Authors: Monica Alexander
“Come on,” he begged
, and I could tell h
e was getting frustrated.
“No one will hear us. I promise I’ll be quiet.”
We’d only had sex a few times since we’d been home, mostly because we were both living at our parents’ houses
,
and it felt dirty to have sex with them down the hall. We’d had to wait for limited opportunities when our parents were at work and our siblings w
eren’t home which wasn’t often.
I shook my head. “No way.”
“Em, you’re leaving in a few days. Come on.”
I kissed him
deeply, making him groan slightly
.
I could feel against my leg how
much he didn’t want me to turn him down
, and it wasn’t easy to push him away.
“We’ll have the house to ourselves once my parents are gone,” I promised, knowing there would be at least one night Keely and Chase would be out. “It’ll be just a few more days.”
“
I forgot about that,” he said, smiling
as h
is lips
found the curve of my neck.
I leaned back to enjoy his lips as they explore
d my skin, feeling just a bit like I had when we’d been in high school and
had
spent hours making out
in my room
.
If only I could get back
the feeling of
how enamored I’d been with Ben back then, I knew we’d be
okay. Maybe time apart was
just what we needed.
Maybe then I’d miss him enough to know we should be together.
After spending the whole
next day
helping my mom
clean
the house
, I felt like I
needed to get out for a while
.
It was a
nice night, so I decided to take
Rand
y up to my favorite coffee
house which was
in
walking distance from our house
.
I found him
sprawled out in front of the unlit fireplace in
the living room, half asleep.
My parents were
watching a show on the Travel Channel about African safaris.
They looked up from the TV when I entered the r
oom, Randy’s leash in my hand.
I clicked the clasp on the leash sever
al times to get his attention.
After the first click, his h
e
ad snapped up
,
and he registered
what that clicking sound meant
before
bounding over to me
,
more than eager to go out.
“Where are you headed?” my m
om asked.
Clipping the leash on Randy’s collar, I said, “Just up to the
coffee
house
. I’m craving a latte. I won’t be gone long.”
“Alright, have fun,” she said.
“Is Keely going with you?”
Ah, so my mom hadn’t picked up on the fact that
Keely and I were on the outs.
“No, she’s staying here,” I said, as I started to walk toward the door. No need to let my parents know about our fight. It wasn’t like I c
ould share
the details of
it anyway.
I started to fish my iPod out
of my pocket, sticking my
ear buds
in my ears before heading out.
“Emily,” came my dad’s voice
,
as I almost had my hand on the doorknob.
“Yeah,” I yelled back in the general direction of the living room.
“Can you pick up a pound of
French Roast?
We’re out.
”
I
sighed.
“Sure Dad. No problem,” I said
,
before I pushed play on my iPod and drowned out the world around me.
I
reached the coffee shop quickly,
as I
immersed
myself
in
my favorite
Paramore
album
from a few years ago
and
walked at a faster clip than usual
. Outside
I tethered Randy to the light pole while I went
in to get my latte.
Coming back out, I saw so
meone leaning down next to him
, talking to him and stroking his head.
“Hi,” I said to the back of the guy’s head
, trying to grab hi
s attention.
I wondered why peo
ple always felt it was okay to pet other people’s animals
without permission
. It was sort of rude.
The guy
looked up in surprise
, and I started the minute his eyes met mine
.
“Hey.
Sorry.
Is this your dog?”
he asked, standing up straight.
I nodded
, and swallowed hard, trying to regain my composure
.
He
was around my age
with dark brown hai
r
and light brown
eyes that
that seemed to burn
a hole right through me
.
He was cute,
really cute
,
and I instantly felt guilty
for
thinking so.
He also looked vaguely familiar, although I couldn’t place how I might have known him.
“He’s beautiful,” the guy
said
,
running his hand back through his hair,
and I
instantly
felt bad about thinking he was rude
.
“Thanks,” I said, not re
ally
sure how else to respond. I was a little tongue-tied.
“W
hat’s his name?” the
guy
asked
, and I realized he had a bit of a southern drawl that was just this side of sexy
.
“
Randy,” I said,
as I sat down with my latte at the table closest to Randy’s light pole
, pulled
my
iPod out of my pocket and laid
it on the table
.
Randy looked up at me for a mo
ment
to see if I had a treat.
When he saw that my hands were empty,
save for the small purple electronic device,
he went back t
o half-sleeping on the ground.
The guy petted him once more, causing Randy’s tail to move lazily back and forth.
“Wha
t are you listening to?” he
asked,
eying
at me as he stood up and leaned back against
t
he
light pole
.
H
e nodded toward my iPod
.
I looked down at
it
instinctively, following his gaze, and then back up at him.
I again got the distinct feeling that I’d met
him be
fore but still couldn’t place where.
Mayb
e he just had one of those familiar faces
, although he
was far from ordinary looking.
He was striking in a
way that was hard to describe.
He wasn’t clas
sically good looking like Ben. He was more exotic
or
dangerous or something
.
He had a lean build and was shorter than Ben
, and h
is dark hair fell across his forehead
, almost into his eyes,
i
n that messy, sexy way.
He had o
n distressed jeans, a fitted black t-shirt
that let me know he worked out
and Converse sneakers
.
I could see the edges of a large tattoo sticking out from one of his shirt sleeves, and w
hen he turned his head to the left slightly, I could see a
brown
cigaret
te tucked behind his left ear.
What
got me, though, were his eyes.
They were
so light that they were al
most translucent in the light
from the pole above him
.
I couldn’t stop staring at them and almost had a hard time answering his question.
“Um, Paramore
,” I said tentatively, self-consciousness
taking over.
He nodded once.
“Good band. There’s nothing sexier than a girl screaming over a guitar.”
I raised my eyebrow at him, not sure if he was joking or not.
“What?
I’m not kidding. I love it.” He
shot me a crooked smile that mad
e his already cute face turn
downright gorgeous and sexy.
He was definitely hot.
I slowly t
raced the edge
of my
iPod
,
wishing I c
ould think of something insightful
to say.
“
What song?” he asked, gesturing again to my iPod
, and I was grateful that he was keeping the conversation going since I was at a loss for words.
“
Bri
ck B
y Bori
ng Brick
. It’s my favorite,
” I said, not sure what he would say to that.
He shook his head.
“Haven’t heard it.”
“You should check it out.
It’s good,”
I said, relaxing slightly
as the conversation became more comfortable
.
I could always talk about music.
“I will,” he said, shooting me
a half-grin
that made my stomach swirl.
“You a big music fan?”
I nodded. “Yeah, just a little,” I said, dropping a hint of sarcasm in
to
my tone, as I smiled sheepishly.
“
Who else are you into?
”
My mind suddenly went blank as I tried to remember what I’d recently downloaded. “Um,
I’ve actually been digging back into
some stuff from a few years ago
, so, um I guess I’ve been listening to a lot of
Rise Against
, Silversun Pickups and AFI
.”
“
So you’re angry
,” he said
, and my mouth wanted to fall open.
This guy who didn’t even know me seemed to have a better read on me that those who knew me best. I wasn’t sure how to respond
,
but before I could, he
shot me a winning smile
.
“I’m just messing with you,” he said, his accent an
d smile instantly
relaxing me
.
“How about you?” I asked, feeling
suddenly
brazen
. “Favorite bands, favorite song
.
”
“Which decade?” he asked, and I could tell he took this subject seriously by th
e sudden intensity that appeared
in his eyes.
“Current music,” I
said, definitively
. “
I’m guessing this is one of your favorite topics?
”
I wasn’t sure where my
sudden
surge of
confidence was coming from, but I
realized I
was e
njoying our little exchange.
I never even thought about the fact that I was having a
full-on conversation with a guy whose name I didn’t even k
now.
I didn’t even think to ask
him
.
“That i
s an understatement,” he said
, and I could hear the conviction in his voice
.
“
Lately I guess I’ve been listening
to
a lot of
Florence + the Machine
and Coldplay
.
Favorite song at the mo
ment –
Paradise,
by Coldplay.
Probably overplayed, I know, but I love it.
”
He shook his head as if he was disappointed in himself.
I
smirked at him. “Wow, so are you just looking for a cure for your depression or something
?”