by Nicola Haken
“My dad? My dad bought a hooker to replace my mom?”
Oh fuck. Lord, take me now.
“Shit, Blaine, I’m sorry. I didn’t thi-”
Wait a minute… is he… laughing?
“Jesus, why doesn’t that surprise me one bit? Dirty old bastard! And as for Trudy… I always knew she was all caviar above the table and no freakin’ panties beneath it.”
“Blaine, this isn’t funny. Why aren’t you pissed off?” I asked in disbelief, trying desperately not to let his laugh infect me.
“Because I’m well aware what a prick my father is, lish. That isn’t news to me.” His statement and the look of hatred tinting his bright blue eyes took me by surprise and I knew there was far more to his relationship with his dad than he was willing to let on just yet.
“You said he ‘replaced’ your mum. What did you mean?”
“My mom died when I was five. Cancer of the something or other. Then my dad left me with my Aunt Mable for a few weeks while he went away on business and when he came back I had a new mom – Trudy.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“I’m over it. I mean, I miss her sometimes, I think. But then I don’t really remember her. I don’t blame Trudy. I don’t particularly like her but I don’t blame her. She never tried to be ‘Mom’ if you get me? And of course she gave us Kara, so I’ll always be grateful to her for that.”
“Seems like we’re both a pair of screw ups, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess we are,” he agreed with a faint laugh.
“I need to think about getting home. I’ve not checked in on my mum for a few hours and she doesn’t do too well being alone.”
“Sure thing, lish. I’ll grab my keys.”
“Oh no, I wasn’t hinting or anything. I’ll call a taxi.”
“Bullshit. I’m driving you,” he demanded and sounded all masculine and authoritative. It sent a delicious shiver down my spine and pooled between my legs.
“Yes, master,” I teased. Then he leaned in and gave me a long, lingering kiss filled with passion and need, before snatching himself away and laughing at my attempt to pout.
“Blaine?” I called when he disappeared into the grandiose hallway for his car keys.
“Yeah?”
“What does ‘lish’ mean?” He sauntered back into the room exuding an almost arrogant swagger.
“It’s my take on delicious. ‘Cause you are seriously the most delicious thing I’ve ever seen.” He smiled at me, a wicked, suggestive, stomach flipping smile. Then he bent towards me and briefly brushed his lips against mine. “And after kissing you, I can officially say you’re the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted too.”
After grinning and giggling like a brain-dead bimbo, I grabbed my rucksack off the floor and followed Blaine to his car.
Chapter Six
Blaine
I didn’t know what the hell that girl had done to me but I decided to stop obsessing over it and just damn well enjoy her. She’s so fucking beautiful – and the most magnificent part of that is she has absolutely no freakin’ idea. I could have stared into those rich brown eyes of hers forever, and I actually gave that a pretty good shot last night.
I still can’t believe she tried to scale my wall! In all honesty I feel pretty honoured that she needed to see me that badly. And ripping the piss out of her was just a fantastic bonus. But she gave as good as got and I love that about her.
Unable to stop reliving our time on the couch over and over in my head I set the shower to cold before jumping in, squealing like a damn girl and washing myself as quickly as possible. Damn she smelt good – like strawberries and vanilla. She tasted even better. Fuck, I was getting hard just thinking about her so I threw on the first clothes I came to before I had chance to do anything about it.
The weirdest part was, as much as I wanted to bury myself inside her and stay there till my dick shrivelled like a prune, when she asked me to hold her that was somehow all I needed. I wasn’t quite sure how to react at first – almost like it was some kind of test or something. I’d never just ‘held’ a girl before. But then, I’d never felt anything remotely close to what I felt for Maddie for anyone else before. I still didn’t understand it. I still didn’t think she deserved to get involved with my shit either.
But selfishly, I couldn’t seem to help myself.
I wanted to offer to ride her to school but realised I probably blew that right the minute I decided to act like a complete jerk. I couldn’t just expect her to drop Lori now I was prepared to start being nice to her again. Still I needed to hear her voice so I fished my cell from my jacket pocket on my bed and tapped ‘Lish’.
Damn. It went straight to voicemail.
Morning Lish. Just tried to call. Hope ur just busy n everything’s ok. I’m so glad u came round yesterday. I had a great time. B xxx
I hovered my finger over the send icon and then deleted the whole damn thing after re-reading it and realising I was one more soppy line away from sprouting a vagina. I mean, three kisses? Seriously, Blaine? Resigning myself to having to wait until school to hear her sweet, fucked-up accent, I pulled on my black Converse and headed straight out without bothering to grab breakfast.
“You piss the bed, man?” Jason hollered when I clambered out of my car. I glanced at my watch - 08:15 am. Yep, that was officially the earliest I had ever arrived at school. “So where the hell did you get to yesterday?” he questioned as I drew nearer. “And what the fuck did Scott’s nose do to offend you?”
“What is this, twenty freakin’ questions?”
“Jesus, man, who pissed in your cornflakes this mornin’?”
“He’s a dick, Jase. He had it coming. Want one?” I said, tilting my open cigarette packet his way.
“Nah, I’m good. Coach said it could affect the way I play,” he declined, shrugging. I took one out for myself and strummed the flint of my lighter, dragging in some well-needed nicotine.
“Fuck, bro, why don’t you just let Coach cut your balls off and have done with it?”
“I wouldn’t let your dad catch you talking like that, man. You know he’d flip his lid if he knew you skipped practice yesterday.” Just thinking about him sent a nasty shiver down my spine.
“Yeah well he ain’t fucking here is he?” I snapped, discreetly scanning the parking lot for any signs of Maddie. I contemplated ringing her again but decided against it, fearing I’d look desperate – which I totally was.
My heart did this weird fluttering thing, throbbing so fast it almost hurt, when I caught sight of Lori’s blue Mini Cooper circling the lot. She put the car in park two spaces down from mine and I walked as casually as my ridiculously excited body would allow over to her.
The passenger seat was empty.
I’ve scared her away…
“Where is she?” I barked at Lori, opening her car door.
“Man handling my property isn’t going to get me to talk to you!”
“Stop pissing around, Lori, where is she? Where’s Maddie?” Her face twisted into some kind of confused/worried/freaked-out expression. I restrained my hands in the pockets of my jeans to stop me strangling Maddie’s whereabouts from her.
“She’s at home. She called me this morning telling me not to bother coming because she didn’t feel well.”
“Not well? She seemed fine last night.”
“She got hold of you then? You weren’t in when I left her.”
“Um, yeah, she caught me for a few minutes.” I shrugged indifferently – even though I was anything but.
“I’m not buying it though. Her being sick I mean.” Lori leaned in and stood on her tiptoes, trying but failing to level her tiny five feet with my six foot two. “Her mom’s not… right, if you know what I mean? I’m worried something’s gone down with her and now Maddie’s having to deal with it all on her own,” she whispered up at me after scanning the immediate grounds for eavesdroppers.
“I offered to go round but she made me promise I wouldn’t. If
anything that just made me more suspicious. So now I don’t know what to do.”
“Leave it with me,” I said heading straight for my car.
“Oh no, wait! Blaine she can’t know I’ve told you. She’ll hate me, you don’t even like each other!”
“Oh, she likes me alright, Lori,” I teased with a wink, leaving her looking more confused than when she arrived.
“Wait, what?” I ignored her, clicking open the Lambo and concentrating solely on getting to Maddie. “Hey! Blaine! What do you mean she likes you?” Then I slammed my door and sped off.
I was chewing on my heart by the time I got to Maddie’s house. I knocked on the door and got no answer so I knocked a little harder and still… nothing.
“Maddie? You in there?” I shouted against the door.
Nothing.
I tried the handle and the door swung open so I strolled in without even considering the idea that it could be considered trespassing. Hell, she was scaling my wall less than twenty-four hours ago. The living room was empty, as was the kitchen.
“Lish?”
God knows why but this house was freaking me the hell out. I ambled over to the doors which I assumed led to the bedrooms. Choking on the smell of cat’s piss, I opened the first door I came to.
Maddie was lay on the bed with her arms wrapped around her mom, rocking her back and forth and singing in her ear.
“What are you doing here?” Shit, she seemed pissed.
“I was worried about you. Lori said you were sick.” I risked a look at her mom. Her eyes were wide open and staring blankly into nothingness. She had what looked like dirt smeared on her face and she was humming along to whatever Maddie was singing before she saw me.
“Go wait in the living room. I’ll be out in a few minutes,” she said firmly, but then the hard line of her lips melted into a smile, relaxing me instantly. I nodded and did as she asked.
Seeing the reality of Maddie’s situation hit me like slamming into a brick wall. She shouldn’t have to deal with this shit on her own. I started to wonder why the hell Trudy hadn’t done more to help – paid for some kind of private clinic or something. If she was Annie’s best friend, she must have known that she had… issues.
I waited anxiously for just over twenty minutes before Maddie joined me in the living room. Her face was void of all emotion and I couldn’t gauge if I was in for a hug or a rollicking.
“You shouldn’t have come, Blaine. I told Lori I was fine.”
“No, you told Lori a croc of shit. But you don’t have to pretend with me, lish. I’m here for you.” I opened my arms, half expecting her to ignore me, but then she fell eagerly into them and I wrapped myself around her as tight as I could.
“You still shouldn’t have come… but I’m glad you did.” I held her for an immeasurable length of time, deciding I wouldn’t let her go until she broke away. I kissed her hair before burying my face in it and inhaling the scent of fresh strawberries.
“I’ve never seen her this bad before. I’m scared, Blaine.” Maddie’s voice cracked as she pulled away from me.
“Tell me what happened, lish.” I took her hand and led her over to the brown couch. I leaned back into the tattered cushions and Maddie lay down with her feet dangling off the edge and her head resting on my knee.
“I heard weird noises coming from outside about four o’clock this morning. Thinking it was a burglar or something I grabbed the lamp off my bedside table and-”
“A lamp? So what, you was gonna shine him to death?” I couldn’t help but laugh as an image of Maddie donning a cape and bright red panties over her jeans and wielding a table lamp ran through my mind.
“Fuck off, Blaine,” she said, trying to sound angry as she slapped my shoulder and then huffing as her involuntary smile betrayed her. “So anyway, I looked through the window first and then I saw my mum. She was in her nightie, digging through the dirt with her bare hands. When I ran out and spoke to her she didn’t even look up – it was like she couldn’t even hear me. It’s only when I started shaking shit out of her she finally looked at me.
“She said she needed her car keys – my mum can’t even drive - that she definitely buried them there and now she couldn’t find them. Then she kept banging on how she had to get me home before my mum got back – like she didn’t even know who she was anymore. She wouldn’t listen to anything I said – I’m sure she couldn’t even hear me. So I told her the car keys were inside and that my mum called and said she wouldn’t be back till tomorrow so I could stay with her a little longer. I didn’t know what else to do.
“That was when she agreed to come inside and I just held her until she fell asleep.”
“You should’ve called me. I’d have been here in minutes. You shouldn’t have to deal with this on your own.”
“This isn’t your problem, Blaine. We barely know each other and I guess I’m kind of embarrassed that you’ve had to see this side of me so soon.”
“Don’t you dare,” I snapped, cupping her face in my hands so she couldn’t look away from me. “I don’t ever want you to be embarrassed with me, you hear? I might just be getting to know you, but I want to know all of you. I want to be there for you through everything. I mean it, Maddie – I don’t want you to think you’re alone anymore.”
The weirdest part of that whole speech was that I meant every single word. I’d never given a crap about anyone’s problems before but suddenly it seemed like the only reason I was still breathing was to keep Maddie safe.
“Who knew the brooding tattooed kickerback could be so sweet?” she said with a loveable smile as she twiddled with the buttons on my shirt. I smiled back, a huge beaming grin so wide it made my jaw ache.
“You know there’s no such thing as a kickerback right?”
“Really? You’re some kind of ‘backer’ though, aren’t you?”
“You seriously are like no one I’ve ever met before. I’m the quarterback, lish. And I swear you must be the first girl I’ve ever met who hasn’t drooled over that fact.”
“That’s because you don’t play proper football. There should be goalies and midfielders… and from what I’ve seen of you American’s on the telly your foot doesn’t even touch the ball, so how the hell can you call it ‘football’?”
“Us American’s, huh?” Christ, she’s adorable. “You’re so cute, lish.” Instinctively I lowered my head and fixed my lips to hers, brushing my tongue across her lower lip before giving it a quick nibble. She left out a soft, hungry moan and for a second I expected to see her head being pushed off my knee by the conking great hard-on taking over my pants.
I teased her nipples through her shirt before cupping those perfect tits of hers in my hands. It was like they were made just for me the way they moulded into my palms – the perfect handful. Then I pulled her up so she was straddling me and thrust my tongue into her mouth, lapping up the taste of something sweet which I couldn’t place.
I sighed heavily as she popped open the buttons on my white shirt and smoothed her fingers across my chest before rubbing the pads of her tiny thumbs over my nipples. This was usually the point where her hands would wander to my back and I mentally braced myself, deciding I wouldn’t push her away again. I could do this. I could let somebody in. I could let her in.
But the touch never came, and I wondered if this was a conscious decision on her part because she knew how I’d react.
Maddie pulled back first and settled herself back down so she was once again lying in my lap. Then I leaned down and kissed the tip of her cute little button nose before broaching the idea that had been bouncing around in my head before I distracted myself by kissing her.
“I’m gonna suggest something and I don’t want you to think I’m stepping out of line,” I said, curling her chocolaty hair around my fingers.
“Okaaaay?”
“Let me call Trudy and tell her about your mom. She-”
“I don’t think-”
“Shh, let me finish. She’ll be a
ble to arrange a doctor to come and assess her. A good one – a specialist. I know you’re scared, Maddie, but what happened last night isn’t normal. She’s sick, lish. She could be a danger to herself… or to you.”
“My mum would never hurt me,” she retorted, offended. “I can take care of her, Blaine. I’ve done a good enough job up to now and I can keep doing it. She needs me, not some shrink.”
“I didn’t mean to upset you, but like you said you’ve never seen her this bad before. Promise me you’ll think about it, Maddie.”
“Maybe,” she replied grudgingly. She’s so wonderfully stubborn.
We spent the next few hours snuggled up together on the couch. We laughed, we kissed and we played twenty questions. I was the answerer and I had originally chosen the word ‘marble’ for her to guess but then, being the child that I was, I changed it when she asked the question ‘can I put it in my mouth?’
At one point she fell asleep on my lap and I stroked the back of my thumb down her cheek and found myself shushing her. I marvelled at just how pretty she was, my eyes absorbing every visible inch of her milky-white skin, her feathery soft lips, her naturally pink cheeks…
How the hell could someone so fucking amazing be interested in me? Me? Not just my body (although I liked to think she was fairly keen on that), not my popularity or my football position (which I was certain she genuinely couldn’t give two flying fucks about), but just me.
“You should go before my mum wakes up. She doesn’t really know you, it might freak her out.”
“I can’t leave you.” In that moment I didn’t want to ever leave her again. Hell, I was even considering asking to come hold my dick while I went to take a piss. “You might need me.”
“Then I’ll call you. I’ll be fine, Blaine. I always am.” I stared at her in awe. She was so brave, so mature, so selfless – everything I wasn’t.
“Promise? I mean it, lish, promise you’ll call me if you need me. Or even if you just want me. If you fancy talking about the weather – just call me and I’ll be here.”