by Sam Crescent
Now, she couldn’t help but smile. Drake stroked her back and rolled his eyes.
“We could make out,” he said, mouthing the words.
“Well, I went around to his house last night and you know he lives in that big mansion of his, it is so amazing. So huge as well. He has a pool…”
This conversation was starting to annoy her.
“Nothing happened,” Drake mouthed. “She’s fucking lying. I don’t even recognize who it is.”
Pru believed him.
Whoever the girl was, she was only trying to score some kind of points with her friends and she was using Drake to do it.
For the first time, Pru saw Drake as a victim. There were people out there, women, who would use him to get ahead. She wasn’t using him for anything and didn’t expect anything from him in return. Sure, he’d been an asshole, but that didn’t mean he deserved to be hurt.
She couldn’t help but wonder if a time would ever come when he’d be wanted for himself rather than the money and wealth people often sought him out for?
****
Friday night, Drake checked the clock for what felt like the hundredth time. So they wouldn’t get caught, Pru had offered to meet him up by the lake, and now he was waiting. He didn’t like the thought of her walking through town on her own, but this was the only way they would get any privacy.
Rubbing at his temples, he tried not to think about what he hoped would happen this coming weekend.
Not that he’d force her.
Of course not.
He was more than happy to wait until she was ready, another big shock for him because he didn’t wait around for anyone. Pru had surprised him at every single turn, and he loved it. He loved to be taken by surprise.
Running fingers through his hair, he looked around and didn’t see a thing.
“You look nervous,” Pru said, rounding the corner.
“You took your time.”
“Well, I had to make sure I wasn’t being followed.”
“We’re not spies.”
“True, but I like the mystery.”
He pulled her in close. “Are you ready for your birthday tomorrow?”
“No. Is anyone ever ready for their birthday?”
“I don’t know.” He pressed a kiss to her lips but it wasn’t enough. He wanted more. He gave her another kiss. “You taste amazing.”
“Yeah, that’s coffee for you.”
“You had anything to eat?”
“Nope. I’m starving.”
“Lucky for you, I know what to get us both.” He took her hand, grabbing her overnight bag and tossing it into the back of the car. He helped her inside and couldn’t resist leaning in close and pulling her seatbelt on.
“You’re such a gentleman.”
“You have no idea just how gentlemanly I can be.” He winked at her and then felt like a crazy person for doing exactly that.” Walking around the car, he felt nervous.
He was. His hands were shaking a little bit, and his stomach, well, he felt incredible about what was going to happen.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“It is a surprise. Your parents aren’t going to think I kidnapped you, are they?”
“Nope. They don’t know I’m going away. I said I’ll be in and out all weekend so if they don’t see me not to worry.”
“And they fell for that?” he asked.
“Yes. What? You look shocked. Are you telling me your parents are at home right now, worried about you?” she asked.
“No, they don’t even give a shit that I’m gone.”
“Exactly, and neither do my parents, so why don’t we just worry about the two of us, and leave the rest of the world to fend for itself? How does that sound?” she asked.
“It sounds exactly like what I want to do.”
“Good. Me too.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Take me away, honey.”
“Honey. I like it, baby.”
“Ugh, that sounds so bad,” she said, giggling.
He loved the sound of her giggle. Pulling away from her, he turned over the engine and moved away from the curb. He wanted to get this show on the road, but first, they needed to have some food.
“So, did your little friend want to spend some time with you?” Drake glanced over at her and she was looking right back at him. “What?”
“You want to talk about Sean?”
“Why not? He’s your friend, so why not? You like him. I guess I will tolerate him.”
“You don’t have to. He’s fine with it. He had some thing with his parents.”
This time Drake paused. “He did?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I just … it’s weird that on the weekend of your eighteenth birthday, he’d leave you all alone. It doesn’t exactly sound like the Sean thing to do.” It was the oddest thing.
“They’re going up to some kind of museum. He and his folks and he’s been talking about it.”
“A museum.”
“Yeah, it’s … damn, I can’t think of what it is called. It has lots of old English artifacts. Anyway, they’d been waiting to go for a long time, and now that they can, I don’t want him to miss it.”
“I’m not going to complain. I’ve got you all to myself.” He grabbed her hand, locking their fingers together and kissing her knuckles.
“You can be sweet when you want to be,” she said.
“You got it, and yes, I even got you a present as well.”
“Is it you wrapped up in a big bow?”
“Not even close, but we’ll see. You never know, I might let you unwrap me. It’ll be a good gift.” He glanced over at her and winked.
“Look at you, showing off like that. You never know, I may want to unwrap you.”
Drake gripped the steering wheel tighter. “I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
“I know. I’m not feeling any pressure. I’m getting hungry. What about you?”
“Yeah, I’m starved. Another twenty minutes and I’ll feed you.”
He focused on the road and tried not to think about the girl sitting beside him. Every now and then, he chanced a look at her, but she kept looking out the window.
None of his friends had even asked him what he had planned for this coming weekend. He’d been ditching them as often as he could. The time he wanted to spend with Pru was far more important to him than any time spent elsewhere.
“So, er, is there anything specific you’d like to do for your birthday?” he asked.
“Not really. Is it corny if I say I just want to spend it with you?”
“No, not corny at all.”
She leaned over and rested her head against his shoulder. “I find it strange that I really do enjoy being with you, Drake.”
“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”
“You really should because that’s how I meant it.” She glanced up at him. She opened her mouth to speak but all of a sudden, her stomach growled and he laughed. “Damn, that’s embarrassing.”
“It’s cute. Don’t worry. I know what to do. I need to feed the beast.”
She chuckled. “I can’t believe this.”
“I’m starving as well.”
He saw the diner he was looking for and pulled in. There weren’t a lot of cars around, and so he found a parking space easily.
He climbed out of the car and Pru did the same.
They came together inside, holding hands as they made their way into the diner. He loved being able to hold her hand, to be close to her. It was moments like this that Drake realized how much he actually hated being in school. He couldn’t hang out with her. He had to sit in each class watching Sean sit with her, or she was on her own. Rarely did anyone else sit with her, and he hated it.
Lunchtimes, she would either sit in the cafeteria or outside, and he found himself finding her, watching her. Sean was always with her, and it only served to remind him of what he didn’t have, what he could never have. They both knew this was going
to end at the end of the high school year, but it didn’t make it any easier.
Entering the diner, they found a small booth, and he let her go to sit on one side.
“What do you think is good here?” she asked.
“Anything. I’m paying.”
“You don’t have to pay for everything,” she said. “I can pay.”
“This is my treat. Consider it a treat for your birthday.”
“When did you get so sweet?” she asked.
“It comes naturally to me. You know you find me adorable because of it.”
She giggled. “This is nice. I like this—”
“I don’t like seeing you hanging out with Sean,” he said.
“Drake, don’t do this. I thought we were past this.”
“I did as well, but clearly not. This bothers me. Can’t you see that?”
“What do I have to do? We can’t change what our lives are about.” She grabbed his hand. “There is nothing going on between Sean and me.”
“I know there’s not.” When it came to Pru, he didn’t doubt her. It was her best friend he doubted, but they were going over the same ground they’d been covering for a while now. He wasn’t going to spoil her weekend because of his own anger issues when it came to her best friend.
Chapter Seventeen
I want this
Drake’s family owned a lot of houses and because of this, he could go anywhere he wanted in the world. Pru didn’t care about his money. Never had. What she cared about was the time spent with people she loved and cherished.
As Drake let them into his old country beach house, she was a little nervous.
This was her first time away with a guy. She hadn’t told her family anything. No one knew she was away with Drake, not even Sean. Her best friend had been willing to stay behind, but she’d told him not to. Instead, she’d told him to go and take his time and that she was just going to relax for her birthday, and not really do a whole lot.
Drake flicked on the light and the beach house came into view.
“I had no idea you had a beach house.”
“This one is rarely used because it’s quite small and when my parents want to go away, they like to do so in style, if you know what I mean.”
“I know.”
Drake dropped the bags on the floor.
“How long has it been since you last came here?” she asked.
“A couple of years. We’re going to have to eat out. The kitchen is really for show. My parents are not domesticated at all. They either hire a cook, order in, or go out.”
“It’s fine.” She took a step into the room. Considering the beach house was small, it was bigger than her own home.
“Do you like it?” he asked.
“Do you really need to ask me that?”
“I don’t know. I brought you here to be impressed and you’re not giving anything away.”
She rushed toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Drake, I like your family’s beach house but I don’t need it. It’s just a house.”
“Now you’re just hurting me.”
She chuckled. “You’re crazy, but that’s okay because I like your brand of crazy.” She pulled him down, pressing her lips against his. “I like this so much.”
“What?”
“Not having to hide. I like kissing you and not having to sneak around.”
He pulled her close and sank his fingers into her hair. She gasped. “If you like that, I can keep on doing it.” He slid his tongue across her lips, plunging inside, and she moaned, wanting more. He pressed her up against the nearest wall. “Now I don’t have to pretend with anything. I can kiss and touch.” He slid his hands down her body, cupping her hips before going to her ass.
She cried out as he held her close and she felt the hard ridge of his cock pressed against her stomach. Rather than be nervous by his blatant display of need, she relished it.
“Please,” she said.
“What are you asking for?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want you to stop.”
“You don’t have a chance of me stopping, not ever.” He lifted his head and yelled, “Hello, anyone home?” Then to her, he said, “We’re all alone. I’ve got no reason to pull away. No parent is going to come barging into this place. You’re completely at my mercy, Pru. Are you afraid?”
“Not even a little bit. I’m ready for whatever it is you’ve got to throw my way.” She ran her hands down his chest, feeling a little brave. She stopped at the edge of his jeans, jerking her hand away.
She didn’t exactly last long with feeling brave.
“We’re not in any kind of rush,” Drake said. “You. Me. This weekend. It’s for all of us. Let me give you the tour.”
He held her hand and they walked into each room. He showed her the living room, kitchen, dining room, library, and study. Upstairs, there were two bedrooms, one she figured were for his parents, the other, for him.
“It looks amazing.”
“It is.”
“You love it here?”
“I do. I don’t come here as often as I’d like, but for the most part, this is home.”
“I can see that,” she said. Drake put their bags on his bed. Considering this room was smaller than his parents’, the space was still large, huge even. “Your parents won’t know you’re here?”
“No. Like I said, they don’t come here. It’s not exposed enough.”
“It still seems kind of strange they’d want a place they consider exposed.”
“My parents like to be the center of attention. I’ve told you that before.”
“You have. And you don’t like the attention?” she asked.
“I used to. Not anymore. Not when I’m used as some kind of toy in their never-ending power play. You want to take a walk down to the beach?”
“I’d love to.”
“We’ve got a private access to the beach at the back. You don’t have to wear any shoes. You can feel the sand between your toes.”
She slipped off her sneakers, putting her socks inside each shoe. Drake did the same and it was rather odd again to see him without any shoes. He looked a little normal to her now, but she didn’t have a problem with that.
Hand-in-hand, they walked down toward the beach. The access was a private gate that he had to press in a code for.
“This isn’t accessible to just anyone?” she asked.
“No. My parents, for all of their need to be exposed, don’t like to have just anyone walking on their land.”
“So they like to be exposed to the right kind of people?”
“You got it.”
Each time he talked about his parents, she noticed he always sounded bitter, resentful.
As he led her out to the beach, she saw the tide was in. There were several lights casting down across the beach, and she heard people up ahead, laughing, joking. They were normal people with normal lives. They didn’t have to sneak around with anyone, like she was doing with Drake.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“About us. About the people up there.”
“You don’t have to think about them up there,” he said.
“I know. I’m just wondering how this would have been if it was different.”
He held her hand a little tighter. “In what way?”
“In a way that we could have come to the beach without sneaking. Don’t you ever think about just saying fuck it, and the two of us trying to make this work without worrying what others would think?” she asked.
“Yes, all the time. When we pass in the hallway, I want to grab you, push you up against the locker, and kiss you. You know that. You know I want to hurt your best friend every single time I see him with you because he can do what I cannot.”
“What’s that?”
“Touch you. Make you smile.”
“You can make me smile, Drake.”
“Not in front of everyone. No, I get to cause you the most pain.” He made them st
op, and he pressed his head against hers. “You have no idea how much I wish things were different for us.”
“We could make them different,” she said.
“How?”
“Do you really need to be here with the money? Why don’t we make a new life, away from all of this? Away from all the expectations from other people. I’m willing to take this chance with you. Won’t you take it with me?” She didn’t know why she was even suggesting this.
“Pru, if I do this, I will be completely cut off.”
“I know. Is it so bad?”
“I will have nothing.”
She felt tears fill her eyes.
“You have your parents who will be more than happy to keep you with them. I won’t have a home or anything.”
“You told me once that your parents would even try to ruin my parents.”
“They would.”
“So I wouldn’t have anywhere else either.”
“Okay, say we do this. We say screw it to my parents who have all the power back in town. I lose everything, your parents lose their jobs, and move. You’re gone then, and we can’t even have this.”
“What if we run?”
“Run?”
“You know, away together. We can graduate and then while people think we’re partying, we can run?” She couldn’t believe she was even suggesting this. It was completely crazy and stupid.
Running away wasn’t the answer. She knew that, and yet, she couldn’t help but think it would be the right decision to make.
“Pru, are you serious?”
“We can run and no one would need to know what we’re doing. Your parents can think you’re partying around the world, and in truth, we’re making a life for ourselves. We just have to get to graduation,” she said.
“You’d run away with me. Start over, even without the money.”
She rolled her eyes, which seemed to be a never-ending habit with her when he asked certain questions. “Drake, I’m not here because of the money. I don’t know how many times I’m going to have to tell you that. I’m here because I want to be with you. I know it’s shocking and scary, but you’re not going to get rid of me that easily.” She placed a hand to his chest. “You’re going to keep me around for some time.”
Pru knew they were taking a risk being together but what kind of life could they have otherwise? Would she have to walk away knowing what they could have?