The Boleyn Effect (The Boorman Ending) (20 page)

'And you trust him?' I
ask.

'As well as being at
university together, Thomas and I have played golf for years. I
trust some of the Gaskills.'

'You play golf?' I say
with a smirk.

'It's what we middle
classes do,' he chuckles at the private joke.

He then pulls me into a
hug and squeezes me tight.

'You look fantastic by the
way and I'm sorry I left before you woke the other night.' he
murmurs into my ear.

'I told you I'd
understand,' I answer.

With my best friend on one
arm and my lover on the other, I enter the club. Dance music pounds
and Harry's grip tightens as we fight our way to the bar. George
shouts out for three Jaeger Bombs, but Harry shakes his
head.

'Just a pint for me,' he
shouts.

I catch George's smirk and
I gave him a dirty look. I'm not prepared to be placed in between a
pissing contest. Harry gets his pint and George and I down our
bombs. Finding seats to sit down at, I can see Harry is truly out
of his comfort zone and I grab his hand.

'We don't have to stay,' I
shout over the music.

'No it's fine,' he
smiles.

'Of course it's fine what
is it they say? If it's too loud then you're too old,' George
mocks.

Harry shoots him a glare,
but beneath is worry. He doesn't like to be considered old and I
know exactly what George has done. He's trying to push his buttons
and show him that no matter what, George is the top dog in my life.
I move to George's side and pull him towards me.

'What are you
doing?'

'I'm doing you a favour.
Anne Boleyn loved to dance and party, and Henry loved to watch her.
It reminded him of his youth. Show him, how you party and what he
has to do to keep you.'

My gut instinct is telling
me that George is not telling me everything, yet the small truth in
what he says makes sense. I've been doing a lot of the running and
chasing all in the hope of keeping Harry's attention, but it must
work the other way too. He has to keep me interested
too.

'We should dance,' I
say.

Harry shakes his head.
'You go. I'll watch.'

'I'll sit with Harry,'
George says.

I frown. I'm even more
puzzled. George likes to dance, especially with me. With a shrug, I
make my way to the dance floor and allow the bottle of wine and
Jaeger Bomb to control my body. It's not long before I am
surrounded by a few men. Dancing and grinding, I am enjoying the
attention and I love the song as Usher's Scream belts out from the
DJ stand. An interesting song choice considering and it makes me
smile.

As I dance, I see that
Harry and George are looking my way and watching. George's lips are
moving and I can tell by Harry's tense face that he's winding him
up. Suddenly, Harry turns to George and says something before he
disappears. I try and see where he's gone and then he's coming
towards me.

With a tense smile on his
face, Harry pushes his way to me and the men all disappear as if by
magic. Grabbing my waist, he pulls me close and I wrap my arms
around his neck.

'I'm not good at the
dancing thing,' he shouts.

George is seething. I can
see it in his face. He wanted Harry to fail at this. He wanted to
show him up and it isn't working.

'Let's get out of
here.'

We crash out of the club
and Harry drags me to a small back alley and pushes me into the
wall. There's a strong smell of the bins and piss, but with lust
ripping its way through my body I'm beyond caring.

'I've thought about
nothing but having those heels around my waist,' he
mutters.

He pulls at my shorts and
I step out of them hurriedly trying to maintain balance in these
damn heels. I start to kick them off for balance, but Harry shakes
his head.

'You really need to leave
those on.'

As he straightens, I pull
at his jeans and free him. I don't get a chance to admire before
he's lifting and inside me with my heels pressed against his
backside.

'You're going to tire me
out,' he groans as he pounds. 'But I can't get enough.'

Again there is the smell
of the river mixed with the normal river side crap. People are
passing by unaware of us, but I am almost positive that George is
watching from somewhere he can't be seen.

If he wants a show of
everything he's missing out on then so be it. In fact it's such a
turn on to think of him watching us. I fling my head against the
wall and press my heels further against Harry's naked
waist.

Harry is chanting my name
into my hair. With one hand pressed against the wall and the other
holding me against him. His frantic pounding tell me he's about to
explode inside me and I am just about ready to join him. And I want
George to see just how Harry gets me there.

I bury my head into his
shoulder to suppress my cries. He comes soon after and nearly drops
me as we collapse against the wall. He holds me against him as our
breathing evens out and his shuddering eases.

A warm trickle runs down
my legs as he pulls from me. He's getting careless again. Just like
with the last one. Is this what she did to him? This other girl?
Make him careless and uncontrolled? I start to mention it, but then
change my mind. I can't think about her. Not when I have Katherine
to think about, plus, I have it covered even if he
hasn't.

Grabbing my bag, I pull
out some feminine wipes and clean myself up. A girl's must have in
any handbag as well as a spare pair of pants just in
case.

'What was George saying to
you?' I ask after a moment.

Harry lifts his head up
and strokes a strand of hair away from my face.

'He just loves you. I get
that,' Harry answers. 'Do you mind?'

He holds out his hand and
I pass him a wipe.

'Just tell me,' I
push.

'He told me that a man
like me will never be able to keep hold of a girl like you. That I
am too old and it won't take you long to move on.'

He tosses the wipe and
pushes himself back into his trousers. Inwardly I'm seething. This
is out of control. I honestly can't believe George. This is all his
idea and yet he seems to be trying to sabotage his own work. Unless
he really does want me to lose.

'And do you believe
him?'

Harry pulls from his
pocket my shorts and hands me them. I didn't even see him put them
there. I pull them on using Harry to keep balance.

'I'm old enough to be
you're father, Leigh. Maybe he has a point,' he says.

'You're thinking about
this far too much and quite frankly I am fucking sick of this
George loves me crap. He does this all the time. When I like
someone he gets jealous and tries to ruin it. At the end of the day
Harry, you and I have something, and whether it lasts a few more
days or a few years, I don't care. Let's just enjoy it. Age is just
a number and you know damn well you satisfy me.'

A grin lights up his face.
'Yes I do, unless you're a great actress.'

I grab and hold him
against me.

'You could have kept my
shorts as a keepsake,' I whisper in his ear.

He looks down at me and
smiles.

'Wearing that dress I'd
rather you kept them on. I'm none too keen on other men seeing
what's mine. They're seeing enough as it is.'

'But it's you that got to
be inside its wearer,' I counter with a flirty twirl.

Harry grabs my arm and
stops me in mid twirl. A frown darkening his face causes me to
suddenly worry.

'And am I the only one?'
he asks.

'What do you
mean?'

'I mean there is no one
else. Is it just me?'

I move my arm from him and
face his way.

'You go home to Katherine
every night.'

'That's not an answer,' he
mutters.

'It kinda is but if I need
to say it then there's only you, but only because you told me that
you no longer sleep with Katherine. If that changes then you have
no right to tell me stay exclusive.'

He moves towards me and
takes my face in his hands and forces me to look him in the
eye.

'Just so we are clear I am
not having sex with my wife and so you and I are
exclusive.'

I nod slowly and he places
his lips on mine. I am a little surprised that he's turned all
possessive all of a sudden and the declaration makes me nervous.
But I've got to push it down and away.

We leave arm in arm and
grab a taxi back to mine where he proceeds to have me again, minus
dress, hot pants and heels. Of course, he's gone again by morning,
but I am OK with it. But George is another matter
entirely.

CHAPTER
TWENTY SIX

'You're a fucking knob,
you know that,' I shout.

George stands in his room,
half-dressed looking like butter wouldn't melt.

'I'm sure I have no idea
what you mean,' he says.

'You know damn well. What
possessed you to one...go to Harry and tell him you knew about us
and two...to tell him that he's too old for me.'

'For your information, he
found me after one of my classes and offered to take me for coffee.
He wanted to talk about my studies, but I'm not stupid he was soon
fishing for information about you. I also wanted to check for
myself what the state of play was. This is my investment and case
study after all. And all I've had is your word on how things are
going.'

'And my word isn't good
enough,' I hiss.

'Well clearly it is,'
George says. 'He's smitten. Almost head over heels, I'd say. But he
thinks you're a safe bet, Leigh. That's the problem. I just wanted
him to see how easily he could lose you. It's all for your benefit.
You'll thank me for it one day.'

'I doubt that very much,'
I sneer.

'It is funny that once he
thinks he's got you, you have to then tell him it's over. That
arsehole is going to pay big time,' George laughs.

'This is just a fucking
game to you.'

'Well yeah. Life is a
fucking game and Anne Boleyn played it well.'

'Yeah so well she ended up
with her head chopped off,' I throw.

George comes towards me
and tries to pull me into a hug, but I step away.

'Leigh, come on babe, it's
only because I love you...'

'No, love has nothing to
do with it. If you loved me then we wouldn't be doing this in the
first place. This is about possession and control. You can't have
me physically and so you try and have me emotionally and mentally.
Well I've had enough of this shit from you. No more. You don't own
me George.'

George takes a step back
and his face is reddening with anger at my accusation. This is one
of the only times I've truly stood up to him.

'It's funny that you say
that, yet when you were face first in that damn gutter in Greece,
nearly ODing on some shit, some latest fuck had given you, you
didn't mind me taking control then. Or when you wanted to start
your own business, you didn't mind me giving you the cash to get
started. But hey, I thought it's what friends did and yeah I may
have wanted a fuck every now and then...you can't blame a guy for
trying, but I've done nothing but respect and love you. Maybe my
father was right about you after all.'

My hand rings from the
slap I've just given him and as he raises his own hand I hold
still, raising my face. Daring him to take that last step. But he
doesn't as he turns away from me stiffly.

'You want your money then
fine. I'll find it and give you back every penny. That way you
won't keep holding it over me,' I hiss.

Slamming the door behind
me, I hear George shout out to me.

'I won't ever let him keep
you and if he tries I'll fucking ruin everything and then let's see
who you come crying to.'

The tears start to really
fall. I can't cope with this any longer. The problem is is that I
have nowhere to run to. I'm trapped inside my own game and the only
player I feel I can run to I can't because he's not truly mine yet.
I try anyway and dial Harry's number.

'Why are you
ringing?'

I start at his abruptness
and I find I'm floundering for words.

'I...I need to see you,' I
say.

I can hear him moving and
a door opening and closing.

'I can't talk right now.
What's going on? Are you crying?'

'It's nothing. I just want
to see you.'

He sighs down the phone
and it's a moment before he speaks.

'Sweetheart, I want to see
you too, but I can't just leave here. Kat has family
over.'

'Fine,' I snap. 'Forget
it! I'll leave you to your family.'

'Leigh-Anne, come on. You
know the deal.'