Falling In Between

by Devon Ashley

One last push and he fell into the sofa. I spun to leave but he snagged my hand. He wasn’t laughing anymore. In fact, those mossy green eyes with gold speckled interiors looked me up and down with desire.

  That look activated a little purr within my chest and my breaths came faster. He slowly reined me in, and all too willingly, I climbed into his lap and smothered my lips on his. His hands greedily rubbed along my sides and around my hips.

  After several hot and heavy kisses, he pushed my shoulders back to free his lips. “Well, well. Look who got turned on by the cliché. I’ll bet your insides got all warm and tingly when I pushed up behind you, didn’t they?”

  I licked my lips, delaying my response. His cockiness was justifiable, as I had fallen for it. But it wasn’t so much the cliché; just rubbing up against me and throwing me that look was all it took. But since he was getting a high off it, I let it ride.

  “So would you rather gloat, or fool around?”

  “I can do both. You’ll find I can be quite the multi-tasker.”

  So…I had a sweetie to spend my afternoon and evenings with and another great guy keeping things interesting in my dreams. Robert was content hanging out in the commons with me most of the time, keeping me entertained while we studied and worked on our assignments. Sophie and Jhett usually shared another sofa next to us, doing the same thing. Of course, they snuck off to the dorm rooms a lot more than we did. It took me a couple of weeks to really warm up to the heavier make out sessions we were having now.

  I couldn’t help it. As much as I loved kissing Robert, I had always been an extremely shy and guarded person. Growing up in the group homes and random foster homes, things were always changing, people were always being shuffled around and what few people I had liked to talk to always disappeared on me. After awhile, I just withdrew and kept to myself.

  I had braved a few dates these past couple of years but I never let it go any further than a date or two with each guy. Maybe I was too chicken to open myself up for that, or maybe they just didn’t interest me the way Robert did. Lord knows Richard Blevins sure didn’t interest me.

  I did notice I wasn’t nearly as uptight with Chance. Probably cause I realized I was dreaming, and that my insecurities just didn’t seem to exist in that dream world. There really wasn’t a voice in the back of my head freaking out over how he touched me or where he touched me or whether or not he should even be doing that. The make out sessions with Chance were hot and heavy from the start.

  Even I was surprised at how differently I behaved with the two guys.

  And yeah, I knew it was crazy to even think about what was going on with a guy in my dreams, but hell, what could I do? He showed up every night. After the first few times I just stopped thinking about it and went with the flow. Maybe this was my brain’s twisted way of getting me comfortable in my own skin so I wouldn’t be so chicken in the real world. So if a hotty wanted to come into my dream to play every night, pfhhttt! (Like you wouldn’t play too).

  “So what do you want? Lawn chairs or the sleeping bag?”

  I took a peek into the bed of Chance’s truck. The lawn chairs were the low-rising ones for concerts that only lifted you a few inches off the ground.

  “Lawn chairs.”

  He smiled at me with amusement as he pulled them out of the back of the truck. “Afraid to roll up beside me?”

  “Afraid? No. Do I trust you to keep your hands to yourself during the movie? Absolutely not.”

  We picked up a bucket of popcorn and settled down closer to the back of the lawn. We were late and The Sound of Music had already started on the screen they set up in the park. He leaned over to grab the popcorn but I playfully pulled it out of reach.

  “Really?”

  I just laughed, kept my head facing the movie and the popcorn far away. He grasped the arm I had next to him and pulled me towards him. Since our chairs were more than a foot apart, I tipped sideways and my head basically fell into his lap.

  “See. I knew you secretly wanted me to bring the sleeping bag.”

  I climbed and pushed myself off him and sat back up again, smacking him all the way. It was miraculous the tub of popcorn didn’t topple over when it hit the ground.

  Before I had time to settle, he had pulled on my arm again, but this time he leaned and met me half way. His lips had just found mine when we were suddenly rained on with popcorn.

  “Down in front, please.”

  Chance turned to voice his rebuttal but pulled short when he realized it came from a young boy, with perfectly parted black hair and a set of thin, black rims circling his eyes. “Dude. How old are you?”

  “Twelve. In public, social etiquette recommends at least a twelve inch gap between a couple. I came here to watch the pros kiss, not the amateurs.”

  A roll of giggles came off me. Chance furrowed his forehead at me.

  “Well, if you’re into the kissing, why would you want to watch the people who had to be paid money in order to kiss, versus two people that are willing to do it for free?”

  The little boy eyed him carefully, contemplating. “Twelve inches please.”

  I burst into another fit of quiet laughter. Chance shook his head in annoyance – at both me and the little boy – but I could tell he was suppressing a smile.

  “Where are your parents?” he asked.

  “I am old enough to visit a public park for a social event and I am smart enough not to take candy from strangers or get into their car.”

  “Uh-huh. Where?”

  The little boy motioned over his shoulder towards a middle-aged woman in a lawn chair twenty feet back reading a novel with a book light.

  “Well, can I at least hold her hand?”

  “It is socially acceptable to hold your intended’s hand,” he replied.

  “Why, thank you.” Chance then turned to me and whispered, “Oh, I would love to meet the type of girl he convinces to date him one day.”

  “I think he’s cute,” I said, and nibbled on a few popcorn kernels.

  “Cute? Are you kidding me? The kid’s like a human chastity belt. Did you ever watch that Robin Hood satire?”

  I shook my head no. As if.

  “Every time Robin Hood and Maid Marian tried so much as to kiss, her lady in waiting would pop in and go ‘bip-bip-bip-bip-bip’.”

  He said the bips a bit too loud and we were showered with popcorn again.

  “Sshhh!” we heard.

  It took all his strength to not turn around and lay into the kid again. And it probably didn’t help when I quietly went, “Bip-bip-bip-bip-bip.”

  He scooped up a handful of popcorn off the grass and chucked it at me.

  Two and a half hours later, and after three more sets of popcorn showers, we were picking up our things to go. I smiled at the kid and gave a little wave good-bye. He waved and returned to his mom.

  Chance dropped the lawn chairs into the truck’s bed, then grabbed a hold of my belt loops and pulled me towards him. I reached behind his head and pulled our lips together. For once we weren’t interrupted, and little butterflies began to dance around inside me.

  He detached his lips and pressed his forehead into mine. “Do you have to go home yet?”

  I gathered his hands in mine and slowly nudged my head sideways, kinda making his head wiggle with mine.

  “Good. I know a place in the woods where we can hang out for a bit.” He leaned over the back of the truck and pulled out the sleeping bag. My eyebrows shot north and threw him a ‘hell no’ kind of look.

  “The forest floor out there is hard and bare. Trust me, you’re going to want this.”

  We hiked about a mile in and suddenly stepped into a small clearing. Chance spread the sleeping bag out and he lay down on his back. I hesitated when he beckoned me down beside him, patting the padded blanket.

  He held his hands up and lay them on his stomach. “I’ll keep my hands to myself if that’s what you want.”

  I lay myself beside him and gasped when I looked up. Tall w
hite pines shot up, directly into the night sky where tons of stars seemed to twinkle down at us. I was overwhelmed by a sense of déjà vu, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what from my past was so familiar to this. “Oh, I like this.”

  “Right? I come out here to camp with a few buddies of mine every year.”

  “They’re not gonna show up tonight, are they?”

  “Why? You planning on doing something inappropriate to me? Something I’d have to ‘bip’ you for?”

  I wasn’t looking at it, but I knew there was a twisted smile spreading deep into those cheeks. I swung my hand sideways to swat him and he snatched it after impact, entwining his fingers with mine.

  “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think you’ll ‘bip’ anything I’m willing to do.”

  He released a noise that made it seem like he was offended, but he played it off by squeezing my hand.

  “So tell me. How far could I go before I got slammed with a ‘bip’?”

  Hmm…in the real world, not even up my shirt. But this was so obviously not the real world, and the fluttering butterflies within me sure wanted to play. Was it so wrong that just the thought of tumbling around on the forest floor with this hotty caused every nerve ending inside me to tingle with delight?

  No one would ever know.

  And you couldn’t really lose your virginity in fantasyland, right?

  I looked towards him and that trademark lopsided grin greeted me.

  “I’m not quite sure that you would.” I rolled myself towards him and straddled my hips over his. I seized his shirt with both hands and pulled him up to me.

  Go big or wake up, I say.

  He chortled as I yanked his shirt over his head, smashed my body up against his and hijacked his lips. His lips were just as eager and his hands roughly familiarized themselves with the curvatures of my body.

  “Have I told you how much I love it when you wear the short skirts?”

  I looked at him curiously, cause I never wore miniskirts, then gasped when I felt his hands on the skin that should’ve been covered up by my panties. I looked down and was flabbergasted. No longer was I wearing the v-neck shirt and jeans that I wore into the woods. Now I had on a short ruffled skirt, a cream camisole – which was practically see-through and tight enough to show every curve of my upper body – and my bra and panties had done a complete disappearing act!

  Hey! Since when did my dream bend to his will! If he even so much as thought of seeing me in nothing but French lingerie, I was gonna smack him!

  Of course, those thoughts were completely forgotten once his hand began working a territory I had never shared before. I rolled myself forward and buried my face into his neck, utterly embarrassed by the loud moans he was causing to come out of me. He twisted us to the side and rolled me onto my back. As he bent towards my lower body, my arms slowly moved around on the ground in curling, wavelike motions around me, and uncontrollable spasms traveled the length of my spine.

  I awoke the next morning in a similar position, with my arms loosely curled above my head. My lower abdomen was filled with vibrating tickles and a huge smile spanned across my face. I stretched deep, all the way from my toes to my fingertips, arching my back, then sighed heavenly and resumed the gentle swaying motion of my arms.

  Now that was an amazing dream! You know that moment when your mind totally melts into liquid goo and all you can seem to say is bleh-heh-heh? Yeah, that’s what last night felt like.

  Bleh-heh-heh.

  “Oh. My. God!”

  My eyes shot open. Who knows how long Sophie had been watching me. Her jaw was dropped and she just stood there, gaping at me.

  “You just had a wet dream, didn’t you?!”

  “What?” I questioned sharply, my voice cracking and giving me away. How could she possibly figure that out?!!!

  “You had sex! Just look at you. You can’t even stop smiling about it!”

  I threw my blanket over my head and muffled, “No I didn’t.”

  Her hands were on me now, shaking me roughly. “You did, you did! Oh, I’m so jealous! I haven’t one of those in so long!”

  I peeked out from behind the blanket and meekly asked, “You have sex dreams?”

  “Girl, we all have sex dreams. The only gross part is waking up all wet in the morning.”

  I hadn’t really noticed it before but I sure did now. Yuck! I stumbled over her on my way out of bed and rushed to the bathroom so I could beat her to the shower.

  After breakfast, I was feeling all flirty and all I wanted to do was go find Robert. Since he was still swimming through first period, I had to wait until the bell released me to go find him before second. You wouldn’t think a school with a limited number of students would be so big, but since the classrooms were spread out on a single floor, you would really have to rush between bells if you had classes on opposite ends.

  I knew he had Calculus next, which was just absolutely cruel this early in the morning, but I supposed a cool swim in the morning had his brain as active as it could possibly get. I hurried over to the math hall and found him leaning against a set of lockers, talking to another guy I recognized as a swimmer. Robert didn’t see me coming since he had his back to me, but his teammate tried to motion his attention towards me before I got there. I surprised him by yanking him backwards and into my arms, pressing my lips onto his. After the shock wore off, I heard his backpack hit the floor and his lips and hands began to work me over. Our kisses were hard and deep and our bodies couldn’t be pressed any closer together. The fingers on my left hand dug into his waves and pulled tightly on a section of brown locks.

  Sweet, precious butterflies. My insides tingled more with every brush of his lips.

  I hadn’t noticed that the hall had grown silent around us until I heard someone clear her throat. “Mr. Jennings.”

  We broke apart and found an old teacher with gray hair pulled tightly in bun at the nape of her neck standing beside us with crossed arms and a stern face, which probably enhanced her wrinkles even more. Several female students across the hall began giggling. She motioned her head towards the classroom next to us and said, “Take your seat. And you,” she added, not knowing my name, “you have two minutes to get to class, missy. Go.”

  He squeezed my hand before I broke off and hurried back the way I came. I spent a good part of the day laughing over that, and imagining the feel of his lips against mine. I wanted to slip away after each bell and do it again, but I refrained, since I probably already caused him enough humiliation being caught by his own teacher, who looked eerily similar to Mrs. Doubtfire. (Yep…saw that movie with Chance the other night – once again only pieces like you see on the promos).

  Like always, Sophie and I met after sixth period and headed back to our dorm room together. The four of us had a standing engagement to meet in the commons half an hour after class let out, so I wanted to grab a quick snack and figure out what homework to take with me before we went.

  When a knock came on the door, I was the one that went to get it. The second I unlocked it, Robert burst through and practically threw me up against the wall, smothering me with his lips. He kissed me so hard I felt like I was having the life sucked out of me, but I didn’t seem to care that my lungs strained for oxygen to the point that it actually hurt. When he finally did pull away, we were both winded, and my knuckles were white from grasping the back of his shirt so hard.

  “What was that this morning?”

  “Nothing,” I said innocently, dragging my fingertips down his abdomen. I had gotten over being flustered by his torso just last week. “I just wanted to say good morning.”

  “Oh, you just wanted to say good morning?” he jested, extending his arm against the wall beside me. He cocked his eyebrows in amusement and said, “Do me a favor. Next time you want to kiss me like that and have zero intention of satisfying the arousal you create, make sure I have time to take a cold shower afterwards.”

  Sophie burst out laughing but qu
ickly grabbed her bag and rushed past us. “I’m sorry. I’m going.” She closed the door behind her but we could still hear her laughing as she made her way down the hall. I reached up and caressed his face, and his eyes locked onto mine and just gazed.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t know my kiss would do that.”

  “Jenna, all of your kisses do that. But particularly aggressive ones like those this morning…I was a few seconds shy of slamming you against the lockers for all the world to see.”

  My lips pressed tight in a straight line. “So did you at least get your shower?”

  “No,” he said, moving his body a little closer, “I decided to wait and see if you’d be willing to do something about it.” My jaw dropped at the suggestion. “You know, since I had to suffer through an entire day at school with a hard-on.”

  I let out a little huff and crossed my arms loosely. “Look at you. Trying to feed off my guilt to get me under the covers with you.”

  “No, no,” he replied, and slyly added, “I prefer to have you above the covers.”

  I let out a larger huff and gave his chest a push, but he just rocked his body back into position. “I am so not gonna sleep with you yet.”

  “Alright, so what about some of the other stuff?”

  I quietly debated for a moment. Don’t ask me why, but I still found it really unnerving to even think of taking my clothes off in front of him.

  “You do remember that I’ve already seen the goods right?” Deviously, he added, “And felt them.”

  “Well I hope you got a good look and copped a good feel cause that’s all you’re getting for a while. No way am I letting you near my knickers just yet.”

  He laughed and rubbed his jaw. “Knickers? Really?”

  I twitched my brows at him, as if it said the final word on the subject.

  “Okay, so your clothes are staying on. What about mine?”

  I eyed him carefully. “You’re ready to drop your drawers just like that?”

  Robert planted his other hand on the wall and closed me in. “Jenna, I’ve worn a Speedo almost every day since I was about four years old and they leave little to the imagination. Modesty jumped out the window years ago.”