Being Jane: A New Adult Erotic Romance: Fountain of Love

by Quinn, Arabella

  I threw another cinder block onto the outdoor fireplace that I was trying to beef up at the back end of our yard. The bonfire at the last party had burned too large for comfort. If I could build up the fireplace by a good two feet, the fire would be more contained and hopefully blocked from our neighbor’s sight. Not that old Mr. Cruthers would probably notice either way. Still, we didn’t need the cops being called on us.

  My roommates, Nate and Chad, were out shopping for food, which would turn out okay if they followed the list we agreed on. Ace was out picking up the kegs. That left me to set up outside. All the crap we needed for burning the fire was gathered and the fireplace itself was almost set up. I needed to arrange whatever chairs I could find and place the cheap outdoor tiki torches strategically around the yard.

  I was sweating up a storm hauling the heavy blocks, but the work was mindless. And that’s why my mind kept drifting back to Jane. Seeing her the night before at the bar had brought back all those feelings I had for her. What was it about her that had me hooked from the moment I first laid eyes on her?

  Actually, that wasn’t true. I had known who Jane was for years in high school and hadn’t ever thought twice about her before that night. Jeez, it wasn’t until I saw her tits that I got so excited. Seeing her lying in the soft glow of the lamplight in Jordy’s basement had set my body on fire. Was that the entire substance of my infatuation with Jane?

  It didn’t make sense. I had seen plenty of other naked girls. Shit, Michelle had a nice body. So, why did she leave me so cold lately? The sad truth was that Michelle hadn’t physically excited me for a while now. I hadn’t done anything about it, because it was just easier for things to remain status quo with her. I should have broken up with her months ago, that way I could have pursued a hook-up with Jane free of guilt, because there was no mistake in my mind about what I was hoping to do later that night.

  I couldn’t deny that I was thinking purely with my dick. I didn’t really know Jane at all; she didn’t even seem that into me. Throw a little alcohol into this mess and my dick was about to fuck things up real good if it got the opportunity. Shit, what can you do?

  If I was seriously thinking about cheating on Michelle, it was time to start thinking about dumping her, too. I searched my brain for some signs of sadness at the thought. Nope, nothing.

  I finished setting up for the party thinking about Jane. I remembered how her body responded to me that night at Jordy’s party. Of course, I remembered those unforgettable tits. And I remembered how she made me feel like she really wanted me. Yeah, I hoped like hell that she showed up later.

  When I headed inside for a shower before the party, I was sporting some wood. Thinking about Jane, imagining fucking her, had gotten me more than a little excited. I was shocked when I saw Michelle sitting on my bed and texting on her phone.

  She looked up as I entered. “Eew, you’re all sweaty.”

  I tried to hug her, but she kept me at a distance, giving me the hand. I watched her for a moment. “You’re here early. I wasn’t sure if you were coming.”

  “Jana and Beth are gonna stop by later. I hope you’re getting some better food this time.”

  I started stripping off my clothes, but Michelle wasn’t even glancing up from the phone to watch. “Chad and Nate are out shopping now. I’ve got to hop in the shower. Come wash my back.”

  “I’m busy right now,” she muttered absently.

  Busy texting her friends? She didn’t seem the least bit interested. I was getting irritated. “What the hell, we haven’t had sex in weeks.”

  Michelle rolled her eyes. “It hasn’t been that long.”

  “Yes it has.” She had succeeded in killing my raging boner in a matter of minutes.

  I was now completely undressed, but she was still too busy texting to care. Michelle practically huffed her response. “Is that all you ever think about, Dusty?”

  I couldn’t even work up any anger. I felt more defeated than anything. “Fuck. Do you ever think about it anymore?”

  She laughed. “Maybe tonight. If you’re good.”

  Whatever.

  I wrapped a towel around my waist and headed to the shower. Maybe I should just dump Michelle before the party. Who needed this aggravation?

  Chapter 7

  Jane

  Millie and I had concocted the perfect plan to get me out of the house for the night. I knew it would work on my mom. I felt slightly bad about lying, but telling her the truth would invite all sorts of crazy from her into my life. And once Millie had talked me into going to the party, I wanted to go like my very life depended on it.

  I entered my house and headed toward the kitchen looking for my mother. She was reading the newspaper at the kitchen table. “How was the park?”

  I pretended to browse through the pantry looking for a snack, so I didn’t have to look my mother in the eye as I lied to her. “It was good. Millie was really freaked out though.”

  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mother look up with alarm. “Why was she freaked out?”

  “Oh, her parents are going out of town for the night. She was freaking out about staying all by herself overnight.”

  My mother relaxed a little. “I don’t blame her, poor girl.”

  I refrained from rolling my eyes. “I know, right? That’s why I told her I’d stay with her and keep her company. She was soooo relieved.”

  “I don’t know, honey…”

  I smiled to myself. “Or she could just stay over here tonight. We planned on doing a movie marathon and making some popcorn-”

  My mother practically gasped. “Oh, but you’d be in the family room all night long! I don’t know if your father would like that…”

  My father wouldn’t care, but I knew all along that my mother would go insane having her space invaded. It would cause her all sorts of anxiety. “Yeah. You’re right, it’s not fair to Dad. I’ll just go over there then. Do we have any microwave popcorn that I can bring over there?”

  “It should be on the second shelf.” Mom went back to reading her paper, probably relieved that the crisis had been averted.

  I found the popcorn and then headed toward my bedroom, trying to keep from smiling. It was ridiculous that I had to go through such great lengths as an adult to have a sliver of freedom, but until I had enough money to move out, I had to deal with my parents the best I could. Sometimes that involved walking around on eggshells and sometimes even a little deception was in order.

  It was hours before I needed to get ready for the party, but I was too keyed up to sit idle. I rummaged through my closet until I found the old garbage bag half full of clothes at the bottom of a pile of assorted junk. I dragged the bag out of my closet and dumped it onto my bed.

  This bag contained the remnants of clothing from Sabrina that I had deemed way too risqué to wear around my mother. One look at the tiny mini-skirts and the partially see-through lace babydoll tops and she would have died. I still got the evil eye from my mother when I wore a completely innocent tank top on the hottest of summer days.

  I wanted to look good, but completely casual, like I hadn’t given much thought to what I was wearing. I found a couple of jean shorts that had gotten relegated to the bag because they were super short. They looked tiny. I tried them both on. Even though they were probably ten years old by now, they didn’t look dated. I chose the longer of the two because it was less wedgie-inducing and didn’t show off the very tops of my thighs which weren’t as tanned as the rest of my legs. Having no job had at least one perk; I had developed a nice golden tan even this early in the summer.

  I tried on top after top from the bag, but nothing looked perfect. I was even too busty for several of the shirts. I almost passed over the teal tube top, but I hesitated because I loved the color. Girls in college had still been wearing tube tops, so I knew they couldn’t be completely out of fashion. I took off my bra and slipped on the tube top, prepared to immediately reject it.

  The top molded to my breasts
and then gathered underneath them. The fabric fitted more loosely down my lower torso and then flared slightly at my waist. I stared at the girl staring back at me. She was cute. She had a nice body. She looked fun to be around.

  But one tug on that top and my breasts would be hanging out all over the place. The shirt was too damn slutty. I heard the words in the back of my mind and it sounded like my mother’s voice.

  I tore off the top and threw it on my bed. I’d bring it to Millie’s along with the pink colored v-neck shirt as a backup. I’d let Millie talk me into wearing the tube top because I knew she’d love it once she saw it on me.

  I quickly got changed back into my boring, but safe, clothing. I glanced in the mirror and saw Jane Brown staring back at me. She looked different than the girl who had stared back at me only two days ago. This Jane Brown had a bit of a sparkle in her eye. This Jane Brown had a secret.

  I pulled my backpack out and immediately began filling it with stuff I’d need for the party and for the next day. When I was finished, I collapsed on my bed. I still had hours until I thought it would be safe to head over to Millie’s house.

  Glancing over my meager collection of nail polish, I chose a light pink shade. I could pass some time painting my fingers and toes. At one time, my mother had objected to me painting my nails. I asked her if it was some weird religious thing, even though we never went to church and she didn’t seem religious at all. She had a weird reaction to that question. After an uncomfortable amount of silence, she finally told me I could paint my nails, but not to be ‘too flashy’. It had seemed like a huge victory at the time, but now it seemed so odd that she had ever objected to it. It was just one more thing I chalked up to as just another weird quirk of my mother’s.

  As soon as I thought it wasn’t too early to be suspicious to go to Millie’s for the night, I headed downstairs with my bag. I said good-bye to my mom and surprisingly, she didn’t seem to be sulking or bitter that I was going. Small victories.

  Millie’s parents were both home when I got there, but they were not nearly as restrictive as my mother, especially now that Millie was an adult. After chatting with Millie’s mom for a few minutes, I headed to Millie’s room to find her.

  We had a blast getting ready for the party. Once Mille saw the teal tube top, she forced me to wear it, like I knew she would. We glammed up our makeup and hair and both looked pretty hot when we were finished. The hardest part was deciding when we wanted to show up at the party. We didn’t want to seem overeager, so we didn’t want to show up too early, but we had no idea when the party would actually start. We finally decided on 9:30, praying that wasn’t too early for a backyard bonfire party.

  When we got to 25 Willow Grove, the driveway and street in front of the house were packed with cars. We had definitely found the right spot. Butterflies danced nervously in my stomach as we rang the doorbell. No one answered. We tried the doorknob. It was locked.

  Millie stood on the porch, suddenly looking less confident. “Are you sure he said tonight? It doesn’t look like anything is going on in there. I don’t hear anything.”

  “Look at all the cars. It is weird how quiet it seems though. Dusty did say bonfire, so I guess maybe we’re just supposed to go around back. Unfortunately, I’m not up on the latest party etiquette.”

  “Okay.” Millie seemed hesitant and that made me start to question everything. “Let’s go around back. I really hope this is the right house.”

  We started creeping nervously around the house. Millie whispered, “Shit. I hope a big giant dog doesn’t come out and attack us.”

  Just what I needed to hear to reduce my growing anxiety.

  Luckily, as soon as we made it to the side of the house, sounds started trickling in from off in the distance. Music. Laughter. Thank God. We were at the right place.

  When we got behind the house, we could see the bonfire way down the back of the property. A few people milled about near the house, but no one that I recognized. The relief I felt in finding the party dissipated almost immediately. As we headed to the crowd of partiers, nausea roiled in my gut. I felt like I was going to throw up. Walking blind into an unknown situation was fiercely difficult for me. Millie looked much more relaxed now that she knew we were at the right place.

  We attracted attention right away. Male attention. It was weird, because we had both been so invisible in high school. Several guys looked our way, checking us out, as we got closer. It wasn’t long before we were approached.

  He was cute. He had a cocky spring in his step and a confident smile on his face. In the shadow of the firelight, his hair looked dirty blond and stylishly messy. I could practically hear Millie proclaiming him ‘yummy’ in her head.

  Millie was practically buzzing with excitement, but I was already busy scanning the grounds hoping to find Dusty.

  The cute boy swaggered up to us. “Hey there. I’m Nate.”

  Millie’s voice rose an octave. “Hi. I’m Millie and this is Jane. We’re friends of Dusty’s.”

  Nate glanced over at me and then back to Millie. “How do you two know Dusty?”

  We barely know him. But I kissed him once. And I’ve lusted after him ever since…

  Millie smiled. “From high school.”

  Nate nodded. “Oh. So you must know Chad and Ace, too.”

  Two more jocks who never paid any attention to us. I couldn’t hold back. “Oh yeah. We were real tight.”

  Millie shot me a warning glance. “Sure, I remember them.”

  “Cool. Do you girls want a drink? We’ve got lots of beer and plenty of shots floating around if you don’t want beer.”

  Millie answered before I could speak. “Beer’s great.”

  We followed Nate to a keg and waited while he filled up some red plastic cups with beer for us.

  I was still casually scanning the yard for a sign of Dusty. “Did you know that Ace’s real name is Tucker?”

  Nate laughed. “Ha. Yeah, no one calls him that anymore. Is that what you called him in high school?”

  Millie sneakily pinched my arm. She wanted me to behave. She answered before I could. “No. Only the teachers called him Tucker.”

  It was funny. If a cool kid had a really horrible name, he got a cool nickname and no one bothered him about it. If Tucker had been a nerd, he would have been utterly doomed with that name.

  Nate handed us the cups of beer and grinned cockily at me. “Jane, I do believe I’d pay any amount of money to hear you call him Tucker tonight.”

  “No way Jane,” Millie shot me another warning look.

  I shrugged. “I guess it depends on how many beers I drink tonight.”

  I was already having fun and the night was still young. A few beers and who knew what the possibilities held.

  Nate took a sip of his beer. “We’ve got a drinking game going on down near the fire. Why don’t you two join in?”

  I shrugged like it was no big deal. “Sure. Sounds like fun.”

  Nate led us to a group of people gathered about twenty feet in front of the bonfire. They were sitting in a variety of ragtag chairs set up in a circular arrangement, surrounding a low-lying makeshift table. We squeezed in at the far corner of the group, Nate and I sharing the end of a ratty wicker bench and Millie taking the lopsided camp chair that was empty.

  I was disappointed that Dusty wasn’t one of the people playing, but soon I was too consumed with figuring out the rules to the game and just plain old drinking. Much more than I was used to. I hadn’t been able to play too many drinking games in college. I had gone to some parties, but I usually couldn’t justify staying out late to my parents, and drinking heavily was certainly out of the question with my long drive home.

  After sitting down at the group, we had gotten included into the game during the very next round. Chad, who was sitting across the table, even gave me a slight nod, like a nod of approval. Before I knew it, my plastic cup had been refilled with one of the pitchers on the table. Then it was refilled again. And again
. With the fast paced game, there was no escape from drinking. And it was fun.

  I could tell that Millie was having a good time talking to the guy next to her. Nate had been laughing and joking with the whole group, but paying special attention to me. After years of feeling excluded, always standing on the outside looking in, it was nice to feel accepted by the cool group. Actually, I was feeling pretty awesome, and that was when I belatedly realized that I was tipsy. And that I was practically sitting in Nate’s lap.

  As Nate started refilling my cup again, I held up my hand. “I think I need a break.”

  Nate put down the pitcher and spoke to the group. “Jane and I are out the next round.”

  People had been popping in and out of the game, so no one took much notice. I felt Nate’s arms wrap around me and pull me against his body. I had met this guy only hours before, but already I felt so comfortable with him. Obviously, three (or was it four?) cups of beer was smoothing things along nicely, too.

  “Are you having fun?” Nate spoke close to my ear.

  “Yeah.” I relaxed against him. “I’m just drinking way too fast for me.”

  His hands felt warm on my chilled arms. “Take it easy. Pace yourself - you’ve got all night.”

  I was having a great time with Nate, but still I wondered where Dusty was. I was disappointed that I hadn’t seen him at all yet.

  I sat up straight. “Yeah, I probably should have taken a break earlier. Actually, I need to use the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

  “Okay, I’ll walk you to the house.”

  Nate grabbed my hand as he stood and pulled me up with him. It was a good thing I was hanging on, because I immediately felt the effects of the beer kick in. I definitely needed to slow down. We headed towards the house together, my eyes constantly scanning the yard for Dusty. Where was he?

  Halfway to the house, I stumbled on a root sticking up from the ground and Nate’s arm shot out to stabilize me. I giggled my thanks. Maybe I was more than a bit tipsy.