Livvy paused right before she was about to eat another forkful. "Well, it was filmed in the 60's I think, so it was probably a little romanticized."
Tommy chuckled. "The 60's! Jesus. Like Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon type stuff?"
"Exactly! Beach party movies. They're so awesome." Livvy's eyes were shining.
Tommy shook his head grinning. "You're so funny. I think it's a bit different nowadays, but you'd still like it. Much better than Topaz. I'm going to make it my mission to get you to the beach."
Livvy raised her eyebrows. "We really don't even know each other. I don't even know what your last name is."
He could see the excited sparkle in her eyes. She seemed intrigued, despite herself. He answered matter of fact, "Then we'll get to know each other better. My last name is Eriksen, by the way."
"Hmmm. Thomas Eriksen. It sounds kind of familiar." She practically purred his name.
If she looked him up on the internet, his gig was so up. "Thomas? Nobody calls me Thomas."
Her eyes narrowed for a moment. "Really? And what if I told you nobody calls me Livvy?"
He accepted her challenge, trying not to laugh. "Oh, sorry. What do your friends call you then? Ollie?"
She looked horrified, "No!"
Tommy continued teasing. "How about Liver, then? Mmm. Liver and onions. That's sounds cute. I'll call you Liver."
"Stop!" She held up her hand. "Tommy, okay. Livvy is just great. Olivia, Livvy, Liv - it's all good."
Tommy made a sad face. "I'm kind of partial to Liver, but I'll stick with Livvy if you prefer it."
The waitress stopped by their table and started clearing their empty plates. "Can I get you anything else?"
They both declined, so the waitress placed the bill on their table. She shot a suggestive look at Tommy. "My name and number are on the bill if you ever need anything."
Great. The waitress turned to leave and Livvy reached for the bill. "I've got it."
Tommy's hand shot out at lightning speed and snatched the bill away. "No way. I've got it."
She looked reluctant to accept, but finally conceded. "Okay. Thanks. It was fun."
They both stood. "How about you come out with me tonight? I'm meeting up with some friends at a local bar."
His heart sunk when she shook her head. "Oh sorry. I have other plans already."
He moved in closer to her, smelling the fruity scent of her shampoo. "I'd like to see you again before I leave for South Padre Island. Are you in town for Thanksgiving?"
Tommy smiled to himself. She wasn't completely immune to his charms. Even as his cock was twitching with awareness, he could see her trying to breathe normally at he drew near to her.
She swallowed. "I'll be around after Thanksgiving. Give me a call. I'd like to go out with you."
Good answer, Livvy. "Great. I'll call you."
"Great." They turned and left the restaurant together.
Chapter 3
"If you guys embarrass me, I'm going to kill you. I promise." I sat in the back seat, smashed between my roommate, Emily, and our friend, Karen. Mike was driving and Karen's boyfriend, Kyle, was in the front passenger seat.
Kyle turned his head to look into the backseat. "Who is this guy that has you hyperventilating, Livvy?"
This was such a bad idea. "I'm not hyperventilating! I'm not even sure if I really like him. I mean, he seems really nice, but he's so not my type."
Emily poked me in the ribs. "You mean he's not boring and responsible?"
I laughed. "Unfortunately, I think he's the exact opposite. He's a surfer and I'm pretty sure he doesn't have a job."
"Holy crap. He's some kind of beach bum. You're right, Liv, he's definitely not your type." Karen sounded vaguely appalled.
Maybe I shouldn't be doing this. "I know. But there's something about him that's just intriguing. I can't seem to put my finger on it."
Mike chimed in from the front seat. "Maybe you'll get to put your finger on it tonight."
I groaned at his awful joke. "This is probably a huge mistake."
Emily tapped my knee. "We're here to support you. And everyone will behave tonight, right boys?"
Mike and Kyle mumbled their agreement. It was silent for a moment before Kyle turned back to ask me, "What's the secret signal?"
Oh brother. "Secret signal for what?"
"You know, when you want someone to swoop in and rescue you from this guy." Kyle was grinning slyly. "We'll be your cockblockers."
"Oh God." I was getting more nervous.
Emily must have seen my worried face. "Don't worry about signals, Kyle. Karen and I will handle any rescuing that needs to be done. You guys just flirt with Livvy a little bit to get this guy jealous."
Somehow I couldn't see Tommy being jealous of Mike or Kyle, even though both men were extremely good-looking. Tommy was just too chill. It was frustrating. I had no idea how to keep a guy like Tommy interested, even if I wanted to.
I ran my hand through my hair, trying to relax. "Look, I just wanted you guys out tonight so I had friends to fall back on if things were getting weird. Can you guys all just act normal? I just want to hang out with this guy for a little bit and see if I like him. Nothing more."
Mike glanced over at Kyle. "Hey, no problem, Livvy. It's just that you're so tense. I've never seen you like this before. Forcing us to sit around and wait for the perfect time to leave so you wouldn't look too eager. Guys never notice that shit anyway."
I wiped my sweaty palms on my jeans. "I admit I'm really nervous. I really like this guy, but it's very confusing. I can't figure him out at all. He always seems one step ahead of me."
Karen laughed. "I'm sure you'll have him wrapped around your little finger by the end of the night."
My stomach started feeling queasy as I recognized how close we were to the Smith Hall. "Not this guy, Karen. Did I mention that he is gorgeous and seems to have women drooling all over him, wherever he goes? I'm not even sure what he's doing with me."
"Duh. Look in the mirror, hon." Emily squeezed my knee. "He's probably thanking his lucky stars you agreed to come out tonight. Don't blow this all out of proportion. He's an unemployed beach bum, remember? You're just here to have some fun. No big deal."
No big deal. Emily was right. Sure, I had obsessed about him all week, wondering if he would call. When no call or text had come by Thanksgiving, I had given up hope and felt surprisingly miserable. I had been trying to ignore just how desperately I wanted him to call. In retrospect, I wished I had gone out with him when he asked me that day at lunch. I had no plans, but I wanted to play it coy. It had backfired. I seemed to be playing this all wrong.
I had felt almost giddy with happiness when the call came through Thursday evening. When he asked me to meet him at Smith Hall the next night, I lied and told him I already had plans with some friends, but that I might be able to convince them to head over to the club at some point in the night.
Thankfully, even though it was last minute, I was able to persuade some of my friends to come out, without being forced to ask Cora, considering the last debacle she got me into. Now, after the ups and downs of the past week, anxiously waiting, I was undoubtedly just overreacting. Emily was right. I just needed to relax and have some fun.
The line at the door was almost nonexistent; we were fairly late and the live band was already performing their second set. The guys grumbled about paying a cover and missing most of the band because I made them sit around, but I just ignored them.
We entered the club and were immediately absorbed by the crush of the crowd. The boys peeled off to purchase some drinks at the packed bar while we stood waiting in the swarming front room.
Emily leaned in close to me so that she could be heard over the music and noise. "How are you ever going to find him in here? Maybe you should text him."
"No, I don't want to text. He's probably listening to the band. Let's do a sweep in there after we get our drinks." I checked my watch. What if he already left?
>
Emily rolled her eyes at my worried frown, "You're doing it again. You're playing impossible-to-get. This guy is going to think you don't care at all and move on, Liv."
I searched through the sea of faces, thinking about Emily's warning, while we waited for our drinks. Finally, Mike and Kyle returned with beers for everyone in our group.
"C'mon. Let's go catch the band before they're finished," Mike was already pulling on Emily's arm.
Emily turned to me. "Yeah, let's see if we can find that-"
She suddenly stopped talking and her eyes grew as wide as saucers as she glanced slightly past my shoulder.
I felt a tap on my shoulder at the same time I heard his voice very close to my ear. "Hey, Liver. I've been waiting for you."
My heart skipped a beat, a shiver ran down spine and my face turned a bright crimson-red all at once. I turned to him, trying to smile away my nervousness. "I thought we had settled on acceptable nicknames already, Thomas."
"You're right. I just couldn't resist. Sorry." He looked anything but sorry.
Emily tugged on my shoulder. I had already forgotten about my friends in mere seconds of seeing Tommy. "We're going to go listen to the band. Come find us later."
She had spoken loud enough for Tommy to hear, but then she leaned in close to me and squeezed my arm. "You're right, he's gorgeous. Go for it, Liv."
I gave her a small wave as Mike pulled her away and then turned back to Tommy. I surreptitiously looked him over while I scrambled for something to say. Usually, I didn't find myself so flustered by an attractive man. What was it about Tommy that had my every nerve ending tingling?
Tonight, he had abandoned the casual shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops, and had instead dressed in a trendy outfit that looked tailor made just for him. Something you would see a GQ model wearing – a thin weight, supple brown leather jacket over a vibrant blue shirt and dark denim jeans. Whoa. What had happened to the casual beach bum? Somehow this sophisticated version of Tommy disconcerted me even more.
Despite having heels on, he had a good four inches on me. I tore my eyes away from his broad chest and looked up at him. His smile set off a new round of butterflies in my stomach.
Say something, Livvy! “So, who’s the band tonight?”
Tommy ran a hand through his already tousled hair. “It’s a local band. They’re pretty good. You want to go listen to them?”
An arm slipped around my shoulders, surprising me. I inwardly groaned when I saw Kyle standing next to me smiling like a goofball. “Hey, Liv. Let’s go check out the band.”
I subtly tried to shake off Kyle’s arm as I turned my face away from Tommy’s line of vision. “I’ll catch up to you in a minute, Kyle.”
I flashed Kyle ‘the look’. Beat it. Get lost. Not now. Go away. So much for Kyle reading signals. I thought my eyeballs would fall out of my head from all the signaling they were trying to do. He wasn’t taking the hint and his arm was not going anywhere.
Tommy’s warm breath touched my ear again, causing me to shiver as he spoke low, “Who’s your guard dog?”
Smiling ruefully, I kept my voice down as I answered, “He’s a friend. An overprotective one.”
I could feel Kyle shifting on his feet as we cut him out of the conversation. Maybe he would take the hint and leave.
Tommy’s reply made my pulse quicken. “Let’s ditch your chaperone and do something he wouldn’t approve of.”
Hell, yeah. “Give me a second to get rid of him.”
It was time to send Kyle on a secret mission. I turned to him with a serious face and whispered in his ear. “Kyle, I’ve got a problem. Go find Karen and tell her I said –uh, alert 7. She’ll know what to do.”
The look on Kyle’s face was priceless. He rushed off right away.
Tommy looked impressed. “What did you say to him?”
Pulling out my phone, I answered. “He thinks he got the secret signal. Don’t ask. I just need to text his girlfriend and he won’t be bothering us anymore.”
Tommy waited patiently while I typed in a message to Karen. Call Kyle off. He’s trying to be my cockblocker and I don’t want any blocking! Haha. I finished and put my phone away.
Tommy grabbed my hand, “C’mon. Let’s go somewhere else before he comes back.”
At that point, I would have followed him anywhere. Tommy led us into the large room, crowded with people watching the band. Instead of joining the crowd, he led me around the side of the room, farthest from the deafening speakers.
He found a section of wall that was fairly empty and then settled his back against it, still holding my hand.
“We can still watch the band, but it’s not so loud. And your friend won’t find us.”
I tried to swallow my jittery nerves. Geez, I felt like I was in high school at the school dance, this time hanging out in the dark corner with the football captain.
Tommy drew me into his body, turning me slightly so that I could see the stage and fitting me between his long legs. My tense body relaxed, because it felt so right.
On stage, the lead singer of the band was whipping up the crowd, but I was barely watching. Instead, as I rested my head against Tommy’s chest, I closed my eyes and concentrated on the man behind me. His hands rested on my hips willing my body deeper into his. A hand ran up my arm, from elbow to shoulder, fingers tapping lightly along the way. His slightest touch had my body churning with need.
The need to feel his hands all over my skin. Sliding over my body. Caressing. Stoking the burning ache deep inside.
Awareness buzzed through my veins; my panties damp with my arousal. If I pressed my ass into him, would I feel his hard-
“What do you think?” Tommy spoke directly into my ear.
“Amazing.” I sighed.
Tommy was tapping his fingers on my hip. “Yeah, they’re new, but they’re pretty good.”
My eyes snapped open. What? The band. Where they even still playing? “Um, yeah. They’re quite energetic.”
I tried to focus on the band, but it was impossible with Tommy’s fingers tapping. First my hip, then above my elbow, then my shoulders, always leaving a trail of shivery goosebumps. I’ll be so horny by the time the song is over, I’ll probably jump him.
I was no longer relaxed. My body was coiled up tight. My nipples were hard as rocks, my stomach a tense knot of yearning and my pussy ached with need. And my brain was no longer cooperating.
The song was over and the lead singer was saying something. Thanking the crowd, saying goodnight. It couldn’t be over yet.
Did I mention my brain was no longer functioning? Because, suddenly I was facing Tommy. I had spun around and I was begging him with my eyes. I really couldn’t hide my longing.
And despite the fog of my desire, I still retained enough awareness to read his reaction. I inhaled sharply when his eyes darkened with lust. His face went from easygoing to hunger-filled in a split second.
No words were spoken, but suddenly we were kissing. Hard. Not a ‘getting to know you’ exploratory kiss. More like an ‘I want you naked this second’ kiss. I was drowning in that kiss, sinking into oblivion.
One of his hands was cupping my face, while the other was resting on my ass, pulling me close, anchoring me. And wait, one of my hands had slipped under his jacket and was feeling his hard muscular frame through the thin fabric of his shirt.
Everything around me faded as I was pulled deeper into the kiss. Our tongues met in a frenzied joining that left me breathless. I was mindless with desire as I felt myself pressing my pussy between Tommy’s legs. And he was rock hard. Oh my. I held back a whimper as I throbbed with a potent need.
Tommy’s mouth broke from mine for a moment. “Fuck off, man.” And then he was kissing me senseless again.
Wait, what? I struggled to understand, but it was too much effort.
But when his lips left mine again, I fought to gain some sanity.
Someone was talking to him. “I need your keys.”
Tommy had
his arm around me, keeping me tucked in close to his chest. I felt a faint rumble against my cheek as he answered simply, “No.”
“C’mon, man. I’ve got some babes lined up. And Alex took off with Lena. He drove me here. What an asshole.”
I snuggled into Tommy’s chest, enjoying the faint whiff of his cologne and vaguely hiding from Tommy’s petulant sounding friend. I was still reeling from the doozy of a kiss and this was giving me a few moments to recover. And, oh my gosh, by some small miracle I was still holding my drink. I was surprised I hadn’t spilled it all over myself during that scorching kiss.
I took a sip as Tommy answered his friend. “You know that Alex hates it when you bring attention to everyone. He probably split because of that.”
“He probably left because he wants to fuck Lena all night. Man, I gotta get outta here. I’ve got two hot chicks waiting. Why don’t you leave now with your babe and drop me off on your way.”
My ears were perking up. The conversation was strangely fascinating.
Tommy sounded frustrated. “I’m not going to be your chauffeur all fucking night, Tyler. I’m busy.”
I was taking another gulp of my drink when Tyler answered, “You’re busy dry humping her against the wall; why don’t you take her home and do it right.”
Typical of myself, after hearing that, I swallowed weirdly and took in some of the stinging drink down the wrong pipe. I began sputtering and coughing like mad.
“Are you okay?” Tommy began thumping my back.
My throat spasmed with coughs for an embarrassingly long time as it tried to clear out the burning liquid.
Through my coughing fit I could hear Tommy’s friend, “Dude, maybe you should give her the Heimlich or something.”
I glanced his way, and even through my watering eyes, there was no mistaking it. It was the sunglasses guy from the Topaz club. Cora’s asshole rock star.
My eyes widened in surprise as I croaked, “You!”
He smiled knowingly at me. “Sorry, babe. Tommy and I learned long ago that it’s better if we both work solo.”
Crazy Page 3