How is it possible that she’s more beautiful now than she was before? That’s all I can think about when we stop at my favorite restaurant for lunch. Her hair is longer, she may be an inch or so taller, her tits are bigger, and her smile seems more breathtaking than before. I can’t stop looking at her. There are weird feelings in me to see the necklace I gave her resting on her chest, too. It makes me wonder if she’s wearing the anklet as well.
She rubs her arms for the billionth time. “Gah, it’s so much colder here than back home. I don’t think I brought clothes warm enough for this.”
“I can keep you warm.”
Damn. There it is. That blush I haven’t seen in for-fucking-ever. It almost doesn’t make sense. She wasn’t blushing like this when we would send dirty texts to one another, was she? We started out joking, I think, and if I remember correctly, I started taking an inappropriate comment too far and hinted that we should totally start texting. I’d send a text and then she would send one with whatever would happen next. It was like taking turns writing a dirty scene, but featuring us.
It took me a little bit to warm her up to it, but I was damn glad I did. For someone who is still a virgin and has only ever kissed me, the girl has a filthy imagination and definitely has a way with words. I’ve gotten off from those texts more times than I can count.
Which sort of brings me to why I wanted to see her again. I had a girlfriend. Things weren’t serious, but they would get hot and heavy and she was totally ready to have sex. But every time we got close, an image of Sydney would pop into my head and I couldn’t do it. We broke up. Drove me fucking crazy. Sydney and I are just friends. I was hoping that seeing her would confirm that, but all it’s doing is making me realize I want her to be the first person I have sex with.
That is not why I invited her here, so I need to stop thinking about that right now. I only wanted to know what it would be like to see her again. To see if I had legit reasons to be fucked in the head or not.
My reasons are totally legit.
I have it bad for a girl I can’t have because she lives halfway across the country and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. If she and her dad got along, I could maybe convince her to move here, but I doubt that would happen. Besides, after I graduate, I’ll be off to college, so what would be the point?
“Why are you staring at me?” Sydney asks.
“Sorry. You’re more gorgeous than the last time I saw you. Can’t help it.”
She rolls her eyes and another blush lights up her cheeks. “I asked you a question.”
“What was it?”
“What’s next?”
I realize then that she’s finished eating. “Well, if you don’t have the appropriate winter clothes, then we can go to my house to hang out for a bit.” I’ve already given her my coat because she was cold, so now I’m cold. “We can chill today since you’ve been traveling. How does that sound?”
Sydney nods. “As long as I’m warm, I’m down for anything.”
That is so not the right thing to say to me. Once I pay the bill, we head to my house. Dad is at work, so it’ll be just the two of us for a little while. Maybe we should hang outside the entire time because this is a dangerous setup. I’ll make sure there’s space between us. I won’t touch her or kiss her and all will be well.
Sydney fucks up that plan.
I sit on the couch first, which is mistake number one. She sits down next to me with zero space between us. Then, she says, “I need to ask a weird question.”
“Go for it.”
“Can I touch your beard?”
I laugh. “Yeah.”
That’s mistake number two. She shifts onto her knees to face me. Both of her hands reach up and move over the hair. I’m super proud of this beard. I’m the only one on the team who has been able to grow one like this. It’s not huge, but it’s longer than anyone else’s. It took forever to grow it, but now, I have to trim it to keep it from getting longer and to keep it decent looking.
“Wow,” Sydney murmurs. She looks fascinated.
“What?”
“It’s rough and soft all at once.” She rubs her hands along my jaw and I swear, a shiver runs along her spine. She avoids looking at me as she blushes, which confirms that she did indeed shiver. Her gaze focuses on my mouth. “Another question.”
“Yes. The answer is yes.”
She laughs, lifting her eyes to mine. “You don’t even know what it is.”
“I don’t care. Yes times a million.”
“Are you sure? What if I want to punch you? You bruise like a peach, remember?”
I groan. “You were supposed to have forgotten about that.”
“Sorry.” There’s still a smile playing on her lips, and I want to kiss her.
“The answer is yes,” I repeat.
With no hesitation and no pause, she leans forward and kisses me. For Sydney to make a move like that is the last thing I would’ve ever expected her to do. The kiss itself, however, is more like her. It’s tentative at first and then becomes more demanding. Even the kissing is better! I grab her hips to make her straddle me because I need her closer to me. My arms need to be around her waist before I try to take this further.
Sydney is content with making out. Her arms wind around my neck. How can her mouth and tongue have so much control? I want to unleash the rising need inside of me, but Sydney seems to be in no hurry to do anything about what has to be building inside of her as well. I know it is. She wiggles her hips, making me groan. She tugs on my beard, which turns me on more than makes sense.
When she nips my lower lip, it’s my undoing. Without thinking of the consequences, my hands begin to roam over her hips, up her sides, and to her breasts. Sydney squeaks in surprise, but keeps kissing me. I give them a squeeze. Fuck. Am I really doing this? Is she letting me? I want to feel her skin. I slip my hands underneath her shirt. Sydney shivers again and groans when I push my hands underneath her bra.
Man, I wish she’d let her hands leave my beard and do a little exploring of their own. I certainly wouldn’t mind.
But then, her phone rings loudly from her purse and she jumps out of my lap, leaving my hands empty, my body cold, and me extremely horny. Sydney takes a few deep breaths before she answers.
“Hey, Dad. Yeah, I got here fine. Yeah, he picked me up. Thanks. Yeah, I’ll be home by then. Okay. Bye. Love you too.” She hangs up and readjusts her bra while avoiding my gaze completely.
I get up and pick a movie from the DVD stand. “Let’s watch a movie.” Maybe it will relax her to know that we’re going to do something other than kiss and feel each other up. When I’m done setting it up, she’s relaxed into the couch once more and she gives me a brief smile.
“What are we watching?”
“The Santa Clause.”
“Oh, I love this movie!”
She leans into me when I wrap an arm around her shoulders and we’re sitting just like that, watching the movie, when Dad comes home from work. He shakes his head at us. When I initially told him about how I invited Sydney up here, he didn’t seem all that happy about it. He thought it was crazy for her to come all this way to essentially see me and to lie to her folks about it. It doesn’t make sense to me because I know he liked her when she was last here. He thinks we talk too much, so maybe that’s why. He says hello to her like everything is all good and lets us know he’s going to cook dinner.
“Do you think we should help him?” Sydney asks.
“The movie isn’t over yet. He’ll be fine. Besides, you’re here to see me.”
“Well, my dad thinks I’m here to see him, so you’ll have to share me.”
“Sharing you is not my favorite thing to do,” I admit quietly. It probably makes me a dick, but I’ll tell her when I go out with girls. My thinking was that she’d tell me when she goes out with guys. Well, she did. I don’t like hearing about it, but it almost seems like she needs permission or that she feels like she shouldn’t go, and she should. Just because there’s a good possibility that I’m crazy about her doesn’t mean that anything is happening between us.
We’re in different states.
Soon, we’ll be in different parts of our lives because she’ll still be in high school while I’ll be in college.
After that, I’ll hopefully be playing hockey professionally and who knows where she’ll be.
I don’t know if we’ll ever work out, so there’s no need to be holding out for one another now. But that absolutely doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy our friendship and enjoy what time we do spend together.
Nothing more is said until the movie ends. It’s nice to be able to simply sit and hold her—a luxury we don’t otherwise have. During dinner, Dad asks Sydney enough questions that she spends the entire time talking. I don’t always have time to call her between homework and playing hockey, so we text more than anything, but I do try to call her every so often. It’s been heaven pretending to be her dad and talking to her more to convince her mom to let her come.
“What are you guys doing for the rest of the evening?”
“I’m taking Sydney to the rink if she wants to go.” Turning to look at her, I say, “A bunch of guys want to play and I thought maybe you’d want to watch?”
“Sure, sounds fun.”
“Awesome. She has to be home by eleven, so—”
“You’ll be home shortly after that,” Dad finishes, causing Sydney to laugh.
“Exactly.” He knows I’m not taking her home a minute before she has to be there. We only have this week together and I have to share her with her dad. I’m taking advantage of all the time I get.
Saying goodbye, we head for the rink.
“You can sit with Bruce’s girlfriend and the other girls if you want.”
“I’ll sit by myself. Logan and Carey both want me to call them, so I can do that while I watch.”
I get her situated in a seat before joining the rest of the guys to put my gear on.
“Holy shit,” Bruce says when he spots Sydney. She’s not on the phone like I thought she would be; instead, she’s surrounded by Bruce’s girlfriend and her friends. “She’s hotter than she was last time.”
“Yeah, I know. You have a girlfriend; keep your eyes on her instead.”
“Or, I can break up with my girlfriend and see if Sydney will give me the time of day.”
I laugh. “Good luck with that.”
“Let’s fucking play,” another friend of ours says.
We start playing and every so often, my eyes flick to where Sydney is. Something doesn’t seem right, but I don’t know what it is. There’s something about the look on her face that is raising a red flag. What are they talking about?
“Focus, Bruiser!” Bruce shouts when I miss a pass. It’s not like this is a serious game here. There isn’t but a handful of us playing.
“Ian!”
Everyone stops moving at the sound of Sydney’s voice. I skate over to her.
“What is it, gorgeous?”
“Take me to my dad’s.”
“What? Why?”
“He wants me home.” She shrugs.
“He said you had until eleven.”
“He changed his mind! Just take me home!” she yells.
What the fuck is happening here? I stare at her for a moment before facing the guys. “I gotta go.” To her, I add, “Let me change.”
The only thing obvious is that Sydney is upset about something. What has upset her, though? Or who? When I come out of the locker room, she has her arms wrapped around herself and she avoids looking at me. What the hell could I have done? I was on the ice. I place my hand on her back, but she steps away from me.
“What the fuck, Sydney?” I ask the moment we’re in my car.
“Why did you ask me here?”
Her question stuns me for a moment because I’m not expecting it. “What?”
“Why did you ask me to come, Ian?”
“So I could see you. Why?”
“That’s it?”
“Yes, that’s it! What’s your fucking point here, Sydney? Get to it already because I’m totally confused here. One minute, we’re fine and the next, you’re pulling me off the ice.”
She glances out the window and doesn’t say anything. I give her ten seconds before reaching over to squeeze her knee since she’s keeping her hands where I can’t easily get to them.
“Babe, spit it out.”
She closes her eyes briefly; the babe comment got to her. Good. “Do you tell Bruce about the things we say?”
My head is spinning from all the directions she’s coming from. “What?”
“Do you tell him about all the stuff we talk about?” she repeats.
“Will you tell me why you’re asking me all this shit?”
It pisses me off that she appears to debate telling me, but I stay quiet. Eventually, she says, “Bruce’s girlfriend said you told him that we would sext and that the only reason you invited me here was to see if I was any good in person, that you only invited me here to have sex with me. And I didn’t want to think about what she said, so I wanted to go home.”
I sigh. Do you see why girls suck? They talk too much and they like to stir shit up. Now, my girl is upset. “The first part is true, but that is not why I asked you to come. I only wanted to see you and hang out.”
“Good. Because I don’t know that I’m ready for that kind of thing and I’m...I’m...”
“You’re a virgin. I know. So am I.”
Her head turns so fast, I’m surprised she doesn’t give herself whiplash. “Really?”
“Yeah, I would’ve told you if I had sex with someone.”
“Oh my god, you’re such an ass,” she grumbles, shaking her head at me.
I shrug. “And you can be a bitch. Need I remind you of the first time we met? Are we over this entire fiasco now?”
“Yeah. Will you still take me home?”
“Of course.” I don’t want to, but I will. And I plan to give her one hell of a kiss before she gets out of my car. Hopefully, it’ll leave her thinking about that and not what happened with Bruce’s dumb girlfriend.