“What about me?”
“For starters, are you an internal, external or both kind of girl?”
“Excuse me?” I laughed.
Bash grinned. “You know exactly what I mean. Don’t pretend you don’t.”
I did know exactly what he meant and I knew the answer. Georgie, Mia and I talked about that sort of thing quite regularly. I probably knew what got them off better than I knew what got me off. But I knew when it was and wasn’t going to work.
“All right. I do know.”
“And are you going to tell me?”
“Doesn’t Casanova know just by looking at you?”
He laughed, a real open laugh that had me smiling. “Not by looking at you. No. I’ve told you before, I’m a hands-on kind of guy. I don’t do remote access troubleshooting. I need to feel what I’m working with.”
I told off the part of me about to suggest he could feel whatever he wanted. Because it was too early in the game. The real Paige hadn’t been a turn off, which was great. But, while I was very happy to have him interested in getting in my pants, I still needed him more interested in sticking around.
“Shall we call that a prize for good behaviour?” I asked cheekily.
He threw me a look of half-disbelief and half-hope. “I like the way your mind works, princess.”
“Back at you, Casanova. Shall we make it your step two prize?”
“Step two? What do I get for step one?”
I had an idea, but I wasn’t going to clue him in on it yet. “Behave and you’ll find out.”
“So, what exactly counts as good behaviour?”
I smiled. “Give it a go and see.”
“Give it a go and see?” was his incredulous response.
I nodded. “Yep. If I like it, I’ll reward you.”
“I’m down with that. No hints though?”
I shook my head. “Nope. I’m going to enjoy watching you try to figure it out.”
“Pain in my arse, indeed,” he muttered ruefully, but I saw him smiling.
Bash pulled into the carpark behind Foodland and we laughed and argued over finding a park. Once we were safely parked, we strolled over to the cinema complex. The movie started at eight forty-five, so we had some decent time to get tickets and popcorn and drinks, then line up to wait for the cinema to be free.
There were less people than I’d imagined there would be and I commented as such to Bash.
“I’d guess the real fans either saw it Thursday morning, or they’re expecting it to be busy and waiting,” he said.
I nodded. “Makes sense. Shame ‘Far From Home’ isn’t playing anymore. I kinda wanted to see that again.”
Bash turned to me quickly. “What?”
I looked up at him, pausing the recent handful of popcorn into my mouth. “What?” I asked around the popcorn still in there.
“You wanted to what?”
I furrowed my eyebrows at him as I swallowed. “See it again. “
“‘Far From Home’?”
I nodded. “That’s what I said, isn’t it?”
“You enjoyed it?”
“‘Course, I did. For a moment, I wondered which way it was going. But even though I guessed, I liked it. The effects were awesome.”
Bash was silent as the doors opened and the line started moving in.
It was my turn to ask him, “What?”
He shrugged so nonchalantly that I had to think it was a cover. “I just didn’t see you liking superhero films.”
I glared at him. “I told you, you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”
He looked down at me from the side of his eyes as we walked into the cinema. “That I don’t,” he said in a way I wasn’t sure if that was good or not.
We found our seats and settled in. There was a little bit of chatter through the ads, mostly about the trailers and if we were looking forward to seeing whatever it was advertising. Then the lights went down and I was suddenly very aware that I was sitting right next to Bash in a dark cinema.
Considering I’d been in his lap the night before and kissing him like I was heading for the electric chair the next day, being nervous about the current situation was stupid. But I couldn’t help it. It was a nervous excitement that started in my upper stomach and chest and spread tingles down my arms.
Our hands brushed a couple of times. I thought it was super corny to take his hand, until he took mine at one point and I decided it wasn’t so corny after all.
After the movie, I wasn’t quite ready for the night to end.
I dumped our two empty extra-large popcorn buckets in the bin as we walked out and had just opened my mouth to ask him what he wanted to do next when he asked.
“So, the Bath is still open if you want to…I dunno, go and hang out for a bit longer?”
I looked at him, trying not to smile too much. “Sure. That sounds good.”
“Okay to walk down and back?”
I pointed at my Converses. “Sensible shoes. I can walk anywhere.”
He snorted and nodded. “Super.”
We headed down The Parade towards the Bath Hotel, not really saying much, and I was hyper-aware that our hands kept brushing again but no one was making a move to make them really connect.
I’d never been to the Bath, but it was nice. It was still filled with people even though it was after midnight and I could smell the beer.
“Want something to eat?” Bash asked. “We could share some chips?”
“Who says I’ll share?”
He grinned. “I can get two bowls.”
I shook my head. “I can share some chips, I’m sure.”
He licked his lip, then took my hand and pulled me through the crowd to the cashier.
“Bowl of chips, a jug of Coke, and…” Bash looked at me. “You want something else?”
I looked at the beers on tap and was tempted, but I figured I was already feeling a little excitable that I didn’t need to add alcohol to it. So, I shook my head. “Coke’s good, thanks.”
As the barman tallied it up, I whipped my card out of my phone and tapped it to the machine before he had a chance. Bash frowned at me.
He said thanks to the barman and grabbed our table number, then started looking around for somewhere to sit while he admonished me. “Really? I am trying to be a gentleman,” he huffed.
We finally found a table tucked away in the corner and slid in opposite each other. “Since when is gentleman your tactic of choice?” I teased him.
He looked up at me quickly. “What?”
I shrugged. “Well, I’m just wondering how many gentlemen get laid as often as you seem to.”
“I’m going on two weeks unlaid, thank you.”
I leant towards him. “Did you want a gold star?”
He tried not to grin and almost managed it. “No. I was just pointing out that I’m quite clearly a gentleman now.”
“Are you now?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Well, I’m obviously much more gentlemanly than you.”
“And how do you figure that? Because you paid?”
I shook my head. “Because I’m going on almost eighteen years unlaid.”
He laughed, sitting back in his seat like he was totally relaxed. “Yeah, no. Fair. You are quite clearly the better gentleman, then.”
I nodded victoriously. “Do I get a gold star?”
He shook his head. “Oh no, princess. That doesn’t count as good behaviour in my book.”
I smiled at the waitress as she brought our drink and glasses over. “Thank you.”
“Food will be out soon,” she said before leaving again.
I looked back at Bash. “And just how long do you plan to be a gentleman, Casanova?”
He mirrored my lean, pinning me with a gorgeous smile in those light blue eyes. “Princess, I can go as long as I need to.” Then he winked and started pouring drinks.
&n
bsp; And to his credit, he was a gentleman. As far as any eighteen-year-old could be a gentleman. His hands stayed above my clothes and in public approved places, even when I pulled him to me to kiss him when he dropped me home – after everyone had been kicked out of the pub at two.
I did end up in his lap again, but that had definitely been instigated by me. All I could say was that it was a bloody good thing it was after two in the morning and there was a convenient dark spot in front of my house where the street lights on either side didn’t quite reach.
All night, he’d been giving me that flutter in my stomach, I’d felt restless, all I could think about what his hands roaming around my body and what else he could do to it. So, it was complete autopilot that had my hand run down between our bodies and over the bulge in his jeans.
He jumped like he was surprised then I felt him smile against my lips.
“Sorry,” I breathed but he shook his head.
“Don’t be.”
“But you–”
“You just surprised me.”
“You sure?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It just felt better than I expected.”
“You thought me touching you would feel bad?” I asked, a little insulted.
He shook his head again. “Not at all. I just didn’t think it would feel that good.”
I looked at him. “What do you mean?”
He smiled. “Please don’t make me get all emotional and shit and try to explain it. It felt good, princess. Leave it at that.”
‘Emotional and shit’ was surely a good sign? Did that mean he felt it more than physically? That was good. That was what I needed.
So, I just nodded and kissed him again. My hands got a little adventurous in where they touched him, but I told myself that was okay if he was starting to get attached.
But it wasn’t okay if he thought I was just leading him on.
As my hand slid towards his crotch again, I pulled it away. “Sorry.”
“Why now?” he chuckled roughly.
“I really shouldn’t tease you,” I panted against his lips.
I felt him smile as he kissed me harder. “Don’t stop now.”
“Even if this is all you’re getting?”
He nodded as his hand slid under my singlet and up my back, holding me tightly. “Tease me, princess.”
Chapter 13: Bash
Something had very subtly changed between Paige and me.
I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But something had changed. I found myself wanting to make excuses to talk to her. It was crazy and I had no idea whether it was just because I was trying this whole putting her emotional needs first thing or if I was in a whole lot more trouble than I realised.
But whatever it was, I still went to sit with her once the Common Room was all-but emptied the next Thursday afternoon in our double free.
“Hey,” she said, looking up from her phone.
“Tonnes of admirers to keep at bay?” I teased.
She nudged me with her shoulder. “My mum always says it’s important to let people know you like them as much as you love them.”
I rubbed my hand over my chin. “I see. She sounds sensible.”
Paige scoffed, turning a smile on me. “Uh-huh. And what are you angling for? You want me drag you into the toilets for a quick hand job or something?”
I forced myself not to reply to that because I knew she was joking. My dick on the other hand wanted to make sure. I rearranged in my seat to keep him quiet and held out my sketch book for her.
“You’ve got your book with you. What’s new?” She grinned.
“What’s new is I thought you wanted to know what’s inside.”
She dropped her phone in her lap and looked at me in shock. “Sorry. What?”
I bounced the book at her. “I thought you wanted to know what was inside?”
She blinked. “Waving it at me and saying you think I want to know isn’t exactly permission, Bash.”
I shrugged. “It’s as much permission as you’ll get out of me.”
Paige looked at it in my hands. “Really?”
“What? Do you think I’m going to be standing here with it if I was clowning?”
A flicker of emotions crossed her face in quick succession – eyebrows narrowed in uncertainty, a hint of a smile, a nose wrinkle.
“Go on. Take a look before I change my mind,” I said, quickly.
She took it from me carefully, like it was something precious, and I sat next to her.
I watched her open the front page slowly. Her head cocked sideways as she looked over the first page and I spared a moment to look at the outline of her neck as though I was committing it to memory.
“It’s… You draw,” she said.
I nodded as I rubbed my hand over my mouth and jaw. “Yup.”
She looked at me like she couldn’t believe it. “You draw. Well.”
I huffed a laugh. “No need to be so surprised.”
She smiled and her cheeks tinged pink like she was embarrassed. “No. I’m not. I just…” She looked back down at the page again and slowly started flipping through them. “Why are you showing me this now?”
Honestly, because it was the least Casanova move I’d been able to think of. Girl seemed to like the whole emotional bonding thing, so here I was emotionally bonding. As far as she knew. As far as I was concerned, I was winning a bet.
Instead of revealing all that, I shrugged. “I dunno. I guess I just didn’t hate the idea of you seeing it.”
Which wasn’t a total lie, either. When it came down to it, I was pretty arrogant about my skills and I didn’t hate people knowing I had them. Within reason.
“They’re amazing. You’re… Is this a comic book?”
I leant over to see the page she was looking at. This was the personal sketch book, not the one I used for school. An added touch for which I was quite proud of myself.
“Leo prefers the term graphic novel,” I said with a rueful smile.
“Leo? Your brother?” Something in her softened as she looked at me.
I nodded and awarded myself a point on the emotional bonding scale. “Leo’s got this world. He practically lives in it. He loves telling me the stories. And I…” I pointed to the book. “I turn them into this for him.”
Add one hundred points to my tally, please and thank you.
Paige’s eyes went wide and she pouted her lips at me. “Naw. That’s so sweet.”
I shrugged her praise off as though it didn’t matter, but it mattered. It mattered a lot. “It’s not like I don’t enjoy it.” Also, true.
“Still,” she breathed, then went back to flipping back and forth through the pages. “This must take you ages! How many guys devote this much time to their little brothers when they don’t have to?”
Well, I did. For no other reason that than I wanted to, actually. And had I thought about it working in my favour with the female population before that, I bloody well would have used it. Then again, had it been common knowledge, maybe it wouldn’t have had the desired effect on Paige. And I was quite enjoying the desired effect.
“What else is in here?” she asked and she was flipping pages faster than I could work out if there was anything in there I didn’t want her to see.
Just as I remembered the scribble I’d started of her the Sunday after our movie date – although using the word date here was for simplicity’s sake only – she found it.
“What’s this?” she asked, leaning over to look at it in detail.
It was going to be a little hard to claim it was anyone but her really, considering it had a great big ‘PRINCESS’ blocked out and there was a guy wearing a kilt on the same page. I mean true, the girl had some tatts and glasses, but it was stylised. After all, art lets us show the things beneath the surface. I just hadn’t quite been prepared for Paige to see what I’d been working on.
“That is, uh…” I started slowly. �
�That is…” I cleared my throat and went for it. “That would be you.”
She nodded as she ran her fingers over the image gently. “Me with tattoos and glasses?” she asked and I nodded.
“Yep.”
“How you’d prefer I was?”
Shit. I hadn’t expected that response. This was dangerous territory. “Not prefer. More like an expression.”
“Of what?”
She looked… It wasn’t quite sad. It was almost disappointed. She was disappointed? What was she disappointed about? She frowned as she looked at the picture and took a deep breath. She spoke again before I’d found any words I thought would be acceptable.
“Is this some fantasy of me or something?”
I put my hand on the book and made her look at me. “What I draw is… It’s more like what I see inside, Paige. It’s…”
“A fantasy,” she said again and I had to wonder what made her so fixated on the fantasy concept.
I shook my head. “No. This is more like your personality. This is the girl I see when I look at you. She’s fierce, she’s confident, she knows who she is, and she gives zero fucks if someone doesn’t like it. She never apologises for who she is and it’s as amazing as it is intimidating. This…” I lay my hand reverently over the picture. “This isn’t a fantasy, it’s who you are.”
Her face wrinkled like she wanted to disagree with me. But all she said was, “And who’s the dashing young man in the kilt?”
“That’s the guy she’s madly in love with,” I joked, aiming to get a smile out of her.
And it worked. “Well, he’s in a kilt. Of course, she’s madly in love with him.”
I laughed. “Of course.” Maybe I do need to get a kilt…?
I watched her finger trace over the guy in the kilt almost hypnotizingly. “And does he think she’s in love with him? Or is she really in love with him?”
I was again going to have to tread very carefully here. “She hasn’t said anything, but he’s hopeful.”
“Does he love her?”
Emotions weren’t my strong suit, but I had to hope inexperience looked more like sincerity. Not that everything I said was a lie.
“He’s not sure. It’s all a very…new experience for him.”
She placed her arms on the book and looked at me expectantly. “Or he’s very good at the game.”
Popped Page 11
