Falling In Between

by Devon Ashley

  “Lovely.”

  “So what do you say?”

  “About what?” I asked. His brows jumped and I gasped. “You want me to give you a blow job!”

  He chuckled. “You know, I love that you find it shocking that I would be thinking of sex and you in all your nakedness. Like I’m not a sexually-starved seventeen year old guy.”

  Wow. Blow job. Not really sure where to begin with that one. But I sure did wanna smack myself. If I hadn’t literally screwed around with Chance last night, I wouldn’t have woken up all horny and I wouldn’t have used Robert as an outlet to relieve some of that horniness.

  Is six weeks too soon to be giving him a blow job?

  Hell if I knew.

  And it kinda scared me that I was about to go down on him. I had never done that before. What the hell was I supposed to do?

  I scratched my eyebrow absentmindedly and flushed from embarrassment. “Uh, here’s the thing about that. I really don’t know what to do for one of those.”

  He leaned in and gently bit on my neck a few times, then whispered, “I’ll walk you through it.” He wrapped his arm around my back and spun us, so that he was now the one backed up against the wall.

  I pressed my hands into his shoulder blades and leaned in to kiss him. The hand behind my back disengaged and my heart jumped a bit when I heard the zipper on his jeans unwind. His hand reached up to grab mine and slowly guided it down his abdomen and through the opening.

  I squeezed and his lips pulled away from mine. He closed his eyes to groan and there was a light thump when his head fell back against the wall.

  “You came commando?”

  His lips curled into a slinky half-smile but his eyes remained shut as his chin extended upwards in response to my hand. “I was being proactive.”

  I should have known that once I went down, Robert was gonna want it all the time. I could hardly complain though. I spent most of my nights relieving my sexual frustration via Chance, so I supposed it was only fair I helped Robert with his. But it would help if he wouldn’t yank on my hair every time he came. Seriously, I’m gonna look like a checkerboard Chia Head if he pulled anymore chunks out.

  “Hey, does Jhett go down on you?”

  “Hella yeah,” Sophie said, clicking away on her laptop. “It’s a two way street with us. Either we both get it or neither of us get it.” She chuckled and asked, “Why? Is Robert wanting you to go down on him?”

  “He’s already getting that. He wants me to let him do it to me.”

  Her eyes popped. Seriously, I think some muscles must have burst for them to pop that far. “Jenna Baker, you slut! How long have you been blowing him?”

  I shrugged nonchalantly but I was sure my face flushed. “Like two weeks.”

  She grabbed a furry purple pillow off her bed and chucked it at me. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

  “You didn’t tell me!” I rebutted, pulling strands of fur from my lips.

  “You already know I’m a slut! And these types of sex conversations usually make you all twitchy.”

  “Well, I’m telling you now.”

  “Yeah, two weeks after the fact.” The bridge of her nose pinched as she thought for a second. “I can’t believe Jhett didn’t say anything. How dare he keep secrets.”

  What?!

  “Why would Jhett know?”

  “Oh, of course he knows, Jenna! No way Robert wouldn’t tell him that. It’s like a rite of passage with them.” She pursed her lips tight and shook her head. “And he didn’t tell me.”

  “Jhett didn’t tell you about my sex life? I’m loving him already.”

  “Well, I love that you love my boyfriend, but I wouldn’t love either one of them too much. I guarantee you there were high-fives and fist bumps involved both times they got us to do it. In fact, Robert probably moved in on you after Jhett told him about me.”

  “Great. Try to push the sex off as long as possible then.”

  “Uh, sorry Jenna, but that’s gonna happen any day now.”

  My eyes darted her way. “Seriously?”

  “Well, yeah, it’s been two months and we’ve both done it before, so it’s not like we’re nervous about it or anything.” She typed away on her laptop like we were having a casual conversation about clothes or something. “So why haven’t you let him down? Does the carpet not match the drapes?”

  I rolled over onto my back, stroking the purple pillow in my hands. “I don’t know. Guess I’m still shy in the getting-naked department.”

  Except in my dreams. Lord, I never had a problem doing anything in there. Just the other night I was practically doing a striptease.

  She continued to click away. “So turn off the lights. Candles make it more romantic anyways.” A smile curled upwards and she added, “Seems to slow them down and keep them from rushing through it, too.”

  I really wanted to talk about Chance, too. I knew my dreams weren’t normal and they were in fact dreams, but I was starting to feel a little guilty about what I was doing. I mean, I had this great boyfriend, yet I let another man put his hands all over my body every time I shut my eyes. I desperately needed a second opinion on the subject.

  I tossed the pillow up in the air a few times, trying to sum up the courage. That pillow got twirled at least five times. “So…ever since I got home from the hospital…”

  “Yeah?”

  “My dreams have been a little weird.”

  “Weird like how? Like zebra-striped unicorns fartin’ glitter weird?”

  I burst out laughing. “No, but I won’t be surprised if one goes strolling by me now!” She stuck her tongue out at me. “I don’t know. Before my accident, every night was something new. Now, I dream about the same guy every night.”

  Sophie gasped, her eyes spread wide and a huge smile filled her face. It was kinda creepy. Like Cheshire cat creepy. (Yes, even I’ve seen Alice in Wonderland). “Is this the same guy that gave you the wet dream? Is it that hotty from Supernatural? Is it dirty? Oh, please, let it be dirrrrrrr-ty.” The way she rolled the r’s on that last word made it sound more like a purr than the English language.

  I bobbed my head back and forth playfully. “He’s cute. And sorta dirty. What’s weird is that every dream has been a continuation. Like I’m following a storyline and every time I fall asleep, I pick up right where I left off. And we remember everything from the previous dreams.”

  “A guy that remembers everything? Now I know for sure you’re dreaming.”

  “Sophie, if I didn’t know I was dreaming, I swear I’d think I was in a real relationship with this guy.”

  She just stared at me for a moment, head cocked slightly sideways and all nonchalant-like. I knew I should have kept my insanity to myself. Booby hatch, here I come. How could I ever expect anyone to ever take this seriously?

  Sophie took a quick, sharp breath. “So…not the hotty from Supernatural? Cause if I was able to dream that way, I’d be putting in a request to my imagination for a stand-in. And I’d make all his moments really, really–” She licked both lips, then silently mouthed the word dirty.

  “Gross. But seriously though, I think I’m actually on the road to bonkers. The dreams feel really real.”

  “Girl, who the hell cares? You know they’re just dreams. Otherwise you’d be locked away in some nut ward and I’d be talking to you through three inches of nonbreakable glass. So tell me,” she urged, cocking her brows at me and clicking her nails repeatedly on the keyboard, “are they all wet dreams?”

  “God, I hate talking to you!”

  “Oh my God, they are!” She burst into a fit of laughter. “Look at you! Won’t even let Robert slide into second, yet you’re pitching an easy home run for some dream boy. HA!”

  I hugged the furry pillow tightly to my chest. “I feel kinda bad actually. Robert gets me all hot and horny, then I kick him out of bed and let some make-believe guy finish the job.”

  She was still giggling.

  “Soph!”

>   “I’m sorry.” Her laughs came to a slow halt. “Poor Robert. All that work and nothing in return. Seriously, you’ve gotta give him something. That’s just cruel to let someone else finish what he started.”

  “I’d stop the dreams if I could. But every time I fall asleep Chance is there, and every time I’m overwhelmed with all these emotions and I know it’s a dream and I know I should still say no, but I just don’t.”

  “Well, if you’re feeling bad then it must be good sex. I say enjoy the wet dreams and Robert too.”

  My stomach churned a little. “Is what I’m doing considered cheating?”

  Sophie brushed me off with a hand wave. “No. I don’t care how much sex you have in your dreams. It’s not real.”

  “It feels real.”

  “Well, until he’s got you moaning so loud it wakes me up, I’m gonna give you the okay on this one, Jenna. I guarantee you Robert has sex dreams about other women. And given the chance to have that on nightly basis, I promise you he’d literally jump all on it.”

  A few more snickers came out of her and I threw the pillow at her. For once my aim was dead on and it smacked her in the head. She swept it under to cushion her laptop and leaned her back against the wall.

  “Hey, so what do you want for Christmas?” she asked.

  “Are you online shopping?”

  “Yes ma’am, I am.”

  “Don’t spend any money on me. You’re already taking me home for Christmas. That’s more than enough.”

  “Oh, Jenna. Soooo not gonna happen. But are you really not going home with me Thanksgiving weekend? You know my parents don’t mind you being there.”

  “Yeah, I know. And it’s sweet of you guys to ask, but I’ve already picked up a few double shifts at the bookstore. With so many people asking for Thanksgiving weekend off, I’m gonna make a lot of money. And I’m still at a loss for what to give Robert for Christmas, but at least this way I’ll have the extra cash to buy whatever it is.”

  “I know something you can give him and it’ll only cost you a flower.”

  I glanced over to throw her a look but her attention never left the screen. Of course that didn’t mean she wasn’t flashing the giddiest of smiles.

  “Hey, Jenna. Can we have the room?”

  I looked up from my naughty Harlequin book to see Sophie clamp her hands together in front of her with an added expression that resembled begging. Jhett was behind her, reaching around to wrap her up.

  Lovely. Was it sex-capade time already?

  “Normally we ask Robert, but we feel kinda bad giving him the boot all the time.”

  “Yeah, sure. I can read anywhere.” I sluggishly sat up, slipped on my flip flops and moseyed towards the door.

  “Thank you!” she called out.

  It occurred to me that I just left the safety of my quarters with a dirty book in my hands, and instead of braving the room to trade it out, I opted not to burn my eyes with the images behind that door. I pressed the cover of my Harlequin novel into my body and headed down the stairs.

  The common room was surprisingly full, so I decided to see if Robert was up in his room.

  Better be, since I gave up mine to the horny teenagers!

  Sophie and Jhett started having sex a week ago, so they were all over each other like peanut butter on jelly. Like freakin’ honeymooners.

  As I came off the stairs and turned into his hallway, I was stopped dead in my tracks by a sharp, “Ms. Baker!”

  Crap! I was in such a daze I didn’t realize there was anyone on the floor. And never ever had I come across a teacher patrolling the hallways – I figured it to be as likely to happen as an urban legend these days.

  My neck stiffened and I turned around. It was Ms. Newell, dressed in the same khaki pants and polo shirt she always seemed to be sporting. I had her for P.E. and she was also the female volleyball and basketball coach.

  “Going to see your boyfriend?”

  “No, we broke up,” I said a little too quickly. Did she even know that I had one?

  “Sure you did.” She spun me around by the shoulders and kept her hand on the back of my neck as she guided me down the stairs. I got quite a few grins as we passed through the commons. Some of my fellow classmates knew Robert and I were dating and knew exactly where I was headed when I got busted.

  “What’s your room number?”

  “Three twenty-four,” I mumbled. I felt so stupid being escorted like this.

  “So if you weren’t intending on going into a room, what were you doing roaming the male halls?”

  “Strolling. I wanted to sit and read but the commons were full.”

  “Stroll in your own dorm next time. Detention tomorrow morning at five-thirty in the AM.”

  “Five-thirty?!” I shrieked.

  “You’re going to mop the weight room floors and wipe down all the equipment in the room with disinfectant. The machines are sticky and smelly from all the sweat build-up.”

  My face puckered like I bit into a lemon. “That’s disgusting!”

  She smiled, “Then I’ve done my job at deterring you from doing this again. And if I do catch you in those halls again, I’m going to have you de-clog all the shower drains in the girl’s locker room.”

  I groaned, and as I jiggled my keys in the door and cracked it, I could tell that the light was off. I asked, “Don’t you have chalkboards I could wash or erasers that need banging?”

  “Sure, if you were seven. Now why couldn’t you read in your own room?”

  “Cause Sophie’s sleeping. She was tired.”

  Ms. Newell pushed on the door and it swung open. She pushed me into motion and flicked on the light behind me.

  There was a groan and a “Damn it, Jenna! Turn off the lights.” Sophie was lying in bed with her arm covering her eyes. I didn’t see Jhett anywhere.

  “Language Ms. Zawinski.”

  Sophie jumped into a sitting position, still blinded by the light. “Sorry, Ms. Newell.”

  Ms. Newell scanned the room and the opened bathroom with her eyes. Satisfied, she slapped me on the back of my shoulder and said, “Get some sleep, Ms. Baker. You’ve got an early morning ahead of you.”

  She turned and left, closing the door behind her. I followed her and listened through the door for her footsteps to fade away, then I locked it.

  “Holy crap,” Sophie said.

  A muffled voice said, “Is it safe to come out now?”

  “Yes.”

  Jhett was half naked under my bed, with the comforter pulled halfway off the bed to give him cover. He rolled himself out, bringing a few dust bunnies with him. “I can’t believe you got caught!”

  “Tell me about it,” I muttered.

  He dusted himself off and sat down next to Sophie. “So what did she give you that you have to get up early for?”

  I crossed my arms and leaned back against the wall. “I get to de-sweat the weight room.”

  “Gross!” Sophie cried.

  Jhett tried his best not to laugh. “That’s…really mean to make a girl do.”

  “Yup.” I flicked off my sandals – one smacked the far wall, the other landed on my nightstand - and straightened out the dark purple floral linens on my bed. “And since my ass has to get up before the butt-crack of dawn, I’m going to sleep. For real!”

  “Uh, can I stick around for a while? If she’s patrolling I’ll never make it back.”

  I glared at the two of them. Seriously?! “Fine, but if I hear one moan or even one little giggle, I’ll throw you to the wolf myself!”

  I set my alarm for the horrible time of five-fifteen and buried myself under my covers. When it went off in the morning what good mood Chance had put me in soured immediately when I remembered why I was getting up at this God-forsaken hour. I decided to let it blare a few seconds more, just to wake Sophie. I know she didn’t force me to go to Robert’s room but it was still her fault I wasn’t reading my book from the comfort of my bed.

  Man it was hard to move aro
und at that hour. Normally light would fight to shine through our window coverings when I got up, but this early in the morning the room was still pitch black, with a hint of green haze coming from the alarm clock. I flicked on my bedside light and realized Sophie was sleeping alone in her bed. I never even heard Jhett leave last night.

  I bundled myself up with a ton of clothes so I could make the cold walk to the fitness facility without freezing my butt off. To hell with my looks. I definitely wasn’t gonna care that I was sporting bed hair the next hour or so.

  I turned off the light, and squinted when I stepped into the blinding hallway. Robert was there and he stood up to greet me. At least I assumed that blurry, bulky figure was him.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Hey,” I whined.

  “I heard you were going my way this morning.” He gave me the once-over and smiled. “Love the messy hair baby.”

  I blew air through my lips, too tired to open them, and waved him off as I headed down the hall.

  “Here.” He handed me a small, obnoxiously colored energy drink. “Trust me, it’ll help since you’re not used to getting up this early.”

  I popped the top – which wasn’t easy with the mittens – and drank the citrusy fluid. Ugh. My stomach was already burning. Hope it actually kicked my brain into gear, cause otherwise, it wouldn’t be worth the hole it was gonna tear through my stomach lining.

  “This sucks.”

  Nope. Not a morning person. At all.

  Robert put his hand on my neck and tried to rub it, but I had the scarf wound so many times he had a hard time finding skin. I chucked the can into the trash as we pushed through the double glass doors and the chill of the wind nipped at my nose and stung my face. Robert reached around my shoulders and pulled me tight as we braved the wind to the fitness facility.

  “So where did you get caught?”

  “A few feet shy of your door.”

  “So close,” he joked, and when I shot him an annoyed glare, he followed it up with a smile and a wink.

  “Do you mind if I go in first? If Ms. Newell sees me coming in with a guy, she’s gonna know for sure I was lying about not having a boyfriend.”