Another Chance (5 page)

“Patrick,” she whispered.

“Cassie?”

“I like that.”

“So do I,” he grinned and kissed her. “Cassie, you have no idea what you do to me.” Cassie rested her head on his shoulder as they watched the sun go down. A girl in a bikini walked by, smiling at Patrick.

All Cassie’s insecurities came flooding to the surface, and she pushed his hand away from her breast. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” she replied.

“I know you better than that. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He looked around, before slapping his forehead. “You don’t think I am remotely interested in that girl do you?”

“She’s gorgeous. I wouldn’t blame you for looking.”

“I’m with you, Cassie, and you’re gorgeous.”

“Patrick, I struggle sometimes. You’re so good looking, with the body to match and look at me.”

He pushed her back onto the sand, kissing her until she had to come up for breath. “I do look at you. All the time. I love being with you, Cassie. I love you.”

“I love you too,” she whispered.

“What I said before is true. You have no idea what you do to me.”

Slowly, she reached for his lap. “I think I do.”

“Holy crap, Cass.” His erection strained against his pants as she stroked him. “I’m going to come,” he said, “I want to do that to you too, Cassie. I’ve never wanted anything so badly.”

More confident, she reached for his zip, releasing him and stroking his length. It was dusk now, and she couldn’t see anything clearly, but he twitched as she stroked. He kissed her, his tongue darting into her mouth while she got into a rhythm, pumping him until he shuddered.

“I really want to have sex with you, Cassie,” he whispered, still kissing her.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

Patrick kissed her neck. “I realise we haven’t been together that long. I just want it so badly, especially after tonight.”

“I do want you to be my first,” she said.

“You’d be mine too.”

“Really? I assumed you and Vicki…”

“No, we didn’t. She wanted to, but I wasn’t ready to go that far. It’s different with you.”

“Different how?”

He shrugged. “Like it’s supposed to happen. At least if it’s not before the end of the summer, we’ll soon both be in Auckland and able to live as adults. Cassie, maybe we’ll get a place together. Study during the day and make love all night.”

Cassie blushed. “I can’t wait to get there and be with you.”

Patrick zipped his pants and helped her up. “Everything will be awesome.”

An opportunity presented itself two weeks later. It was the last weekend before he moved to Auckland, with Cassie due to follow a few weeks later. “My parents are out of town on Friday and Saturday,” he said.

“How come?”

“They’re going to stay with some friends down the line. Once we move up north, they’ll see even less of them, so they gave me permission to have a party on Saturday. Just something small.”

“That’s cool.”

“I know it’s really soon, but I wondered if you wanted to come over Friday. We’ll have the whole house to ourselves.”

“Sounds good, grab a DVD and some popcorn.”

Patrick screwed up his face. “You and your movies. I thought we could go to bed together. That’s if you’re ready.”

“What?”

“Well this whole kissing, fondling, hand job thing is driving me to distraction, Cass. When we are doing that, all I want is to be inside you.”

Cassie’s eyes widened at the thought, and she swallowed hard. “I don’t know about this.”

“Cass, if you’re not ready then it’s cool. We can do something else. Although it would be kind of nice to at least progress to a blow job.”

She giggled, and he stared at her. “What’s so funny?”

“A few weeks ago I wouldn’t have dreamed we’d be talking about this kind of thing, let alone doing it. I need to think about it.”

“Cassie. I’m not going to push you into anything you’re not ready for. Just remember that.” His hand was on her arm, and he squeezed gently to show his support for her.

“I’ll keep that in mind. It’s a big decision.”

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you Cassie Warren. Whatever you decide is fine by me, we have as much time as it takes.”

Cassie threw her arms around him. “I won’t think about anything else now.”

“It’s not as if this is going to be our last chance either, more like the first.”

It didn’t take long for her to make up her mind.

“I want to be with you.”

“Does that mean you’re coming over on Friday?” he asked.

She nodded. “I just want us to be together, Patrick, and I want you to be the first.”

“As you’ll be mine.”

Cassie grinned. That was partly why it had been such an easy decision to make. Now to see if her nerve held until the end of the week.

The days dragged the rest of the week. Life went on around Cassie, but it was as if time had stood still while she waited for Friday night to arrive. After her discomfort on the beach, Patrick had been more attentive than ever. Determined to show her how much she was loved.

It had been a long time since Cassie had spent any time in the Cross house. Even now they were together, most of their time was spent at her house. His parents were a lot more uptight than hers, and Cassie was a little afraid of his mother.

When Patrick was born, his mother had wanted siblings for him straight away but she spent years battling repeated miscarriages. The experience had hardened her. She had never approved of Vicki and considered Cassie a huge improvement.

Tonight though, she had gone with Patrick’s father for the weekend, trusting Patrick to have the house to himself for the first time. Cassie stood outside the front door to his house, taking a final deep breath before knocking on the door.

Judging from the aroma in the front yard, he had cooked dinner, and was out to impress.

“Are you okay, Cassie?” he asked as she picked from her plate.

“The food’s all right isn’t it?”

“The food is fine,” she said, “much better than I expected.”

“So why aren’t you eating?”

Cassie shrugged. “I’m cutting back on what I eat.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

Patrick frowned. “Cassie, you are gorgeous. If you’re trying to lose weight for me, then don’t. I love you the way you are.”

“I thought if I could look more like that girl on the beach, or Vicki.”

“There is no way I want you to be anything like Vicki in any way babe. With what we’re planning to do tonight, I want you to be comfortable. We can just hang out and watch TV if you want.”

Shaking her head, she pushed her food around the plate with the fork. “I want to be with you.”

Patrick picked up his plate, moving around the table so he could sit next to her. “I want you to like my cooking. That food is the result of slaving over a hot stove all day. Just to impress you.”

“Is that right?” she asked, laughing.

“Yes it is, Miss Warren. Now eat up. The sooner we finish, the sooner it’s bedtime. I don’t know about you, but the last few days have been a killer.”

She took a mouthful of food as he watched her eat. After a couple of bites, she pulled a face, forcing herself to swallow the food.

“So?”

“I kind of lied when I said the food was fine. I don’t think cooking is your forte.”

“What do you mean?”

“Have you tried this?”

“It’s my mum’s recipe. It tastes fine when she makes it.”

Cassie swallowed a giggle. “Patrick, this smells amazing, but it is not good.” His face fell. “I’ll eat it anyway, maybe it will get better as we go.”

“Cassie, if you don’t like it, don’t eat it. I’ll sort something else out.”

“A minute ago you were telling me to eat, so I am. It’ll be fine, Patrick.” Her mouth twitched as she tried not to laugh, watching as he took a bite and realised just how bad it was.

Laughter exploded out of her as she watched his expression change. “Oh my god Cassie, this is awful.”

She nodded.

“I’ll see if we have anything instant in the freezer. We are not eating this.”

“How about we just go upstairs and forget about dinner.”

He examined her expression closely. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“Let’s go do this while I’m brave enough.”

“Cassie, we don’t have to do this at all.”

“I want to.”

Patrick grinned. “Let’s go.”

Hand in hand, they climbed the stairs to his room. Cassie took a deep breath and slowly walked through the door. It was surprisingly simple. He had his books in the corner and the odd piece of rugby memorabilia, but it was clean and tidy. She almost teased him about it, but only one thing was on her mind as she moved to the middle of the room.

“I don’t know when I was here last,” she said.

“We always did spend more time at your place.”

“Your mother is so scary, that’s why.”

Patrick laughed. “She always liked you.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like your mother. She just scares me.”

“She’s far away tonight. No need to worry about her now.”

“I know.”

Patrick stood behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. Cassie closed her eyes as he kissed the back of her head. “I feel as if I’ve been waiting forever for this, Cassie,” he whispered.

“It’s only been a few weeks.”

“More like my whole life. Let’s go to bed babe.”

Cassie nodded. There was nothing more she wanted in that moment then to get in bed with him. “Turn out the light,” she said.

“What for?”

“I don’t want to get naked in front of you, not yet.”

He frowned. “We’re about to get naked together, what’s the difference?”

“The difference is that I am self-conscious about standing in the middle of the room naked.”

Patrick stroked her cheek. “You don’t have to feel that way, it’s just us.”

“Please, Patrick, at least for the first time.”

“If it makes you more comfortable. I’ll just strip off first and hop into bed if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” she murmured.

At first, she didn’t realise she was staring, but when he removed his shirt she found herself unable to take her eyes off his chest. That gorgeous musclebound chest. She didn’t even notice he’d removed his pants until he touched her shoulder.

“Your turn, but I’ll wait for you in bed.” He turned the lamp off beside the bed, and the room became dark. Not too dark she couldn’t see what she was doing but dark enough that he wouldn’t see her.

As she slid between the sheets, he reached for her, pulling her into his arms and kissing her lips tenderly. “Your skin is so soft, Cass. Do you mind if I turn the lamp on now?”

“I guess we need to see what we’re doing.” His body was so firm against hers, his erection pressing into her leg. He switched the lamp back on, and she saw it for herself. Cassie gulped, but there was no going back now. She wanted it as much as he did.

“We’ll just take it slowly considering neither of us know what we’re doing,” he said with a laugh.

She nodded. “That’s fine by me.”

His hands roamed her body, gently squeezing her breasts and rubbing her nipples. “You’re so beautiful, Cassie.”

“You’re not so bad yourself.”

“I love you so much,” Patrick murmured, kissing her softly. His tongue found hers, and she relaxed into his kiss, jumping when his hand reached between her legs.

“I love you too,” she whispered. The tears were building, and she bit her lip to try to hold them in. In her entire life, she had never been this happy. This was a moment she never thought would happen. Gently he stroked her, occasionally accidentally hitting the right spot and she found her hips moving in time with his touch.

“I’m going to get the condom on if you’re ready.” She nodded, and he took one out of the packet on the bedside cabinet. “I wish I knew what I was doing.”

She laughed. “We were the top two students in school, I’m sure we can work this out together.”

Patrick grinned, she was becoming more comfortable. He was nervous enough for both of them. It turned out to be easy to roll a condom on, he had been freaking out for nothing. “I should get you to learn how to do this, I’m sure that would be much sexier than me doing it.”

“I like watching you,” she said breathlessly.

“Are you ready for this, Cass? I’m more than ready, but I need to know that you are okay with what we’re doing.”

“ I love that you are worried, but yes I am ready. I’ve wanted to be with you for so long, and now we’re together, I want this more than anything.”

Happy that she was ready, he moved between her legs. Slowly, he guided himself in, pausing at her entrance to check on her one last time. Cassie nodded her agreement, and he pushed. She gasped as he slid into her, swallowing hard at the slight discomfort. “Are you okay?” he asked, smoothing her forehead with one palm.