Seven Days: The Complete Story (8 page)

And I just
kissed Nicholas who’s incredibly sweet and lovely.

But Joel’s
cute, too.

What the hell
is up with me?

“Um, yeah.” I
gaze into his eyes there’s a hint of something, something I know I
shouldn’t be seeing.

While Nicholas
waits to pay the bill — again — Joel and I begin a slow start
along the beach path towards my place. I’m shaky on my legs but I
feel okay. Shocked and embarrassed mostly, not ill. I can’t believe
I fainted. Joel must think I’m some ditzy girl who has no
resilience at all and I’m not like that.

“How do you
feel?” Joel asks, as we walk.

“Okay. Fine.
Embarrassed.”

“There’s
nothing to be embarrassed about—”

He wasn’t the
one laying on the floor.

“—I’m not a
fan of roller coasters if that’s any consolation. Last time I went
on one I spewed all over the chick I was with and a few of the
people in the carriage behind us. The woman in had chuck in her
hair.” He gives that killer smile and my knees go weak all over
again.

Aww
.
That’s sweet, I think. Well, not sweet that he’s a wuss about rides
but sweet that he’s trying to lessen my pain by telling me about
his own.

“I bet you
were popular.”

“About as
popular as a priest in a synagogue. The girl dumped me when we got
off the ride.”

“How could any
girl be angry with you?”

“It’s got me
beat. I mean, look at me. Irresistible, or what?”

God, if he
only knew. Though I think he does.

We’ve stopped
walking at this stage. I don’t know why but we’re facing each other
and gazing into each other’s eyes as the moonlight shines on the
water. It’s like a cheesy seduction scene but it isn’t cheesy at
all.

Joel steps
closer. He runs his tongue over his lips. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
His voice is little more than a whisper. A deep, gravelly whisper
that sends shivers of desire running down my spine. “I wouldn’t
like to see you hurt. I don’t think I could carry you all the way
home.”

“Hey!”

“Joke,
Sadie.”

“Not funny. No
wonder you can’t keep a girlfriend if that’s the way you
speak.”

“Who says I
want one? I’m pretty happy with the term ‘confirmed bachelor’. I’m
into bedding not wedding.”

“I think
you’re lying. Under that sarcastic exterior is a big softie who
wants to be loved.”

“I think you
should stop talking so much so I can kiss you.”

His arms move
to envelope me and then, before I know what’s hit me, he’s backed
me against a tree and is kissing me like I’ve never been kissed
before. The kiss is long and deep and passionate, so much so that I
don’t even notice the rough bark of the trunk digging into my back.
His kiss makes my blood race through my veins. My skin is on fire,
aching for him to touch me, like a burning need, a craving I can’t
squash.

Joel leans his
body into mine. I feel the rapid rise and fall of his ribs pressing
into my chest and the heat in his hands as they skitter around my
sides and squeeze my bum, pushing me closer to his crotch. I feel
his erection growing between us and I want it. I want it in me. I
want to wrap my legs around his waist and let him in.

After a
minute, Joel’s lips unlock from mine. He moves his hands, placing
them on the trunk on either side of my head. He’s struggling to
breathe and I know the kiss has affected him as much as it has me.
I lower my forehead to his chest, my hands clutch at his t-shirt as
his chin comes to rest on the crown of my head. I feel the touch of
his lips in my hair.

“Don’t stop.”
I whimper. “Please don’t stop.”

“I have
to.”

I look up,
searching his face. “Why? You can’t kiss me like that and stop.
It’s not fair. If I did that you’d say I was a cock tease.” I sound
like a whiny teenager but I can’t help it. He’s given me a taste
and I’m addicted. I can’t exist without his kiss.

“You’re a
child, Sadie.”

“Er, I’m
twenty-one. Not exactly a child.”

“I’m too old
for you. You should be hanging around with kids your own age.”

“You’re not
exactly a grandpa. What are you, like, thirty?”

“Twenty-nine.
Nick’s thirty.”

“Time to stop
behaving like children then.” I kiss his jaw, his earlobe. My lips
trail over his throat, sucking and nipping at his skin. Standing on
my tiptoes, I pull his face to mine, kissing him hard. I weave my
fingers into his hair and lock them behind his neck, feeling a low
vibration of approval as I do. I push my breasts against him,
feeling them swell as his hands slide from the tree to my ribs. I
push my crotch against him, rubbing. He groans with pleasure before
lifting my chin and taking possession of my mouth again. I want
him. I want him so much.

Then he pulls
away. “Jesus, Sadie.”

“What?” My
lungs are gasping for air. His air.

“Stop. If you
don’t I’m going to fuck you, right here against the tree. Now.”

And that would
be such a bad thing? Right about now, I’m thinking, no.

“Then do it.”
I kiss him again. I thrust myself wantonly against him.

Joel clasps my
hands firmly to my side. “I mean it. I won’t be able to control
myself if you keep that up.”

“I don’t want
you to. Kiss me. Kiss me again.”

He shakes his
head in dismay. “Oh, fuck it,” he groans, before shoving his tongue
down my throat again. Clinging to him, I wrap my legs around his
body. I can feel his toned muscles beneath my thighs and I want to
be below him. I want to feel all of him.

And at that
precise moment, Nicholas comes jogging along the path, causing Joel
to practically drop me in the sand. Talk about hurtle me into
reality.

“So. I guess
you’re over your fainting episode?”

Nicholas’ face
is like thunder. His eyes are stormy with anger and his fists are
clenching in and out as if he wants to punch something. I hope it’s
only the tree.

I don’t know
what to say. There is nothing I can do to undo what he’s witnessed,
nothing I can say that will make it right. I hang my head in shame
and disgust. I am behaving like some slutty sort of trollop,
pashing every guy in the bay just for the fun of it. Seeing how
many blokes I can kiss in one night. He has every right to be
cross. They both do.

But I’m not
like that. I don’t
do
that. I’ve always been the monogamous
type. Okay, so my experiences haven’t exactly led me to a point
like this before but even when I’ve had a boyfriend I’ve never felt
the urge to go around kissing other boys at the same time. It’s
these two. They’re messing with my brain. They’re making me want
them both which I know is totally wrong and yet I don’t care.

This is bad.
Very bad.

“I thought we
had something going, Sadie.” Nicholas sounds hurt. “When you kissed
me back there, I—”

Joel’s eyes
spark. Even in the dark I can feel his anger. “You kissed Nick
too?”

And before I
know what’s happened, Joel has launched himself at Nicholas and
they’re scrabbling about in the dirt. Nicholas has punched Joel on
the side of his jaw and Joel has countered with a swift knee into
Nicholas’ stomach and a jab to his ribs.

Oh shit. Bad.
Reaaalllly
bad.

“No, no. Stop,
please stop,” I scream. “Don’t fight, please don’t.” Unable to come
up with a better solution, I lurch myself between their bodies and
yank at their shirts, trying to pull them apart. God, we must look
ridiculous, rolling about like we’ve gone for a swim in a vat of
alcohol. But my plan works. They stop. We flop to our backs all
three of us staring silently, angrily into the starry sky.

“I thought you
liked me,” Nicholas says. He’s still panting from the exertion.

“I do.”

“What about
me?” Joel says.

Oh fuck.

“I like you
both.” My voice is small. I sound pathetic, I know I do but I have
no other defence. “Please don’t fight. I don’t want you to be angry
or hate each other. This is my fault completely. I don’t know what
happened. It’s just that, well, you’re both so cool and I was
flattered by the attention.”

It’s an
insipid excuse, not even an excuse.

“That’s
all?”

“No.”

“Then what?”
Joel’s super angry with me now. And Nicholas is hurt. How the hell
did I end up in this situation? Okay. We don’t need to go there
again. Everyone knows how I ended up here.

“It’s more
than that. I’ve
never
been attracted to two guys at the same
time. Not to the point where I feel compelled to be with you both
without caring about morality or what people say about it being
wrong. If I had a choice I’d want you both.”

“You can’t
date both of us at the same time. God, Nick was fucking nightmare
enough when I wore his bloody
Guns ‘n’
freakin’
Roses
t-shirt one damn time. There’s no way we could share a girl. We’d
fucking kill each other.”

I know that.
I’m not an imbecile.

“Forget it,” I
say. I scramble to my feet, looking down at the two beautiful men
below me. “We’re drunk. It was a stupid thing to say. I’m going
back to the city in a couple of days. You never have to see me
again. I’ll leave and you can forget you ever met me and go about
picking up random separate girls or whatever it is you do. I didn’t
mean to cause trouble between you. I don’t want to wreck your
friendship.”

I walk away,
leaving them both sitting beside the tree in the darkness and as I
do, I’m praying that one of them, at least, will run after me and
beg me not to leave, but they don’t. And by the time I get back to
the cottage and open the gate, the tears are streaming down my
face.

I spend a
fitful night, alternately tossing from side to side then staring at
the ceiling. By the time the sun is coming up, I’ve come to the
conclusion that being with neither of the guys is preferable to
having to choose between them. It’s awfully conceited of me
thinking I’d ever even
have
to choose though. I’m ordinary.
I don’t stand out in the crowd. I go to school. I study. I have a
part time job. I sing along badly to my favourite songs and have
panda eyes almost every morning because I don’t take my makeup off
the night before. I’m pretty but I’m not a great beauty. And more
importantly, I’ve never done anything remotely rebellious in any
aspect of my life — with the exception of that one time Emily
talked me into smoking a joint and that was a disastrous event that
won’t be repeated. I simply don’t understand how I can be in this
dilemma, how two such angels can fall to earth and land at my feet.
I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt either of them. And if
choosing means one of them getting hurt, I’d rather not. I’ll move
on. Chalk it up to holiday romance and get on with my life with a
guilt free conscience.

But the
thought somehow makes me feel bereft. I have this sinking feeling
in the pit of my stomach when I even contemplate the idea of giving
up either Nicholas or Joel. It’s like I’ve been handed something
precious and will never have the chance to nurture it. I want to
get to know them. I want to have them both as friends. Maybe we can
be friends? Yeah. And maybe Kurt Cobain will come back from the
dead and Nirvana will reunite.

After falling
asleep somewhere around three, I get up late. It’s another sunny
day, so I put a load of washing on the line and set about folding
the rest of my clothes that have somehow made a messy pile for
themselves on the bedroom floor. I download a couple more books to
my Kindle and charge it up. I tidy the house and clean the bathroom
until it looks spotless. Then I spread out my schoolbooks on the
table on the verandah and prepare to spend a lazy morning watching
the clothes dry and studying.

After about an
hour, I hear the beach gate click open. I have no idea who it is. I
don’t know anyone in the bay except Nicholas and Joel and after
last night, I’m guessing I’d be the last person they’d want to see.
I look up and there they are, both of them, surfboards tucked their
under arms, great wide grins and wetsuits half peeled from their
bodies showing their tans. The sight of the two of them in those
body-hugging wetsuits is enough to cause throbbing in parts of my
body that are not used to the experience of late. And now, with
them standing in front of me like twins, I find I am unable to
avert my eyes.

Not that I
want to. The view is rather nice.

The feeling of
desire I’ve been attempting to supress since last night, that I’ve
told myself I’m not allowed to have, bursts into a flame. I want
them, I want them both.

“Morning,
Sadie.”

“Uh, hi.”

What going on?
Why are they looking so smarmy? Well, apart from the fact they
probably know every girl on the beach has been watching them jog up
my path looking like Greek gods. “Good waves?”

“Perfection.
We caught a few sets. Amazing what being on the water can do when
you need clarity.” Nicholas shakes out his wet hair and pushes it
back from his face. His eyes are twinkling with some sort of hidden
secret. Why isn’t he avoiding me? Why isn’t he angry? I hurt him
last night.

Joel takes his
board and spikes it into the sand. He walks over to the table,
placing his hands on the back of the chair opposite me. His biceps
ripple and so do my insides.

This is
ridiculous. I can’t look at him without imagining something crude.
I force myself to concentrate on Joel’s face and what he’s saying.
Not easy.

“Nick and I
have been talking. Look, can we sit?”

“Are you still
going to kill each other?”

Or me?

“Nah. We think
we’ve found a solution.”

I motion to
the chair, though I’m not certain I’m going to like what they’re
going to say. Slamming my books shut, I stack them in some sort of
pile and focus on the two men. “So what’s the solution?”