Your Little Secret

by Cooper, Bethan

  "You're hot," she mumbled her finger pointing into his chest.

  "Thanks," he replied his hands holding onto her shoulders.

  A brunette girl grabbed her around her waist and pulled her into the seat behind. "Sorry," said the stranger and tucked a loose piece of curled hair behind her ear. "She can't handle her drink," she stammered looking away from him to assess her friend.

  He couldn't believe the sight he was seeing, such a perfect figure. Her dress hugged her curves, her breasts pushed hard above the neckline. "It's okay," he said his hands shrugged into his jean pockets. He could see her eye fucking him, taking in his body. Her bright blue eyes reminded him of the ocean blue and he couldn't keep his tongue in from licking along his bottom lip. "So er, could I at least get a name?" he asked as she straightened her dress and fidgeted with her shoes.

  "Mine or hers?" she asked as a smiled played along her plump mouth. He took a step towards her and melted into her eyes.

  "Yours of course, you are the prettiest girl in here," he watched as she blushed and stroked her hair away from her face again.

  "Amber," she replied firmly and he fell in love straight away.

  ***

  "Wakey wakey!" Amber mumbled, and stroked her fingers across his cheek, awakening him to his surroundings.

  He smiled at her and sat at the foot of the bed. "Sorry," he replied and stood back up. "I know I need to get ready, but I was thinking of when we first met."

  She laughed loudly and shrugged on some jeans that were lying across the floor. "Yeah, Lucy was a mess!" she replied tying her hair into a messy bun on the crown of her head. She pulled on his hand and kissed the ring she bought him as a farewell present. "Remember me," she whispered against his hand and stood up straight, her hands firmly placed on her hips. "Now, time for you to get ready mister!" she demanded and slapped his firm arse and he growled in response.

  “You make it sound like you want me to leave,” he spoke back, playing hurt. He looked at her, her face drawn and worried that she had said something wrong. He leaned out, hooking an index finger around one of the belt loops on her jeans and pulled her towards him, forcing her to stand between his opened legs. He placed his fingers on the rim of the waistband of her jeans and looked down at her, “Right, if I promise to ring you when I get to London, are you going to promise to not be a blubbering mess?”

  “I’m not making that a promise,” Amber told him back, her eyebrows furrowing together as she tried to keep her emotions in check. “I mean, when you call, it’ll be a new turn in your life. You’ll be in a huge city, everything will be changing.”

  “Everything except my love for you, Amber,” he told her back fiercely. “I know it’s going to take some adjusting, but please baby. Have faith in me. We can make this work. I’ve been down there on business before.”

  “Yeah for a week,” she pouted at him, “Not twenty weeks.”

  “They’ll fly by,” he said as he pushed her back a little so he could stand up. “Before you know it, I’ll be back, and we have weekends to see one another. I have your birthday in a few weeks, I am not missing that.”

  “I expect a big gift,” she teased him and giggled. “Now what time’s your train again?”

  He looked over his shoulder at the bedside clock and sighed, “Just under the hour so I really need to get going.”

  Sighing in resignation, Amber took a step away and quickly lost his shirt to put on her own clothes as Connor left her to get himself dressed. She then followed his footsteps out of the main bedroom, along the hallway and down the stairs. She found him already placing his fresh suit on, his suitcase by the door. As he walked up the hallway towards her, she approached him, deliberately stopping him midstride so she could help fix his tie. This was the last time she was going to have with him for God knows how long, she wanted to make sure she had as much contact with him as humanly possible.

  “Perfect,” she whispered as she flattened the tie down and gave him a respectable once over. Damn, she had been lucky he had fallen for her and not Lucy that night.

  Chapter Two

  "C'mon Amber, he's been gone 4 days, get up!" Ethan's masculine voice filled her ears, but she covered her head with the closest pillow to stifle his voice. "Get up!" he shouted and pulled the covers away from her feet at the foot of the bed.

  "Ethan, please kindly fuck off," she muttered and threw the pillow at him. He dodged it, and couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful woman before him. He looked away embarrassed when she jumped out of bed in just a shirt and underwear.

  "What?" Amber asked, her arms spread wide, a questioning look on her face.

  "Nothing," Ethan said as he imagined all the things he could do to her delectable body. He watched her roll her eyes at him and then sighed, she then began to storm past him, heading for the bathroom door, taking one last glare at him before slamming the door.

  "Do you want me to get you some breakfast from McDonald's?" Ethan asked as he pulled out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. He pulled out twenty quid and waited patiently for an answer. Amber opened the bathroom door, standing in only the blue shirt Connor left her, the top three buttons casually undone. She slumped against the doorframe, biting her lip, giving him the most seductive look she could muster. He knew it was meant playfully, it always was, but for him the intrinsic pull between them strengthened.

  "What do you think, handsome?" she purred, seduction caressing her tone.

  Why did she do this to him? He couldn't understand. Especially, when all he ever wanted to do was kiss her beautiful skin from head to toe, and never let her leave his side. He wanted to quite literally keep her captive with him.

  She walked over to him and jumped into his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist and she kissed his soft dirty blonde hair. She loved the intimacy of their relationship. There were no strings attached, no emotional implications.

  Breaking the sexual tension beginning to build within him, Ethan spoke up, “Do you want breakfast or not?”

  "Please?" She begged leaning back, her arms wrapped around his neck. “My tummy’s beginning to talk to me.” She said back in his hold, “I’m sorry for being a sad bear; I promise I’ll be better, but right now I want to eat junk food and wallow.” She tilted her head to the side, “Can you help a girl do that?”

  “Well,” Ethan began to ponder, screwing his face up in thought. He then threw her onto the bed, “If you can be dressed by the time I get back.”

  “I’ll make sure I’m entirely naked and sitting at the dining room table,” she quipped sarcastically, giggling at his disapproval.

  “You will be the death of me one day,” Ethan told her, pointing to her with the hand that had the now screwed up twenty pound note in. “I will be half an hour tops, lady. I want you showered and dressed; you’re kicking up a fuss.”

  “Fine,” she groaned at him and sat up as he turned to leave, “Eth?”

  Ethan stopped and turned to her, looking at her expectantly.

  “Why hasn’t he called?” she asked her best friend, using him as her confidante. She looked up as the tears began to pool in her eyes. “I mean we’ve text loads, but when it comes to him ringing me he just doesn’t.”

  “Hey now,” Ethan stepped towards her again, covering the space he had just left. “Give him a call now. I won’t leave until he answers. Just give him a chance and I bet he’ll pick up the moment you ring.” He watched her gulp at him, her eyes searching his for another alternative, “If you don’t I will, and we both know how that he hates me.”

  Amber laughed and then grabbed the iPhone from the side table, and quickly found his number, the phone sounding with each new option she clicked. Pushing the phone to her ear she looked at Ethan, holding his gaze as if it were her only lifeline, but as one ring turned into two then three she lost hope until she heard Connor’s voice. “Hey,” she whispered back, her shoulders sagging as she melted at the sound of Connor on the other end of the line, “Are you busy?”

>   Ethan motioned that he would be back. He didn’t want to hear her gush lovingly down the line at her man when he could only dream it was him she was speaking to, that it was him she missed profusely. He’d rather cut his losses and leave her to have this talk rather than stick around and torture himself more.

  Amber heard Ethan slam the front door causing some of the house to shake and leaned back on her bed with a heavy sigh. "So are you settled?" she asked, feeling so uneasy.

  "Uh, yeah babe. Listen I can't really talk right now," he said with a clipped and harsh tone.

  She sat up and sighed heavily. "I haven't spoken to you for days Connor. I miss you." She held a hand to her mouth as the last words were barely a whisper. "I'm cold without you."

  "And me, you babe. Listen I'm at the office, I'll send some money your way when I get a chance, I can't talk much here. I'll text you okay? I miss you so much baby. It's not forever Amber, you know that, right?" Connor was prompted by the silence that fell between them. "Amber? You there?"

  "Yeah, sorry. No, I understand babe. I told you not to worry about sending me money. I'll be fine."

  "I still have to care for you, Amber. You're still my life baby. Just you," Connor placated her, attempting to keep their relationship strong.

  "It's so good to hear your voice, Connor. I want you. If you know what I mean," she said, biting down hard on her lip as she remembered the last time they slept together.

  "Amber stop, I can't talk like that now," he said through a laugh. "I love you angel. I'll call you soon. I love you."

  "I love you too, so much."

  "Bye baby," he whispered, and the line went dead. She kept the handset to her ear just in case he hadn't gone yet, but the three beeps that sounded, proved otherwise. She heard the front door slam and she jumped in shock. She wasn't even dressed yet.

  ***

  Ethan walked into the house he knew all too well and placed his bag of McDonald's on the kitchen worktop. He grabbed two plates from the cupboard and unwrapped his double sausage and egg McMuffin. He tilted his head to the side, as he watched the tap above the kitchen sink drip slowly. He mentally told himself to fix that for Amber on his next day off and placed his muffin on a plate. 'Like a G6' was playing so loud, and the house shook slightly with every base tone. He rolled his eyes at Amber but knew exactly where she was - the shower. He grabbed the broom that sat in the kitchen and walked into the living room. He bashed the ceiling three times with the end of the broom.

  "There are neighbours y'know Amber!" He waited for an answer and bashed once more, but still got no answer. Sod it, if she was naked so be it. He marched up the stairs being careful to dodge the broken one and reminded himself to fix that too. Once he reached the bathroom door he bashed hard on it.

  "Amber open this fucking door, girl!" Ethan screamed and he heard her turn the music down slightly.

  "Better now, dick?" she shouted from the bathroom and he heard her turn off the shower.

  "Don't get me wrong, Ambi, I do love that song, but not at that level and having to tell you off like I'm your parent," he sighed, and watched as she opened the door and rushed past him in just her towel. He watched as her wet hair fell down her back and he had to mentally punish himself for staring.

  "Um," he said stammering. "Your breakfast is here."

  "Sausage, egg and cheese bagel?" she asked her head tilted to the side.

  "Yep," he nodded back.

  "With an extra -" She turned with an all knowing grin on her lips.

  "With an extra hash brown, you forget how long I've known you, babe," he interrupted and watched her face light up.

  "We'll talk about your chat when you come downstairs. Hurry up, I'm not waiting for you," he said, his blue eyes scanning hers. Closing her bedroom door behind him, he retreated back downstairs.

  Feeling her stomach alert her to her hunger again, Amber toweled most of the moisture from her body before grabbing her underwear. This time she took the safer option of just plain black knickers and a plain black bra. Who did she have to surprise now that Connor was gone? Trying to towel dry the majority of her hair, she quickly gave up and tied it into a loose bun before finding jeans and t-shirt. Doing so in such a rush, she tripped on the power cord for her phone sending it flying across the room and then stepped on the plug for her hair dryer.

  Admitting defeat to the day being a success, she hurried downstairs and mastered the stairs without a trip or a stumble. She counted her lucky stars when she sat at the table, her breakfast out ready for her.

  “Where’s my postcard?” Ethan quipped sarcastically as he finished his bite of his muffin. He watched her look at him suspiciously, not having a clue what he was talking about. “I heard you trip, I wanted to know where my postcard was?”

  “You’re such a weirdo,” she laughed him off and dropped her gaze onto her breakfast. Licking her lips she picked it up and took a bite, indulging on the taste of McDonalds and thought that maybe today could be saved after all.

  “It’s going to rain later,” Ethan suddenly post up.

  Okay, so today was a failure, her mind mocked at her. Time to go back to bed!

  “But we can go to the cinema,” Ethan continued on, cutting up her thoughts. “I mean that Evil Dead remake’s out and I know how you like to curl up with me during a good horror.” He shot her a grin as she pondered the idea. “Or, we can get a film off the Sky Store, play monopoly, sit and twiddle our thumbs.” He sat waiting for a response, “You aren’t going back to that pit upstairs. I let you have four days, life continues.”

  Amber groaned and stopped eating; apparently her appetite didn’t last long. “He shot me down,” it was all she said and she began to unravel, “He sounded, erm, distracted. He told me he was at the office, but I just feel something’s wrong. I swear I could hear a woman’s voice, but women work in offices too so I can’t go thinking the worst, can I?” she swallowed hard as she said that final piece, looking to Ethan with eyes wide and fearful. “He wouldn’t cheat on me just like that would he?”

  Ethan felt caught in a chokehold. He could easily be the coward and say yes, then console the woman he loved so much, or he could simply ease her mind. He could give Connor the benefit of the doubt. After all, he wanted him to be the good guy because the idea of Amber being cheated on made Ethan feel physically sick.

  Clearing his throat, Ethan decided to be the better guy here. He could beat down on Connor if he even so much as thought of doing the deed on Amber. “Ambi, he is just settling in. It’s a big change, going to London from here. I mean, he has to get into the swing of life and you did call him at like ten AM, it’s like morning rush at work at that time. He’ll call you back and everything will be fine. You’ll laugh at your attitude in a few days when you two are turning one another on over the phone.”

  Immediately the heat rushed to her cheeks, her chest reddening with the embarrassment of having this chat with her best friend. “We’ll see if we reach that point, eh?” she then took another bite of her bagel and grabbed her coffee that Ethan had made her before she got downstairs. “I really could do with some Ben and Jerry’s and something like The Notebook to watch.”

  “Oh no,” he defied her, putting his foot down, “I am not going through The Notebook again.”

  “Scared you’ll cry again?” Amber teased him ruthlessly, grinning from ear to ear.

  “No,” he told her, scared he’d lose more dignity by crying over a damn chick flick. “I don’t want to sit and hear you do the entire dialogue. Again.”

  "Whatever, Ethie baby, I love it," she teased and bent down to kiss his cheek. She gathered up their plates and wandered over to the kitchen.

  He felt his hand come to touch where she had kissed but mentally blocked himself from acting like it was a little teenage crush. It was never a crush. He and Amber had known each other since school. Being best friends with a girl was hard, considering the amount of girls who wanted to go out with him in school. Suddenly Eva popped into his mind, and how
he left her because she made him choose between her and his Ambi. It was would always be Amber.

  "So, are we going to the cinema then? It'll have to be Bradford or Leeds, Keighley picture house isn't the best around and it's only got one screen!" Amber laughed as she knocked the dishes around in the hot soapy water.

  "Properly treating you today aren't I girl?" Ethan teased, scrolling through the TV channels until their favourite program came on.

  "Is that Jeremy Kyle?" Amber squealed from the kitchen and came bouncing back into the living room, sitting on the arm of the sofa, her legs leant over his lap. It took every ounce of strength he had, to stop him from pulling her down and have her sit in his arms. He watched as she propped her elbows on her knees and soft smiles appeared every time someone shouted at Jeremy.

  "Oh DNA! Ethie baby! D-N-A!" she turned to face him and smiled as his blue eyes lit up at her. He stroked her arm slightly and goose bumps appeared. What the hell? She thought to herself, curious as to why Ethan had an effect on her. She tried to shake it off but stood from where she was sat and moved to the opposite side of the sofa.

  "What? Do I smell or something?" Ethan said as he worried for what she felt right now.

  "No," she whispered tears building for no unknown reason. Damn Connor and his absence.

  "Come sit with me, Ambi. A cuddle could be just what you need," he put his arms out for her as he said those words.

  She scooted over to his arms and he wrapped them firmly around her, her tiny frame fitting his body perfectly. He stroked her bare arm gently and she laid her hand on his thigh.

  “See, I smell good,” he joked and placed a kiss onto her crown. “You know it might hurt now, but the distance will bring you closer together. All that crap about distance makes the heart grow fonder and all that jazz. You’ll see that when you’re reunited, it’ll be like only last week you were curled up in bed together.”