Let Me Be the One (5 page)

Darcy

Tom purposely “ran into me” almost every day over the next few weeks.  He was typically there in the quad when I came out of class, was at the gym at the same time, or stumbled upon me in the library.  I felt like I was being stalked—in a very good way.  As the days passed, spending time with him became a regular part of my routine.

While walking to class one day, Tom was telling me about repairs he had to make on his truck and I casually mentioned that I had a permit but still didn’t have my driver’s license.  That cracked him up.  “What, Donovan?  Did I just hear you correctly? You can’t drive?” 

“So?  I live in Manha
ttan. I have no need to drive.”

“Come again?  You definitely need to be able to drive,
sugar.” 

Okay, the “
sugar” thing—simultaneously made me swoon and made me want to rip his clothes off.  He stopped cold, took me by the shoulders and turned me to face him.  “I have to rectify this situation.”

Amused, I shot back
, “Really now?”

“Yep, I’m going to teach you.”

“Are you sure you trust me with your precious truck?”

“Absolutely.  Anyway, this gives me an excuse to have you all to myself.”  He smiled and then reached down and took my hand as we continued walking.  He was holding hands with me?  There was
something so intimate about it but at the same time, it was also a very public declaration.  Before he turned off to go to his class he squeezed my hand and said, “First lesson is tomorrow after your eleven o’clock class.”

I was fighting the almost-dizzy feeling I was exper
iencing but somehow managed to tease, “You’re pretty bossy, Tom. I hope you’re a nice teacher.”

“No, Darce, I’m tough.
You better bring your A-game.”

“Hmm, what are you going to do to me if I don’t
follow your instructions?”

He leaned in, tapped me gently on the nose and whi
spered, “Take you over my knee for a spanking.” He cocked one eyebrow and smiled knowingly.  “I think you’d like that.”

With that he turned and left me standing there, breathless.
 

He knew the effect he had on me and I think he liked teasing me a little.   There were times he’d take my hand and stroke the inside of my palm with his thumb in the most crazy-sexy way.  When he did it I would lose my train of thought mid-sentence and he’d let out a low, husky chuckle.  Every touch was like foreplay and I was wound as tight as a top.  When we stood in a group he might put his hand to my lower back or put his hand on my shoulder.  Other times I would feel him come up behind me as I sat with the girls at lunch.  He would plant both hands on the table and lean down close pressing his rock hard chest into my back and whisper ridiculous things in my ear.  He meant to rattle me but also to make me laugh.  He made me laugh a lot.  Tom was funny, flirty and the more I got to know him, the deeper I felt like I was falling.  He was popular and he talked to everyone, but always
seemed to have one eye on me. 

That first weekend after the “Nick incident” he swung by my house before us girls were heading out and he tagged along.  By the second week he came by early on Friday and asked me to grab dinner with him before we hit parties.  By week three we were arriving everywhere together; we had evolved into a couple. 

At night he’d always escort me home and laid some of the hottest kisses on me before saying goodnight.  He gave me nothing but kisses but the way he kissed promised that he was likely to possess some serious skills.  Tom didn’t push to go further and I was happy about that; it made me believe that he respected me.  To be honest, though, I would have let him if he tried.  Those romantic, sexy dreams I’d had about Tom were now, out of unrequited desire, turning into dirty, lustful fantasies.  I was basically a pool of liquid when he so much as looked my way.

Tom

When I got home I collapsed on my bed and raked my hands over my face—sexually frustrated but happy as hell.

I showed up at Darcy’s early tonight, figuring we’d hang out while we waited for her parents.  No one was downstairs when I let myself in.  I heard music coming from Darcy’s room and when I knocked and she didn’t answer, I poked my head in.  Still didn’t see her.  I walked in and nearly dropped when she walked out of her closet, clothes on hangers in each hand, wearing only a pair of black lace underwear, no bra.  I was stuck in time, mouth hanging open, staring at, seriously, the most spectacular set o
f breasts known to man.  I came-to a moment later, turned so my back was to her, and sputtered, “Shit, Darcy, I’m sorry.  I knocked!”

I heard the hangers drop and she was quiet for a m
oment before she said shyly, “I want you to turn around.”

That’s all she said.  I felt like my heart was in my throat.  I didn’t move. “Tom,” she pleaded, “I
want
you to look at me.”

I could feel that she was moving closer to me.  My pants were getting painfully tight. 
What had it been, five weeks?  Five weeks of getting to know her, holding back, not so much as even trying to go past first base? And it wasn’t that I’d been suffering through it.  It was more like I was my old self again, enjoying the slow build-up, being ok with the pace of things, wanting to make sure that she was ready.  But God, I was ready.

I
finally turned and she was now less than a foot in front of me.  She slowly took one of my hands and put it to her breast so that my hand was full with her sweet, heavy swell.  She tried to sound confident but her look told me she was nervous as she said, “I want to feel your hands on me.”

Fuuuuck.  I struggled to breathe as I put my free hand on her other breast.  Her nipples puckered and her head fell back slightly as I stroked my thumbs over her.  My eyes moved over her body from bottom to top.  I pract
ically croaked, “Damn, Darcy, you’re so beautiful.”

She looked at me and smiled, her eyes heavy, as she reached up and moved her hands through my hair.   I moved closer and cupped her beautiful ass in my hands as I kissed her deeply.  I could hear her sweet little moans as my fingertips inched closer to her sex.  Her body felt so fucking fantastic pressed up against me that I thought I would come right there and then.  And at that moment we heard Dan and Jenna downsta
irs coming in the front door. 

I let out a long, shaky breath, gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek, and backed away from her.  She looked flushed and happy.  I could barely see straight.  I def
initely needed a few minutes to pull myself together before her parents got there.  I didn’t know how I was going to be able to concentrate during dinner.  I didn’t think I’d be able to get the image of her, as she’d just stood before me, out of my mind.

After that crazy start to the night, dinner with her parents did turn out to be relaxed and fun.  Her father is a great guy.  You can tell he’s a big deal in his field, well respected.  And Sarah is as nice as Darcy described her.  I caught on to a little bit of tension between Darcy and her dad when he asked about her plans for next year.  Darcy looked at him a little defiantly and said, “Same plan, Dad.  Plugging right along.  I’ll be in med school by September.”

He took a deep breath, “I just don’t want you to be too hard on yourself.  There’s nothing wrong with taking off a ye
ar before starting med school.”

She smiled at him, a genuinely loving smile, and put her hand over his hand, “Dad, it’s what I want to do.  I know what you say about the young doctors you work with but
, believe me, I’ll be able to handle it.”

He put his palms up in surrender, “I know you can handle anything.  It’s just that the field is so different now.  There’s so much you have to give up.  Years you can’t get back.  I hear these mid-thirty-somethings questioning their decision all the time.  And I know you think I’m saying this because you’re a woman but I told the same thing to Caleb and Luke.
”

She rolled her eyes and laughed, “Can
we please change the subject?”

Sarah chimed in, “I almost forgot! Luke and Kate are coming over after we get home Sunday.  They said they have important
news to tell us.”

Darcy
’s eyes widened and she smiled broadly, “Do you think…,” then she winced. “Oh, I pray that it’s good news.  If Kate has another miscarriage it’s going to devastate her.”

Sarah said soothingly as she took Darcy’s hand, “Ma
ybe I shouldn’t have said anything but from the tone of his voice I didn’t get the impression that it was bad news.  I’m very hopeful, sweetie.”

“
Please, I want a call as soon as you hear anything, either way.”

Darcy and I were stuffed after dinner so we told her parents we’d walk the half-mile home instead of taking a ride.  I was happy she’d asked me to come.  I guess it reassured me that she felt something real for me too.  I wasn’t sure if I should pry but I dove in, “So what was that between you and your dad?”

Darcy seemed confused momentarily and then said, “Oh
, you mean about med school?”  When I nodded she said, “I think he’s afraid I’m going to work myself to the bone and study non-stop only to wake up at age thirty-five, exhausted, husbandless, and childless.”

“Did either of
your brothers choose medicine?”

“No. 
Luke was heading in that direction but when he was in high school he was involved with a Jesuit volunteer organization that put him to work on home building projects in impoverished areas.  He’s very outdoorsy and he really got into carpentry and building.  He worked for a contractor throughout college and then went out on his own a couple of years ago.  He met Kate when she was assisting the architect on one of his projects. She great, I love her so much.  Now they’re married and they have a business together.  She’s the architect and he’s the general contractor.  And as for Caleb, he never had any interest in being a doctor.  He’s in your future line of work, sort of.  He’s a commodities broker.”

We just walked then, silent, lost in our own thoughts.  The air felt great; it was finally starting to get colder.  Darcy looked cute with her scarf wrapped around her
neck and her nose red from the cold.  Holding her hand, her glove warmed mine. 

I was thinking to myself about the thirty-five and e
xhausted comment and I guess she was too when she broke the silence.  “Don’t get me wrong, maybe I won’t admit it to my father but I do think about what he says.  His interns and residents are always at our house—Sarah is great about making the ones who are new to the city feel like they have somewhere to eat a home-cooked meal.  I hear what they say.  I do think about it.”

I squeezed her hand. “I think if it’s what you want to do, you can make it work, Darcy.  Can you do it at your own pace so you can have a life while
you work towards it?”

“It’s competitive.  You have to be wil
ling to put the long hours in.  I know there are women who raise children while going through it but I know that would be tough.” She waved the thought away. “Whatever, that’s a long way off.”

When we got back to her place, she fisted the fabric of my shirt, pulled me close and said, “I know you have an early game tomorrow, but will you come in just
for a little while, puh-lease?”

I think this girl is trying to kill me.

Darcy

Friday night was a
h-mazing.  I was so happy to see my parents and for them to meet Tom.  Tom held my hand under the table during most of dinner and his being with my family felt totally natural.  My dad and Tom talked about his summer internship, surfing, and rugby, as my father is like the unofficial, and reluctant, orthopedist for my brothers’ club team.   As they were in deep conversation, Mom leaned in more closely to me, “He’s wonderful, Darcy.  Seems like it’s serious.”

“No, I mean I just barely started seeing him, but I do
really
like him.”

She smiled, “Well, the feeling seems to be mutual and you look very happy.  Any run-ins with
‘he whose name I won’t say’?” 

I shook my head, “Um, nothing too bad but he and T
om are, or they were, friends.”

I nodded in reply when she said, “Just please promise me you will reach
out if you need us this time.”

After dinner, we picked up where we’d left off before my parents had gotten there.  My place was empty.  The girls were all out.  Tom and I went up to my room.  He picked me up and gently laid me down on the bed.  He rested himself on top of me head to toe, putting most of his weight on his forearms.  He smiled at me, “I like your parents.”

I parted my legs slightly so that he could rest his lower body against mine where I wanted him. I slowly ran my hands down the length of his back, over the fabric of his shirt. “I can
’t think about them right now.”

I could feel his length against me and his mouth turned up at the corners when he saw how lost I was becoming, “Darcy, I wish you could see how beautiful you loo
k when you’re needy like this.”  He nuzzled into my neck and nudged me rolling his hips into mine. “Can you feel what you do to me, Darcy?”