The Bond That Built Us

by KK Bauer

  On our way into the middle where the girls are, I get bumped and groped by numerous amounts of girls. I think I even get grabbed by a dude, but when I push forward faster the hands let go and I am too afraid to look back. Maybe looking back is the gay signal for ‘I accept your advances and am now playing hard-to-get… so come and get me.’ No thanks.

  A dark-skinned girl comes out of nowhere and begins dancing with me. The way she is moving around I have no doubt that she is a professional. She deserves to be up on the pedestal, though there is no pole for her to work her magic. I grow bored with her quite quickly and slink my way further into the crowd until I come up beside Aubrey.

  The glass in her hand is empty but she keeps holding it. Her hips are rolling around and as she moves her hair swings from side to side, the golden honey brown color looking almost purple in this lighting. As I look at her, I see a guy behind her. His hand is on her waist and he looks like a fucking creep. His t-shirt is a size too small and his khaki shorts have a huge stain on the front of them. He is eying her like he owns her. No fucking way dude.

  When she flips her head to the side so I can see her face, I can see how uncomfortable she is. That is my cue to interfere. I step a few feet toward her and when she looks at me, a relieved grin spreads across her face.

  She breaks loose of Creep and throws her arms around my neck. Some sweat from her temple drips slowly down the side of her face and I fight with all I have not to lick it off. Her hooded eyelids and goofy smile make her look a lot more drunk than the last time I saw her.

  “Thanks, that guy was creepy,” she singsongs. I wrap an arm around her waist and look over at Creep, who has murder in his eyes. Just to drive the point, I kiss her cheek then her bare shoulder, never taking my eyes off of him.

  Creep lunges forward, but his friends grab him and pull him the other direction but not before he looks at her and licks his lips seductively. I am glad Aubrey’s back was to him when he did thator she might have freaked.

  I am acutely aware how close we are as we dance. She is clinging to me like I am keeping her up, which I very might well be. But then I wonder if it is because she thinks Creep is still behind her and she is keeping the show up. I bend my head down a little and whisper, “He is gone. Don’t worry, I got you.”

  I feel her nod into the crook of my neck but she never lets go. I take a deep breath and can smell her sweat mixed in with her perfume. It makes me want to bend her over right here in front of everyone.

  After two more songs, she loosens her grip and wipes her forehead with the back of her hand. “I think I’m ready to go,” she says. I pull my phone out of my pocket and check the time. It’s just barely past midnight. The club is open for another couple hours and I know MJ and Cara aren’t the type to leave early. They close clubs down every weekend.

  “Okay, we can go.”

  She snaps her head up at me and says, “You don’t have to go with me. Stay, I know you want to.”

  “No, actually, I don’t. I’ve had enough to drink and I’m ready for bed.” I did kind of want to stay, but I had a feeling Creep was still keeping an eye out for her and I didn’t want to take any chances.

  “Oh. Okay,” she nods and moves out of the throng of gyrating coeds. I find Josh on my way out and tell him we are going back to the villa. He winks at me and makes a perverted gesture with his mouth and hand.

  “Dude, it’s not fucking like that. I hate you,” I sneer at him and walk out the front door where I saw Aubrey escape just a moment before. I peer up and down the street but don’t see her immediately. My heart jumps up into a frantic pace. She was just fucking here! Then I hear her.

  “No!” She yells. I can hear the panic in her voice and it pulls me into defensive mode.

  I run toward her frightened voice and see Creep pushing her up against the side of the building and holding her arms above her head. His lower half is pressed up against her and he’s moving his hips around like a pervert.

  “You fuckin’ tease, just give me what I came here for an’ I’ll leave you alone!” He spits out in a funny accent.

  I grab the back of his shirt and yank him off of her. He stumbles backward and falls on his ass. I take the opportunity to punch him square in the jaw. The back of his head slams onto the dirty ground and his eyes roll so the whites show almost completely.

  “Never fucking touch her again, you sick fuck! She said no,” I yell at him. The enormous bouncer comes around the corner and grabs me so I don’t land another punch.

  “Get the hell out of here!” He yells at me. He shoves me away from the building and cowers over me, begging me to fight back.

  “Just let me get my girl and we’re leaving.” I’m breathing heavily from the adrenaline, punching someone felt good.

  “No way in hell she’s going with you,” he seethes and stands between us.

  “It’s okay, he’s my friend,” Aubrey interjects. “We were leaving and that guy attacked me. He was just defending me.” She delicately places her hand on his forearm, and I can tell her touch is soothing him. I know the feeling, bud.

  The bouncer looks from her to me, to Creep who is slowly coming to on the ground, then back to me. “Sorry, man. I’d have let you get another hit in if I’d known.” With that he turns and walks back to the door, leaving Creep to fend for himself.

  I take Aubrey’s hand and we walk together back to the villa. She is shaking profusely, and I wish I knew what to do to make her feel better. “You okay?” I ask, though I know she isn’t.

  “Getting there. Thanks again. I owe you.”

  “No, you don’t. It was no big deal.”

  She scoffs. “Because you showed up it isn’t,” she mumbles under her breath. Then I realize what I stopped. He might have dragged her off somewhere. My imagination gets the best of me and before I know it, I am picturing Creep on top of her in his douche car with his hand over her mouth to muffle her screams.

  I stop walking and grab her by the shoulders. “Promise me you won’t go anywhere without someone else.”

  “That’s just silly, Kellan-“

  “No! I’m serious. There are some sick fucks out there who know exactly what they are doing. Just because you think it’s safe doesn’t mean it is. You were outside for, what, a minute before I was? And that guy grabbed you. What could have happened if I was just another minute late? Promise me, Aubrey.” I shake her shoulders a little for added effect.

  “I promise,” she whispers, looking straight into my eyes.

  “Thank you. Now let’s get you back.” I begin walking and tuck her under my arm. I’m not sure why I’m so protective of her, I’ve let girls walk home alone all the time. And I am sure if it was Cara or MJ I’d let them wander by themselves, but for some messed up reason, I feel responsible for her. I don’t want anything to happen to her. If anything did, I would never be able to forgive myself.

  We are both sitting on the couch soon after we get back, laughing about Josh’s facial expressions when he dances. Aubrey washed off all her makeup and her freckles are dominant on her face now. She has on a white tank top and blue shorts she had on earlier.

  “Then when he does this,” she imitates his serious face, “he looks like he’s constipated!” She cries, wiping a happy tear from the corner of her eye.

  “My favorite is his ‘o’ face. I can imagine that’s what MJ sees when he comes,” I laugh.

  Aubrey grabs her sides and cackles as more tears run down her face. “Oh, my God, my abs hurt from laughing so much. Ouch!” She takes deep breaths and slowly calms down and fans her face. “Whew, okay, good thing I washed off that mascara.” She wipes underneath her eyes and examines her fingers, looking for excess makeup she might have missed.

  “Why do you let MJ get to you?” I blurt out.

  “What?” She asks, her eyebrows furrow. Her bouts of laughter are subsiding and I can tell she is trying to get serious but her smile is still gleaming.

  “You, just… I don’t know, you let her walk a
ll over you. Just tonight I saw her come up to you while you were in line for the bathroom and she told you to get her a drink. And you did it. Then by the time you came back, you had to go back to the end of the line. I don’t get it.”

  She looks down at her hands that are wringing at the hem of her shirt. “It’s complicated. I hate talking about it. I feel so pathetic.”

  “Then do something about it. Change.”

  “It’s not that simple. I can’t just throw away our friendship like that.”

  “She did,” I say bluntly.

  That makes her flinch. “Ouch,” she says sarcastically. “The truth is, I don’t know what it’s like to not be her friend. Even after all these years when she was running around with Cara and leaving me out of everything, I still felt connected to her somehow. I’m afraid of what will happen if I finally say no.”

  “What happened? You guys were really close?”

  She nods and keeps looking down. “Yeah. We were best friends growing up, until high school.” She looks up at me, hesitates, and continues. “We were both juniors and it was Cara’s first year there. They hit it off immediately and MJ started doing things without me. She joined the cheerleading squad and started going to make out parties. Then one day after school she left me there.

  “We would drive each other to school every day, then one day she just… stopped. I had to walk home that night, and the next day when I went to pick her up she wasn’t there. I went to the door and my aunt said she got a ride with Cara. I was so confused and pissed, I didn’t know what to do. The rest of high school was her and Cara versus me. I tried so hard to get her back, but nothing I did helped. It was like it made it worse. That was why I came here; it was going to be my last attempt. And I already failed.”

  It all seems so petty, I don’t really understand. But I know how important that relationship was to her, so I don’t argue. I just nod and keep quiet. I think of a way to change the subject, but she manages to do it first.

  “So, what are your plans after graduation?”

  Graduation is just a few months away for me. I am about to start my last semester of my college career, and I am frantic and excited all at once. “Well, I applied to a bunch of internships. I haven’t heard back, but whichever one offers me a job I’ll be on the first flight out. I don’t care where it is.”

  “Where did you apply?”

  “All over. One in Memphis, another in Scottsdale. Those are my top two. I also applied to places in Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis, even back home in Texas.”

  “Did you apply at my dad’s firm?” She smiles.

  “I don’t know, probably. What’s the name of the company?”

  “DMA Designs. I’m the ‘A’ and my mom and dad are the ‘D’ and the ‘M.’ I came up with the initials idea,” she says proudly.

  “I did apply for that one. So if I don’t get it, I can blame you, right?”

  She laughs a little, and nods. “Absolutely.”

  I can see how tired she is, and she still has that drunken look to her. I almost say something about getting some sleep when she yawns and stretches, exposing a little of her belly. Then she leans over and rests her head on my chest.

  I am stunned into submission. I thread my fingers through her hair and play with the strands. She smiles and closes her eyes, a small hum escaping her lips. “That feels really good,” she moans, and before I can stop myself, I pull her down on the couch and hover over her. Suddenly she is very awake. Her lips are slightly parted and her gaze keeps darting over my face, my eyes and down to my lips, then back up to my eyes.

  “What are you doing?” She whispers so softly I could only tell what she said by looking at her lips as she said it.

  “I don’t know,” I admit. God, what was I fucking doing? I told myself I wasn’t going to sleep with her, but for some reason my body won’t listen. It’s like I have a horny robot body that I can’t control.

  Just to prove its point, my dick hardens and I hear her gasp. Shit, shit, shit. I trace a line with my fingers from her temple down past her neck and arm, to her thigh. Her breaths are shallow, and I can tell I affect her by how her own body is reacting. I don’t know what I’m doing until I’ve already done it. I grip harder until my fingertips are dug into the skin on her thigh. I lean my head down until my lips barely graze hers.

  “Kellan-“ She pleads. I’m not sure if that is a warning or an invitation. I hope for the latter. But soon find out it is the former when she shoves at my chest. “Stop,” she whispers. I raise my head just slightly, hoping she will change her mind. I’m still pressed up against her, my hand on her outer thigh. “Stop. Stop!” She yells urgently and slides out from under me.

  I sit up and let her stand, her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” I say, though I’m really not.

  “Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.”

  Damn, how does she already read me that well? “Fair enough. I’m not sorry I did that, but I am sorry I made you uncomfortable.”

  She shakes her head and crosses her arms over her chest. Doing that makes her boobs perk up and her cleavage look fucking amazing, but I don’t tell her because she won’t do it anymore. I’m a selfish prick like that.

  “We’re both drunk, that’s the only reason that almost happened.”

  What?

  “Whatever you say, Aubrey. If saying that makes you believe it then go ahead. But believe me when I say I wanted to do that way before the first beer.”

  She stares at me for a few moments, processing what I said. Finally I get a reaction from her. “God, what kind of line is that? If you want to get laid so bad, then go back to the bar. I’m sure Cara or any of those sluts would love to bang your brains out.”

  “Just because a girl knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to get it makes her a slut? Because a couple hours ago, you looked just like them- dancing around in a little dress and shit. What makes you any better?”

  “Maybe because I don’t randomly hook up just because it’s convenient!” We are both yelling at this point, and I am glad we are the only two here.

  “Well, I do! So that makes me a bad person because I like to fuck girls who are willing to reciprocate? That’s fucking bullshit, Aubrey. You know what? Screw this, I’m going to bed.” I storm up the stairs and slam the door to my room, open it up, and slam it again. I fall onto the bed and seethe. How dare she. She doesn’t know me and until she tries it, she shouldn’t knock it. What a prude.

  After a couple minutes I calm down, and I know I should have offered her the bed and taken the couch instead. But it is too late for that now.

  I can’t fall asleep, I can only think about how Aubrey thinks of me. Does she really think my lifestyle is disgusting? Well, of course it is. But I have fun and I do it responsibly. So why should she care? Maybe she likes me and that’s why she is acting like that.

  I feel like my own body is going through a tug of war. One part of me likes Aubrey and wants to be with her, while the second part just wants to use her and be done with her. I’ve never had such conflicting feelings before about a girl and it pisses me off to no end.

  5

  Aubrey

  I glance at the clock; we had talked for almost two hours. The others should be back any minute. I toss and turn on the couch, wondering if Kellan is still awake or not. I flip on my side and let out a frustrated growl. I can hear giggling on the other side of the door.

  MJ and Cara come in, stumbling and laughing, clearly inebriated out of their minds. I can hear Josh shushing them but they don’t hear him, or they don’t care. I feign sleep, hoping they will go to bed themselves. No such luck. One of them turns on the radio really loud and they laugh together.

  “Guys, stop! AJ is trying to sleep!” Josh yells over the radio and goes to turn it down.

  “Buzzkill, Josh. We still want to party! Who gives a shit about if Aubrey wants to sleep?” MJ says, her speech slurred. The radio gets turned back up and I hear them crawl up on the coffee tabl
e and dance.

  “Sorry, AJ,” Josh says before I hear the master bedroom door shut.

  “Everyone is such a fucking bore!” Cara yells. “Let’s call that guy and see if he still has people over. We can probably walk there.” I hear her jump off the table and stagger across the room. Suddenly the radio shuts off.

  “Hello? Brian? Hey, It’s Cara, from the club. You still having after hours? Sweet. What’s the address? I’m sure we can get a cab or something. You have some room for me in case I get too drunk? Awesome, I’ll see you soon, baby.” She hangs up and says to MJ, “We need a cab, it’s on the other side of the highway. And he said I can stay in his room with him! This is going to be such a good night.”

  “Well, what am I going to do if you stay? I don’t want to take a cab back by myself.” I could hear the uncertainty in MJ’s voice.

  “You can stay, too. I’m sure one of his friends has somewhere you can stay.”

  “I can’t stay! What about Josh?”

  “Oh, yeah, well he can come get you in the cab. Come on, I need to get some!”

  Suddenly a door swings open and Josh’s voice carries through the house. “No! No way in hell you are going to that guy’s place. End of story!”

  “You aren’t my dad, you can’t tell me what to do!” Cara whines. I bet even her own father doesn’t tell her what to do, the spoiled bitch.

  “If you walk out this door, you are on the first flight back to Missouri, I swear to God!”

  “Ughhh! I hate you, Josh! You’re such a loser!” Cara shouts and stomps up the stairs. It is like this living room loves drama. Two arguments in one night, what a great vacation so far. Yeah, right.