Off Limits

by Vos, Alexandra

  “We’ll keep the officer in the room, if he’ll allow it.”

  “And I’ll just be on the other side, listening,” Luke squeezed my hand once more and checked my face for some kind of assurance I was doing the right thing. He must have seen the decision, because he nodded once. “Don’t stay in there if you don’t want to.”

  I walked into the room with a hardened heart. Whatever he was going to tell me, I could cope with it. If he was just being a lecherous creep, I would tell him what a pervert I thought he was and watch him get sent down. I didn’t think that was what I was about to be told, though. This seemed far more personal than mere sexual attraction.

  Slipping into the seat, I crossed my arms and was grateful for the officer standing in the corner behind me. “Why did you do it?”

  “I’m surprised you haven’t worked it out yet. Didn’t they tell you my last name?” His voice was completely calm as he watched me, fingers drumming against the table.

  “I don’t recognise it.” Rorka was the kind of name I’d probably remember, too.

  Tyler raised an eyebrow, his face twisting unpleasantly. “Kevin Rorka. Not ringing any bells?”

  The surname didn’t, but the first name is. “As in, my mum’s boyfriend?”

  “Bingo. Right on the money. Your bitch of a mother’s boyfriend.”

  So it wasn’t even about me. It was my mum. “What did she do?”

  “Stole my father away from my mum, the whore. They’d been planning on separating, but they worked through it. Then, just as my dad moved back in, your mum showed up and took him away again.”

  Tyler was pushing on thirty and I was surprised he was so affected by that. I’d cursed my mum for leaving with my dad, but this was going way too far. “You killed my friend’s baby,” I told him, voice cold. “That can’t just have been because my mum slept with your dad.”

  Tyler shrugged, a scary smirk touching his lips. “I knew she wasn’t pregnant. You guys don’t keep your lives very secret, no matter how sneaky you think you’re being. That’s why I had to hurt you instead of her. You were an open field of betrayals to plan on. So much drama.”

  “You went through all that trouble,” I shook my head and leant back in my chair, wanting desperately to punch that smug smile right off his face, but holding myself. I knew the final blow would be worth it.

  “I did. I can only imagine how hard it is for you to hold in the tears right now. Facing the guy who ruined your life. And when your mum finds out, knows I crippled her daughter’s life all because of her, she’ll never recover, either.”

  I clapped once. “Congratulations. Such a flawless plan. You’re a very intelligent man.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Only… there’s a few things you forgot about.” I rested my elbows on the desk and held my chin in my hands, watching him closely. “You let us know that Phoebe wasn’t really pregnant. She’d obviously been planning on pretending to have a miscarriage to keep Luke snared in for longer, but you solved that problem. Now she’s getting the therapy she needs. Luke and I are together, happier than ever now all the obstacles are out of the way. In fact, we might have never been together if you hadn’t forced me to stay at his house those few times. I should thank you. In fact, I will.” I stuck my hand out for him to shake, but he sighed, waving me off and staring at the ceiling. He wasn’t shaking or angry, just crushed. I’d expected rage, but this was better. Far better.

  I stood up and smiled, walking from the room with a serene smile. “I’ll say hello to your dad for you when I go for dinner with him and my mum on Thursday.”

  Epilogue

  “This feels a bit ridiculous,” I admitted, standing next to Luke whilst our parents took pictures.

  “I think it feels a lot better than if we were doing the real thing.” Luke’s arm was tight around my waist.

  “Would you please stop talking?” My mother exclaimed, pausing her snapping to glower. “You’ve got all night to talk, but right now I’m taking photos.”

  My dad and Kevin both smirked at her outburst and Luke and I were forced to remain quiet. My dress was nowhere near as over the top as a real prom dress and I couldn’t have been happier for it. The puffy style wasn’t really for me and neither was going to a celebration where half the school hated me.

  The dress I’d ended up with for the evening was special, anyway. It was from a small boutique in the city centre and had been adjusted so it fit my practically non-existent curves snugly. The upper half was lacy and long sleeved, black and see through until it hit the top of my cleavage. Then it was stuck to my body until it came just below my mid-thigh. Respectable enough for a fancy dinner date, I was sure.

  Luke definitely seemed to think so. He hadn’t been able to keep his gaze from my hips since I’d come downstairs.

  As much as I’d longed to dress Luke up in a tux, he’d been having absolutely none of it. I couldn’t blame him. We might be going out for an extortionately priced romantic dinner for two, but it didn’t quite justify a tux.

  His shirt and tie was plenty sexy, anyway. His muscles strained against the black material and I was sure I wasn’t keeping my gaze any more chaste than his. I couldn’t wait to get away from our parents so I could ogle him to my heart’s content.

  “Oh, come on,” I groaned. “We’ve been at this forever. We’ll probably not make our reservation at this rate.” It couldn’t have been more than five minutes in actuality, but posing had never been my strong suit.

  Luke grinned down at me and his mother laughed. “This is perfect. We can stop now.”

  She passed the camera around for us to see the picture of me at my wit’s end and Luke looking highly amused by it. “Perfect,” Luke applauded, handing it back. “Seriously though, we should get going.”

  I went through hugging everyone, smirking as Luke shook my dad’s hand. I knew my mum had been dying to see me go to prom in a big frilly dress, but things didn’t work out that well.

  “Have fun guys!” My mum called after us, talking animatedly to Luke’s mum as we drove off.

  “Your mum makes my mum even worse,” he complained. “She’s never been that fussy before.”

  “Maybe she’s just never liked any of your girlfriends as much as me before,” I smirked, gripping his hand and lacing our fingers together. “You don’t think we’re going to be completely out of place at a fancy restaurant, do you? I think I’ll probably get the urge to talk with a really common accent and swear a lot if everyone’s super stuck up.”

  Luke’s laugh reverberated around the car. “It wouldn’t be the same if you didn’t.”

  Whilst Luke and I weren’t the topic of much conversation nowadays, we’d certainly not retained any friends for the rest of the year. Prom wasn’t something I wanted to go to and Luke had readily agreed. Our parents had been saving up for prom stuff, though, so we’d put the money into doing something special after all.

  We were going out for a fancy meal in our fancy clothes and then staying at a (relatively) fancy hotel. The money only went so far. I was kind of surprised my mum had agreed to the hotel part, but Luke and I had both had our eighteenth birthdays now.

  I had to admit I was looking forward to the night of sex and cuddling just a little bit more than the meal.

  Sitting down at the table, I stared around the room in awe. It was an exclusive little place, just ten or so tables in a rooftop room that looked over the city. I’d never thought Sheffield was pretty, but in the darkness, with just twinkling lights and stars it was significantly more beautiful.

  The room itself was a swamp of plants. They grew up trellises on the side of the wall and over the ceiling. It was June, so I supposed it could be flowering time for some of them. I convinced myself the gorgeous flowers and the aroma filling the room weren’t fake.

  “This is gorgeous,” I whispered, ordering a cocktail for a change and tapping my feet up and down excitedly. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

  Luke could
n’t contain his grin, either, as our drinks were placed down before us. “Me neither. I’m going to have big dreams about living the good life after this.”

  “When do you think we should count our anniversary from?” I pondered. “We could do this kind of thing every anniversary.”

  “I would say the day before Phoebe’s birthday, but that might be a bit dark.”

  “Neither of us are going to speak to Phoebe ever again, I think it works just fine,” I decided, beaming. That was the day we’d agreed to be together, even if there had been obstacles since. “And that means we get to go out for another posh meal sooner, so that’s a bonus.”

  Luke nudged my foot under the table and sipped on his drink. “I feel like I should have lobster or steak or something.”

  “Nah, I’m just going to have pizza. I just want to see what my favourite food tastes expensive-style.”

  “Can’t fault your plan,” Luke continued to scan the menu with a cute face of complete indecision. “This is so hard,” he whined.

  “I’m definitely not picking for you.”

  He flicked back and forth between the two pages for a solid few minutes before slamming the menu shut. “I’m going to have the peri-peri chicken skewers. I need to make sure I’ve left enough room for dessert, because that salted caramel tart looks gorgeous.”

  I snatched my menu back up and flicked to the desserts. My sweet tooth was going to be well and truly satiated by this menu.

  And the food was just as good as I could have hoped for. “Pizza is never going to taste the same again, is it?” I teased, taking the last sip of my cocktail.

  Luke grinned. “I’m sure we can readjust ourselves to the life of peasantry quickly enough.”

  We paid the staggering bill with raised eyebrows and left the restaurant hand in hand.

  On the way to the hotel, we drove past the prom venue. It was looking quiet now – everyone was inside having fun and I hoped Phoebe was enjoying herself.

  She’d come back to school a week after us and I’d never had another conversation with her. I kept tabs on her from a distance, of course, but I had no idea what went on behind closed doors. She always seemed fine, but I longed to know that she was really okay.

  The hotel was something akin to the one we’d stayed at when visiting Scarborough, but somehow different. It was a tiny building in the middle of the city that looked completely out of place. It had probably been a pub in another lifetime.

  Inside was old-fashioned and homely, but I could tell straight away why it was so expensive. Every piece of furniture was antique – the ceilings were covered with the most gorgeous paintings with that fancy plasterwork around the outside.

  The fact that something could be both posh and welcoming surprised me slightly.

  We took the lift, even though it was only to the first floor, and shared a grin before stepping out and into the corridor. Luke put in the key card and we slipped into the room we’d booked for the night.

  It was only tiny, a double bed with mountains of pillows in the middle, a big bay window on the other side and a little room with an en suite. It was perfect.

  Luke grabbed my hand and dragged me to the bed, lying down and letting me lie on top of him. My fingers drummed against his chest in a way that I knew irritated him and he ran his fingers through my hair with a smirk. My dress was too tight to straddle him properly without hiking it up to my hips.

  So I did just that.

  Luke wasted no time in letting his fingers brush against my now exposed thigh and I leant forwards to kiss him. We only had the room for the night and we both wanted to make the absolute most out of it.

  Luke flipped us and I lay on my back, admiring his contented face. Fingers brushing against his cheek, I pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. Somehow, we’d made it through, and I wasn’t ashamed to say this was the happiest I’d ever been.

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