"Amelia, you know his reputation around town is more than that. He is known to...sleep around and drink and who knows what else––drugs! He's not a good Catholic boy. He will take you and corrupt your mind. He isn't the one for you," she pleads, the vein in her neck ready to explode.
"I can date who I want. You and Dad said it yourselves. I fully plan on dating Todd as often and for as long as we both want. Get used to it, because as long as I'm in town he's coming to Sunday dinners," I forcefully tell her with a courage I never knew I had.
She breathes heavily, her nostrils flaring. "You are not to be home later than midnight," she demands. "This isn't done."
I roll my eyes and start to walk away. "Fine." I give in to her last command to put an end to the absurd conversation.
"I'm serious," she quietly says behind me. "Be home before midnight. Always," she commands in an evil whisper.
I ignore her and shut myself in my room. Once my anger subsides and I settle in my contrasting plum purple sheets, I let the entire night sink in. I've never felt so alive and...primal in my life. I liked every bit of spending time with––and touching––Todd. I fall asleep with a smile on my face, despite my mother’s objections.
27
–– Todd ––
I follow Becky up the winding staircase, admiring the ridiculously massive chandelier that hangs down in the middle of the overly-spacious entryway. She hasn't even pestered me, or questioned why I ran out on her last week, or more importantly, why I'm even back here with her.
When I hit her up on my lunch break today, I felt dirty. I keep going back and forth on whether or not I should see her at all. Last night with Amelia was incredible. From start to finish––especially the finish. It was epic. I need to buy new black jeans now, but I would buy a million pairs just to be able to touch her and make her feel good again. I haven't stopped thinking about her all day, which is actually the reason why I finally decided to come hook up with Becky. Amelia made it clear that it was a fake-date, but then she practically glowed when I told her we'd be kissing again. Frequently. What really scared me was how I felt when she said, "fake-date." Nothing about that night was fake for me. It was completely genuine, so her comment hurt a lot more than it probably should have. If Amelia really believed that this whole thing between us is fake, then I need to get rid of these feelings for her. What better way to do that than to screw someone else? ...Right? Now that I’m in this house and Becky is in front of me, I’m not so sure anymore.
"Todd? Hello? Earth to Todd?" Becky looks at me amused before whipping her head making her blonde hair fall behind her shoulder.
"Uh, what? Sorry," I stammer, after I realize that I'm already in her room and she's got her top off. She releases the clasp of her bra and lets her breasts fall out. She giggles at my response, which is basically utter confusion.
"I asked you how do you want me? On top? On bottom? From behind again?"
She strolls up to me and wraps her arms around my neck. All I can do is stare in a daze. She rolls her eyes and mashes her lips against mine, slithering her tongue along mine. I squeeze my eyes closed hoping that it will feel somewhat nice but it doesn't. It feels dirty. And wrong. I'm not hot for her at all right now. It's like my dick turned itself off somehow. I pull away from her mouth, but she keeps her arms around my neck. Her bare tits are up against me, but I just can't stop thinking about Amelia's sparkling brown eyes and how I wish it was her looking up at me.
I unlock her arms and step backwards. Becky's head tilts to the side like a confused dog's and I don't blame her. I'm acting weird as hell. "I'm sorry," I tell her, still a little confused myself. "I don't think I can do this. I mean it. Sorry for wasting your time."
"Wait, what? What's going on with you? Why are you leaving again?" She asks as I'm opening her door. "We can just watch a movie and chill or go get something to eat."
"No, I can't. I'm sorry. I have to go...I'm not...feeling well," I lie so she’ll let me go.
"Oh, well why didn't you just say that? Call me tomorrow. I can bring you soup," she tells me endearingly, as she stands, still bare-chested, watching me descend the steps.
"No, that's okay. Bye." I give a wave without looking back.
Once I'm outside, I hop on my bike. Maybe driving around will clear my mind at least a little. I zoom up and down the winding roads near the mountainside. I speed back to the city and over the freeway and railroad tracks.
After almost an hour of driving, I conclude: I want Amelia. Not just her body like I do––did––with Becky, but I want all of her. I have feelings for her that I’ve never felt before. I'm not sure how feelings work or what I'm supposed to do with them, but I know that I have them. I also know that I'm confused, even more than I was before.
My boss, Roger, lets me take off work an hour early. I get a haircut, but keep the scruff, and manage a quick shower before I need to meet Amelia at the photo studio. She's picking the date tonight and although I'm curious, I'm also nervous as hell. We haven't talked at all other than a fake-date confirmation earlier this morning. I hope she doesn't regret anything. I'm going to start treating her the way she deserves to be treated. Well, for as long as we continue to fake-date.
"Hey, you're here!" She announces excitedly then visibly winces, no doubt cursing herself for seeming over-eager. It makes me laugh. "Sorry, that was..." she drifts off, subtly blushing.
"I am here," I confirm through a smile.
"Wow, your hair looks great," she comments. She looks me up and down, surveying me even though I'm not wearing anything special.
"Thanks, Sweet Cheeks. You ready to go?" I ask, because she can't seem to stop staring at me. I can't blame her since I'm not ready to stop looking at her. Her long brown hair is half up in a clip. She's wearing a red pencil skirt with classic black Converse and a black and red baseball shirt. And, of course, her black-rimmed glasses that make her eyes seem even bigger than they already are. She turns around and leans across the desk to grab her purse and the sight of her ass bent over is almost enough to make me hard.
"I am now," she completes, throwing her large mustard colored purse, with her camera strap hanging out, on her shoulder. She smiles brightly and I swear I can see the sun in her eyes. Walking away from Becky last night was the best thing I have ever done. In fact, Becky who? I smile and grab her hand.
I kiss her temple and murmur, "I hope you have the best date ever planned because I don't think anything can top our last date. You have big shoes to fill, Sweet Cheeks."
She laughs and retorts, "Just you wait and see." She wiggles her eyebrows up and down suggestively.
I bite my bottom lip and groan frustratingly. She laughs as I open the driver’s side car door for her. Right before she gets in, I slap her ass playfully and tell her, "Your ass looks perfect in this skirt. You look beautiful." She turns red. I grin, satisfied that I have that effect on her.
I hop in the passenger’s seat, eager to just be in a confined space with her. I'm really losing my mind. I feel like a young teenager all over again. "So, you're not going to tell me where we're going? Again?" I grin over at her.
"Just enjoy the ride, Bartlett," she commands and I can't help but let out a loud laugh.
"Bartlett? You're calling me Bartlett now?" I ask through laughs.
"If you get to call me Sweet Cheeks, then I can call you Bartlett," she retorts, also between giggles.
"Fair enough. As long as it's my name your screaming when it really counts," I spew out without realizing what I'm insinuating until it’s too late. We both become suddenly dead silent. "Uh...um," I stammer awkwardly trying to recover from the dirty comment so I don't piss her off. I look over at her, expecting to get daggers in return, but she's staring straight at the road, biting her lip fiercely, with her face as red as an apple.
After a moment of awkward silence stewing she says, "Oh, here, I'll put on some music." She pushes a few buttons on her phone that's connected to the speaker system. Some guy starts singing and af
ter a minute, I furrow my eyebrows.
"What is this? Country music?" The tunes are catchy, but there's a violin or a banjo or something in there, and the pace is a little too slow to be rock 'n' roll. But it's not twangy, either. I look over at her curiously, but also genuinely afraid that my girlfriend of a couple weeks listens to country music, which would mean I'd have to listen to country music with her. I might even have to learn to line dance and take her line dancing. Wait, wait, wait––fake girlfriend. Fake girlfriend.
"I've never seen you look so confused," she comments, breaking me from my over-thinking. She chuckles. "It's not country. It's The Lumineers. I guess they can sort of be seen as some type of indie, country, folk band, but it's actually called heartland music. It's sort of like country, but not at all." She looks over at me and my face hasn't moved at all. I'm still just as confused as I was before. She chuckles. "Heartland not country. They're a great band. They're good storytellers. I don't know, I like them." She shrugs her shoulders, becoming self-conscious. "You can change it if you'd like."
"No, no, I want to hear it," I tell her convincingly and move to turn up the volume slightly. We sit for a while listening to the guy wailing, and the songs are surprisingly...tragic, but at the same time sort of upbeat and catchy. It's not as bad as I thought it'd be. After listening intently to the lyrics of the songs, I take notice of where we are.
I look out the window and although it is dark, I can see pine trees and rocks lining the winding road that's leading us up a small mountain. I take a deep breath, because even with the windows up, I can still smell the fresh air and scent of pines. She could just drive us around for a couple hours and I'd be happy with that as a date. I look over at her and she's mouthing the words to the song playing. “It’s not the words you say but how you say it...” Her brown eyes are telling the story of the song, slightly watery but shining brightly at the same time. She's focused completely on the words and the road. God, she's beautiful.
"I know where we're going," I tell her. She's in such a trance that she jumps, forgetting I’m even in the car. I chuckle. "The music is good, by the way. You were right––not twang or country at all."
She puts her hand on her heart and sighs. "I love it so much. I can't stop listening to it."
"I know where you're taking me," I repeat. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were trying to seduce me," I accuse. She gasps.
"I'm not trying to seduce anybody," she lies through a telling smile. "So, you figured it out? Where are we going, Bartlett?" She glances over at me, biting her bottom lip as she smiles. I want to groan and bite the other side of her lip, but last time I distracted her while she was driving, we could have died, so I curb my desire. Instead I give her a cocky smile.
"You're taking me to the planetarium," I state. Her smile tells me that I'm right. "Well, it's either the planetarium or you've come to the mountains to kill me and hide my body. Please tell me it's the planetarium. I'm too young to die. Plus, I haven't even seen you naked yet." I look at her with raised eyebrows and her jaw drops. If it wasn't so dark in the car I'm sure I'd see her blushing. She lifts her jaw, but I can see her chest rising up and down faster than normal.
"It's not too late for me to change my mind," she warns unconvincingly as we pull into the large parking lot. It's practically empty since it closes pretty early, even for a Saturday. I guess we're going to have another power trip through the planetarium just like the aquarium visit. Something flops in my chest and I'm pretty sure it just fluttered at the realization that the night of the aquarium is one of the best nights I've had in years. Plus, I got to touch Amelia, so that made it even better. Once we're parked I get out of the car and run around to open the door for Amelia. I help her out, and after closing the door I grab her hips and push her against the car. Her breathing picks up as her hands roam up my arms and take hold of my shoulders. I press myself against her. Just feeling her body soft and warm against mine is enough to make me need to adjust myself. I inch closer to her so our faces are only a few inches apart. It's cold out up here in the mountains, and I can see her breath floating out of her and tangling together with mine as it rises and disappears.
"You have the sexiest, softest, most delicious bow-tie lips," I confess, my voice coming out low and serious. Our lips meet each other half way and I immediately suck on her bottom lip causing her to inhale sharply. She responds by lacing her fingers through my hair and tugs. I groan and pin her firmly against the car so she can feel my hardness. When we come up for air we're both panting. "You're lucky you're wrapped up in this jacket or I'd find it really hard to tear myself away from you. We might not ever leave the parking lot." We smile, looking at each other. I can't help but hope that she's thinking the same thing as I am: This could be real. This is real.
I grab her hand, but not before kissing her forehead and saying, "Lets go, I have some planets to go look at."
28
–– Amelia ––
Everything about him makes my insides turn to goo. The way his eyes brightened when he realized we were coming to the planetarium made my heart flutter. He loved the aquarium, but I was still so nervous that he would think this is lame. Knowing that I put this smile on his face, that I brought him the excitement that's causing him to walk so fast he’s practically dragging me along, makes everything in me bloom with warm fuzzies. Not to mention that kiss has me feeling like this is real. Like, really real. Like, I'm thinking of him as a boyfriend and not a fake-boyfriend. They're dangerous thoughts, I know, but he's been so sincere lately that I do have hope. A few weeks ago we couldn't stand each other, and now I want to jump his bones and give him all of me. I have never had dirtier thoughts in my life than I have had in the last week. My body is in overdrive. Every time he touches me, my body pulses.
"Amelia! Come on, come on, come on," he rapidly fires off like a little kid, pulling me by the hand. I snap out of my thoughts and quicken my pace.
The planetarium sits high on the mountain, and from the city, you can barely make it out on a clear day. We walk through the huge metal doors and are absorbed into a vast open space with light granite floors and people milling about. A winding, black metal staircase greets us in the middle of the lobby. It always reminds me of Jurassic Park in a way. To the left and right of us are large patios with numerous telescopes set up. Behind the staircase is the theater where you can lie back in the seat and watch a laser show play on the ceiling. I glance up at Todd since we've come to a dead stop. His gold eyes are big and full of wonder like a kid on overload.
"Wait a second." I tug his hand so he looks at me. "Have you never been here before?"
"Nope. Not even on a school field trip. Which way do we go first––left or right?"
I chuckle because he's so antsy it's completely endearing. "Left, right, up, and then to the laser show."
"Laser show?" His jaw drops and his eyes grow two sizes. I laugh.
"Yes! It's the coolest thing ever, but first let's go look through the telescopes outside," I say, starting to walk and now dragging him as he takes in the walls around us that are filled with constellations of LED lights.
As soon as I open the giant glass doors to the patio, I immediately regret it. I wasn't thinking how cold it would be since we're up higher on the mountain. I shiver and Todd puts his arm around me, pulling me close to his side. I'm impressed that he even noticed since his eyes are all over the sky and the city lights.
"Everything looks so awesome from up here. I could never get sick of this view. And look at how many stars you can see up here!" He points to the sky and is blown away at how different the sky looks up here versus down in the city. I nod my head in agreement.
"It's really beautiful. Oh, hey," I say, pointing to the telescope. "Let's go check out that telescope. They set them up differently every night so you can see different things."
We walk over and learn that it's pointed at the moon. Todd leans down and his first words are, "No way!" His arm somehow finds its way to my hips w
ithout him tearing his eyes away from the moon. “Baby, come look at this. You're going to love this, Amelia. It's amazing!"
My heart does about three dozen somersaults when I hear him call me “Baby.” I could drown in his voice, it's so insanely sexy. He looks up at me and must notice that I'm turned on because an evil grin sneaks up on his face. He pulls me in front of him so I can bend over and look at the bright full moon. I peer into the scope and feel his hands grope my ass. So that's what the evil grin was about. I bite my smile and then stand up straight. I look at him with one eyebrow raised. He shrugs, but keeps the grin on his face.
"Come on, let's go look at the other side," I tell him, nodding my head toward the inside.
"Okay, Amelia, but no more grabbing my ass. I know how much you love it, but please control yourself. We're in public," He teases me loud enough for a few people around us to hear.
"What?" My face turns bright red. "He's kidding everyone," I notify nobody in particular. They all just keep walking. I look at him and shake my head. "My mother was right, you are nothing but trouble."
"Mmm, Baby, you have no idea," he whispers into my ear, effectively making me hot from my toes to my head. He nibbles the bottom of my ear, causing me to shiver and my nipples to harden. I could never grow tired of this.
After we look on the other side of the patio, we make our way up the wrought iron staircase and into the dome of the planetarium. Even though the dome is closed for the night we still get to see the massive telescope and the area where the astronomers do their work. It's all fun and exactly how I've always remembered it since I was a kid. Being able to see Todd's animated face from seeing everything for the first time has made this date even better than the aquarium.
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