by Rose, Ashley
Lily looked up at him and saw his genuine smile. “Me too. And we could rent from those big Redbox machines. I’ve always wanted to.”
Miles grinned. “There’s one downtown.”
“I can’t drive, so I don’t have a car. Do you?”
“Nope. But I’ve got a motorcycle.”
Beck choked and put his fork down. “Motorcycle?”
17
Rikke
Rikke apprehensively knocked on Ben’s door. She still couldn’t believe what she’d done last night, and although she didn’t feel any more comfortable with herself, she felt like she could at least get her phone back. She shouldn’t have made him babysit it.
“Just a moment!” Ben called from inside. She hoped she wasn’t interrupting anything. After sounds of someone moving around inside, the door opened, revealing a damp, towel-clad boy standing in the doorway.
“Oh. Rikke.” He held the towel tighter. “Sorry. I would’ve gotten dressed, but I’m on duty so I was afraid that it was like...an emergency.”
“Oh. No. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He stepped back from the door. “Come in, I wanted to talk to you.”
“Err...” She glanced at his nakedness.
“I’ll put clothes on.”
“I just came for my phone.”
He smiled reassuringly. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Please, come in.”
She entered his room. She wasn’t sure if she had much of a choice.
Ben shut the door behind her and then crossed the room to his bathroom. “I’ll just be a second.” After just a couple moments in the bathroom, he reappeared, barefoot with jeans and a T-shirt on. “Hey. Sorry about that.”
“No problem.” She stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room.
“I’m sorry. I should have asked. Are you busy? Or did you have a minute to talk?”
She should have lied. “I’m free.”
“Awesome. Sit down, let’s chat,” he said, gesturing to a very comfortable-looking armchair while he sat on the end of his bed. “How was your night?”
She sat down. “Fine.”
“Yeah? Are you sure?”
No. She’d hardly slept at all. And when she did, she’d had a dream that Adam had broken into her room and started to strangle her, which was why she’d stayed in bed until almost three. She hoped she’d get some decent sleep. “Yes.”
“You look tired.”
If only he’d seen her without makeup. “I’m fine.”
He sighed. “I’m here to help you, Rikke. The least you can do is be honest with me.”
“Look. I just came to get my cell phone back, not to get analyzed.”
He held up his hands innocently. “I’m not trying to analyze you. I just want to help.”
“Well, just give me my phone back then, so I can get out of your hair.”
“Are you ready to have it back?”
“Yes,” she lied.
“You know, I’m an RA. I’ve kind of been trained to spot a lie.”
She sighed and looked down. “It’s not your job to babysit me.”
“I’m not babysitting. I’m trying to help you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need your help anymore.”
“I think you’re lying.”
She frowned and stood up. “Wow. Thanks. Give me my phone so I can leave.”
He stood up also and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. You just don’t seem any better, and I don’t want you to do something you’re going to regret.”
“I don’t even care anymore. Give me my phone, I want to go.” She tried to walk past him toward the door but he grabbed her shoulders. The touch reminded her of Adam’s, and she jerked away, tripped and almost fell. Ben grabbed her again, to keep her upright. “Let go!”
But he didn’t. She knew she would have fallen without his support but tried to free herself anyway, only becoming more off balance. “Don’t touch me!”
“Rikke.” Ben struggled to keep his hold on her, his hands getting tighter.
“Stop. Adam, please!”
They both froze. Ben looked into her eyes carefully before pulling her to her feet, so that she could balance on her own, and then let go.
“It’s Ben, Rikke. Not Adam, you know that. I would never—”
“I know.” She felt horrible. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I said that.”
“I don’t think you’re ready to have your phone back, Rikke, to be honest.”
She shook her head. “I’m really not.”
“What are you doing today?”
“I don’t have class until this evening, so just homework.” By homework, she meant writing, but she didn’t want to tell him that.
“Well, I’ve got to pretty much hang around the dorm all day. I was gonna hole up in here and get some paperwork done. Did you want to maybe hang out here? You can have my desk, do your homework, whatever you want.”
“Why?”
“Because I have a feeling you would just be sitting alone in your room otherwise. And if we get super bored we can go on a ride or something. And I’ll be here, if you want to talk.”
She thought about it. She knew she should. Being in his presence would help push Adam from her mind, but being alone in her room sounded appealing too.
“Please?” he asked. “I’d like the company.”
“It won’t be weird? Since you’re an RA and whatever?”
“Nope. Zero weirdness. I promise.”
“All right. I’ll go get my computer and stuff.”
He nodded and she left and was back within five minutes. She stood slightly awkwardly, with her laptop hugged to her chest while he cleared off his desk. “I don’t need the desk.”
His hair was still wet, and he flung droplets when he swung around. “No, it’s all right. Just give me a second.”
“Really.” Because sitting in the desk would put her back to the room, and she’d rather not have that. “I’d rather sit in the chair. If that’s okay.”
“Oh. Umm, if you’re sure. Of course.”
She slipped her sandals off and slid into the overstuffed chair. He watched her but must have realized how creepy he was, because he quickly occupied himself with something else. For the next few hours, Rikke typed away at her story, occasionally chatting with online friends, while Ben sat at his desk. He did homework for a couple different classes, paperwork for his job, and answered the duty phone a couple times.
When another loud noise sounded, she automatically thought it was the duty phone again. So did Ben, who reached for it. But then, she recognized the ringtone was her own phone; Adam’s ringtone.
She went stiff and stared at the drawer the noise was coming from.
Ben looked down at it. “Do you know who—”
“Adam.”
“Oh. Here, I’ll turn it off.”
She stood up, carelessly dropping her laptop down onto the chair. “I should answer that.”
“No. Rikke. You shouldn’t.” He put his hand over the drawer.
She took a step forward. “He might need something. It could be important.”
“What could possibly be important enough that he could call you? You have a restraining order on him.”
“Maybe he wants to apologize.”
“Would you accept an apology from him?”
Yes. At this point, she would. “I...”
The phone continued to go off, begging for her to answer. She grabbed for the drawer but he reached into it first and yanked the phone out. He got out of his chair and put some space between them.
“Let your voicemail get it. If it’s that important, he’ll leave a message and we can go from there.”
“He hates it when I don’t answer,” she insisted. “He’ll be mad at me. He’ll—”
“He’ll what, Rikke? You’re not dating him anymore. You shouldn’t be seeing him anymore. You haven’t, have you?”
“No. No. I just...” Ben was right.
They weren’t dating anymore. She shouldn’t be afraid of him. But at the same time...
The phone stopped ringing and Ben looked at it. “He’s leaving a message. We’ll listen to it together, all right?”
She nodded and sat down on the bed, needing something to hold onto.
After a moment, Ben sat down beside her and played the message left by Adam.
“You dirty slut. You think you can get away from me? You think you can keep from seeing me? Well, you forget that I know where you live, bitch. You forget what I’m capable of. No one leaves me. Do you understand that? Just wait, you fucking whore, I’m going to get into your building, your room, and then I’m going to fuck you like you’ve never—”
Rikke grabbed her phone from his hand and threw it hard to the floor, breaking it into several different pieces.
She could hear her blood pumping in her ears when she looked at Ben, who looked dumbstruck.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled, Adam’s words replaying in her head as she stood up. “I should go.”
“What?” Ben stood up also. “Go where?”
“Back to my own room.”
“No way. After what he just said? I have to call my boss, and probably the police. There is no way you’re staying in your room.”
“You can’t call the police.”
“I have to.”
“No! I don’t want to police involved. I’ve never wanted the police involved.”
“Rikki.” He gave her a level look. “I’m not letting you stay in your room. Not now. Not after what he said.”
“He can’t get into the building without a key.”
“You know that’s not true. It’s all too easy to follow someone in.”
She shook her head.
“Rikke. I have to call my boss.”
“Why? Because of something you heard over my phone? That can’t be true.”
Ben thought for a moment. “Okay, technically I don’t. But, I’m not letting you stay in your room. If I called my boss, he’d have you moved. It’s not safe.”
“You can’t keep me here.” She grabbed her laptop from the chair, snapping it shut.
“Why do you want to go back there? So that he can find you? So that he can hurt you again?”
She gulped. Why did she want to go back?
Ben waited, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I just have to. Okay?”
“No. Not okay.” He took a step toward her. “I’m not a psychologist; I don’t know what you’re going through and I certainly don’t understand it. But I know you need help, whether you want to admit it or not. Now either I can give you that help, or I can call my boss and we can do it by the book. Your choice.”
“You’re giving me an ultimatum?”
“Yes. I guess I am.”
She glared at him. For as much as she hated being bossed around, she really didn’t want him getting the higher-ups involved. “What are my options?”
Ben shook his head and ran his hands through his dark hair. “I don’t know. I should call my boss.”
“No, you can’t do that. I’ll say that you violated my confidentiality.”
He looked up. “I don’t think you understand how serious that is. That could get me fired.”
“Then you better not do it.” She was such a cold bitch, and she hated herself even as she said the words.
“Do you have any friends he doesn’t know about, who you could stay with?”
She didn’t have any friends. No one outside his tight group, and she wouldn’t want to go to them anyway. “No.”
“Well, you can stay here.”
“In your room?”
“Okay.” That was way too easy. She could have argued, put up a fight. This wasn’t okay, she hardly knew him.
“Okay? Wow. Umm, all right. What time is it?”
He checked his watch. “About six.”
“I’m going to go for a ride.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
He looked suspicious. “I don’t know if that’s the best idea.”
“I’ve been inside all day. I need to get out. I’m leaving. You can go with me or not.”
“Right. Ride it is then.”
Minutes later, she had retrieved her board from her room, with his company, and they were on the sidewalk, making good time. That’s when it happened. She didn’t know if it was something about the way he stood on his board, or the way he rode, or the fact that he could ride at all. It was definitely something connected to boarding that did it. Rikke hadn’t had sex in three days. That was longer than she’d gone without while with Adam, and even longer if you considered how long it’d been since she’d actually got any satisfaction from the sex. Weeks at least.
Either way, she was in trouble. Ben was hot, better looking than Adam. He was more built through the shoulders without being a beast. His face had strong features, but they were always softened by his warm, reassuring looks.
He caught her staring and smiled again. He didn’t know. He couldn’t. There was no way he was attracted to her. Her body was so boyish. Adam had always told her that. She looked down at her baggy jeans and knew it was true. No hips, hardly any breasts, gross.
“What?”
She blinked. Ben was talking to her. “Hmm? Nothing. Sorry.”
She did have one thing going for her. Even with the minimal curves, she looked good naked, and she knew how to touch guys, how to make them want to touch her.
She shook her head firmly. No, was she crazy? She shouldn’t even be thinking about coming onto him. She’d just broken up with Adam, and Ben was helping her. But suddenly, being with a guy who was attractive and nice, all she wanted to do was kiss him, get naked and sleep with him. God, she was fucked up.
“Something wrong?” Ben asked as they rounded a corner. They had made a loop and were close to the dorm again.
“No. Nothing.”
“Want to make another loop?”
“No. Unless you do.”
“Nope. I’m good.”
They made it back to the dorm as it was getting dark. Once in the building, he suggested that they get some clothes from her room, stuff that she would need to stay the night. She thought it’d be better once they’d gotten off the boards. But no. Now she just noticed how he walked, how he moved, everything.
None of her roommates were home, and they went to her bedroom. “I kind of want to shower.”
“Go for it. I can wait.”
“But—”
“Really,” he insisted and sat down at her desk. “I don’t mind.”
“Okay...I’ll be just a minute.” She should have taken a cold shower to cool her hormones, but she didn’t, and after the steaming hot shower, she still couldn’t get him out of her mind. Standing naked in front of the mirror, she surveyed the body parts she’d been thinking about earlier. Thin, yes, too thin maybe. Short dark hair. Wide green eyes with a bruise smudging her cheek. But she looked good naked. And she waxed and kept herself trimmed nicely, the way Adam liked it. The way most guys liked it. Was she good enough for anyone else but Adam?
After wrapping herself in a towel, she went back to her room.
Ben looked up when she stood in the doorway. “Oh. I’ll wait outside.”
She didn’t know what possessed her to shut the door, but she did.
He frowned. “Rikke?”
The towel slid to the floor. She watched his face carefully. His eyes got wide, surveying her body, lingering on certain areas.
“What are you—?”
“Is my body attractive?”
“Rikke. Please.” He turned away. “I don’t know what you’re doing.”
“Answer my question,” she said quietly.
“God...yes. You’re beautiful. You know that.”
She moved toward him, and he backed up. “Prove it.”
18
Lorna
Shep was gone when Lorna woke the next morning. A message was sticky-noted to her forehe
ad.
Thanks for the best night I’ve had in bed with a girl. Love you.
She almost giggled, but realized how little time she had left before class and cursed instead. She still ended up late to class, in spite of her best efforts to get out of the dorm. Only after getting dressed did she realize she needed to be in her dance clothes since she was going to meet Nash when class was over. She was anxious while heading toward the studios since he had been acting weird around her yesterday.
Nash was in their usual room, seated in front of the stereo equipment, trying to connect some wires. He turned away from his task when she came in the door.
“Lorna. Hey.” He shoved the wires back into the machine, causing the mic to screech loudly until he pulled the wires back out and plugged them in correctly.
“Hey,” she said once the noise stopped.
“I’m glad you could make it early.”
She nodded. “Sure. What did you want to cover?” After putting the bag down, she pulled the T-shirt over her head, glad to finally be comfortable enough to get undressed without too much blushing. The pants went next, and she turned to him again once she was ready.
“Oh. I just wanted to make sure you were okay with having an extra-long practice. The performance is coming up, and I want you to be ready.”
She nodded. “Yep. Not a problem for me.” She tugged the hem of her spandex shorts down nervously.
He nodded. “Good. The reason I asked you to come early is because I need help with some of the choreography.”
“Isn’t that Shep’s department?”
“Usually.” Nash stepped over to the pole. “But we don’t have anything for the opening yet, and I really wanted to start off with a bang. I wanted to work on a solo piece for you.”
“What do you mean?” she asked warily. The only reason she agreed to this was because it was a group thing, and she didn’t have to be on stage alone.
“I want you to start the piece off really artfully. My production is a mix of lots of different forms of dance. I wanted to start off with something people have never really seen before. And that would be you.”
“Do you mean I’m performing alone?”