He was way too good for her. But it was too late. She was already falling for him.
She nodded her head.
“You’ll stay?” he asked. “With me?” he verified when she only nodded in answer to his first question.
“Yes. I’ll stay. With you,” she said with a shy smile.
“YES!” He lifted her up and swung her around. “I like you, Bridget…whatever your last name is.”
She laughed. “Larson. My last name is Larson.”
Chapter Three
May 1995
Billy
“Mom. No.” Heaving a sigh, he pinched his eyes closed and leaned his head against the wall. Same conversation; different day. “I’m not coming home. At least not yet.” He wished it were as simple as getting on a flight back to Arizona, but knowing what waited for him filled him with dread.
For a college graduation gift, his parents bought him a round-trip ticket to Europe, expecting him to return within the month. Billy sold most of his high-value items, emptied out his savings account that held almost every cent he’d made since he was a kid and a small inheritance from his grandparents. He had enough money to live on for a few years.
A week later he was on his way to Athens, Greece. After the first month, he called and told his parents he was going to stay and wasn’t sure for how long. He just wanted to ‘find himself’. After nearly two years, he still didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life. But he did know it wasn’t what his parents dreamed of for him, and so far, he hadn’t found it in most of Europe. He’d kept hoping he’d know it when he found it.
He’d been in Barcelona, Spain a month, and it wasn’t here. Most places he only stayed a week, maybe two. Any more than that, he’d get antsy and anxious. He wasn’t planning on staying this long in Barcelona, but a temporary job at the hostel fell in his lap. It gave him extra money and a free bed during his stay. This morning he finished his last shift, so tomorrow morning he would make his way to Madrid.
“Oh, honey, but we miss you. Everyone at the diner keeps asking about you. Oh, and that girl you were dating before you left came by a few times. You should call her.” He had no idea who ‘that girl’ was. When he left, he wasn’t dating anyone exclusively. In fact, he’d broken up with his last girlfriend his junior year of college.
“I miss you, too.” Loud, obnoxious voices drew his attention away from his phone call. He turned to see Trevor, a guy he had befriended, walk in with a rowdy group of men from California who’d shown up last night.
“I know you want to find yourself....”
Not again. He tried to block out her voice as she repeated the same words she said every time they talked.
The first year, she told him how happy and excited she was for him. She begged him to tell her stories, but gradually she began hinting that Dad needed help with the diner and asked when he was coming home.
He didn’t want to hear it again. They loved the place, but to him it was a prison.
The pay phone hung outside the main living area, giving him an unobstructed view of people coming and going. It never failed to surprise him the different types of people staying there. Last week, he met a man in his seventies who traveled for his retirement. He loved the idea, but of course, it meant that someday he’d have to have a real job to retire from, and that was the idea he hated. He refused to be stuck in the same place with the same job year after year. Just the idea was suffocating.
He’d worked for his parents since he was a kid. They encouraged him to go to college, but that didn’t give him a break from the diner. He continued to work every winter and summer break.
Now he lived life on his terms. He was in search of his place in the world. Money was an issue, and he figured he had another five or six months if he was careful. Luckily, his mother sent him money every couple of months ‘to eat properly’. Only using it when he needed privacy and a room to himself; otherwise, he saved and stayed in the dorms with other travelers and found local places to eat cheaply.
“Mmmhmm. Yup.” He repeated the same phrases, pretending to pay attention. His parents were good people. The best actually. They just hadn’t figured out that their dreams weren’t his. His dad had driven Billy to the airport, wished him well, and hugged him as if it was the last time they’d see each other. It was one of the best moments he’d had with his dad. But after the first six months, they talked less and less when he called. He’d let his dad down. No doubt his parents loved him, no matter what, but having them disappointed in him made his heart ache.
In his peripheral vision, he caught a light reflecting off golden-blonde hair. The laugh coming from the girl grabbed his full attention. It was husky and sultry. His jaw dropped as his eyes fixed on her. Her throaty laugh was incredibly sexy and made him want to find a private space for them to get to know each other better.
Gorgeous, luscious, and sexy were just a few words that came to mind right before he completely blanked out.
“Billy? Billy? Are you still there?” His mother’s worried voice pulled him out of his stupor.
“Huh?”
“Billy, you’re breaking up. Are you there?”
He reluctantly pulled his eyes away from the distraction to help clear his head.
“Sorry, Mom. I’m here, but I need to go.”
No longer able to stop himself, he turned back around to see the beauty, with a bright smile on her face, leaning against the wall opposite him.
“Oh, honey. I love you—”
“Mom. I love you, too.” He cut her off before she went off on another tangent. “I’ll talk to you soon. Bye.”
Billy hung up but kept a hold of the receiver for a moment longer. His tongue was suddenly thick and words escaped his brain.
“Hi,” she said with a slight accent. The tall blonde with big, blue eyes and a straight nose that was a little long but matched her face, smiled at him.
“Your mom?” she asked, pointing to the phone he still held in his hand.
He hung up the receiver and smiled back at her. “Yeah.”
“It’s nice that there are still men who aren’t afraid to show their affection for their mothers.”
She put her hand out, and with her other, she pointed to herself. “I’m Freja.”
“Billy.” He shook her hand, holding it longer than necessary.
“You done?” she asked.
He dropped her hand and stepped away. “Oh. Yes. Excuses me.”
She glanced over her shoulder and lifted a brow. “You going to listen to my call?”
Embarrassed, his face flushed, and he apologized for being rude. He reluctantly turned away and stepped into the main room. His eyes made a quick sweep. Black, gray, and white graffiti covered the colorful walls. Strategically placed couches and beanbags created a conversational seating area. A two-person table sat next to the only window in the room.
The guys that he’d heard earlier sat at the far end of the room, talking and laughing loudly. It was obvious they had spent time at a bar as they unabashedly talked about their waitress’s assets.
He sat at the table, drinking bottled water while keeping an eye on the woman using the phone.
After five minutes, she was still on the phone. He smiled as he watched her hands animatedly move faster than her lips.
“Billy!” Trevor waved his hand and invited him to hang out. He took one last look at her before walking to the other side of the room.
“We’re going to grab dinner across the street then head to a club near the beach. You in?”
All eyes were on him. “Yeah. Of course.”
“Cool. I’m going to go shower and change, and we’ll meet back here in a half hour.” He nodded as the rest of the guys drunkenly shouted and whooped at the idea of food and women.
He followed Trevor out of the room, hoping to get a chance to see Freja again, but when he turned the corner, she was gone. Disappointed, he went to his locker and grabbed his shower things and a change of clothes.
“Oh man, that was good,” Trevor moaned over his empty plate. Their group decided to order an array of dishes to share. Billy was thrifty, but the food was good along with the conversation, making the extra money worth it. His dinner companions had traveled from Madrid and were heading toward France, so he was able to get useful tips on his next location.
They were at least five years younger than him, mostly recent high school graduates except for Trevor, who was a college drop out. Billy wasn’t sure why, but Trevor grated on his nerves.
As he watched Trevor sweet talk one of the girls that followed them from the hostel, he realized why. Trevor reminded Billy of himself. The past few years, Billy acted just like the guy. Trevor was nice and fun to be around. But, the guy had been with as many women as days of the week, and Billy had only known him six days. Billy’s gut clenched at the realization.
When had he turned into this guy?
Billy was a relationship guy. Every sexual partner had been a girlfriend first. When he first arrived in Europe, he’d excused his behavior. It was impossible to have a relationship when you backpacked by yourself, but the way he went from woman to woman was shameful. It started out fun and exciting. Not once did he ask himself if he should or not. But each encounter left him just as lonely and empty. It’s the same emptiness Billy saw in Trevor.
Even after a second drink, the ache lingered. Billy was lost and lonely, and no amount of alcohol or sex would take the emptiness away.
No longer in the mood to be with his companions, he tried to make his excuses to leave, but they insisted on him staying.
“Come on, dude. You’re leaving tomorrow, let loose and have fun. I saw you checking out that girl Freja. She’s going to the club tonight.”
Billy’s desperate need to escape ended the instant he heard her name. He’d go just to see her again.
They paid their tab and made their way toward the beach. Time spent with this raucous bunch, who tried to one-up each other on their past sexual escapades, only added to his annoyance. He was tired of these young guys who were here for the sole purpose of getting drunk and laid, and not always in that order.
In the time it took to walk to the club from the restaurant, he decided he’d buy a plane ticket home. He needed to hug his mother and drink a beer with his dad. If he needed more time away, he’d come back.
Living this way wasn’t making him any happier. It started out good—amazing, actually. Every day was an adventure. Traveling, seeing the world, and meeting people was a dream come true. He couldn’t remember when it all changed. The need for something more pushed him to keep moving, and every time he didn’t find what he was looking for, he moved again. Week after week his disappointment grew. He looked to women to fill the void and push the loneliness away.
The guys separated and conquered. Alone at the bar, he watched them make their moves. Billy shook his head, more at himself than his companions. The club was wall-to-wall people. Any attempt he made to scan the room for Freja failed. He sat near the door, hoping he might catch her coming in or leaving.
After an hour, a dull headache built behind his eyes. He hadn’t seen her and was moments away from giving up when he sensed someone sit next to him. A breath tickled his ear as the voice he couldn’t get out of his head purred, “Hello, mama’s boy.”
He spun around to face her. She laughed at her own joke as she sat back and smirked at him.
He didn’t bother hiding his relief or cheesy grin. “Hey. You’re here.”
“I am here.” She giggled.
“Freja.”
“Billy.” She pointed and winked at him. “You want to dance?”
“Nope.” Never.
“Oh, come on. Not even for me?” Her hand slid down his arm until she held his hand. She pulled, but he resisted.
“Sorry, not even for a sexy-as-hell woman. I don’t dance, but you go right ahead.” As long as she danced by herself, he thought.
“I guess I’ll have to dance alone.” She pouted with her perfect heart-shaped lips painted with a dark, red lipstick. He made a mental note to wipe it off before kissing her tonight because he was going to kiss her.
He stood up and offered his hand to help her off the stool. “You know what I like about you?” she asked.
“Tell me,” he requested, grinning ear to ear.
“I can wear my sexy high heels and you’re still taller.” She leaned in and kissed his cheek before walking away in her very short, very tight strapless dress. The heat from the simple kiss went straight to his head—both of them. He stumbled to the stool and watched her and the eyes that followed her to the dance floor.
Jealousy threaded through him but not enough to go to her. He watched as she turned down guys and kept her eyes on him as she put on a show just for him. The swing of her hips and the sexy stare was turning him on. He needed to find a private spot.
When a slow song came on, she made her way back to him and the drink he ordered for her.
She slid onto the stool beside him, fanning herself with her hand. “That was fun. Probably more fun if you had danced with me.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but you will never catch me dancing. I just don’t.” Not that he was planning on seeing her after tomorrow.
“Oh, a table.” She picked up her drink, handed him his, and pulled him toward an empty table in the corner of the club.
Billy pulled out her chair then slid his next to her. It wasn’t any less noisy, but it was private.
“So tell me about yourself, Freja.”
She gave him a crooked smile.
“Well, I’m from Sweden.” He figured as much. “I just graduated from college, and I’m having fun before I start medical school in the fall. My social life will be nonexistent for the next several years, so this adventure is my last for a while.”
Beautiful and smart.
“My parents are divorced but good friends. I have an older brother who’s a musician. With his touring, I rarely see him.”
“Is he in a band I might have heard of?”
“Doubt it.” She said the name of the band, but there was no way for him to repeat it let alone spell it without butchering it. “They’re just finishing up a European tour. Just small venues, but he loves it.”
“What do your parents think?”
“They’ve always been supportive of everything we do. I’m very lucky.”
A waitress came by, setting their drinks, which included several shots of Tequila, on the table.
He watched Freja down two shots and take a long pull of her beer. She leaned back and smiled. “Your turn.”
He met her drink for drink before speaking. “I’m an only child to the best parents ever.” He winked at her and went on. “I grew up in Flagstaff, Arizona.”
“I know where that is. I’ve been to Arizona.” She looked as if she was going to say something else but stopped herself, encouraging him to tell her more. “Go on.”
“I spent most of my time growing up in my parents’ diner. After I graduated from college two years ago, I left home and have been making my way through Europe ever since.”
“Wow. Two years? Don’t you get...tired of it? Or miss home? I just started, and I already miss my family and friends.”
“Ha. Did you talk to my mother?”
She shook her head and smiled, but Freja stared at him as if she was trying to figure him out. “I’m not criticizing. Just...curious.”
“I guess if you have your stuff figured out, it sounds odd, but it’s working for me,” he lied. Billy didn’t want this beautiful woman to see how lost he felt inside. If anything, he was jealous that she knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life.
“You’re so carefree. I’m jealous. But, at the same time, I’m excited to become a doctor. After all the hard work, I’ll be able to do what I’ve dreamt of. I want my own practice, and then I'd like to join Doctors Without Borders one day to care for women and babies around the world. That’s my ultimate goal.”
Si
lence hung between them. Beautiful, smart, and generous. He had never met anyone like her. He wanted to know everything about her.
She tilted her head back and took a deep breath. “Did I just scare you or something?” Her last words slurred. They had polished off their shots and a couple beers. Both of them were on this side of drunk.
“No. No, not at all. I’m just impressed.”
“Good.” She smiled and leaned into him, giving him a kiss that within seconds turned heated. She ran her fingers through his shoulder-length hair. His hand slid around her neck, pulling her closer until she sat on his lap. “I think we should head back to the hostel.” Her voice was low and breathy.
He stood, almost knocking her off his lap. Their hands reached for each other as they made their way out of the club. Passing Trevor, who had his tongue down a poor girl’s throat, Billy bumped him and told him he was leaving. Trevor waved in acknowledgment and had his mouth back on the girl before Billy got the last word out.
When they stepped out of the club, the cool air hit them, causing Freja to do a full body shiver. He pulled her closer and wrapped an arm around her. When she wobbled in her high heel shoes, Billy knelt in front of her, pulling them off and holding them with his free hand.
When he stood, she once again stopped their progress to the hostel and, more importantly, to his bed. He wanted her, and by the look in her eyes, she wanted him too. “Let’s go.” The image of her naked with her long, lean legs wrapped around him made him impatient.
Instead of following, she reached up and licked his lower lip, sucking on it until he opened up to her. The moment their tongues met, it went from teasing to intense.
Until Now Page 3