Time? “I have no idea.”
“Early afternoon? Late morning?”
I can’t even fucking think straight right now. “Either.”
“Okay.” He heads for the stairs. “I’ll see you later.”
I wait until I hear him go down the stairs and out the front door before going into my apartment. Suddenly, I’m much lighter than I was earlier and I can’t wipe the grin off of my face.
Cole Harper kissed me!
I want to laugh and giggle and travel back in time to my fifteen-year-old self and tell her not to despair, but that’s kind of ridiculous.
Still, I can’t believe Cole Harper kissed me and for just one moment, everything felt like it’s going to be okay.
I wander into the kitchen and put the gift bag on the counter and flip the switch at the back of the Keurig before finding the chamomile tea. While I’m waiting for the water to heat, I decide to take the stuff out of the bag. Cole isn’t the only one wondering what’s in the box
Stephany spared no expense. Not that I’ve spent much time shopping for sex toys and personal pleasure items, but I’ve been in the stores enough to buy gag gifts for friends that I know what ever is in this box was not cheap. And she got the same thing for everyone?
I lift the lid and just stare at it. “What’s this?” I’ve never seen anything like it and have to read the instructions. Oh my God! It’s an oral sex simulator. Really? They make these? I really need to get out more.
Does it really feel like the real thing? “No, it can’t.” Not that I’ve had that much experience. My past relationships rarely went south, much to my disappointment.
I shove it aside, grab my tea, and wander to my room. Earlier I was in the mood and would have been happy with the lipstick. That desire was killed when Cole started asking about Nana. Now, all I want to do is get into comfy pajamas, crawl in bed, drink my tea, go to sleep and forget for a while.
She’s got to be here. Her car’s parked out front.
Is she still asleep? It’s one in the afternoon. Then again, I didn’t bring her home until around six in the morning. Maybe she didn’t go to bed right away. I know I had a hard time getting to sleep. It was a combination of the coffee, worrying about Jenna’s future with her grandma, and wishing Jenna was in bed with me and we were playing with the new toys.
I probably tossed and turned for a good hour before I slept.
Damn, she can sure kiss. It’s not that it was passionate, but I could have stood there all morning just kissing her. I probably could have done more, maybe even ended up in her bed, but the time isn’t right. I’m not sure where her head’s at. Mutual, sexual desire is great, but I pass on having casual sex just because the mood strikes me and the girl is willing. It has to be more and until I know exactly what is happening between the two of us, I’ll be happy with kisses.
Not that it’s easy. Hell, I have a hard on half the time when I’m with her and last night was no exception. Thank God the bars were dark enough that nobody would notice. And at the truck stop, the table hid it. It’s my own fault for even talking about the toys with her, but how could I not when she’s so easily embarrassed?
I chuckle and knock for about the fifth time in the last five minutes.
Why didn’t I get her number? I gave her mine but I didn’t think to get hers.
Did she go somewhere with someone else?
Maybe I should have buzzed at the front door. But, the front was unlocked so I just came in.
If she doesn’t answer soon, I’ll go down and buzz. Or, maybe I should just come back later. If she’s sleeping this late she probably needs it.
I knock one last time and just as I’m about to turn away I hear her call. “Just a minute.”
She didn’t sound like she was asleep. Maybe she just didn’t hear before.
The door jerks open and her eyes go wide. “You’re here!”
She certainly wasn’t expecting me. Standing before me is the very delectable sight of Jenna wrapped in nothing but a towel with her dark, damp curly hair falling to her shoulders. “Shower?”
“Yeah.” She opens the door further so I can come inside. “I was trying to dry my hair.”
She scampers down the hall and I watch, hoping the towel edges up just a bit more. It barely covers that glorious ass as it is.
“Get coffee, relax, I’ll be out in a bit,” she calls just before shutting the door.
And, I’m back to being uncomfortable with too tight jeans. They fit perfectly fine before. Now I just want to get out of them and join her in her current state of undress and explore what is hidden beneath that towel.
Jenna basically told me to make myself at home so I go into her kitchen and pull out her basket of beverages and make a cup of coffee. Strewn across the counter are the items from the gift bags. I check out what’s in the box because I never looked in mine.
“This is odd. What’s it do?” I’ve never seen one and need to read the card.
“Well, damn. At this rate, guys will be obsolete.” Girls can already get a baby from a lab and some guy willing to give up his sperm without interaction. Now there seems to be a device for every type of orgasm she might want. Disgusted, or maybe I’m just threatened, I push it aside and grab my cup of coffee. “What is a guy needed for anymore?”
“Arms.”
I jerk and turn to find Jenna coming into the kitchen. She’s put on a pair of jeans and a tight t-shirt. Not that it’s all that tight, but her breasts certainly fill it out nicely. “Arms?”
“Once something is invented with a heartbeat and can hold you, the male race may no longer be needed.”
I find myself grinning. “Arms.” I set my cup down and hold out mine. “I’ve got two strong ones for you.”
She just chuckles and grabs a cup from the cupboard.
So, she doesn’t want a hug or to be held. I tried. “So, what do you want to take over first?”
“The books I think. Once they’re out of here, I’ll be able to get a better idea of what’s left.”
I was afraid that’s what she’d say. Not that I’m not willing to haul all those boxes down the stairs and out to my truck, it isn’t exactly the highlight of my day either.
She starts shoving the stuff from last night back into the bag and sets it by the garbage.
“You aren’t getting rid of that stuff are you?”
“I can’t take it to Nana’s.”
“Why? It’s not like she’ll know.”
Her face is turning red again. “I doubt she’ll even know what any of that stuff is, but I had a nightmare of coming home and seeing her in the rocker sucking on this.” She holds up a penis sucker.
I can’t help it and laugh. It is a rather disturbing sight.
“I’m sure when you were in high school you had places you hid stuff.”
Jenna shrugs. “Not really. I was a pretty boring kid.”
“You can’t tell me that with all the books you read there weren’t some naughty ones too.”
Pink stains her cheeks. “Well, there is a shelf at the back of the closet, behind the clothes.”
Nineteen
“Those!” Nana points to the boxes. “Out!” She points to the front door.
“Where do you want me to put them?” Nana began having a fit when I started bringing my boxes into the house. As they won’t fit in my room right now, I put them in Grandpa’s old office. I could easily turn this room into a library. All it has is a small desk with a handful of Nana’s favorite books and comfortable chair. Maybe Dylan will build me shelves for each of the walls. There’s more room for shelves in here than I had in my apartment and there’s still plenty of windows. It could be a cozy room to curl up and read in.
As I’m going to be living here too, and it was my home growing up, why can’t I make a little corner mine, besides my bedroom, that is? I need a place to work anyway and the desk is perfect. Her computer takes up most the space right now, but it’s an old desktop unit, purchased something lik
e ten years ago and covered in dust. It probably doesn’t even work.
I’d ask Nana, but I doubt she’d understand, or remember. When I started work on my masters, she suggested I move back when my education was complete and use this room too, but I wanted nothing permanent here. I was ready to be out on my own and my books being on shelves in Nana’s house was kind of like her holding them hostage so I would move back once my education was complete.
Why had I been so stubborn? Why didn’t I move back when I could instead of insisting on independence? So much time lost. Time with Nana I’ll never get back. Memories I’ll never have.
“Out.”
“Nana, remember, I have to move in. This is my stuff.”
She just sighs and stomps away.
Cole shrugs and leaves to get more boxes. Thank goodness he’s here and helping me move. I would have had to rent a truck and pay someone to haul all of them because some of them are way too heavy for me. Cole barely strains under the weight. He took them out of my apartment, down the stairs and now bringing them in Nana’s house.
For now, the boxes of books are stacked against the wall. They’ll probably remain there until I get shelves, but it’s better than the alternative. I can’t bring myself to sell them and I’m not about to put them in storage. Everything going into storage – furniture, dishes, small appliances, and stuff like that are things I’m not attached to. If something happens, they can be replaced. The books are an entirely different matter. As are the family photos and keepsakes, which are still back at my apartment. I’ll have to make a space in my room, or maybe a spot in the attic before they come over.
“That’s it,” Cole says as he stretches.
Nana grabs his hand and drags him into the kitchen and then the garage. “That.” She points to the car.
“Sure thing, Mrs. Ferguson.”
I owe him big. I’m just not sure I’ll ever be able to repay him.
I should have known I couldn’t sneak out without working on the car again. Not that I want to sneak away. Not as long as Jenna is still here.
Like I did last time, I check my watch, raise the hood, look things over, and then wander around the garage. There’s more stuff in here than there was last time. For a garage it’s fairly clean. Just the car and some gardening stuff on a shelf, garbage cans, and the sacks of clothing. They don’t even have a lawn mower.
She probably pays some neighborhood kid to mow it for her.
I check the time again. It’s only been ten minutes. Does Nana even have a sense of time?
Probably not, and it’s worth the risk.
I shut the hood and go back into the house. She’s standing at the sink.
“Sorry, Mrs. Ferguson. I can’t make it work.”
She purses her lips in a frown, turns and stomps off. The only thing I hear her say is, “idiot”.
Jenna’s not in the kitchen so I go back into the living room, through the dining room, but she isn’t there either, nor in the room where we put her books. I’m sure she didn’t leave. I keep looking until I’ve made a full circle of the first floor and stop at the stairs. Someone is moving around up there and I find her in a bedroom. It was probably hers as a kid. All pink and ruffled and kind of surprising. She didn’t strike me as the ruffle type of girl. Her apartment isn’t that way. But she probably hasn’t lived her since high school.
“Hey.”
She jumps and turns. I guess she didn’t hear me while she was putting her things in a box.
“I need to get this stuff out of here, if you don’t mind.”
“Sure.” I look into the box. It holds yearbooks, photos, a few stuffed animals. “You’re not throwing it away are you?”
She shrugs. “I haven’t needed it since I moved out.”
I pull the yearbook out from our senior year. “These are memories.”
“Some of us have better high school memories than others,” she says dryly.
“You didn’t enjoy school?” I know she was quiet and all, but as smart as she was, I didn’t think she would dislike it.
“High school is better suited for the social, which was not me.”
The prom picture is on a top shelf and I take it down. “You were social here.”
She rolls her eyes and takes it from me, putting it in the box. “I didn’t say two words that night. You probably didn’t even know I existed until I showed up as Dylan’s date.”
“That is not true.” Did she really think I didn’t know who she was? I know Dylan said she had a crush, but the more I thought about it, I decided he was making it up.
“Really?” She turns around, hands on her hips, facing me. “Name one time you remember even seeing me in school.”
That is easy. “In the library, with your nose in a book. In the atrium, with a nose in a book. In the cafeteria, with your nose in a book if you and Alyssa didn’t have the same lunch hour.”
She’s staring at me, almost as if she’s in shock.
“You really remember me?”
“Yeah.” It’s not like she was invisible. “And for about a minute, we were lab partners.”
This time she laughs. “You remember that?”
“I’d like to forget it.”
The smile falls from her face.
Shit, she took that totally wrong.
“That was AP biology and I got assigned the smartest girl in school as my lab partner. I knew I couldn’t keep up and got out of that class before I was totally humiliated. Even my counselor admitted that assignment was a mistake.”
There’s a small smile at the corner of her lips. “I would have helped you.”
“I would have brought you down and ruined your perfect 4.0.”
“I didn’t have a 4.0 and was certainly not the smartest girl in school.”
She grabs the tape to seal up the box. “You probably would have gotten better grades if you tried.”
“You see, that’s the probable. I didn’t want to.”
She merely shakes her head and grabs another box.
I sit on the bed. “I should have talked to you in school.”
“Why? It’s not like we had anything in common.”
“I wanted to senior year and almost had Dylan arrange something.”
She stops and looks at me. Her eyes narrow in disbelief.
Damn this being honest with her, and myself, is hard. And embarrassing. I was such a stupid ass dick back then.
“I thought you were also one of the prettiest girls in school too, okay.” There, I admitted it.
She laughs as if she doesn’t believe me. “You already had plenty of girls wanting your attention so I am sure you didn’t suffer for long.”
“They weren’t the ones I was all that interested in.”
“Why? They were popular, cute, bubbly...”
“No substance.”
This time she really laughs. “There is no way you can convince me you wanted a girl with substance your senior year in high school.”
I get why she thinks that. I did everything in my power to be the fun guy. Not the class clown. There’s a huge difference. “They were safer.”
“Safer?”
She still doesn’t believe me. “I knew they’d go out with me. With you I risked being shut down. You were rather intimidating.”
She drops some stuff in a box and stares at me, as if she’s trying to decide if I’m serious.
“You were pretty, smart, and didn’t need the approval of others. Why the hell would you go out with me?”
The smile starts at the corner of her lips before it widens and then she’s laughing.
“What is so funny?” I just confessed something I wouldn’t even admit to myself fully back then and she’s laughing at me. “What?”
“Okay, I had the biggest crush on you freshman and sophomore year.”
I can’t help but grin. Dylan wasn’t lying to me.
“I got over you though.”
“Well, you didn’t have to tell me that.”
I stand and shove the box from between us and pull her against me. “It’s strange how things work out though. You and me, then. Now, here we are.”
She tilts her head up and studies me. “What are we?” she finally asks.
“I’m not sure.” I lower my head to kiss her. Her lips soften beneath mine. I trace the seams of her lips and she opens. I plunge and pull her fully against my body. Jenna’s arms go about my shoulders and her fingers thread through my hair. I could keep kissing her and more. Her bed is right here.
She pulls back, breaking the kiss. “What is this? I didn’t think you knew of my existence until a few weeks ago.”
“I’ve just established that isn’t true.”
She raises an eyebrow as if still waiting for me to answer a question that I’m not sure what the answer is.
“I don’t know.” I might as well be honest. “I like you. I mean really like you. I can’t stop thinking about you and I want to do more than kiss, that’s for sure.”
A small smile plays on her lips and I hope she wants more than kissing too.
“I don’t want to be some plaything, if that’s what you had in mind, until you get bored. If that’s your intent, you can leave.”
She really does have a low opinion of me. “I’m not like that. Sure, freshman year in college, I was all about having a good time and enjoying the hook ups. I’m not going to lie. But now, when I kiss a girl, it’s because I already know I want to see how it plays out and I sure as hell want to spend more time with her.”
“Good answer.” She pulls me back down until she is kissing me. When her tongue enters my mouth desire shoots straight to my cock. I should have shut and locked the damn door as soon as I walked in here. Having sex with Jenna in the bed she slept in in high school would certainly fulfill one of my fantasies.
“Stop it!”
We jerk apart like to kids caught in the act of doing something they shouldn’t.
Mrs. Ferguson is standing in the room. Where the hell did she come from?
Shadows of Memories (Baxter Academy) Page 12