Torn

by A. M. Wallace

  “I'm gonna go put the car in the garage and lock up. I'll be right back and we'll find a movie to watch or something until you're ready to go home.” She nodded and I started to walk away, but she called me back.

  “Marcus?” I grinned and turned back to her. Marcus, not Mark. I really did like it.

  “Yeah?”

  “I like that you call me princess,” she said, leaning back on the couch, her eyes fluttering as if she couldn’t decide to open or close them.

  “I’m glad.” I grinned and headed back outside, getting in my car. Starting her up, I drove a few feet forward into the garage. I had been trying to make it easier on Amy to get into the house by parking outside.

  I had half a mind to pull out my phone and text Hannah, but I didn't. I'd done well not thinking about her all night and centering my attention on Amy. I wanted to keep it that way. I had a really good night tonight with her, and it wasn't exactly over. She was waiting for me inside right now. I had no intentions of trying anything with her. I just hoped she knew that.

  But hey, if she sobered up and initiated it, who was I to turn her down?

  I got out of the car and locked the doors before walking into the house through the door that led into the kitchen.

  “Amy, are you hungry?” I went to look through my cabinets to see what I had that would be quick to make. She didn't answer me. “Amy?”

  I walked into the living room, expecting to find her asleep on the couch. She wasn't there.

  “Amy?” I called a little louder. Where could she be? I frowned as I walked through the kitchen and moved the curtain to look out the sliding glass door, but it was still locked, so she couldn't have gone out there and it still be locked. This was weird.

  I walked back down the hallway and saw the spare bedroom door was halfway open. She had to be in there. I slowly opened the door, not wanting to scare her if she was asleep.

  “Amy?” She wasn't in there either. I looked to the other side of the hall where my room was, but she wouldn't be in there, right?

  I opened the door to my room and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Amy sprawled out on my bed. At least she hadn't decided to leave or something and was wandering the streets drunk. I stepped inside, intending to just cover her up when I noticed she had changed clothes. I looked around and saw a drawer in my dresser was pulled out and my closet door was open. When I took a closer look, she was in a pair of my boxers and one of my t-shirts. Her clothes were sprawled out on my floor, wherever they had fallen as she stripped, was what it looked like. I had to laugh.

  At least she made herself at home, and she looked pretty damn hot in my clothes. It made my decision to sleep in the living room a little harder when all I wanted to do was curl up next to her and hold her to me as I slept. But I was going to respect her and give her space. She was drunk and this was just our first date. I wasn't about to make her uncomfortable.

  I pulled the covers up over her and grabbed the extra pillow from beside her head before acting on impulse and leaning down to press my lips to her forehead. I walked out and grabbed a blanket from the hall closet on my way to the living room.

  I turned out all of the lights in the house and made sure the doors were locked before going to the couch, dropping my pillow and blanket. I went to lie down when I realized I hadn't changed out of my clothes. I didn't want to go back to my room and risk waking Amy up, so I just shed my pants and shirt, deciding to sleep in my boxers. I'd probably wake up before her anyway, and I could get dressed before I made anything awkward.

  I lay down on the couch and rested my arms behind my head, staring at the ceiling. Tonight was the most fun I'd had in a long time. Amy was so lively and spontaneous; I was glad I got to see that side of her.

  I closed my eyes and all I could see was the way she moved in the club. I saw her reaching for me, wanting me to dance with her. I saw her body moving against mine. My body was reacting now like it had in the club. It was craving her just as I was.

  I refrained from palming my cock right then and taking care of it. God knew I’d need to in the morning or I’d have a major case of blue balls. I took a deep breath and tried to relax.

  Amy was the last thing I saw before sleep finally claimed me.

  my head was killing me. I'd been awake for more than an hour with an upset stomach and a killer headache. Hangover city. Lucky me. I trudged down the hallway to the bathroom for about the millionth time already this morning. What time was it?

  When I was finished, I went to check on Erica to find her bed empty and actually made for once. How odd. I walked back out to the living room with still no sign of her. There wasn't a note or anything that I saw. I looked up at the clock on the wall by the refrigerator. Seven o’clock in the morning. What the hell? I couldn't sleep in much when I was sober, but it was obviously worse when I was drunk. Wait a second…

  Why would Erica be gone by seven? It was Saturday, so I knew I wasn't missing a class or something, and Erica was less of a morning person than I was. The sound of the front door opening pulled me from my thoughts.

  “Erica?” I called out and started walking toward the front door. She jumped when she saw me, nearly dropping the drinks in her hand.

  “Hannah! My God! You're not supposed to be awake yet!” I raised a brow at her and she shook her head. “I figured you'd be down for the count for a while, so I thought I'd try to help your hangover.” She held up two cups of coffee and a box of donuts in the bag on her arm.

  “How is it you're so cheery and don’t have a hangover this morning?” I groaned, taking my coffee from her and walking back toward the living room to sit on the couch.

  “I didn’t drink as much as you, that’s how,” Erica said as she took a seat next to me, opening the box to hand me a jelly filled, my favorite. I took a bite, knowing it wouldn’t stay in my stomach for long.

  “Thanks,” I said with a mouthful of donut. I swallowed and took a sip of my coffee, moaning softly at the taste. “Man, that’s good.”

  “How are you feeling?” she asked and I shrugged, taking another sip of my coffee before laying my head back on the couch.

  “Could be worse, I guess. Last night isn’t a total blank, so that’s good.”

  “So you remember what happened before we went to bed last night?” Erica asked me cautiously and I lifted my head to look at her. I sighed loudly and pretended to be really interested in the sleeve on my coffee.

  “Yeah, I remember. Can we please not talk about it?” She scoffed at what I said. Actually scoffed. I wanted to smack her.

  “Yeah, right. This is something you need to talk about. True feelings come out when you’re drunk, Han.” Now, I really wanted to smack her. This wasn’t what I wanted to hear.

  “It happened once. It was a mistake. Besides, Justin and I have only been dating less than a week. You can’t expect me to just be over Marcus now.” She sighed. She knew I was right.

  “Are you sure you’re not rushing things with him?” She sounded worried now. I looked over at her and her face confirmed it.

  “I’m not rushing anything. Justin is just a guy I’m dating right now. I don’t know if things will go any further than they are right now or not, but why shouldn’t I wait and see?”

  “You’re right.” She nodded. “I just…I just want you to be careful. Physically, things are going fast for you. That’s not a bad thing, necessarily. Just be careful.” I reached over and squeezed her hand.

  “I will be. Don’t worry.” She smiled and sat the box of donuts in between us, opening the top so we could both dig in.

  I had just gotten dressed after I had a long, hot shower when my phone rang. I quickly answered it without even looking to see who it was as I ran a brush through my wet hair.

  “Hello?” I switched the phone to my other ear, resting it on my shoulder while I fought to get the brush through my hair.

  “Hey, sexy. I hope you’re ready to go.” I frowned and pulled the phone from my ear to check the display to make
sure I wasn’t wrong. I knew Justin wanted to hang out today, but I didn’t think we set a time or anything. Maybe that happened last night when I was too drunk to remember.

  “Um…” I could hear his chuckle through the phone. I put him on speaker phone so I could throw my hair into a ponytail.

  “I’ll take that as a no. Well, you better hurry.”

  Just as he said it, there was a knock on the door, which I could hear echo through the phone. He was already here! He was ambushing me. I had to laugh.

  “Well, that was quick,” I said and he laughed before I heard the click of him disconnecting the call.

  I walked out of my bathroom and down the hall to the front door, opening it to find a very handsome Justin, holding a bouquet of Gerber daisies. My favorite flower. Did I tell him that?

  “Wow.” That was all I could say.

  I was surprised and so touched by his gesture, especially since he remembered my favorite flower. I vaguely remembered talking to him about them on our first date, but it seemed like such a small thing at the time. I didn’t expect him to remember, let alone buy me some.

  “I wanted to surprise you,” he said as he handed me the flowers and leaned in to kiss me gently on the lips.

  “You succeeded.” I laughed and stepped aside to let him in. I went to the kitchen to find something to put my flowers in. I didn’t have a vase or anything, so a plastic cup would have to do for now. “So, where are we going today?”

  He laughed and came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. I put my flowers in the cup and placed my hands on top of his on my stomach. I felt safe and secure in his arms like this. I leaned back against him and he pressed his lips to my ear.

  “It’s a surprise. Pack an overnight bag.” I turned quickly to look at him and he was grinning. He really did have something big planned. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he held me close, pressing me against the sink behind me.

  “And what if I say no?” I smirked and he leaned down to kiss my neck.

  “I will kidnap you,” he whispered against my skin and I shuddered. Did it make me a freak to kind of want that? I chose not to say that out loud though.

  “Well, we wouldn’t want that, would we?” I playfully pushed him off me and walked into my bedroom, hearing Justin following.

  He took a seat on my unmade bed as I grabbed a small duffle from the floor of my closet and sat it down next to him. I grabbed two shirts, a pair of jeans, and a sweater from my closet, bringing them over to fold them before putting them in the bag. It didn’t take long to grab a pair of underwear and my toiletry bag, adding them to the duffle.

  “Am I going to need anything else?” I asked Justin as he stood and grabbed my bag, zipping it up.

  “Nope, and if you do, we’ll go shopping for it.” He kissed me again before walking out of my bedroom with my bag. He was really eager about this trip. It made me that much more excited.

  Erica had left a little while ago to get some groceries. I told her I didn’t plan on being here when she got back, but I still wanted to let her know what I was doing. I got out my phone as I followed Justin out the door and to his car, and texted her to let her know I’d be gone until sometime tomorrow. It didn’t take a full minute for her reply to come in, and I waited until I was in the car and buckled up before looking at my phone.

  CALL MARCUS!

  I mentally groaned at the text and chose not to reply. I’d call Marcus later. I knew Erica meant well, but this was my time with Justin. I would text or call Marcus and tell him we could get together tomorrow when I got back. I did want to see him, but I wanted to put off telling him about Justin as long as possible. My phone vibrated again and I almost didn’t look at it. Erica was really going to start pissing me off if she didn’t stop. I sighed and looked down at my phone, wishing I hadn’t.

  It was from Marcus. Speak of the devil.

  I’m kind of busy today, but I do want to see you soon. I have something to tell you. Let me know when you can hang out.

  What would he have to tell me? I bet he was with Chad; that’s why he said he was busy. It didn’t matter, I guess. That gave me the clear to not feel completely terrible about not going to see him today.

  Tomorrow for sure. I’ll call you.

  I put my phone in my pocket, intending to keep it there the rest of my time with Justin. When his hand found my knee, I took it in mine and looked up at him as he drove.

  “Can I at least have a hint?” I leaned closer to him and gave him my best puppy dog eyes. “Please?” He just grinned and kept looking straight ahead.

  “Sure. It’s three hours away.” My eyes went wide and he laughed.

  “Seriously?” Where in the world would he be taking me that was three hours away?

  “Is that a problem?” I laughed and shrugged my shoulders, though he couldn’t see.

  “I don’t know. I’m not sure I can stand being in a car with you for that long.” I looked out my window, pretending I couldn’t care less when I heard him gasp. I turned around and he was looking very dramatic and upset.

  “I can’t believe you just said that!” I couldn’t hold in my laughter at his fake hysterics. It was just so out of character for him.

  “Oh, my God. Please don’t ever say that again.” We both laughed. Justin squeezed my hand and I leaned over to kiss his cheek.

  “I know you’re going to love it. Just trust me?” He glanced at me briefly before looking back at the road as he drove and I nodded, giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

  “I trust you.”

  three hours later, i was having so much fun; I couldn’t believe all that time had passed when he finally told me to keep my eyes open. I leaned forward in my seat and kept watching for signs, wondering where he would have taken me. I hadn’t paid attention for the whole trip, really.

  A few minutes of looking and I finally saw a sign for a place I recognized. We were heading for Waynesville, just a little northwest from where we lived. I was confused at first until I remembered what time of year it was.

  “You’re taking me to the Renaissance Festival?” He nodded and I squealed, leaning over to hug him even though he was driving. He laughed and I kept squeezing. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I have always wanted to go to this thing!”

  I kissed his cheek again before letting go and staring out of the windshield again, more anxious than I could remember being in a long time. Until it dawned on me—really dawned on me where we were.

  “Wait a second. This isn’t three hours away from home!” I looked over to see him laughing.

  “I was trying to make sure you didn’t figure out where we were going.”

  “So, you just drove around for three hours?” I was laughing now, too, but I was still shocked.

  “It wasn’t quite three hours. I wanted to really surprise you. A trip straight here would have been a dead giveaway.” He looked over and smiled at me.

  “I can’t believe you did this for me.” I was on the verge of tears. It was just so sweet.

  This was just another thing that seemed too small to be significant when we had our first date. I’d told him about my love for amusement parks and how I’d been to Adventureland so many times, I finally got a season pass every year.

  “I was hoping you’d like it. It just seemed up your alley,” Justin said as he pulled off on the exit toward the park where the festival was held. I bounced in my seat like a little kid. “Besides, I thought it would be nice to get away this weekend; even if it is only an hour away.”

  “I love it.” I really did love it. He was surprising me at every turn. I smiled over at him and he returned it just as he pulled into where the festival parking was and flashed a pass to go straight through. “You planned ahead.”

  “I always plan ahead, Hannah.”

  i groaned when i woke up, refusing to open my eyes. It had been a long time since I'd slept in the living room; I’d forgotten how damn bright it was in there. I brought my hands up to rub my eyes before thro
wing the blanket off me. As I sat up and stretched, I heard a soft giggling behind me. I turned around and there was Amy leaning forward against the back of the couch, her face very close to mine.

  “Good morning, sunshine. Hey, we match.” She grinned and looked pointedly down at my now exposed boxers and I had to laugh. They were the same as the ones she was wearing last night that I suspected she was still wearing though she was being blocked by the couch.

  “Good morning.” I couldn't help myself. I turned my head a little further and gently kissed her lips, which she returned. “How are you feeling?”

  “Pretty okay.” She smiled and ran her hands over my shoulders and then down my chest in a hug from behind. “Thanks for letting me stay last night. I'm sorry I was so much trouble.” I chuckled and caressed her arms with my hand as I looked at her.

  “You weren't any trouble at all. You found clothes to change into and a bed to sleep in all while I was putting the car in the garage.” She groaned like she was embarrassed because of it, so I tried to reassure her. “If anything, you're the best house guest I've had.” I didn't realize what it sounded like I could have been implying until after I said it, but she didn't seem to take it that way. At least, I hoped she didn't.

  “Good.” She planted a kiss on my cheek before letting go and walking back into the kitchen. “I hope you don't mind, but I sort of snooped through your kitchen and found some food to make.”

  I shook my head and stood up, no longer caring that I was in my boxers since Amy felt so comfortable here. I walked into the kitchen and was amazed I hadn't smelled it when I first woke up. I had other things on my mind, I guess. I should have thought of that before standing up, but it was too late now. Hopefully, Amy didn’t notice my morning wood until it was under control.

  I was pretty sure it was more boner than just morning wood. After the dreams I had about Amy last night, it would have meant something was seriously wrong with me sexually if I hadn’t woken up with a raging hard on. I quickly went to sit at the table to hide myself, grinning at the scene.