kiss, he does and soon he is parting my lips with his tongue and the kiss deepens. When I let out a moan that I desperately wish I could take back, I pull away from him. He looks stunned so I take advantage of that and walk past him to the door.
“That’s why” I whisper as I pass him and leave the bedroom wondering if I just ruined our friendship for good.
I wake up covered in sweat and shaking, looking around the dark room. The little light that comes through our only window casts shadows all over the room, squinting into the dark I can see that Sophie’s bed is empty, so I turn on the lamp next to my bed and take a shower hoping to wash away any remains of the nightmare.
Throwing on one of my old baggy hooded tops and the first thing that comes to hand from my underwear drawer I sit at the table nursing a mug of coffee, knowing my chances of getting back to sleep are slim to non anyway. To pass sometime I start up my laptop and log in to Facebook. I click through the notifications that tell me I’ve been tagged in a bunch of photos from the party earlier this evening. Seriously who uploads photo’s at that time of night?
The flashing light on my Blackberry catches my eye and I browse through the messages and missed calls I got while I was asleep. A few are from Sophie asking where I am and a voicemail from her sounding worried. I quickly tap out a reply apologising for not saying goodbye but I headed out early and fell straight to sleep when I got back. I have two missed calls from Tucker but no messages so I send him a message just saying ‘sorry’ and lock the phone, turning back to my laptop and checking through my university email. My phone rings.
“Hello” I say quietly, I’m not sure, why maybe because it’s so late.
“Hey, can’t sleep?” Tucker says just as quietly.
“Bad dream, I can never get back to sleep after them”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“Umm” Do I want him to come over? I’m not sure...
“It’ll be fine. I promise”
“Are you sure it’s like three in the morning”
“I’ll be there in two, pour me some of that coffee”
I look down at my cup, surprised that he knew what I was doing. I hear him chucking as he hangs up.
I shut down my laptop and am pouring two fresh coffees when there’s a soft knock at the door.
“Hey” Tucker greets as he walks past me straight to the table collecting his drink. He’s obviously just got out of bed. He’s wearing
a plain white tee, jogging bottoms, socks, no shoes and his hair is sticking up everywhere.
“I’m sorry I woke you” I say softly as I sit opposite him.
“You didn’t wake me” he smiles.
I feel like an idiot, obviously if I didn’t wake him then there is another reason he is rumpled. That other reason must still be in his bed. Shit.
“Oh” is all I can reply.
“Think you’ll be able to get back to sleep if I stay with you?” he asks smiling encouragingly at me.
“Umm no, I don’t think we should be spending the night together anymore … The nightmares really aren’t that bad and I can catch up on any sleep I loose in the nights in the day when I don’t have classes”
“So you’d rather loose sleep than spend the night with me … What happened last night?” he’s frowning at me now “Did I do something to hurt you? Is that why Sophie was dragging you away from me tonight?”
“Eh … no. Sophie was trying to get me to spend the night with someone else, anyone else actually. She wasn’t exactly fussy with who she was putting in front of me” I say frowning myself now.
“Why would she want you to spend the night with someone so badly, I don’t understand?”
“I’m not answering that” I shake my head at him beyond embarrassed.
“Does my being by you still keep the nightmares away?” he asks looking confused.
“Yes …”
“But what? I know you didn’t sleep all the way through the night last night because you were gone early this morning”
“No I didn’t, I got woken up”
“By me?”
“Umm … kind of … no … I don’t know. It was a first” I mumble.
