Her tone is amused and I find myself smiling too.
“Yeah. A guy has to know what chance he stands with the girl he likes, right? I can't always be lucky enough to be playing suck and blow next to you.”
She laughs at my attempt at self-deprecation.
“No. I don't have a boyfriend. And what you did last Friday required some serious balls.”
I rub the skin between her thumb and her index finger before stopping to look into her dark blue eyes: we walked quite far from the party, we can still see the light of the bonfires in the distance but the only light we really have is provided by the full moon.
“I’d do it again.”
Her smile becomes provocative this time.
“What are you waiting for, then?”
And all my hesitation vanishes when I realise that she wants to kiss me too.
So I take a step closer to her and place my index finger under her chin to lift her face towards mine.
My eyes stay on hers when I touch her lips with mine.
And at first this is all I do: I don't move, I just revel in the feeling of the softness and smoothness of her lips.
But then she puts a hand on my chest and I can't wait any longer to taste her mouth again.
I purse my lips against hers and suck really softly at her top lip.
She lets out a soft gasp and opens her mouth allowing me in.
She tastes of citrus fruit, like the soda she's been drinking and I don't think I can ever have enough of her.
So I show her my desire in each stroke of my tongue against hers.
It's a sensual kiss and it's hot but not in a frantic way, it’s like melted chocolate, smooth and warm, addictive.
We’re holding each other tight and I might be a virgin but my body knows very well what it wants, so as soon as I start feeling that my desire for Aubrey is growing, I break the kiss.
I didn't bring her here to try to get off or get laid.
I wanna get closer to her, know who she is before we take things any further.
I sit on a nearby rock and settle her on my lap, her back is to my front and my arms are closed around her.
The light breeze that comes from the sea, is bringing the salty ocean scent and the smokey one from the nearby bonfires and it makes her long, dark brown hair brush against my arms giving me goosebumps.
“Who was your first kiss?”
I ask with a smile and she giggles.
“Wow, I haven’t thought about it for a while ... it was Matt Huang, my freshman year. But there's a bit of a story there. He wasn't really the one I wanted to kiss. I was crushing real bad on this sophomore, Simon. He was tall and blonde with dreamy blue eyes. His mom was a Danish supermodel and his dad an American diplomat. He was a bit of a bad boy too. One day at school, I saw him rolling a joint under a staircase at school. It was a bit out of the way and when I saw him, he invited me to hang out. We didn't smoke but he told me that he wanted to kiss me. I knew he was a very experienced guy, at least compared to me, so I freaked out a little and told him that I had to go back to class. That Friday night, I was invited to a party and I knew he’d be there.”
I keep playing with her hair, keeping my arms around her while she reminisces.
“He showed up with another girl and I was so hurt that I ended up outside on a balcony with Matt. We talked, he kissed me and it was good. I was so nervous because I didn't know what to do but if he realised that, he never said anything.”
I ask her if she ever kissed Simon and she turns to smile at me, resting her head on my shoulder.
I love the feel of that and the warmth of her breath on my neck when she speaks again.
“No, I never did. He looked at me sometimes and I saw him at other parties but I never really spoke to him again. I kissed a few other boys. Nothing serious but at least those ones didn't get through girls the same way Simon did. What about you? Tell me about your first kiss.”
I trace my thumb over her bottom lip and force myself to talk rather than seize her lips again.
“Mine was with a girl called Ally Baker at summer camp, also my freshman year. But it wasn't very romantic, I’m afraid. She liked making out and she’d wait for boys behind her cabin after curfew. The first boy there would get to spend about twenty minutes kissing her. I heard that from the other guys and I was curious about kissing, so one night I made sure that I got there first.”
She giggles.
“And how was it?”
I shrug.
“It was ok. I just realised that kissing someone you really like, feels completely different.”
She lifts her head from my shoulder to stare into my eyes and for a second I fear that it was too much, too soon.
But she smiles at me and tells me that she likes me too.
“I like you too, Landon but—“
I interrupt her.
“I know that you're seeing Knox and that Teague is also into you. All I ask you is if you wanna go on a date with me too. I’m not mad that you wanna get to know them, I just want a chance too. To be the one you choose in the end.”
When she whispers her yes, she does it against my lips and I feel like a fucking sap because I’ve never felt so happy in my whole life.
Aubrey
IT'S SUNDAY AND I WAKE up really late: it's almost noon.
I’m not surprised that I slept this late because last night I was out really late with Knox.
It was a really fun date and I was impressed by the amount of thought he put into it.
First he took me to this really edgy pop up restaurant where we dined in the dark.
We got ushered into a pitch black dining room and basically the concept is that they take away your sight, so you experience your food only with your sense of smell and your taste.
I never thought that I could enjoy something like that but it was actually a lot of fun.
We laughed the entire time and he held my hand in the dark, which I found really nice.
He also often leaned in to whisper something funny in my ear and his scent of soap and clove is even more delicious in the dark because it feels more intense.
After the restaurant, Knox took me to star gaze at the planetarium.
They had these reclining seats and the screen was above us, showing us the night sky.
I admit that it was interesting but we ended up paying zero attention to it because I made the huge ‘mistake’ of thanking Knox by kissing him on the cheek.
I got the outer corner of his lips instead and he took it as an attempt to kiss him.
He kissed me back and we spent the whole time in there making out.
His lips never left mine and his hands delicately caressed my jaw and neck.
The room wasn't packed but we weren't alone, so kissing felt thrilling and daring.
After the show, Knox took me home and after kissing me on my doorstep, he asked for another date but I was surprised that he didn't try to push his luck or invite himself in.
He must have noticed the doubt in my eyes because he felt like he had to explain.
“Aubrey, I just want you to know that I’d love to continue what we had to interrupt when the show at the planetarium was over.
I’d like to follow you inside and kiss you some more and not stop until I know everything there is to know about your beautiful body.”
The intensity in his grey eyes makes me feel weak at the knees and there’s a raging heat between my thighs when he hints at the way he wants to get to ‘know’ me.
I feel so attracted to him, to his gorgeous, tall and muscular frame, to his short blonde hair and his high cheekbones, to the smattering of freckles on his nose that softens his otherwise fierce appearance.
I’m so attracted that I feel brave and I ask:
“Then why don't you?”
His eyes are so dark right now that I could easily lose myself in them and in a way, maybe it's good that he seems to have some control over his own urges, because the way he’s looking at
me would make me say yes to a lot of things right now.
“It’s because I just realised that I really like hanging out with you, Aubrey ... Fuck it, I really like going on dates with you and it's not just kissing you, which trust me is so fucking awesome that I’ve been rock hard for the last hour. No, I just really like to go out to eat with you, to listen to the things you say and the way you listen to me. So I don't want this to be just a quick hookup. And if you agree to keep seeing me ... I can wait for all the really, really hot things I wanna do with you. I just don't want this to be a ‘wham bam thank you ma’am’ kind of deal like I’ve always wanted in the past.”
I smile thinking about his last kiss before he walked back to his car: it was so hot, so full of desire.
It’s as if his mouth were making love to mine and it took all my self-control not to drag him with me into the empty house.
I love the fact that he wants something more, that he doesn't just wanna bang me like Devon did, despite talking to me about feelings the whole time.
I shower and wear a little summer dress that feels light and airy, as if I wasn't really wearing anything.
It's mid September but the summer sun is still very strong and it’s stifling hot outside the air conditioned house.
I open the fridge, trying to decide what to eat when I hear a rumbling noise coming from the front of the house.
“It sounds like the fucking apocalypse out there! What the hell!”
Am I crazy because I talk to myself a lot?
I always do it when I’m alone, out loud.
And while I’m relieved that I don't have to put up with Daddy’s stupid controlling rules and his attempts to marry me off for business profits, I admit that being in Chaz's house by myself is starting to feel really lonely.
I wish Abi and her boys were here, like in the summer.
There was never a dull moment and always someone to hang out with.
The rumbling noise stops and my doorbell rings.
So I go to open the door to find myself staring into a pair of super sexy, dark blue eyes.
“Hey, princess!”
Teague is standing on my threshold dressed in dark jeans, a black leather jacket and biker boots and he’s holding a motorbike helmet under his arm.
His blonde hair is sexily mussed at the top where he keeps it a little longer.
I look behind him and I see the Ducati bike responsible for that infernal noise.
“Hey ...”
His eyes leave mine and skim down my body in a slow, purposeful perusal and then they return their intense gaze to my own eyes, after he’s satisfied with his appraisal.
This is the thing with Teague: he doesn't always tell you what he's thinking, he lets his eyes do a lot of the talking and what his gaze is saying right now, makes my stomach fill with instant butterflies.
“I was thinking about you and I decided to come to ask you if you wanted to have brunch with me?”
I don't answer him straight away and he feels the need to explain further.
“I’m sorry for not calling you or texting you beforehand but it was a spontaneous thing.”
He smiles again, but this time it’s not that little provocative smile, it's actually open and it reaches his eyes illuminating his whole face.
“I like spontaneous.”
His smile widens.
“Let’s go then.”
He takes my hand and I ask him to wait a sec, slipping into a pair of flip flops that are by the front door and then following him to his bike.
The thing looks powerful and a little scary, a very appropriate look for Teague.
He takes a bright red helmet from a compartment attached to the back seat and offers it to me.
I won't lie, I’m nervous and excited at the same time.
“I’ve never been on a bike.”
He takes the helmet from me and places it on my head, his fingers brushing against the delicate skin of my neck when he fastens the helmet under my chin.
What is it with him and Knox?
They're really different guys but they have the same dizzying effect on me.
Every touch, every gaze, every whispered word make my body react with immediate and embarrassing excitement.
Like now, he isn't touching me anywhere remotely erotic and yet my nipples have begun to harden, straining against the cotton of my sundress.
“If you’ve never ridden a bike, just make sure you hold on tight to me.”
So we climb on and I surround his waist with my arms.
And I think I'm really sold on bikes: I love the speed, the sense of freedom and danger.
I love the way Teague's firm stomach muscles harden and twitch with each movement, especially when leaning into a turn.
I also love the feeling of sheer power that the bike gives with its rumbling noise and its vibration.
And by the time he stops by a quaint little cafe on a hill with an amazing view of the ocean, that excitement I started feeling earlier has turned into a full blown situation, with every nerve ending of my body feeling sensitive and a throbbing wetness between my legs.
I tell myself that it was the vibration of the bike but flashbacks of that dream I had last week, tell me that it's not just that.
That being with Teague is obviously having an effect on me.
We sit down outside at a wrought iron table under a tree that provides some shade and relief from the stifling heat.
We order eggs benedict and a side of fresh fruit and ice tea to drink with our brunch.
As soon as the waitress leaves, Teague takes my hand in his and gives me another one of those knee weakening smiles.
“Finally! I’ve wanted to have you all to myself since the first day of school almost two weeks ago. But you're really hard to get ahold of, Aubrey Richmond. Every time I’ve tried to ask you out, Knox or Landon were glued to your side. Please tell me that I’m not too late and you’ve made your choice?”
“Choice? What choice?”
Teague narrows his eyes, a little knowing smirk appearing on his full lips
“It’s quite obvious that those two motherfuckers are into you, princess. But so am I! And I don't want you to choose one without exploring all your options.”
“My options?”
He nods.
“Yeah. I want to date you too. So please give me a chance before you make up your mind.”
It's my turn to look at him through narrowed eyes.
“Are you sure, Teague? Look, I heard things about you and Knox. If this is one of your challenges on who sleeps with me first—”
“No, it's not. That was last year, Aubrey. And yeah, I totally admit it, we spent our junior year trying to sleep our way through all the hot girls in our class. But to be honest, by Prom we were both bored with it. So I don't know about him, but I'm not looking for a challenge. Truth be told, since I saw you in that wet shirt, I can't think of anything else.”
I know exactly how he feels because since I had that hot dream about him last week and then we kissed on Friday morning, he's been in my thoughts a lot.
But I don't tell him that and I try to take my mind out of the gutter, which isn't easy because Teague is absolutely perfect, at least on the outside.
“So, what is it that you're looking for, if it's not a competition with Knox?”
He takes my hand and turns it palm up, starting to trace the lines on it and not helping my situation because his touch reignites the heat between my legs, just when it was beginning to subside.
“I wanna get to know you, Aubrey. See if this could be more than physical attraction. Because make no mistake, I’m extremely attracted to you. And before you say anything, I know you're gonna go out with Knox and possibly Landon but I don't want you to choose until you get to know me too.”
Choose?
Right now I couldn't possibly choose: Knox is so hot and mysterious, Landon’s good looking and sweet and easy to talk to and Teague is so fucking sexy and I noticed how smart h
e is too during class.
We get our food and if I thought that the conversation would come to a stop while we ate, I was wrong.
Teague must be in a playful mood because he starts firing rapid questions at me in a sort of twenty questions kinda game.
“Cats or dogs?”
“Dogs, you?”
“Same. Rock or pop?”
“Pop. What about you?”
“Sorry, rock. Meat or fish?”
“Meat. You?”
“Same. Rain or sunshine?”
“Both. It depends on my mood. You?”
“Same. Sweet or savoury?”
“Savoury. And you?”
“Sweet. Like you ...”
And he touches my lips with his.
At first it's just a soft, feather like brush but then, when I don't move away, he kisses me by putting more pressure on my lips and moving his lips against mine, as if he were trying to really taste me.
7.
A Dream Come True
Aubrey
WHEN OUR BRUNCH IS over, he pays and then takes me on a scenic ride down the hill and by the beach.
By the time we get back to Chaz's house and he walks me to the front door, the bright blue sky of this morning is just a distant memory and ominous, dark grey clouds are obscuring the sun.
Teague takes one of my hands in his and brings it to his chest, resting it there.
I can feel his heart beat fast and when I lift my gaze up to his dark blue eyes, what I see in them makes my heart pick up its pace too.
It's not the bike ride, not even his nearness, it's the pure, raw desire I see in his eyes that makes it so hard to breathe.
I know that if he doesn't kiss me now, I’ll close the distance between us.
“Aubrey, can you feel what you do to me? It's not just that you make me fucking hard, because you do, it's how you make me feel.
You make my heart beat faster, you make me wanna move mountains and cross deserts and ... shit, I don't even know what I’m saying, princess. But since that first day of school, I can't stop thinking about you. I’ve been dreaming about you. And every new thing I learn about you, makes me wanna know more. Fuck all this talking, I need to kiss you!”
Beverly Hills Prep Academy The Complete Boxset : A Light Bully Romance Page 71
