Anywhere but Here
"Do you want to put some music on?" he asked.
"Okay." She moved towards the stereo and turned on one of her CDs. Music blared out. She stepped back and watched him as he awkwardly started to strip. She had to admit, he had a nice body. Muscles, but not too many muscles. She wondered what it would feel like to run her hands over them, to feel them flex and tense under her fingers.
When he was down to his boxers, he stopped and looked up at her.
She searched for something to say, her courage seeming to desert her for the moment. "Are those your initials?" she settled on finally.
"Yeah. My mom… she's an initial freak…" He clasped his hands in front of him, self-consciously.
"Take them off and bring them to me," she said, wondering how she was so bold… being around him made her reckless.
"I want to kiss you," he replied, not moving.
She studied him for a few seconds then said, "Okay" but the music had swelled and he couldn't hear her. "Okay," she said again, louder. She needed something, someone to fill the void that had grown inside of her.
He moved forward and she threw her arms around his neck, kissing him, hungry for human interaction. He deepened the kiss but she didn't care. She felt loved, wanted. After a bit, she just clung to him, not wanting to let go. His strong arms came up around her and held her closely against his own body.
"Wow…"
They stood there for a while, just clutching each other then he slowly pulled away. "I should really put my clothes back on… if your mom came in… and I was… oh man…"
She nodded. "Sure." She sat down on the couch and watched him dress. She felt like she was in a French movie, in which she should be smoking a cigarette or something.
He finished and came to sit down beside her. "So…"
"So…" she repeated, picking imaginary lint off the pillows.
"So what does this mean?" he asked.
She looked up at his face quickly then away. "I don't know."
He looked down at his hands. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" He said it so softly that she had to ask him to repeat it. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?" he asked.
She looked over at him, studying his face. After a few minutes, she nodded, sighing. "Okay."
He frowned. "You don't have to. I mean, not out of pity or anything. I'll be okay if you say no…"
She shook her head. "I want to. It's just my mother… she's been let down so much in her life that I'm afraid that it'll happen to me…"
He twined his fingers with her. "I'm not going to leave you, Ann."
She smiled. "We sound like a stupid soap opera…"
He grinned back at her. "Yeah." And then he kissed her.
It felt good to be kissed by someone. By your boyfriend, she corrected herself with an inward smile and kissed him back.
"Ahem…"
They jumped apart. Adele August was standing in the doorway.
"Mom!" Ann said, letting go of Peter's hand and standing up. "We weren't…"
"Mrs. August," Peter said at the same time, jumping to his feet. "We were just…"
Adele put up her hand. "Forget it. I don't want to hear it young man. Ann, did you start some lunch?"
Ann shook her head. As Adele went into the kitchen, she turned to Peter. "Maybe you should go. I'll talk to you later…okay?"
He nodded and she led him to the door. "See you later."
She kissed him quickly, timidly, then shut the door and went into the kitchen.
To be continued…