She's With Stupid

by Amanda Dennis

  At her unbidden whimper, he released her wrists and moved further down her body until the side of his head was resting against the soft cushion of her breasts, the thin material of her t-shirt the only thing stopping them from being skin to skin. She should have been uncomfortable. She should have been furious! But somehow her hands found their way to his hair to make sure he didn’t go away.

  He turned slightly to kiss the inside of her elbow and ran his hand lightly up her arm. “I want you to need me as much as I need you.” His voice remained as firm as always, but she could feel him trembling. That slight tremor was all it took for her to completely cave in and hold him even tighter.

  Ethan’s head rose so that he could meet her steady gaze. She stared into his deep green eyes for a long time, the room completely silent save for their uneven breathing. Her hand traced his jaw and his lips, and she felt herself shiver when he placed a gentle kiss on her wrist. She moistened her lips and absently stroked the faint dimple in his left cheek.

  “I’m afraid,” she whispered.

  Ethan frowned. “Of me?”

  She shook her head slowly. “Not really. I know you think you mean it when you say you’ll stay.”

  He nipped her index finger with his teeth and pressed her deeper into the sheets as he rested his weight on his forearms. “I do mean it.”

  She nodded wearily and ran her hand down his chest. His shirt was ripped and missing buttons. Had she done that?

  “I’m more afraid of me,” she confessed. “I loved you so much.” Her breath caught and he leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips. “I was young, too, Ethan. It hurt when you left, but I recovered. If I let myself love you again, it will be so much stronger. So much more—”

  “Real,” they said together.

  They both smiled and he softly kissed her lips again. It was almost like a prayer. And Emilie knew at that moment that she didn’t want him to leave. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to love him — even if it was only for a little while.

  With sudden resolve, she lifted her head and returned his kiss with all of the pent up passion and anger and aggression and love that she felt for him. Since they didn’t seem to have any trouble communicating when it came to this at least, they were soon naked and entwined in her lavender-scented sheets, no longer separated by anything but their own skin. As Ethan licked and nipped his way across her neck and chest, and then down her stomach, Emilie felt all the tension of the past few weeks melt and transform into a new, eminently more pleasurable tension.

  He lightly nipped at a sensitive spot on her left hip and, when she gasped, he soothed the mark with a kiss before looking up at her with a fierce gleam in his eye. “I never want to hurt you again, Emmy.” Before she could formulate a reply, he had moved further down her body, placing increasingly intimate kisses over the apex of her thighs. “I need you. Tell me you believe me, baby.”

  “Shh.” She pushed her hands into the heavy dark strands of his hair and tugged until he obligingly moved back up her body. He kissed her deeply as he began to move inside her. On a gasp, Emilie managed to murmur into his mouth, “I believe you, Ethan.”

  Several hours later, Ethan pulled her into a languid sprawl across his chest and held her close as their thundering hearts slowed to a more manageable drumbeat. She curved her body around his and tucked her head under his chin.

  “I love you,” he said softly against her hair.

  Cuddling into his chest, Emilie smiled with deep contentment. “I know.” He squeezed her until she giggled and placed her palm against the place above his heart. “I love you, too,” she whispered.

  Ethan grinned with relief. He had finally gotten through to her, and he felt certain that everything was going to be perfect from now on. He pulled the sheets over them before lazily rubbing his cheek in her silky hair, delighting in the long red strands that caught in the dark stubble along his jaw. He groaned appreciatively when she hooked her leg over his and softly nuzzled his neck with her freckled nose.

  She let out a kittenish murmur of approval when he pulled her even closer and his grip on her hip tightened possessively as he felt himself floating on a blissful cloud, completely at peace for the first time in years.

  “Mmm, baby, I have to go out of town tomorrow,” he mumbled, halfway between asleep and awake. Emilie started to pull away, but he barely noticed as he cuddled her closer and absently ran his fingers along her spine. “Some new client in Atlanta — that’s what I came over here to tell you before you distracted me with your womanly wiles.” She slowly settled back against his chest and listened to his drowsy voice. “I won’t be gone long, baby. When I get back, we’ll decide how we want to do this,” he softly rasped.

  Emilie felt herself nod, but made no sound. Her eyes had snapped open the moment Ethan announced his imminent departure, but she had stayed where she was, her body refusing to leave the seductively safe cradle of his arms even after he delivered his startling news. Now, she closed her eyes tightly and tried to convince herself not to have a meltdown. She didn’t think her boneless body would cooperate with her if she wanted to have one right now, anyway.

  Of course he was going out of town tomorrow. It’s not like she had expected him to stick around and propose or anything foolish like that. Although she was so sleepy and content right now, she would have probably said yes like some love-struck dope.

  But that was entirely beside the point. The point was he was leaving again. For a day or a week, Emilie had no idea because he hadn’t bothered to mention it until now. Why would he? Just because we’re sleeping together now, doesn’t mean he owes me anything.

  She winced at that thought. Man, she really was dumb.

  Ethan had drifted off to sleep, so he did not see the troubled expression on her face as she chewed her bottom lip and shivered before snuggling into his warmth, taking quick, shallow breaths to calm the dread that was steadily creeping through her system in spite of her best efforts to quell it.

  Being with him like this was as wonderful as she had always known it would be. Better even. And she was dismayed to realize that what she had once thought of as love was nothing compared to this devastating, all-encompassing emotion now choking her throat and making it difficult to breathe. She could feel everything inside her calling to him and wanting to be part of him.

  She loved him. Emilie thought she might have been able to handle that. But she also needed him, and that was terrifying.

  Chapter 18

  Kate arrived at Emilie’s apartment around nine o’clock that night, feeling sheepish about her complete disinterest in all things bridal. Her recent spaciness was, of course, due to her extracurricular activities, but all Emilie knew was that Kate was being a selfish bridezilla. So after leaving Jase in the motel shower, Kate had decided to help organize the RSVP’s or something in order to ease her pangs of guilt. And if it also had the added benefit of not going home, well then that was just a happy coincidence.

  She raised her hand to knock on Emilie’s door and nearly fell forward when it was opened from within by a smug-looking Ethan. Only slightly surprised, Kate stepped back and observed his appearance.

  His jeans were slung low on his hips, his wrinkled shirt was unbuttoned and un-tucked, and his dark hair was sticking up in the back. As if someone’s hands had recently been clutching it in the throes of passion.

  She couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes at the sleepy, thoroughly satisfied smile tugging at his lips.

  “Hey, Kate,” he said casually. “Come on in.”

  Shutting the door with a loud slam, Kate narrowed her eyes as Ethan leaned easily against the back of the couch like he owned the place. She would wager her honeymoon tickets to Hawaii that Emilie would find that more than a little unsettling.

  As if Kate’s amused thoughts had conjured her, Emilie came sauntering out of her bedroom wearing one of the t-shirts she’d swiped from Ethan’s room when they were kids, a pair of frilly pink undies that he was very clearly
salivating over, and nothing else. Her hair looked as if it hadn’t seen a brush since Christmas, her lips were totally bee stung, and Kate saw distinct whisker-burns all down the side of her neck and clavicle.

  The hussy, Kate thought with an approving grin.

  Emilie’s startled gaze met Kate’s and she flushed guiltily as Ethan softly chuckled at her bashfulness. Placing a hand over her neck, presumably to hide the incriminating marks, Emilie moved to stand beside Kate, a safe distance from Ethan. Ignoring her yelp, he promptly maneuvered Emilie so that her back was to his chest and his hands were clasped lightly over her stomach.

  With a defeated sigh, Emilie leaned into him and glared at her Kate’s knowing smirk while Ethan sniffed at her hair with a look of deep contentment plastered all over his face.

  “Hi, Kate,” Emilie muttered.

  Kate quirked her eyebrow and barely held back her grin. “Am I to assume that you two finally made it to an actual bed?” At Emilie’s blush and Ethan’s glare, Kate’s smile became fully formed. “Congrats!”

  “Ethan was just leaving,” Emilie said with a pointed scowl directed at Ethan’s hands, which were absently rubbing her tummy.

  “Unfortunately, she’s right,” he said with a laugh. Ethan gave her a quick kiss on the back of her head and a light swat on her bottom, which caused Emilie’s blush to deepen. “I’ve got a flight to Atlanta to catch — I should be back in a week or two, though.”

  “As long as you’re back in time for my walk down the aisle towards wedded bliss,” Kate said dryly.

  She was met by nearly identical expressions of skepticism.

  After a pregnant pause, Ethan said in an only slightly snarky tone, “Sure thing, cuz.”

  He then turned Emilie around to plant what seemed to be a very thorough kiss on her lips. Try as she might to be inconspicuous, Kate could not escape the fact that Emilie was soon clinging to Ethan’s neck and participating quite enthusiastically while Ethan firmly groped her bottom and attempted to suck all the oxygen in Emilie’s lungs out through her mouth.

  After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time for a simple kiss, he pulled back. Kate rolled her eyes once more when they proceeded to spend the next few minutes swapping Eskimo kisses and whispering sweet-nothings into each other’s ears, making it quite obvious that the pair of them had entirely forgotten her presence in the apartment.

  Ethan eventually managed to pull himself away. With a faint groan, he grabbed his jacket from the back of the couch and reluctantly headed for the door. “I’m going to be swamped with this job,” he called over his shoulder, “but I’ll call you as soon as I get a chance, baby.”

  “I can’t wait, darling,” said Kate.

  Even Emilie laughed when he waggled his eyebrows and waved to both of them. He was halfway out the door when he turned on his heel and came back to dip Emilie over his arm for another deep kiss. When he pulled her up she looked decidedly dizzy. Ethan gave her a meaningful look, and then he was out the door for good, closing it with a soft click.

  The second he was well and truly gone, Kate turned to Emilie with an expression of horrified amusement. “Explain, please.”

  Emilie scrunched up her face, still looking dazed. “Oh, all right — but I don’t want to hear even one I told you so, you got it?”

  Lana had never understood the phrase ‘drive a final nail into the coffin.’ It seemed superfluous — if the metaphorical relationship was in a coffin, then it was already dead and once something is dead it cannot be revived. So only an idiot would need to see one last nail driven in to fully convince them of the finality of the situation. Then she walked into Brian’s apartment and found him sitting in the chair Lana had helped him pick out three weeks before, the very skanky tattoo girl from downstairs on her knees in front of him.

  Suddenly, she totally got it.

  Things had been quiet at the coffeehouse since a lot of kids were out of town, so she had gotten off work earlier than expected and decided to surprise Brian with Thai food and wine. When he lazily looked up from the bobbing head in his lap and saw Lana standing in the doorway, he definitely looked surprised.

  Barely able to see through the thin veil of fury, Lana blindly reached for the table on her left. Without thought, she picked up the ceramic pig that held small change and hurled it at Brian’s head. As pennies and pig flew across the room, Brian defensively ducked out of the way. Unluckily for him, the movement caused the startled tattoo girl to bite down, and he let out a squeal of distress before roughly shoving her away.

  Satisfied that she had done all she could do here, Lana walked out the door, slamming it for full effect.

  As the elevator doors closed, she caught a glimpse of Brian frantically hobbling down the hall after her, clutching a dish towel to his nether regions. Lana firmly pressed the Door Closed button and kept looking straight ahead; once the elevator reached the first floor, she quickly made her way out of the building. She didn’t think Brian was in any condition to chase after her, but she would just as soon put as much distance between them as possible in order to avoid the very real possibility of committing justifiable homicide in full view of the cameras situated in the apartment lobby.

  Reaching the sidewalk, Lana breathed in the increasingly humid air and surprised herself by letting out a cheerful snort. She put her hand over her mouth and continued to walk down the street to her car, desperately trying to stifle her sudden fit of giggles. A few people cast her sideways glances as they passed her, certain she was a crazy person.

  Maybe she was.

  Whether the laughter was bordering on hysteria or glee, Lana couldn’t really say. All she knew for certain was that for the first time in a long time she felt free. Seeing firsthand how truly scummy Brian was had somehow broken the strange spell he’s had on her for so long.

  Now there was no way for her to deny what kind of person he was, no way to ignore the evidence of how little he had respected her or their relationship. It hurt, of course, but now that she could offer herself no more excuses to stick around Lana felt lighter. The albatross that was Brian Connelly seemed to have lifted from her neck the moment she hurled that little ceramic pig at the big pig sitting across the room.

  She got in her car and sat for a moment, savoring the relief that was coursing through her bloodstream. Though she may have been slow on the uptake, when Lana was done with someone, she was well and truly done. And she was finally, completely done with Brian. So what if it had taken her a while to reach the conclusion everyone else had reached months ago about what a waste of time, energy, and oxygen he was? The important thing was that she was reaching it now.

  Shaking her head in bemusement, Lana pulled out of her parking spot and let out another gurgle of laughter. She couldn’t wait to tell Emilie and Kate about her ill-timed, unexpectedly satisfying breakthrough.

  She breezed into the apartment twenty minutes later to find Emilie and Kate sitting on the floor in front of the TV, watching an I Love Lucy rerun and discussing flower arrangements. Lana noted as she threw her keys down on a table and kicked off her shoes that Emilie was doing most of the talking; Kate was merely nodding periodically as Emilie muttered, to no one in particular, “I know you wanted lots of roses, but the budget is getting tight. So I think we’ll limit roses to the bouquets.”

  When Kate continued to stare absently at the TV screen, not even bothering to respond to this news, Lana grinned. Though she was ostensibly running the flower plan by Kate, it was quite clear that Emilie had already decided on her course. Kate was kind of like a constitutional monarch when it came to this wedding; Emilie was the prime minister who actually held the power.

  Emilie looked up from her checklist, saw that her audience of one was staring off in space, and gave Kate’s wrist a smart rap with her pen. Startled, Kate yanked her hand back and held her injured wrist protectively to her chest. “What was that for, Slutty McGee?”

  Lana paused for a second to silently ponder what that remark was about.
<
br />   Instead of replying, Emilie merely stuck her tongue out at Kate and went back to her list. “You still need to get the final alteration on your dress done. Lana and I do, too, so we’ll go with you. I made an appointment for all of us next Thursday evening.”

  Emilie smiled in greeting as Lana swerved around the half-empty pizza box in the middle of the floor to settle on the couch behind them. Then her gaze returned to Kate. “You don’t have class on Thursday, right?” Emilie asked, her pen held expectantly over her list.

  “No,” said Kate. “You could have asked before you made the appointment, though. I might have had plans.”

  “Plans with whom?” Emilie asked distractedly as she checked something off of her list. “Will works every night, and Lana and I are your only friends. Who else would you be hanging out with — your mother?”

  Lana grinned at Kate’s flummoxed expression. Rather than argue with Emilie, Kate picked up a crust from the pizza box and began chewing as loud as she could in an effort to annoy Emilie. Unperturbed, Emilie reached for the crust and wrenched it from her hand.

  “Hey!” Kate pasted a mock-scowl on her face. “That was rude.”

  Emilie set her list aside. “Yeah, yeah, cry me a river,” she said airily. She smiled serenely at Kate and then focused her attention on the unusually silent Lana. “What’s up?” Emilie inquired with a slight furrow of her brow.

  Lana could tell that she was hoping it was good news — Emilie’s crisis management skills were being sadly overworked lately.

  Before Lana could reply, Kate held up her hand. “Before you even start, Lan, just know that whatever you have to say cannot even hope to compare to what I found Emilie doing when I got over here.”

  Observing Kate’s evil grin and Emilie’s telling blush, Lana put a pause on her own excitement and warily asked, “What did I miss?”