Constructing Us (New Adult Romance) (18 page)

Chapter Thirty-five

“Hey, you came.”

Tragan felt his face light up when he saw Andy sidling through the throngs of people filling the Billiard Grill later that night. 
He’d left her a message in case she’d wanted to meet him out, but he hadn’t realized until this moment just how much he’d been hoping and waiting for her to come. 

S
miling back, she encircled him in a hug as soon as she reached him.  “Hi,” she murmured into his shoulder, before meeting Tragan’s mouth for a brief, soft kiss.  “So who’s winning?” she asked, angling her head toward the pool tables. 

“I’m sure
Matt’s kicking Pellican’s ass over there,” Tragan speculated, pointing to a table about forty feet away.  “Bardo and I were waiting for a table to open up, so we’re actually just racking up now.”

“Okay, cool,” Andy said brightly and climbed up on a vacant stool near their table.

“You hungry?” he asked.  When Andy shook her head, Tragan scanned the crowd for a waitress. “What do you want to drink?  Mojito?”

“
Oh, yes!  But not too--”

“Much lime juice,” Tragan finished.  “Babe, I know,” he added with a grin.  When the waitress found him, Tragan ordered Andy’s drink for her
. “And can you add some cherries to that?”

“Sure
.  You don’t look like the type of guy who likes cherries in his drink, though,” the waitress added a bit flirtatiously.

“It’s for my girlfriend,” Tragan
said, before picking up a square of chalk and turning his attention back to Andy.

“C’mere,” she
said.  Lifting his eyebrows, Tragan stepped closer to the stool--and Andy pulled him closer still.  Then leaned up to kiss him on the cheek.  “You remembered about the cherries.” 

Running his hand down her back, Tragan’s voice became more intimate.
  “Of course.  I remember everything when it comes to you.”

“Is this about to turn into embarrassing
and uncomfortable PDA, because I could leave…?”

Both Tragan and Andy turned at the sound of Bardo’s voice
, as he approached the table carrying a bottle of Sam Adams.  “Really, no worries.  I saw an old man drinking alone in the corner booth.  I could go hang with him till you’re done,” he offered cheerfully.

“Hi, Jamie,” Andy said with a giggle. 

“Here,” Tragan said, standing straighter and tossed Bardo a cue. 

After Bardo caught it, he glanced back toward the bar. 
“Actually, though…there’s a cute waitress over there.  I was starting to talk to her when we got interrupted.  It looks like she’s free now.  Do you guys mind if--”

“No, go ahead,” Tragan said, chalking his cue.  “I’ll wait.”

“Good luck,” Andy said. 

Bardo ducked
closer as he confided, “I was going to pretend I have a question about the onion rings.  What do you think, Andy?  Good conversation starter?”

“
That’s not bad,” Andy agreed supportively.  “Though…onion rings are kind of straightforward.  Maybe instead you should ask her about…”  She picked up the menu that had been abandoned on the stool next to hers and scanned it quickly.  “The Reuben Wrap.  There seem like more possibilities.”

After a moment’s contemplation, Bardo replied, “
You’re right.  Like we could discuss flatbread versus rye, turkey versus corned beef--”

“Or maybe she’s a vegetarian,” Andy threw in, “and you guys can talk about that.”

“Ask her why it’s called Russian dressing,” Tragan suggested.

With a
wry grin, Andy tilted her head.  “You can Google that,” she said and flicked her phone out of her purse, before dropping it back.

Tragan gave a short laugh. 
“Hey, I’m trying to help the guy.”

“Be right back,” Bardo said, then d
isappeared into a swarm of people. 

Once
he was gone, Tragan gave in to an impulse.  He’d told himself to wait till later--to wait until he and Andy were home alone and could talk at more length--but his patience broke anyway.  “Listen, Andy, I wanted to ask you about something.”

“What?” she said, sipping the Mojito the waitress handed her.

“I got a call from Ethan today.”

Andy froze for a moment,
her expression that of someone who was caught.  “Really?  I didn’t know you guys ever talked on the phone.”

“We don’t.
It was about the lease renewal,” Tragan explained.  “Anyway, he mentioned something about you going to London?”

Tragan watched Andy’s reaction
carefully.  Her intake of breath.  Her eyes darting downward.  Clearly she wasn’t flabbergasted or profoundly confused.  It was all over her face: she knew full well what he was referring to and
had
deliberately kept it from him. 

“
I don’t know why he’d even bring that up to you,” she remarked, toying with her straw.

Inadvertently, Tragan’s jaw tightened. 
“He seemed to think I could convince you to go.  Does he know about us, by the way?”

“Yes.  I
might have mentioned that we had a thing going,” she responded a little coyly.

With a trace of amusement, Tragan raised his eyebrow.  “A thing, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Was he surprised?
”

“
Um, he had mixed reactions,” was all she said and Tragan suspected she was being tactful.

“Let’s talk about
London.  Ethan said there was a great opportunity for you at his university.  What is it?  Were you thinking of doing a grad program over there, too?”

“No, nothing like that
.  I’m only applying to graduate schools in Boston.”

“Then…
?”

“I really don’t know why Ethan would run his mouth
to you about this,” she muttered. 

Tragan couldn’t help getting annoyed by her evasion.  “
Andy, c’mon. What is it?  Another drug study or something?”

“Yes, exactly,” she replied
crisply.  “Not a drug study, exactly, but a study nonetheless.  A big fat waste of time study that I’m not partaking in.  I’m not going.  This is actually my fault, because I’ve been meaning to email Ethan again and tell him once and for all to count me out.”

“Ethan made it sound pretty important,” Tragan remarked.

“Look, he means well, but the study is all wrong for me.  And I am not interested in picking up and moving all the way to Europe for six months.”

“
Wow, six months?” Tragan echoed, disappointed.  Though he supposed that would be better than the grad school scenario, which would probably amount to a few years.  Still, the thought of Andy leaving for six months was undeniably painful. 

“Yes, it’s ridiculous,” Andy stated.  “P
lease forget he ever mentioned it.  I’ll contact him later to clear things up.  Oh, look, there’s Jamie,” she said quickly changing the subject.  Preoccupied now, Tragan shot an apathetic glance over his shoulder.  He saw Bardo walking jauntily toward them, barely holding back a celebratory grin.

Snatching up his cue again, Bardo said, “
Okay.  Her name’s Lily.  She’s a senior at BC.  So she couldn’t talk long, because it’s her first night on the job and she didn’t want to get in trouble, but she gave me her number.”

“Nice,” Tragan said,
impressed.  “Good work, buddy.”

“
Thanks.”

“
But that was the last stroke of luck you’re gonna have tonight,” Tragan added, as he lifted the triangle off the pool table.  “Get ready to be humiliated in front of Andy.”

“Tragan!” she scolded, but
both guys just laughed.  And for the next couple hours, Tragan accepted what Andy had said--that London was off the table--and almost pushed the thought of her leaving out of his mind.

~

Tragan awoke around two a.m.  After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, he realized he was still bothered.  He rolled onto his side, putting his arm around Andy’s waist.  Instantly, she stirred, sleepily curling her body against his.  Good, she was sort of almost awake, Tragan rationalized, before his gruff voice cut into the darkness.  “Andy?”

“Mmm…?” she murmured, arching her back just enough to nudge his cock with her round, sexy ass.  Determined to ignore his arousal, Tragan
knew he should inch back before she got him too hard to think straight--yet he stayed exactly where he was, savoring how warm she felt against him.

“Listen, b
aby, we need to talk about the London thing,” Tragan said softly.

It took a second for her to react.  First with a sigh.  Then with:
“There’s nothing to talk about.  I told you--”

“I know what you said, but
I’d like to know more about the study.  Can’t you tell me anything about it?  Don’t make me call my new homeboy, Ethan, for the details,” he added sarcastically. 

Andy tur
ned over to face him. “Fine, what do you want to know?”

“Why does Ethan think it
will help you?” After she gave him the overview, Tragan said, “Wait, maybe that
could
be something.”

“No.”

“You don’t even want to give it a shot?”

“Well…what about us?”

Tragan tightened his arm around her waist and assured her, “We can do the long distance thing.”

“
That never works,” Andy mumbled.

“It can for us.”

“Please don’t push this.  I don’t want to go.”

Frustrated, Tragan said, “
But…I don’t want you to miss this chance because of me.”

“
The whole thing’s a long shot anyway.”

“Still,
even so--”

“Look,
it’s too far from my family.  It’s rainy over there.  And besides, I’m applying to grad school for the fall.  Taking part in Dr. Strand’s study would totally screw that up.  Final point: you wouldn’t be there.”

“But I’d be here
, waiting for you,” Tragan said.

“What about the lease on the apartment?”
Andy asked.

Tragan could
n’t help scoffing at that rather feeble point.  “Please, who cares about that?  I’ll cover it myself, I don’t care.  Or Bardo can move in if he wants,” he said since Matt and Pellican had their own places now.

“Oh, s
o then you
want
me to go?” Now Andy sounded either hurt or annoyed.  Probably both.

“
Of course I don’t.  I’m just saying that we could make long distance work.  Yeah, it would definitely suck,” Tragan acknowledged, “but we could do it.” Without a word, Andy rolled over again, giving Tragan her back.  “Don’t be mad,” he said after a moment, his voice lower and more intimate. 

“Gee, m
y boyfriend’s just trying to shove me to another continent.  Why would that be a problem for me?”

“C’mon Andy it’s not like that
.  You know it.  Fine, we’ll drop it, okay?” 

“Fine.”

“Well, don’t sulk,” he added huskily, leaning in closer. 

“I’m not,” she
managed as he began kissing the back of her neck. 

“Good,”
Tragan whispered against her skin and continued kissing her.  When he heard her sigh, he pressed his body more suggestively into hers.  Soon she was subtly meeting each push of his hips with her own.

“Maybe I’ll go sleep in the reading room tonight,”
Andy whispered.  In the darkness, Tragan smirked.  So much for not sulking.  And he assumed it was an empty threat since she was clearly getting aroused, too.

“Oh,
you think we’re gonna sleep apart?” he challenged.  “Is that what you think is about to happen?” 

“That’s what we’d do if I went to
London,” she snapped.

“Okay, l
ike I said, we’ll drop it.”

Several seconds
passed quietly between them, until Andy said: “Now I’m awake and I can’t back to sleep.”

“Yeah?” Tragan
said, grinning, eager to take the hint.  “That’s terrible,” he added almost mockingly, sliding his hand up Andy’s belly and caressing her breast through her shirt.  She let out a tiny moan as he peeled the strap of her tank top down and began gently rubbing his arousal up against her rear end.  Then she was rocking her body into his.  “What a shame…”

“
What are you going to do about it?” she said, her voice thick with desire as he kissed the curve of her neck and gently bit her shoulder. 

“I guess I’ll have to tire you out,”
he murmured.  He reached around to touch her between her legs.

Soon Andy was
sighing and urging Tragan on as he pushed her panties out of the way and continued stroking her the way she liked.  As the sensations built, she reached up to grab onto his arm, digging her fingers into his bicep as if holding on for balance or trying to bring his hand even deeper.  “How’s that?” he rasped into her ear as his hand worked her hard now, and her moans transformed into harsh, choppy breaths that told him she was close.  By the time she climaxed, he was crazed with wanting her.