The Complete Memories Series (32 page)

Bing grins wickedly, putting a hand in his trouser pocket, and rocks back on his heels. I can almost see the cogs turning in his brain, making a rubber band into something sexual, and a very small part of me wants to know just how sexual he could make that. It makes me slightly worried that I’m entertaining those thoughts.

But then I accepted a long time ago I’m not mentally normal, so I’m not sure if worried is the right word.

Alec sighs, shaking his head, but a smile is touching on his lips.

“Don’t look now,” Lexy mutters, looking down. “…But this party is about to get a show.”

“I’m not stripping, if that’s what you’re hoping for,” Jayna’s sickly sweet voice says as she and Adrian join our group.

Ooo-kay. Their definition of staying away and Bing’s are clearly different.

I glance up at Bing, noting his hard eyes and tight jaw. Yep. Their definitions are as different as sex with a man and sex with a vibrator.

“If you were looking for someone hoping that, you’re about three streets over from the Blind People’s Monthly Convention,” Bing grinds out. His head snaps towards Adrian, and I see Alec glaring at the newcomer out of the corner of my eye.

If there was any more testosterone in this room, I’d have to wonder if I’d walked into a fourteen year old changing room at the leisure centre.

“It’s no wonder you’re single, Bing, with the way you talk to girls.” Jayna glances at him with disdain.

“Who said I was single?” Bing raises his eyebrows.

Woah, woah, woah! Stop right there and pull your thong from your ass. Bing isn’t single?

What?

“What?” Lexy asks, staring at him. “You have a girlfriend? Since when?”

“Since yesterday.” He laughs.

“Yet you’re here with another girl?” Adrian smirks. “Way to start a relationship. Are you sleeping with Blondie too?”

“Your balls are still on my list of Christmas decorations for Big Ben, Adrian. Don’t push it.” I smile at him, my voice deathly calm.

“I thought I told you to stay away from my sister, anyway?” Bing glares at him.

“Jayna wanted to come over.” Adrian looks at Lexy. Alec steps closer to her, and I bristle as the tension climbs another notch. Someone keep heavy objects away, because it looks like a caveman needs a club.

I fight my smile at myself again. Damn.

“Well she’s here. You can always go and get yourself a drink, Adrian.”

“I think Lexy can speak for herself, Bing.” Jayna looks between brother and sister, and I narrow my eyes at her. So what if I’m imagining what she’d look like if someone
accidentally
tipped wine all over her head?

“I can, and I think it’s best if Adrian leaves.” Lexy’s words are quiet but firm, and there’s no doubt in my mind that wasn’t a request. No, she was telling him to go. I feel like I need some pom-poms or something to cheer her on.

“Lexy,” Jayna implores. “We’ve been friends for years-”

“Things change, Jay. I’ve changed. Clearly I’m the only one that grew up this summer. The only reason you’re here is because your parents are friends with mine, and the only reason they’re here is because I befriended the lost little girl in year eight when she changed schools,” Lexy says coldly. “When I leave this hall tonight, that part is over. Friendship is a two way thing based on respect, and rubbing yourself against your “best friend’s” boyfriend the first time you meet him is not, by any stretch of the imagination, respectful. You have your life, and I have mine.”

Jayna sucks her bottom lip into her mouth, glancing at me sourly before looking back at Lexy. “That much is obvious. No need to get your knickers in a twist, Lexy.”

Adrian’s mouth curls up on one side. “Yeah, your boyfriend might not be able to untwist them for you.” His eyes find Alec’s. “But I’d be
more
than happy to help you do that.”

I move at the same time Alec does, jumping in front of him. Once again, I find myself nose to nose with Adrian, and this time I’m more pissed than a mama bear.

“You have five minutes to make an excuse and get your sorry ass out of this hall before I put you out myself,” I threaten. “Do not underestimate me. I’ve already told you once. No-one fucks with my friends, especially not the ones that are like family. Fuck with them, and you fuck with me.”

Clearly not done, I prepare myself for the smartass comment that will come with the curve of his lips.

“I might have to carry on then, because failing Lexy, you wouldn’t be a bad person to fuck with, would you, Jen?” he whispers.

My hand shoots up. It meets another, larger hand. The fingers of the other hand link inside mine and lower it. I’m tugged to the side, and I find myself pulled through the throngs of people by Bing. He nods to someone stood by the stage where the DJ is set up, and they nod back, moving into the crowd.

“Who was that?” I ask as he drags me from the main hall.

“Security.”

“Security?” I realise he’s holding my hand. “Get off me.” I shake my arm.

“Nope.” He shakes his head. “I can’t trust you not to go running back after Adrian.”

I grind my teeth together. “I wouldn’t do such a thing.”

He looks back at me disbelievingly, and opens a door. He pulls me through it into a small room, and after he shuts the door, he lets me go. He leans back against the door.

I look around for another door. None.

“Let me out, Samuel.”

“No.” He smiles, crossing one ankle over the other, and folds his arms over his chest. It’s a dangerous pose in that suit, and as a bit of my anger at Adrian slips away, the anger at myself for being attracted to this prat grows.

“You can’t keep me in here.”

“I can. I have the key.” He grins. “You’re not going out until you calm down.”

“I’m calm. Who isn’t calm?” I shrug. “My glass is also empty.”

“You held your glass the whole time?”

“It’s Vino. Hello?” I wave my glass, sigh, and place it on the table behind me. I perch on the edge of it. “So I’m supposed to stay in here until you think I’m calm enough to go back out there?”

He nods. “Pretty much.”

“Yep. Because being stuck in a room with you is guaranteed to calm me down. I mean, why wouldn’t it? You are my favourite person after all,” I scoff.

He crosses the room, stopping right in front of me. “You might like me if you give me a chance instead of bitching at me all the time, Jennifer,” he says softly. “That wouldn’t kill you, would it?”

I look up, right into his warm eyes. “Probably not, but I don’t want to take the risk.” He shuffles a little closer, and I swallow. I might not like him, but my body sure as hell does.

Traitorous bundle of blood and hormones.

“What’s life without a little risk?” he whispers, his breath crawling over my cheek. He looks down at me with his dark eyes, watching me carefully. There’s a need and a want in there that I’m sure is mirrored in my own right this second, but I’m not prepared to acknowledge that crazy thought outside of my head.

There’s nothing wrong with a little risk in life. But liking Bing? That’s a risk too big, even for me.

My heart is thundering against my ribs, sending my blood thrumming through my body. I’ve gone from angry at Adrian to wanting Bing in less than five seconds. I’ve gone from wanting to kill Bing to kissing him in even less. He’s just stood there, not touching me at all, but I can feel him all over me. This is wrong.

But I can’t step away from him.

“Jen,” he says softly.

I take a deep breath in, and let it back out slowly. I cast my eyes downward, looking at the teal material of my dress against the shiny blackness of his shoes. The contrast is there, and it’s like looking at the both of us, and the feelings I have towards him.

I really don’t like him. He aggravates the living crap and then some outta me, yet when he’s standing so close to me, I wanna kiss the hell out of him.

His hand touches my face, gently brushing some stray hairs from my cheek. I look back up, letting my eyes meet his again. He shuffles even closer, and through the struggle to control my breathing, I’m overwhelmed with emotion.

Guilt. Want. Annoyance. Lust. Frustration. Need.

I know this is wrong. My head is screaming at me to move, my heart is crying out for a person that’s not here, but my body is frozen in place. I know I should push him away, insult him, and add some sarcasm in for good measure. I should ask him what the hell he thinks he’s doing. I should tell him to get his ass on the other side of this room and not come near me until we’re back in the main hall…

But as his face tilts towards mine, and my eyes flutter shut, I still can’t step away from him.

And that could be the very thing that is my undoing.

THE END.

“So this is it.”

“
We both know it, Carl,” I say regretfully. “The last fifteen months have been a nightmare. We barely see each other, our conversations are always rushed, and even when we do see each other we fight. Some couples can make a long distance relationship work, but I don’t think we’re that couple.”

He sighs, rubbing his hand over his face.
“You’re right. I think we both knew that a while ago, didn’t we?”

I chew the inside of my lip, nodding.
“We just wanted to make it last, I think, but we’ve just ended up dragging ourselves down. Neither of us are happy.” I tuck some hair behind my ear, battling against the sea breeze.

Carl shoves his ha
nds in his pockets and looks down. “I don’t feel as bad as I thought I would. I don’t mean that in a bad way-”

“
I know.” He glances up at me. “I feel the same. I think it’s ‘cause we both know it’s for the best. I mean, we’re not kids anymore.” I shrug a shoulder. “Sometimes life is full of funny twists and turns that take you somewhere you never expected. This is just a twist. For both of us.”

He exhales, leaning against the wall.
“I guess so. You’re going back to London now, then?”

I nod.
“Yeah. As much as I love seeing my family, after a week of cooing over Daisy and my room being ransacked by her, I’m ready to have my own space back.” I smile a little.

“
Well, be safe on the way back, yeah?” He looks at me.

“
I will.” I step towards him, hug him lightly, and kiss his cheek. “I’ll see you when I come back at Easter?”

He smiles.
“Count on it.”

I salute him playfully, and turn away. A pang of sadness hits me from what I
’m walking away from, but deep down I’ve accepted it, and I know I accepted it a long time ago.

Feelings don
’t always last forever. They can be as fleeting as a shooting star burning its way through the night sky. Carl was my shooting star, a quick flash in the span of my life. I’ll forever be thankful for what we shared, but it’s time to move on.

I leave the beach, turning for my house.
With Lexy staying in Lilac Bay for another week with Alec, my only way to getting home to London is by train. It’s not an appealing thought – actually, it’s downright bloody depressing – but what can I do?

My weekend job at Primark doesn
’t exactly pay me a millionaire’s wage.

I tuck my hands inside my sleeves, hunching my shoulders up against the wind. This is one thing I do not miss about Devon; the goddamn wind that, if I was half a stone lighter, I
’m sure would pick me up and toss me around like a one pound kite.

I look up from the pavement as I turn onto my street, and clench my teeth at the sight before me.
“This has got to be some sort of a joke.”

Bing turns, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Nope,” he replies. “I don’t see anyone laughing.”

“
What are you doing here?”

“
Lexy called me this morning… Said you were gonna have a bad day, and you were planning on going back to London tonight. She didn’t want you taking the train.”

I let my breath out slowly, my eyes focusing on Bing
’s face. “I’m a big girl, Samuel. I can take the train home.”

“
Oh, I know you’re a big girl,” he mutters in that husky voice that sends shivers down my spine. “I’ve been against that body, remember, Jennifer?”

I step up to him, my stomach rolling in anger.
“Correction – you were against the clothes on the body, and that’s all you were against.”

“
And if Lexy hadn’t have knocked on the door, there would have been a lot less clothing, and a lot more skin,” he whispers, his brown eyes burning into mine.

“
In your dreams,” I hiss, fighting my body’s reaction to his words. The annoying hi-we-were-your-knees-but-now-we’re-jelly kinda reaction.

“
Oh, Jennifer. I dream about skin on skin with you every night.” He smirks.

My finger jabs into his chest.
“Do not fuck with me tonight, Samuel. I am not in the mood for your asshole suggestions or cocky comments.”

He grins slowly, his eyes twinkling. He lifts his hand, dangling his keys from his finger.
“Did you want a lift or not?”

Six hours in a car with him. It
’s not the place I want to be right now, because although I’m now single and not exactly upset over it, he’s not the person I need to be around. Nope – moving on means keeping my eyes, thoughts, hands, and any other bodily part capable of touching to myself.

And much to my easily riled annoyance, it
’s damn impossible near that arrogant hunk of muscle and sexiness.