“Can I get you a drink or anything?”
“No, I’m fine thanks.” I willed myself not to use this as an excuse to stop working so didn’t look up.
“Can I sit with you? I promise I won’t talk.” Rather than reply, I shifted up the bed so that there was space for him on the end closest to my feet. I deliberately added something to my notes rather than acknowledge him when he sat down, but he appeared content to sit there, tapping on his phone. Whilst I wasn’t as focussed as I had been earlier, I was able to continue with my revision.
Until he put his hand on the back of one of my thighs, that is. His hand was immobile initially, but then started slowly stroking up and down. There was no way I could concentrate on French verbs with that going on. When I turned a couple of pages in my revision guide, as though looking for something, his hand strayed closer to the top of my legs and my brain refused to process anything other than what his hand was doing. Just as I had decided to give in to the feelings building up inside, he stopped and quickly got off the bed.
“Fuck! That’s Dad’s car.” My brain could barely compute what he said through the haze of my arousal. “God, talk about crap timing!” All I could manage was a disgruntled murmur of agreement. “Come on, let’s just go straight out. We can get something to eat when we get there.”
“Alright. Just give me a couple of minutes to calm down first.” Flynn winked and left the room. I lay on the bed, thinking about what had just happened. Was I being too easy? It seemed like all he had to do was touch me and I was there, gagging for more. Deciding it was probably a good thing that his parents had shown up when they did, I straightened my clothes before going downstairs.
In the car he showed me how to connect my phone to his stereo and demanded to hear some of the music I had on there. We spent half of the journey singing along to shared favourites and the other half play-arguing about differences in taste, namely his interest in lo-fi Indie bands and my penchant for angst-ridden female singers. The half hour journey passed all too quickly and we were soon parking close to the riverside.
Stratford is one of those places that is better in the winter. In the summer it is packed with tourists, all devouring the history and pretending to be interested in Shakespeare. But, on a wintry day, there’s space to wander without getting in the way of those carrying cameras or following a tour guide.
As we walked off in the direction of the music shop, Flynn casually picked up my hand and linked his fingers in mine. Trying to be equally casual about it, when in reality my heart was all a flutter, my only acknowledgement was a squeeze of his fingers. I was happy that we didn’t talk much as we made our way through the town as it meant I could focus on the new experience of being part of a couple. I noticed how people moved differently around us, seeing the linked hands and not wanting to part us. Instead of me being carried along with the crowd like normal, we were setting our own pace, browsing in the small shop windows and pointing out the tackiest souvenirs to each other.
Once we had picked up his case, we walked down another of the side streets back to the car. I didn’t want to admit that I was feeling hungry or that I wasn’t ready to go back yet.
“Do you need to get back and revise?” I was convinced he was telepathic.
“Not yet. Why?”
“I thought we would pick up a hot drink and walk by the river. If you’re up for it, that is.” I was pretty much up for anything Flynn suggested, as I had demonstrated earlier, but I appreciated him asking.
“Sounds great.” I picked up his hand after he locked the car. This time he squeezed my fingers in return. After finding a bench overlooking the river and theatre, I was surprised when he let go of my hand.
“Stay here. I’ll be back soon.” And with that he jogged off towards a row of shops on the other side of the road. Feeling confused at his abrupt departure, I took out my phone.
Me: What’s going on?
Flynn: Surprise! x
Me: As in I have to find my own way home?!
Flynn: Just enjoy the view for 5 mins x
I sent Neve a quick text to see how she was feeling but the lack of reply implied that she was still sleeping. It appeared I had no choice but to sit and watch the swans and ducks on the river. There was a cute little boy feeding the ducks whilst his parents sat on the bench next to me and it made me smile to see him laughing every time one of the birds flapped their wings or pecked at each other.
“Here you go.” I was surprised by the selection of paper bags Flynn placed on the bench, along with two lidded cups. “I wasn’t sure what you fancied so I got us a mini picnic.” He opened the bags and arranged the contents on a couple of paper napkins: a sandwich, two sausage rolls, some crisps and a couple of cakes. “I got hot chocolate as I didn’t know how you take your coffee. It actually made me realise there’s a lot I don’t know about you!” And, with that garbled statement, I realised that he was nervous; the selection of goodies and hot chocolate was an attempt to please me. I leant over the picnic and kissed him.
“Any type of coffee, but not black, and no sugar. All of this looks great as it doesn’t contain any tomato - that is the food of the devil. All cake, however, is the work of angels. So you’ve done a pretty spectacular job!” When the food was finished, I binned the bags and moved next to Flynn. There was a comfortable silence whilst we sipped our drinks and held hands.
“I take my coffee the same and I like all cakes as well. Do you think it’s Fate?”
I laughed at his question. “I don’t know. Does a shared interest in cake trump the differences in our musical tastes?”
“Possibly. Maybe we need to find some other evidence. What is your favourite colour?”
“Purple.”
“Blue. That’s no good. What about your favourite animal?”
“Cat.”
“Monkey. Oh no. We need to find something and quick!”
“What’s your favourite film?”
“Toy Story. You know that.”
“Yes, but you don’t know that it’s mine as well.” Well, it had been since the night I sat with Flynn and watched it.
“Really? It’s funny you didn’t share that the other night! But, hey, I’m willing to take it as a sign. What’s your favourite subject at school?”
“English, but yours must be Geography so that’s a fail.”
“Is that what you want to do at Uni?” His question marked the end of the game and the start of getting to know more about me than how I liked my coffee.
“Sort of. I’ve applied to do English or English and Journalism. That’s what I want to get into career-wise.”
“Sounds interesting. I don’t have a clue what I’m going to do with a Geography degree. I’ll probably end up being a teacher, trying to convince everyone that tectonic plates are exciting.” I wondered what people did do with a Geography degree, but then I suppose most degrees are the same. And what the hell were tectonic plates?
“There’s probably worse careers to end up in but I don’t think a tweed jacket and cords is quite your style!”
“Where have you applied?” Flynn’s question reminded me that I should check the UCAS website later.
“Birmingham, Coventry, Cardiff, Lincoln and Sussex. Birmingham and Sussex are my favourites but I’ve only heard from Lincoln and Coventry so far.”
“It’s great at Birmingham. It would be cool if you went there as well.” The idea of both of us being at the same university was double-edged: good if we were still together, potentially disastrous if things fell horribly apart.
“I liked it when I visited but it would be hard to justify the expense of living in halls when it’s do-able to travel in each day. I loved the feel of Brighton as somewhere to live when I went to the open day at Sussex - and Neve has applied there as well which could make it interesting. I’ll just have to see what happens.”
“I suppose we will. Now, back to Fate. Do you like ducks?” The seeming randomness of the question broke any awkwardness left fr
om the discussion about Birmingham.
“Yes?”
“Here you go then,” he said, removing three bread rolls from the pockets on his jacket. “But you can’t feed the swans; they bully the ducks!” I took a couple of the rolls from him and we made a game of getting the chunks of bread to the ducks, distracting swans where necessary. It turned out he was serious about his bullying theory; he really did believe that the more beautiful, more popular swans forced their superiority on the ducks. Am I a duck?
Once the bread was gone, I had one more request before we left.
“Can we go to the theatre shop?”
“Of course.” We walked the short distance to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. “Any particular reason why we’re here?”
“I want to look in the bookshop. We’re studying Othello in English and I want to see if they’ve got anything on it.” I browsed the shelves with one hand, the other clutched in Flynn’s.
“Have you seen it?”
“Not live. I’ve never been to the theatre. I don’t think Puss in Boots counts!”
“Ssshh! If they hear you, you’ll probably be banished forever! Let’s get that book and make a quick exit before they discover what a fake you really are.” He took the book from my hand and pulled me towards the till. “Just this, thanks. Oh, and one of these.” He picked up something from one of those small boxes they use for impulse buys at the counter.
“Flynn, I can get it.” I was flustered by how quickly this had all happened.
“I know, but I want to treat you.” Taking the small carrier bag from the sales assistant, he nudged me in the direction of the exit. On the steps outside he stopped and got something out of the bag before passing it to me.
I moved up a step and kissed him. “Thank you.” For the first time, there was no height difference and I leant into him. He put his arms around me and pulled me close, enabling me to inhale the potent combination of his aftershave, hot chocolate and chewing gum.
“Oh, I have something else for you,” he said as he pulled back slightly before taking hold of the lapel of my coat. With what seemed to be a series of completely unnecessary strokes of my boobs, he pinned an ‘I Love Shakespeare’ badge to my coat. “Just show that to Ms O’Brien and you’re guaranteed an A!” As tacky as the badge was, it made me smile.
Flynn made me smile.
When we got back to his house, Flynn paused before switching off the engine. “Now we’ve gone public, how are we going to play this in there?” He nodded his head in the direction of the house.
“I don’t know. I feel bad deceiving Neve but it doesn’t seem right to say that we’ve got together whilst she has been sick.”
“That’s true but I don’t want to pretend in front of Mum and Dad. I want to be able to touch you,” he said, brushing away a piece of hair that had fallen across my face, “and talk about you as more than Neve’s friend.” I wanted him to talk about me like that as well, but I was still apprehensive about Neve.
“Me too, but it might make them feel differently about me staying over.”
“True. How about we come out of the closet once you’ve gone back home tomorrow?” The reminder of life returning to normal took the sheen off what had been a wonderful afternoon and all I could muster was a nod in reply. “I had a great day today, Cass. Thank you.” He picked up my hand and dropped a soft kiss in my palm before getting out of the car.
When we got in, Neve was sat in the lounge watching TV. Although she was still dressed in her pyjamas, she looked considerably better than this morning. I sat next to her and gave her a hug.
“You’ve decided to surface then?”
“Yeah. As soon as I heard you had resorted to going out with my brother, I knew I had to get out of that bed and rescue you.” After a moment of panic that somehow she knew what was going on, I realised that she meant literally going out with him for the afternoon.
“I felt sorry for him, especially once I heard what he listens to when driving.” Flynn coughed as if to remind us of his presence. “But we had a good time. It turns out he’s not such bad company after all!”
“Oh no, you’re not coming down with the fever now, are you?” Neve joked whilst Flynn gave me a secret wink.
That evening passed quickly. After ordering a takeaway for dinner, we all sat in the lounge, Neve and I occupying our usual space on the sofa, watching TV and chatting. I mentally compared it with evenings spent at home: usually sat in silence, not wanting to say something which would draw a negative response from Mike. It’s hardly surprising that I preferred to spend my time in my room, unlike Neve and Flynn who seemed all too willing to play happy families.
When Neve started yawning, I knew that I needed to go up with her, even though I wanted to stay and repeat the previous night with Flynn. Neve and I had spent barely any time together because of her illness and I was going home tomorrow.
Once upstairs, she managed about half an hour of chatting and gossiping before she fell asleep so I got my tablet out, put my earphones in and opened my Kindle app.
My time in the vampire underworld was disturbed by the feel of my phone, vibrating on the pillow next to me.
Flynn: Is Neve asleep yet?
Me: Yes
Flynn: Fancy film club? Mum and dad have gone up.
Me: What’s showing?
Flynn: What do you want to see ;-)
Me: More than I got to see last night!?
Flynn: :) Get down here now!
I put my bra back on under my pyjamas and quietly crept downstairs. Flynn was already stationed on the sofa, some band I didn’t recognise playing quietly in the background. The only illumination came from the white lights twinkling on the Christmas tree, the dimness casting shadows across Flynn. Coming straight from my vampire hero upstairs, I felt a blush of excitement warm me.
“If I was suspicious, I would say that you are intending to seduce me and have brought me here under false pretences.” I grinned and sat down at the other end of the sofa, making sure that any touching that took place couldn’t be accidental.
“Do you really want to watch a film? I’ve got Goodfellas or Crazy, Stupid Love down here if you want.” I knew what he was really asking and, bearing in mind his earlier comments about not playing games, I opted for honesty.
“I just want to be with you. I want to make the most of this time together,” I admitted. “I’m happy if the film was just an excuse.” I shuffled over and kissed him, pushing my tongue into his mouth, making my intentions clear. He groaned into my mouth and kissed me back. We lay side by side on the sofa, the kiss fluctuating between a hard, passionate connection and more playful nibbling. As his hands roamed over me, I knew I wanted more.
“Take your top off, Cass.” I loved the way he said my name, softly drawling out the end. I obliged and then reached across to remove his shirt. He lay on top of me and again I savoured the feel and weight of him. He bent his head to rain kisses on the swell above my bra. “God, you are amazing.” He sucked at the skin, grazing the flesh with his teeth.
“Lie on your back.” I surprised both of us with my command, but Flynn dutifully followed the instruction. I straddled his hips and smiled before putting my hands behind my back to remove my bra. I leant down and kissed him, hard, continuing to grind our hips together.
Our breathing was becoming laboured, our hands were moving in increasingly frantic patterns on each other and I was pushing to feel more of him, all of him. Knowing that Flynn would not be the person to push us over the line, I made the decision that I was ready.
I wanted more.
Putting my mouth close to his ear to whisper, even though I felt no embarrassment, I told him, “I’m ready, Flynn. I want you.”
“What do you mean, Cass?” Looking me directly in the eye, holding his hands still at my waist, he demanded to know exactly what I was trying to tell him.
“I’m ready. I don’t want us to stop.”
“Cass, as much as I desperately want you right now,”
he said, “we are not going to do this tonight. I don’t want our first time, your first time, to be on a sofa, listening out in case someone wanders downstairs. We can do more, but we won’t do that. OK?”
“Oh, OK.” I tried to conceal any disappointment.
“Now it’s your turn to lie down.” I was intrigued and willingly swapped places. “Relax,” he said, with a smile.
I tried to calm myself by slowing my breathing as he placed a line of kisses from my forehead to my chin, completely ignoring my mouth. When I tried to touch him, Flynn placed my hands by my sides, holding them until I understood the message that I wasn’t to disturb his investigation. I succumbed and let my mind focus on the feelings unfolding. He kissed his way down my neck and I shuddered, almost convulsing with the intensity of the response it generated.
Flynn’s hand stroked its way from my waist to my tummy before slipping into my pyjama bottoms. He looked at me and I smiled as he started to touch me through the cotton of my knickers. I had a moment of embarrassment when I thought about how damp they must have been by this point, but that was soon forgotten. It was like electrocution; every slight movement shook me and took me one step closer to losing control. I felt the rising wave of breathless heat overtaking me. Flynn clamped his mouth over mine, drowning out the noises I couldn’t have stopped making if I had tried.
Whilst my breathing slowly returned to something like normal, Flynn removed his hand and held me tight, dropping the occasional kiss onto my head.
I felt amazing.
Flynn was amazing.
“Wow,” I said, knowing that it was possibly the under-exaggeration of the century. It had been every cliché I had ever read about and more.
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