Where the Night Ends

by Melissa Toppen

  “Make love to me, Sebastian.” Her eyes plead right along with her words, but no matter how much I want to, I know it’s too soon.

  Tess isn’t just any other girl, and I have no intention of treating her as such. When I take her—and I will—I want to know that there will not be one ounce of regret over it the next day.

  “I will… Soon,” I promise. “But not yet.” The disappointment plays across every inch of her beautiful face. “But,” I quickly add, “there is a first I could take care of in the meantime.” I slide my body to the side so I’m positioned next to her.

  I graze my fingers slowly up her leg, hesitating for only a second before sliding them up her loose-fitting shorts and then along the seam of her panties. Her eyes widen and her breathing quickens when she realizes what I’m doing, but she doesn’t hesitate, spreading her legs wider for me.

  “Just close your eyes and breathe, baby,” I whisper, nearly losing it the moment my fingers brush against her bare, untouched skin.

  The alarm clock next to my bed wakes me abruptly. Swatting at it until I manage to hit snooze, I collapse back down onto my pillow feeling groggy and disoriented. Just as I start to give way to the drowsiness that threatens to pull me back under, everything hits me all at once and my eyes shoot open.

  Sebastian. His fingers—the way he touched me, the way he kissed me, the undeniable pleasure he showed me. Pleasure I didn’t even know I could feel.

  I dart upright, my eyes going directly to where Sebastian was lying next to me when I drifted off to sleep just a few short hours ago. I place my hand on the sheet as I look around the room, wondering how long ago he left. Considering the warmth of the spot he occupied most of the night, I’d say it wasn’t all that long ago.

  Smiling, I pull the blanket up to my chin, remembering how it felt to open myself up to him in a way I never had before, remembering the things he said as he brought me to the brink and then forced me over the edge. It felt like fireworks had exploded inside of me.

  If he can do that with just his fingers, I can only imagine how other parts of him will feel.

  My face heats at the thought.

  “Tess.” I jump when I hear my mother’s voice seconds before she opens my bedroom door. Having not realized she was home yet, I quickly try to gain some composure. “Hey, you better get up or you’re going to be late for school,” she says, peeking her head inside my room.

  “Okay.” I nod several times in concession, a nervous tick of mine. “I’m getting up now.”

  “I’m gonna head to bed if you don’t need anything.” She hesitates in the doorway, and for a moment I feel like maybe she can tell. Maybe she can see on my face what I was up to in this very room just hours ago.

  “I’m good.” I force a smile. “You get some sleep.”

  “Okay, honey. Have a good day at school. I love you.”

  “Love you, Mom.” I let out a heavy exhale the moment the door latches between us.

  My earlier elation deflates drastically when I remember that I won’t get to see Sebastian at school today, or the next four days after today for that matter. He received five days suspension and is being benched for the next two games for his fight with Dylan.

  It makes me nervous to have to go back today without him there. I know there’s bound to be a ton of talk going on over what happened, and since it was all centered around me, once again I’m going to be surrounded by unwanted attention. Though if I’m being honest, I’m starting to get used to it. I’ve accepted that it just comes along with dating someone like Sebastian.

  Finally managing to pull myself out of my warm bed and into the shower, it only takes me about thirty minutes before I’m on my way out the front door, a cold pop tart and bottle of OJ in hand. Because it took me so long to get going, I don’t have enough time to do my normal morning routine which usually consists of me sitting at the kitchen table eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch—one of my biggest weaknesses.

  Checking my phone as I lock up the house, I’m seconds away from texting Courtney to see where she is when Sebastian’s car pulls up in front of my house.

  My body instantly floods with heat when he steps out of the driver’s side door, pushes his aviator sunglasses down onto the bridge of his nose, and gives me a smile that nearly causes my knees to buckle.

  I hesitate for only a moment before heading toward him.

  “What are you doing here?” I question, trying to shake off the blush I can feel creeping its way up my neck and onto my cheeks.

  I’m not embarrassed about what happened last night, but I definitely feel a little nervous about being around Sebastian. More so because I’m worried about what he thinks of me now.

  “There was no way I was going to get through this day without seeing you first.” He’s on me in five seconds flat, pushing my hair over my shoulder before cupping my face in hands. “Fuck, you’re even more beautiful now that I’ve felt you come apart on my hand.” He grins mischievously before lowering his mouth to mine, kissing away both my doubts and my embarrassment.

  In fact, by the time he finally releases me, my mind is only thinking about one thing—doing it again.

  “Come on.” He pulls back, wrapping his hand around mine as he leads me to the car. “Let me drive you to school.” He opens the door, moving to the side to give me room to get in.

  “Oh, um Courtney should be here any minute,” I say, remembering the text I was about send her.

  “She’s not coming.” His smile widens. “I called her this morning and told her I was taking you.”

  “A bit presumptuous don’t you think.” I cross my arms in front of myself, making no attempt to move. “What if I don’t want you to take me?” I tease.

  “Get your gorgeous ass in the car, Tess,” he says slowly, a seductive warning laced with his words. “Or I will put you in it.” His eyes sparkle with mischief, and I get the feeling he would like nothing more than to exert that kind of dominance over me, and so would I.

  It takes everything in me not to play into his threat just to see what he’ll do, but knowing I need to get to school I refrain.

  “Okay,” I huff playfully before ducking under his arm and climbing into the car. I wait until he’s seated next to me, his large hand engulfing my small one, before commenting on the statement he made earlier. “You said to get through today, what’s happening today?” I ask, admiring his profile as he stares out the windshield, his gaze locked on the road.

  “I get to go to work with my father.” He throws me a look that says it’s the last thing he wants to be doing.

  “And I’m guessing after everything we talked about, this is not a good thing,” I observe.

  “This is about the farthest from good you can get. My father is unbearable at home, but in the office, he’s a hundred times worse. It’s his job to pick people apart, tear them down bit by bit, and he does it to me every chance he gets. It got so bad the last time I went into his office that his secretary, Joanne, stepped in and stood up for me. Needless to say, she is no longer employed with Baxter and Lawson.”

  “That’s awful. I’m so sorry. This is all my fault. I should’ve just kept walking when Dylan said he needed to talk. Then none of this would be happening. You would be going to school with me instead of having to subject yourself to such abuse.”

  “I don’t know that I’d call it abuse.” He seems slightly amused by my comment.

  “It is abuse, Sebastian.”

  “It’s fine, Tess. His words stopped hurting me a long time ago. Trust me, I’ll be fine. Besides, you didn’t cause this, I did. You did nothing wrong.”

  “Well then, why do I feel like all of this could have been avoided if I had made a different choice?”

  “We all could’ve made different choices, Tess. Yes, you could’ve chosen to walk away. But I also could’ve chosen not to knock his teeth down his throat.” He throws me a sideways glance and smiles.

  “You didn’t mention having to go to work with your father last n
ight when we were talking,” I observe, going back to our original conversation.

  “That punishment got handed down when I arrived home at six this morning.”

  “Now I feel even worse,” I say, knowing he only stayed last night because I asked him to.

  “Don’t.” He shakes his head. “I wouldn’t change last night for anything. I’d work with my father a hundred times over if it meant I could do it all over again.” He winks, and once again the heat rushes to my cheeks.

  Pull it together, Tess. This man has had his hands… Okay, nope—that’s only making me blush harder.

  “So what will you be doing today?” I clear my throat, choosing to ignore his comment at the risk of further embarrassing myself. He smiles, telling me he knows exactly what I’m doing, but is good enough of a sport not to call me on it.

  “Other than being my father’s bitch,” he answers, chuckling when I grimace. “I’m kidding. He’ll probably stick me in the copy room all day or have me doing some bullshit paperwork. Either way, I’ll survive.”

  Slowing the car and pulling it up to the curb about a block from school, he throws the car in park and turns in his seat to face me.

  “This is as far as I can go. I’m not allowed on school property until next Wednesday.” He reaches into the center console and grabs a pair of keys. “I need you to do me a favor,” he says, tucking the keys into my hand. “Drive Jessie back to your house for me.”

  “Jessie?” I ask, confused.

  “The Jeep.” He laughs at the obvious bewilderment on my face.

  “Your Jeep’s name is Jessie? How did I not know that before now?” I can’t help but laugh at how ridiculously cute he is.

  He shrugs. “It never came up.”

  “And I can’t—drive Jessie, I mean.”

  “Why not? You have your license, right?”

  “I do.”

  “Then what’s the problem?” he asks, reaching out to tuck a chunk of hair behind my ear, his hand lingering on the side of my face.

  “I don’t have insurance and well—it’s really nice, and I’d never forgive myself if I wrecked it.”

  “The car has insurance so it’s legal. Besides, it’s not like my father can’t afford to fix it on the off chance that you do wreck it. In which case, I’d be much more worried about you than Jessie.” He leans forward, pressing his lips to my forehead. “So will you do it for me?” he asks, pulling back just enough to leave a couple inches between us. “I hate the thought of her sitting here for the next week, and my father is trying to make a point by not sending someone after her.” He sighs. “He knows how much I love that Jeep, so to further solidify the control he has over me, he’s refused to let me have it back until my suspension is up. I’d feel much better knowing that my girl is taking care of her for me.”

  “When you put it that way.” I nearly melt in my seat at the way he says my girl.

  “You’ll do it?” His face lights up, his smile so handsome I can’t help but lean in and kiss him.

  “I’ll do it,” I murmur against his mouth before pulling back. “But you have to promise me you won’t be upset if something happens to her.”

  “I promise.” He grabs my chin between his thumb and index finger and guides my lips back to his, kissing me slow and lazily like neither of us have anywhere we need to be.

  “I’m gonna be late for school,” I whine, finally managing to pull myself away from his intoxicating mouth.

  “Fine.” He secures the keys to his Jeep in my hand. “Can I come by again tonight?” he asks, not letting my hand go until I shake my head yes.

  “Mom goes to work at six. You can come see me and Jessie any time after that.” I smile, kissing him one last time before quickly exiting the car, knowing if I don’t do it soon I may never leave.

  “Tess.” Sebastian rolls down the window and hollers after me just as I reach the other side of the street. “Make sure to miss me today.”

  “I already do,” I call back, the happiness that spreads across his face at my words damn near knocking the wind out of me.

  I’ve got it so bad. I can’t even pretend anymore.

  Blowing him a kiss, I have to physically force myself to turn back around and keep walking when all I really want to do is run back across the street and never leave his side.

  It only takes me about three minutes to make it to the high school building. I spot Jessie, the Jeep, in her normal spot looking as shiny as ever. I have to stop myself from waving at her, sort of feeling like she’s more person than car all of a sudden.

  Silently telling her that I’ll see her after school, I tuck the keys in the front pocket of my jeans. In some weird way having them on me makes me feel closer to Sebastian, though I can’t really explain why.

  ***

  I feel lost most of the day. Even though Sebastian and I have zero classes together, I can feel his absence in every classroom I enter. It’s sad to think that just him being at school has such a huge impact on how I feel.

  Lunch was even worse, though I did manage to turn it around about halfway in when I decided to share with Court and Bree a small snippet of last night’s events. I had meant to keep it between the three of us, but that quickly went out the window when Courtney gasped and then loudly said, "You finally had your first O.”

  To say I was embarrassed is the understatement of the year, but luckily only Ant was close enough to hear her, and he seemed just as uncomfortable as I did by her outburst.

  I have to be honest, I haven’t been a big Anthony fan since him and Courtney started hanging out, but I think he might actually be managing to grow on me a bit. I mean, if Sebastian likes him how can I not?

  Stopping by my locker on my way to sixth period, I check my phone for the hundredth time today, an immense relief washing over me when I see I have a message from Sebastian.

  Sebastian: By the time this week is over I’m going to be a master at answering phones and scheduling appointments. You wouldn’t believe some of the stories I’ve heard today. No wonder lawyers are in such high demand.

  Me: Sounds like your day isn’t as bad as you thought???

  Sebastian: Oh no, it still sucks. But thinking of you makes it a hell of a lot better.

  Me: I miss you.

  Sebastian: I miss you—and my new… friend. I think she likes me.

  I laugh out loud, covering my mouth to muffle the sound as my classmates pass by with no knowledge of the slow burn that has suddenly erupted in my lower belly.

  Me: Your friend? Is that what you’re calling her?

  Sebastian: Well I’d call her something else, but I have a feeling even using the word friend has that cute blush spreading across your cheeks. Tell me I’m wrong.

  I smile, knowing if I looked in the mirror right now my face would be beet red.

  Me: I can’t, that would be lying.

  Sebastian: I knew it!

  Me: No one likes a gloater.

  Sebastian: You like everything about me.

  I’m seconds away from telling him he’s actually right yet again when another message immediately follows.

  Sebastian: Shit. Gotta go. My sorry excuse for a father is back in the office, and he doesn’t know I managed to sneak my phone from his study this morning. Ooops.

  Me: I hope the rest of your day isn’t awful. I can’t wait to see you later.

  Without even meaning to, my fingers type out another message and press send before I can think it through enough to stop myself.

  Me: And neither can your new friend ;)

  I smile, completely surprised by my own brazen behavior. Stuffing my phone back into my locker, I quickly close it and spin the combination lock before taking off down the hallway, knowing I’m going to have to haul ass if I hope to make it to class on time.

  “Are you really that nervous for me to meet this boy?” My mom chuckles behind where I’m pacing in the living room waiting for Sebastian to knock.

  Because of his suspension and the fact that his
father decided to crack down on him going anywhere after the night he stayed over, we had to delay him coming over for dinner by a week. In fact, this is the first time he’s been here since the day after his and Dylan’s fight.

  I’m so glad to have the whole suspension incident behind us. Sebastian is officially back at school, and things have since returned to normal. Well, as normal as they can be when you’re dealing with someone like Sebastian. And right now, I’m wishing this was behind us as well.

  Don’t get me wrong. I want Sebastian to meet my mom. I really do. But it just feels like such a huge step, and I’m worried she might scare him off. I mean, she’s amazing, of course, but she can also be very protective of me which sometimes doesn’t always come across the nicest.

  “No,” I finally answer my mom after several seconds. “Yes.” I stop pacing and turn toward her. “He’s really important, Mom.”

  “Trust me, I know he is.” She smiles when a knock sounds on the front door. “I’ll play nice. I promise.” She closes her hand around the knob and yanks it open before I can say anything else.

  “You must be Sebastian.” Her smile widens, and she steps aside to let him enter. “Please, come on in. Tess is over here nervously pacing. I think she thinks I’m gonna embarrass her,” she teases, closing the door behind him.

  Sebastian steps into the foyer, looking so handsome in dark jeans and a black polo—his normally unruly hair combed back away from his face—that it takes everything in me to keep the drool from pooling out of the sides of my mouth. My god, this boy is perfect.

  As if reading my mind, a slow smile plays on the corner of his lips as he takes in my reaction. Offering me nothing more than a wink, he turns his attention back to my mother, handing her a beautiful arrangement of wild flowers I hadn’t even noticed he was holding until this very moment.

  “These are for you. Thank you for having me over, Mrs. Wilson.”