Girl-Code (4 page)

‘Cameron,’ I warn once again and he
reluctantly releases me, leaving me feeling bereft.

‘Just say the word, Lucy,’ his face
appears flushed too, his hand moving to his trouser pocket to disguise his
arousal.  I swallow another gulp of wine and attempt to steady my heartbeat. 
Wow, he has skill, Sam informed us he is good in the bedroom department!

‘There you are!’ Susie calls,
interrupting us, ‘you ok?’ she observes our close proximity and faces.

‘Of course,’ I assure her, moving away
from Cameron.

I spend the remainder of the evening in
close contact to Susie, while Simon and Cameron chat and laugh, totally at ease
in each other’s company.  I find myself watching Cameron through my peripheral
vision for the second time, aware of when his glance is on me.  Only on one
occasion do our eyes lock the world outside fading into significance.

When Susie and Simon go to bid goodnight
to their friends we find ourselves alone. 

‘It’s been a lovely evening,’ I attempt
to break the silence.

‘Indeed,’ Cameron replies sternly.

I turn to him, ‘are you mad at me?’

‘Why would I be mad at you?’

‘Why are you answering a question, with a
question?’ I frown.

He sighs, a smile twitching, ‘point taken.’

After a short while he answers, ‘are you
a good, sensible girl Lucy?’

I contemplate the question for a moment
before answering, ‘yes!’

‘You never color outside of the lines do
you?’

‘Why do you express that as if it is an
insult?’ I question.

‘Why are you answering a question, with a
question?’ he throws my words back at me.

I find this conversation exasperating so
glance at my watch, ‘I need to go,’ I inform him, my eyes searching for Susie.

‘Stay with me tonight,’ he whispers
quietly.

‘You know I can’t,’ I whisper back,
avoiding his gaze knowing full well I want to.

‘Why?’ his hand finds mine, tugging until
I am facing him.  His eyes are intense, his mouth set.

‘You know why,’ our eyes are connected
and I feel a pull of attraction.

‘Because of some fucked up girl-code
between you and a girl you don’t even know, not to mention like?’

‘Maybe, I am just not attracted to you
Cameron, have you thought of that?’ my chin tilts defiantly up to him and he
looks murderous for a moment before his face relaxes and he smiles.

‘Actually, no I haven’t,’ then his eyes
peek down at me, ‘but I don’t believe it for a moment Lucy.’

‘Right, we are off.  What time is your
cab coming, Luce?’ Susie glances down at our still joined hands which I drop
immediately.

‘It should be there now, thank you for a
lovely night, Suze.’ I hug her and she whispers,

‘And don’t think you aren’t going to be interrogated
on this one!’ into my ear. 

My lips twitch and Simon kisses me on the
cheek, ‘good to meet you at last Lucy, maybe we will see you again,’ his glance
moves to Cameron.

‘I will walk you out,’ Cameron insists,
not giving me an opportunity to refuse, which he is fully aware I would have.

As we exit the club, I check my phone to
inform me of the registration number and make of my cab, ‘right, it’s that one.’
I point to a black Lexus, ‘thank you again for a pleasant evening Cameron, and it
was good to see you again.  Who knows, I may see you again soon, with Sam maybe.’
I am testing him and he knows it.

‘Yes you will Lucy, but not with Sam,’ he
announces.

I move towards the vehicle door, which he
opens for me before trapping me against the door frame with his hard body.  He
tips my chin with his thumb and finger and once again my stomach somersaults. 
My breath is ragged with apprehension as he leans in, his eyes holding mine, ‘you
will see me again Lucy, and you will be begging me to spend the night with you,’
his lips touch mine gently and I exhale the breathe I was unaware I was holding
as he deepens the kiss.  I sigh as his tongue enters my mouth, enticing mine to
battle, as he explores the area.  Just as my hand reaches up to grasp his hair
he slows the kiss down and moves away leaving me panting, my insides clenching
with need.

‘Until then,’ he whispers his eyes
sparkling and I all but slip into the back seat of the cab.

I lay in bed my mind analyzing the evenings
events, am I a good sensible girl never failing to color beyond the lines?  Is
that wrong? 

I had a happy childhood being brought up by
a single parent.  Mum and I are extremely close, more like sisters than a
parent and child due to her having me at such a tender age.  My father
disappeared when I was two years old and we have heard nothing from him since. 
Maybe being an only child has encouraged me to behave so seriously.

Cameron’s comment has caused me to question
my personality, I am content enough aren’t I?  I have enough excitement in my
life.

Charles and I had a reasonable relationship. 
He only finished the first year of university before quitting, declaring it
wasn’t for him, funnily enough he was very straight and sensible in those
days.  He is now living in South America with a Mexican girl he met on his
travels and has no intention of returning to the UK, maybe he found his color
outside the line life!

For me, travelling was my big adventure and
I enjoyed every moment, Kate and I experienced several escapades we would never
have participated in back at home. 

Cameron is right about one thing though, nothing
gives Sam the right to dictate who I can and cannot spend time with!  She isn’t
my friend, she is a housemate I am all for being a loyal friend. I wouldn’t for
a moment hook up with an ex of Kate’s that would just be wrong, but Sam?  I
have no loyalties to Sam.

I will stay away from Cameron.  I think he
is too man for me, but if Scot invites me out again I will accept, despite
Sam’s rules.

‘So, how was your night?’  Kate asks, as we
are sprawled out on the sofa the next day one at either end.

‘Good thanks, what did you do?’ I enquire.

‘Went to the wine bar again, the barman
blanked me,’ her eyes regard me carefully.

‘Well, no offense but what did you expect
Kate?  You handed it to him on a plate, he probably goes home with a different
girl every weekend.’

‘Gee, thanks friend,’ she throws a hurt
look towards me.

‘Well Kate, who is going to respect you if
you don’t respect yourself?’ god I sound like my mother!

‘We can’t all be perfect,’ she snaps and I
instantly regret my words.

‘Sorry, that was condescending,’ I murmur
quietly, ‘I am no better. I admit.

‘How so?’

‘Guess who was in attendance last night?’

‘Who?’ she frowns.

‘Cameron!’

‘Sam’s Cameron, no way! How come?’ she
puzzles.

‘It transpires that he is best friends with
Susie’s boyfriend, who invited me’

‘That is bizarre,’ she shocks before I notice
her brain computing, ‘you never…..’

‘No!’ I snap before adding, ‘almost though.’

‘Oh god Luce, is it not bad enough that we
have the atmosphere we do now without more crap.’

‘As I said almost!’ I assure her.

‘He is hot though!’ she grins, I giggle, purposely
omitting the information regarding the kiss.

‘Hi!’ Sam enters the room quietly and I
wonder how long she has been lurking in the hallway. I mumble a greeting as
Kate becomes fixated on continually chatting to conceal the awkwardness between
us.

‘How was your evening?’ Sam enquires her
glance on me.

‘Good thanks, yours?’ I ask, politely.

‘Great! Got my hands on Scot at last,’ she
grins and I cannot prevent the anger that simmers within me, not because I desire
Scot but because she has managed to achieve what she wishes and add another to
her,
Lucy not allowed to touch
list.

********

Cameron’s mind hovers over last night’s
golf bash and smiles.   The brunette has filled his mind all night, the way
that dress hugged her slim waist and curvy hips to the way her toned legs fit
into those killer heels.  Her eyes haunt him, sucking him into her being, the
thought of a night appreciating her body filled him with excitement.  He is
aware he should stay away from her she is a little too serious for him, he
preferred his bedmates experienced and uninhibited and he had a feeling she was
a bit intense.

Still, she intrigued him, just a shame that
she is familiar with Sam.  Sam was a pleasant enough girl, energetic in the
bedroom department, but slightly clingy.  She had text him several times since
their night together pleading for them to repeat but he had had his fill of her
and had no intention of returning.

All that rubbish about girl-code he had
never heard the likes of….the way Lucy reacted to his kiss even the memory of
it sent a twinge to his groin. Yes such a shame!

********

‘So, hussy tell me all,’ Susie’s voice is
amused yet interested.

‘What?’ I smile, we are seated in the
canteen at lunchtime on Monday and I have been expecting the inquisition.

‘Don’t give me all that butter wouldn’t
melt stuff,’ she scoffs.

‘I told you, I met Cameron coming out of
Sam’s bedroom after a night out’ I express.

‘Why do I think there is more to it then?’
she squints towards me.

‘Well…..’ I smile up, before glancing at
our surroundings, ‘what I failed to mention was that when he bumped into me, I
had a towel around me which inadvertently fell leaving me butt naked.’

‘Ha! No way!’ Susie giggles.

‘That’s it, apart from I met him again with
Sam in a wine bar.’

‘Sam is the one that warned you off all men
within her vicinity?’ she recaps.

‘Yes, so you see if you have the tiniest
inkling of setting me up with Cameron again, for obvious reasons I will have to
decline.’

‘Well, from what I saw Luce…’ she sends a
smug look in my direction.

‘What?  You saw nothing, because there was
nothing.’

‘A bit of hand holding and a sizzling kiss
at the cab,’ she reminds me.

‘How did you see the kiss, you was inside?’
I gasp.

‘Actually, we were on our way out to catch
our cab…so you can imagine my surprise.’

I wave a hand, ‘it was nothing, a flirty
kiss.  You obviously know Cameron well so you are aware of his playboy
tendencies.’’ I remind her.

‘Absolutely, but you see Cameron has an
aversion towards public displays of affection. In his opinion, there is a time
and place.’

I shrug, ‘well, you wasn’t supposed to be
in the car park.’

‘What about the bar?’ she grins.

‘The bar…..’ then it clicks, ‘Susie, really
I won’t be repeating the experience, as I informed Cameron, I have to live with
Sam.’

‘Oh dear,’ she shakes her head, ‘Lucy, what
have you done, you have become
the forbidden
! You have thrown down the
gauntlet, he doesn’t like the word no,’ she grins.

‘Well, he had better get used to it,’ but
my insides awaken at the prospect of becoming a challenge to Cameron.   

********

Life continues for the next couple of weeks
without any significant dramas and I begin to relax and enjoy the single girl’s
life along with Kate and Sam.  Sam and I will never be great friends, but once
she is aware I am not in the slightest bit interested in Scot she stops
mentioning him in every sentence.

I had refrained from joining the girls down
the wine bar on the previous weekend choosing instead to carry on the tradition
of drinks with Susie and a few of the girls at work.  On the Saturday night I
had gone home to visit my mum, intentionally avoiding Kate and her friends, to
allow things to simmer down.

********

‘So, how is the gorgeous Lucy?’ Cameron
enquires casually.

‘Fine, so leave her be Cam.’ Susie insists.

‘You need to make your mind up Suze, one
minute you are setting us up, the next you are warning me to stay away!’

‘That’s correct,’ she dumps another potato
onto his plate.

‘Come on give,’ Cameron coerces.

‘No, she is my friend and I think she is
getting enough drama in that house without you adding to it.’

‘What the girl-code thing?’ he scoffs.

‘Yes….she told you about that?’

‘Yes, I have never heard of anything so
ludicrous to be honest,’ Cameron mumbles.

‘Me either, I mean from what I can
ascertain there is a long list of men that Lucy has to avoid.  We had drinks on
Friday in Benny’s,’ she divulges.

‘You are showing slightly more interest than
you normally do, Cam,’ Simon pipes in, grinning at his friend across the table.