by A. E. Murphy
“I could kiss you all day,” he hums against my mouth. “I could think of something else I’d like to do all day.”
I squeal when he nips my neck and pulls me further onto his lap.
“I will never get enough of this,” he mumbles, groaning when I grind against him. “I don’t remember what was good in the world before last night.”
“And this morning.”
“And tonight, when Ashlyn is in bed.”
“I don’t feel comfortable doing it when there’s a kid in the house.”
“She sleeps like the dead; it’s fine.” He rubs my thighs with his hands and then slides them over my hips and up to my shoulders.
“I don’t think I can do it, purely because I also need some recovery time. Girls work differently down there.”
“It’s fine. We don’t have to have sex every single day.”
“Though it would be preferable.” I grin, grinding against him again. “Come on. Before we get caught.”
“Drink your tea first.”
“Yes, boss.”
“It’ll give you a boost of energy.”
“A much needed one.” I yawn to prove that point and cry out as my body begins to move upwards. “I’m heavy!”
“You are not,” he laughs loudly, holding me under the thighs. I lock my arms around his neck and my ankles around his back. “This is an interesting position.”
“Dillan?” I hear called from the distance and Dillan drops me so quickly I fall backwards and land on my arse in a pile of soggy leaves.
“Oops,” Dillan laughs and helps me up. “Sorry.”
“A little warning next time,” I snap, smacking his arm as he brushes me down, taking extra care on my arse. “That your dad?”
“Yeah, he knows I come here. He must be checking up on us.”
“Oh.” I look behind me and smile when I see two little red squirrels gathering the scattered nuts. “They are so freaking cute.”
“Freaking,” he mimics jokingly.
I smack his arm and then take his hand for extra stability.
“DILLAN!” His dad shouts again, followed by a cute, girly little voice that repeats immediately afterwards.
“WE’RE COMING!” Dillan shouts back, the sound bouncing from the trees.
“So, this is all of your land? Trees and everything?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Cool.” I look around to make sure the coast is clear. “I still can’t believe I’ve had sex.”
“Me neither.” He presses his lips together to stifle his smile. “I feel like I grew up ten years overnight.”
“Me too.”
“Hey.” Dillan waves and I spot a little blur of brown hair and pale skin come rushing towards us.
“DILL!” The little girl screeches as Dillan lifts her up and swings her around. “Can we play fort fight today?”
“Maybe later.” He drops her on the ground and she looks up at me with large grey-green eyes. She looks just like her mother. “This is Tyler.”
“Is she your girlfriend?” The cutie asks, her eyes still on me.
“Yes.”
Her eyes shoot to her brother and her look of disgust is coupled with a dramatic, “EWWW!” She looks back to me even more disgusted than before. “Boys are gross. Especially Dillan. He never tidies his room.”
“Leave your brother alone, Ashlyn,” Nathan sighs, shaking his head though I can see the amusement in his eyes. “Hello, Tyler. It’s nice to see you again.”
“You too, Mr Weston.”
“Call me, Nathan,” he insists and his face melts with such a handsome smile when Ashlyn literally begins to climb up Dillan like a monkey up a tree. She doesn’t stop until she’s on his back. “Was the journey okay?”
“It was fine. Dillan’s a good driver.”
“That’s because I taught him.”
I look to Dillan for confirmation and he shrugs. “He started teaching me when I was thirteen.”
“We got the recklessness out of his system before he could make any fatal mistakes in a busy place,” Nathan explains and I can’t deny that I see the logic in this. “Do you drive, Tyler?”
“I start lessons in a week.”
“Really?” Dillan raises his brows with surprise.
I nod, tucking my hair behind my ears. I feel nervous as they all look at me.
“You’ll never want to stop driving once you start.”
“Come on then, you two.” Nathan walks ahead, leading us back to the house on a path this time.
“Okay, so,” Ashlyn whispers, cupping her tiny hand around her mouth. “We need to make him think we’re in the fort so we can sneak up behind him.”
“How do you suggest we do that?” I laugh quietly. This kid is hilarious.
“That’s what this is for.” She points to the walkie-talkie that’s clipped to her belt. “You leave yours in here.” I follow the miniature ninja out of our fort made of old sheets, a few pillows, a chair and a table tipped onto its side.
The objective is to tag the other person before they tag you and in this huge house, avoiding each other is entirely possible. Ashlyn hides in a cupboard against the wall and I hide behind the couch feeling ridiculous. This is never going to work but I’m letting her take the lead.
I hear her little voice carry from her hiding space but I also hear a crackly version come from our fort and stifle my laughter in my fist.
Dillan enters the room and sighs. His tone couldn’t be any more sarcastic when he says, “Oh no, I wonder where they could be… Could they be in their badly made fort?”
“Hey!” The cupboard in which Ashlyn is hiding opens with a bang. “It’s better than yours. Yours isn’t even high enough to sit up in!”
“Tig!” Dillan yells and Ashlyn screams with glee. “Get back here, you little git!”
I hear them race from the room and pop my head up to look over the couch. The room is empty so I shuffle out of my hiding space and wait for them to return.
His sister is so bloody cute.
So cute that, only hours later, we sit at opposite ends of the couch, Ashlyn spread out between us, her head resting on Dillan’s thigh as he plays with her hair with his left hand.
It’s only eight and I’m exhausted from all the running around. Kids have way too much energy.
When I awoke this morning, the last thing I expected was to find Dillan’s car in my driveway and Dillan sitting on the bottom step of my porch.
“Hey,” I sit beside him and run my fingers through the back of his hair. “You okay?”
“I’m exhausted,” he admits and when he looks at me with such tired eyes, my heart gives a painful spasm.
“Me too,” I agree. “Shall we skip?”
“And miss the chance to see the look on Leroy’s face when he realises he can’t have you anymore.”
Cringe. “I should talk to him. I may have led him on and I actually feel really badly about it.”
He rests his head on my shoulder, using me as support for the first time. “Leroy is a big boy. He can take it. He’ll shag you out of his system and move on.”
“I hope so. He’s fun to hang around with.”
I feel him tense. “Not without me, though, yeah? Not until me and him have established a few boundaries anyway.”
“Oooh,” I grip his hair and pull his head back. Slanting my lips over his I murmur, “I like it when you become possessive.”
“I don’t. Jealousy feels like a bag of Monday morning crap.”
“Gross,” I giggle and nip at his lips. “We need to move or we’re going to be late.” I check my watch and cringe. “Too late, we’re late.”
“Five more minutes won’t hurt.”
I smile across my driveway, letting him have his few minutes. With a loud yawn, he stands and we walk hand in hand to his car. Mum waves at me through her bedroom window after catching my eye as we back out of the driveway.
School is desolate when we arrive due to us being late.
>
We decide to hang out until the end of first period so as to not draw attention to ourselves. Instead, we sit in the back of his car; at first we kiss for a while but then Dillan rests his head in my lap and falls asleep as I tease his hair.
Lunch time is here and I’m unsure how to approach Dillan. Fortunately, as I make my way across the room, he comes to greet me and strokes under my eye with his thumb before showing me the stray eye lash.
“I’m going to be selfish and steal this wish,” he murmurs, his eyes on mine as he blows the lash into the abyss.
“What did you wish for?”
“You to not slap me when I do something bad.”
“Something bad?”
I squeal when he grabs me and pushes his lips onto mine. The sound of people cheering and hollering make me blush but not enough for me to push him away.
“You didn’t slap me,” he breathes, still holding my waist so I can’t escape. “Wishes work sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”
“I never got to fly…”
“Oh,” I giggle. “Me neither.”
“Come on.” He laces our fingers and weaves us through the students at tables, grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re a dick,” I whisper, still smiling so as not to give away my embarrassment and annoyance.
“I’ll show it to you later,” he says so quietly I have to think about it to ensure that he actually said it.
“I just don’t even have an answer for that.” My tone and volume switches when we make it to the table. “Hey guys.” I then address them singularly. “Hey, Carl.” He sits at his usual seat, smiling, chewing gum in his gob.
“S’up, Ty?”
My eyes drift cautiously to a scowling Leroy. “Hey, Lee…”
“Ty,” he grumbles, giving his chin a sharp jerk upwards.
I take a chair and pull it out. As usual Dillan sits on the table and rests his foot between my thighs. He still looks exhausted but he doesn’t show it. Saying that, though, after the weekend we had, I don’t feel so golden myself.
I would love to go back and do it all over again. Dillan is so attentive, romantic and caring. He always made sure I was okay before himself. How did I get so lucky?
Even now, considering how tired he is, he still took the time to make me a lunch this morning. I take it graciously, feeling almost guilty about the heavy bagel filled with cream cheese that I hid in my bag. I just love any bread type foods when I’m feeling sluggish. At least now I can get rid of it and not feel guilty for the rest of the afternoon and bloated. I’ve eaten a lot of junk this past week and I’m scared I’ll fall back into old habits.
When I open the box I’m happy to see my usual salad, but this time shredded chicken breast accompanies it on a bed of couscous. I’ve never felt hungrier.
“Thank you,” I smile, tilting my head back to kiss him. “Careful, Dillan,” Leroy snorts, his tone slightly hostile.
“Those lips get around.”
“Roy,” Carl warns, giving his friend a glowering look that I would never have expected from him.
Leroy stands, kicking his chair backwards which draws looks of intrigue from the people around us.
Fuck.
“Whatever.” Leroy kicks the chair to the side, this time purposely, sending it skidding into the back of a poor, year nine kid’s chair, who seems equal parts shocked and frightened. “I’m out of here.”
I’m tempted to go after him but then everybody would know exactly why he’s upset and I’m not entirely sure I’d even be the perfect person to comfort him right now anyway.
“He’s just sore; he’ll come around,” Dillan reassures me as though he can read my mind.
I certainly hope he’s right.
Leroy doesn’t attend our shared classes this afternoon,
not that it’s a new thing; he often skips. I wish he wouldn’t… so much wasted potential.
He also ignores and avoids us all for the next two weeks. Nothing hurts me worse than knowing that, because I have been a using bitch, I’ve broken up their friendship. No amount of Dillan telling me ‘not to worry about it’ and that ‘it’s deeper than just what you did’ makes me feel better.
So I ignore the advice given to me by my boyfriend and message Leroy.
Tyler: Hey, so I saw a picture scribbled in the back of my notebook today and I know it was you. Only you would draw a massive joint having sex with a pillow… what even is that?
I saw it a week ago but I wasn’t sure how to approach him about it. We’re not talking so there was no approaching him about it.
Leroy: My imagination has been known to shock even the most creative minds.
Another follows immediately afterwards.
Leroy: I was wondering when you’d finally breach the barrier.
Tyler: You’re not upset with me?
I bite on my lip hard as I dare to press send, hoping that this doesn’t fuel some kind of rage that he’s holding back.
Leroy: Nah, not with you, Ty. You made me no promises.
Made him no promises?
Leroy: You want to hang out?
Tyler: It’s late or I would.
Leroy: Would you? I find that hard to believe. You and Mr Relationship Goals aren’t exactly on a long leash. Have you even spent a second apart since you got together? Not including at night.
Tyler: I would. Relationship goals??? Really, Leroy???
Leroy: That’s what everyone is saying about you on Instagram.
The photos your lover boy has been posting have created quite a following.
Tyler: It’s his thing. I leave him to it. I don’t use Instagram much.
Leroy: You typically stick to sarcastic Facebook statuses I’ve noticed.
Tyler: Yup. I know how to use Facebook.
Leroy: You’ve blocked half of the school from there.
Tyler: Duh.
Leroy: You sure you don’t want to hang out?
Tyler: We’ll make a plan tomorrow? In college?
Leroy: Ugh… that means I’ll have to talk to Dillan dipshit.
Tyler: Don’t call him that, not to me. It’s not fair.
Leroy: My bad, I forgot you’re all in love, sunshine and puppies and shit.
Dillan: Goodnight. <3
Tyler: Goodnight. <3
Tyler: Goodnight, Leroy. Please catch me tomorrow, okay?
Leroy: Something I said? :-P
Tyler: Night, X
My phone vibrates again but I ignore it and roll over in bed, tucking my hand under my pillow and letting out a heavy breath.
As promised, Leroy joins us at lunch and without a word, he and Dillan share one of those man hugs that only men can do and all is well in the world. He winks at me, straddles a chair and plays on his phone, seeming to be back to normal.
That is until Dillan gets grumpy when I tell him that I texted Leroy first. I let him wallow for a night and he makes it up to me the next day by forcing me to run five kilometres.
“Mum,” I say softly, sitting on the arm of the chair. She looks up from where she and my dad are tangled on the sofa opposite. He’s doing a crossword and she seems to be reading a book about unsolved murder cases. Her writing gets her researching the oddest things. “Dad.”
He looks up too, placing his puzzle book down, and waits for me to go on.
“You know I’ve been dating Dillan for six weeks now.” And three days but who’s counting?
“Well the fact he’s here every day is a big giveaway, Ty…” Mum giggles.
“Everything okay?” Dad adds.
“His umm… his parents have invited me to share Christmas with them.” Their faces fall but I quickly go on before they jump to conclusions. “I was hoping that I could spend the morning, until say one, with you guys and then join them for the evening?” My dad opens his mouth. “But I was hoping that Dillan could come here? See how we do things?”
They both look at each other, communicating wordlessly with their eyes.
“We
’ll have to talk about it, honey,” Mum replies softly. “I’m a bit thrown, I’m not sure I’m ready to let you out of the nest on our favourite holiday.”
“Yeah.” I twist my mouth as I chew on the inside of my cheek, trying to stifle the nausea I feel so suddenly.
“Of course, your young man is welcome to join us though,” My dad adds. “He’s a good lad is Dillan. I don’t completely hate the fact that you’re dating somebody knowing it’s him.”
This makes me smile despite the pending vomit in my throat.
“I agree; he’s lovely and he makes you so happy,” Mum adds.
“Aren’t you going to tell me to slow down? Get some space from him?” I’m not quite sure they know how to parent right.
“Falling in love as a teenager is the best thing ever,” Mum sighs wistfully. “It hurts when it ends, but enjoy it while it lasts and don’t do anything stupid.”
“This conversation just ended.”
“Don’t forget your brother will be back for Christmas,” Dad yells as I leave the room.
“I know,” I yell back, taking two stairs at a time.
I make it into my room and into the bathroom just in time to vomit across the top of my closed toilet. Ew.
That will teach me to not mix tequila with vodka, unbeknownst to my parents who were already asleep when I got home last night.
I brush my teeth after cleaning up and, with a still twisting stomach, I curl up in bed. Leroy’s parties are killers. The entire night is one massive blur of alcohol, dancing in the room with Dillan, getting high by accident just from the air and then telling the designated driver to drop us off at our different homes, me first and then Dillan. It was amazing. My head is so sore.
I can’t wait until I turn eighteen and I can do that shit legally, in a nightclub, with the proper atmosphere of a nightclub. Minus the drugs. I’m not a fan of getting high. It fogs my brain worse than alcohol, or maybe that’s just the mixture. I need to stay completely clean for my future job as a midwife. What if they make me take a lie detector?
The thought panics me and sends me racing back to the toilet to purge the water I just drank.
Ugh.
I think I’m broken.