Chapter 11 – Close Calls
Tris's POV:
I woke up in the same position I fell asleep in: wrapped protectively in the arms of the man I am falling for. At this point I don't care if it's only been a week. No two relationships are alike. And there is something in my soul that is telling me this is right.
I take a deep breath of pure Tobias before I slide out of his arms. I realize that I fell asleep naked and I know it sounds strange, but I'm really proud of myself for that. In the past I was never without a T-shirt and would rarely fall asleep without underwear on. I constantly hid myself from Eric. He never made me feel beautiful. That is so not the case with Tobias. But I'm not at the point where I can comfortably walk around naked, so I grab his dress shirt and fasten a few buttons and head to the bathroom. But not before I take a quick glance over my shoulder at his perfect torso, tousled bed head and gorgeous face. I just can't believe he is here….in my bed…still.
When I get into the bathroom the awful part of my brain migrates to the "how-many-times-has-he-done-this" question. He seemed perfectly comfortable staying here. Is he used to post hook-up sleepovers? But last night wasn't a hook-up…I know it. He was too attentive and he seemed just as emotionally invested as I was. Or maybe he's just that good? No, I'm not going to let myself think like that.
I look in the mirror at my ridiculous bed head. Is this what I looked like last night? My cheeks heat up at the embarrassment I felt for not knowing how to have an orgasm. It's not so much as not knowing how, it's more like not knowing how to react. There were just so many amazing sensations and then the pressure building up in my lower abdomen. I felt like I was going to implode.
Christina told me that with her first orgasm, she didn't know what hit her. I smile to myself thinking that because of Tobias, I was able to feel everything. He read my body like a book. I remember the look in his eyes of pure adoration as he was coaxing me along, making me feel like my reactions were good, more than good. And how he didn't stop even as I was coming down from my peak. Christina had also told me that the worst thing is when a guy knows you are having an orgasm and stops, thinking his job is done. "Dude that shit can last for a good 10-15 seconds if the guy knows what he's doing!" I remember her saying.
Seeing his reaction was a ridiculous turn-on as well. Knowing that he was getting himself off just from watching me. Fuck. I'm wet just thinking about that.
Shit! How long have I been in here? I quickly go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. Then I quietly tip toe my way into the kitchen. I want to crawl back into bed with him so bad, but the nice part of me wins out and I go to make some coffee for the two of us because I'm sure he needs to get to work at some point. But he did work really late last night so maybe….
"Waking up without you in bed with me was fairly disappointing. And I was hoping this day would start off on a better foot."
"Shit!" I say slightly jumping in the air. Why does he do that to me?!
I don't know nor do I care how long I stare or what my face looks like because leaning against the wall in my hallway is 6'3" of manly perfection. His tan, lean, muscles end at the perfect V before dipping below his tight black boxer briefs.
He sees me looking at his underwear. "Yeah, well. You said boxers weren't your favorite so…."
I swallow. That man could pull off underwear made out of a plastic garbage bag.
"Plus, I couldn't find my shirt," he says smirking.
"Yeah…it was the first thing I saw. So I went for it. Hope you don't mind…"
"Mind?" he says walking toward me. "Seeing you, Tris Prior, in one of my shirts is the sexiest thing I have ever laid eyes on." He pulls me to him softly giving me a kiss on the cheek and whispering in my ear, "and I love the bed head."
"Crap!" I say trying to smooth it down. I forgot to brush it!
"I'm 100% serious. You rock the sexy bedhead."
"You're an idiot and a liar. You are betraying your tattoo," I say turning around to get back to the coffee but also trying to hide my pink cheeks.
"Really?" He says coming up behind me and pressing his erection into my back. "Do you think I'm lying now?"
I groan and turn around pulling him down for a kiss. Damn he is a good kisser. I put my hands on his glorious chest and push him into the wall next to the fridge not breaking the kiss. Then I trail my hands down his amazing abs and run my fingers teasingly down his hardened length.
He gives me a deep, "Mmmmmm….." as I grasp him through his briefs. He is…wow.
"Love me like you do…love, love, love me like you do…touch me like…Whoa! What's up guys?...Wait!" She says as she briefly squeezes her eyes shut. "Please…just don't answer that." Fucking Christina!
I spin around and the hem of my, or actually his, shirt catches on his hard-on and twists around my body riding up.
"Tris! You did not tell me it was no-panty-Friday! Rude!" she says heading back into her bedroom. "I just need to grab my books and I'll be on my way!"
Tobias rests his forehead on the back of my head as I stand there unmoving in shock along with him. Then he starts shaking. Is he okay? He's laughing!
"That is not funny! I'm never going to hear the end of this!" I whisper annoyed.
"I think no-panty-Friday is my new favorite day of the week," he whispers back nibbling on my ear, then moving down and kissing me on my neck.
I am still flush against his cock.
"Well, who says it has to be Fridays? It could be Mondays…" I say slowly grinding into him. "Tuesdays…" I say moving right and left…"
"Tris."
"Wednesdays…." I say grabbing his hand and placing it on my breast beneath my/his shirt.
"Mmmmmm…" he grits out as if he's being tortured.
"Thursdays…" I say taking his other hand and putting it between my legs where he automatically takes my clit between two fingers as if by a natural reflex.
"We've already covered Fridays….."
"Yeah?" he gets out after swallowing hard. "And what about Saturdays?" he says now rubbing himself up and down my back."
"Yep…" I breathe out as he works me faster. "Fuck…Sundays…..?"
"Early or late shift tonight?" Christina asks breezing into the kitchen as Tobias turns around and starts rummaging through what I'm pretty sure he thought was the pantry.
"Late."
She looks at me and gives me a thumbs-up mouthing the words "nice ass." I quickly move to cover him but I can't help but give her an excited nod.
"Me too! Yay! See ya at 8:00…..Oh and Four? That's the broom closet. Byeee!" She slams the door behind her and continues singing all the way down the stairs.
He whips me around throwing me over his shoulders and rushing us into my bedroom while saying through gritted teeth, "You just had to have a roommate didn't you?" He tosses me on the bed as I giggle. "I meet this amazing perfect woman who I want all to myself….all the time….even though I was pretty sure she wasn't interested for a couple days…and she has to have a roommate."
He turns and shuts and locks the door. "And not just any roommate…." He says as he returns to me and expertly unbuttons my/his shirt, "Christina….had to be Christina!"
Before I can say anything in return his mouth is on my breast while he massages and twists the nipple of my other. I inhale quickly.
"And by the way…..do you always have to be such a tease?" He says while he runs his tongue along my collarbone. "I think you know at this point that it…is…torture." He says the last three words in between soft kisses.
"You're one to talk…." I say through heaving breaths. "How about I not tease you then?"
And with that I push him off me and onto his back as I climb on top and straddle his abdomen while running my fingers up into his hair, kissing him deeply. I tug on the roots gently which he seems to love because he wraps his arms around my ribcage and pulls me to him. My forearms are resting on either side of his head as I pull back briefly to look into his eyes. They are so soulful.
"Hi," I say with a stupid smile on my face.
"Hi," he returns with an equally goofy smile.
I start to move myself backwards on top of his incredibly erect member. He takes my hips as I move my wetness back and forth over his briefs.
"You said you weren't going to torture me….." he whines. "Fuck…if you don't stop….I won't be able…to…ah….control myself."
I still myself. I know what he means but I want to hear him say it so I just look at him with fake innocent curiosity. "What are you talking about Tobias?"
"You know what I'm talking about….fuck…" Even though he told me to stop he is still slightly moving underneath me.
"It's…different…." He says as I bite his nipple, which he surprisingly seems to like. I'm involuntarily move my hips only centimeters back and forth. "...with you...we're different…I don't….want this to be…"
"…..I know…..mmmm…me neither."
"Fuck...I want to be inside you….so bad right now….you have no idea—"
"Trust me…." I say with labored breath. "I do." Ugh... With that I slide myself off of him and remove his boxer briefs lifting the elastic over his hard member setting him free. I finally get to see what can only be described as the most impressive penis ever. It twitches in need as I stare at it.
"Tris…you're making me nervous…." he says laughing but genuine at the same time.
"Sorry…you're just amazing…" He actually looks relieved. Has he seen himself?
I curiously take my index finger and lightly touch the dripping wetness on the tip and drag it all the way to the hilt, which makes him throw his head back on the pillow. I straddle his right thigh and firmly but gently wrap my fingers around his throbbing cock and move my fist up and down in a slow steady motion using his dripping need as lubrication.
"Your hands…..uh…..so damn…fuck, Tris."
I feel his arousal grow even more along with my own as I grind against his muscular leg. He reaches around me and grabs my ass cheek squeezing and massaging as I start to incrementally move myself back and forth. I watch his face as he sucks in and bites down on his bottom lip.
I slowly tease his tip with my left hand, just trying it out all the while still gliding my right hand up and down his sizable length. His hips jerk up in response.
"Damn..." he says under his breath. Hearing that I'm pleasing him is almost giving me an equal amount of pleasure. God, I want to take him in my mouth. But, I'm too nervous. I'm not sure I was ever very good at it and this is Tobias so I want it to be perfect.
"Shit," I say unintentionally as his right leg flexes under my drenched center. I know he heard me because his right hands seeks me out as he starts rubbing my nub so slowly I lose track of what I'm doing momentarily. God….he needs to stop…. I'm sliding myself up and down his leg when I notice he's up on his elbows watching me. He darts his eyes between where I'm stroking him and where he's pleasing me. He has his tongue pressed between his lips.
"You doing that alone is about to…get….me….off," he says laboriously as his jaw goes slack and he slumps back down on the pillows.
This brings me back to my task...this is about him. I'm so wet against his leg that I slick my hand up and use it as lubrication. I rise up on my knees and grab his bulge with both of my hands, slowly working in tandem. Because of the extra lubrication he quickly puts both of his palms in the "hands up" position and then lowers them and grips the comforter. I love that I can do that to him. He is growing under my hands as my bottom hand pumps him up and down and I twist my top hand.
"Fuck, I'm so close…..shit, Tris..."
He grows even more than I thought possible, his abdominals flex involuntarily and I quickly move the sheet over him as he shivers and releases over my hands. I slowly and softly stroke him a couple more times before letting go and wiping my hands clean on the sheet.
I crawl up to him to give him a quick kiss but I don't even get the chance because he quickly sits up, props me on my knees, and wraps an arm around my ass and urgently buries his talented fingers into me. He doesn't move them in and out like last time, but keeps them inside moving his fingertips back and forth in quick ministrations while taking my left breast in his mouth. I hold the hand that's inside me in place and the back of his head and moan louder than I ever have in my life.
"Don't stop, don't stop, don't stop….God….oh my God….oh….oh…oh…." Then no words comes to me as waves of pleasure shoot through me one after another. Tobias moves his fingers in an out as I come back down to Earth, only stopping right before I collapse onto his torso.
"Well fuck….me…." Tobias says heavily.
"I almost did," I reply in a nasal voice because my face is buried in his chest.
He laughs loudly. "Why yes you did." He takes a couple labored breaths. "May I be honest?" Oh no…I did something wrong.
"A hand job is good…but nothing a guy can't do himself." I'm gonna cry. "But whatever the hell you did there…I have no idea because I just about blacked out…was beyond what I could…ever…do…myself." Whoop! Whoop!
"Yay!" Yep, I said it.
"God you are so adorable," he says as he wraps both arms around me and holds me so he can look down at my face.
We just stare at each other smiling like idiots. But I really need to say something.
"Thank you for what you said about us waiting to have sex."
He nods his head and looks at me seriously. "I meant it."
"I agree with what I think you were trying to say…?"
"What? You didn't understand my incoherent babble?"
"I think I got the jist," I say laughing lightly.
He swallows and I watch his adams apple bob up and down. Why is that so sexy? "I just kind of adore you and I don't want to just fuck after knowing you for a week. Shit! Not that it would be like that if we did…I mean I feel like I've known you a lot longer…but…" He runs his hand over his face sighing heavily.
"Tobias. Slow down and stop trying to be so careful with your words around me. Just be you…tell me what's on your mind and I'll let you know if it pisses me off."
"Wow," he says with a partial grin as his eyebrows scrunch together. "Can't say a girl has ever said that to me."
"Well….you're welcome."
"Okay then. Here goes. I know it's been a week but I don't give a shit because it feels like a lot longer I really really like you and want to have sex with you constantly because I'm a guy but I want it to be perfect and not just because you vagina happens to be right by my penis."
"Oh my God!" I say covering my face in my hands laughing.
"What the hell? You said stop being careful with my words!"
"'Your vagina happens to be right by my penis?' Who says that?"
He leans up on his elbow and looks down at me. "Fine. I want it to be perfect and not just because your hot wet pussy is right by my rock hard cock…better?" he says as he lays down on his back with his hands behind his head smiling smugly.
"Much better. And kinda hot." I say now smiling smugly myself. Apparently I like dirty Tobias.
"Duly…noted."
Tobias's POV:
Now that was an awesome morning. Waking up with Tris not curled up next to me was, as I told her, disappointing. I loved having her in my arms all night, well definitely not all night seeing as we went to bed at 4:00 am. We will need to change that.
But then seeing her wearing nothing but my dress shirt barely buttoned with her gorgeous messy hair and sleepy sexy eyes. Fuck I wish I had a photographic memory because that image could get me off for a lifetime. And now I'm smiling like a dumbass because I hopefully will get to see her like that many times over…no need for the photographic memory.
And then the feeling of her hands, both of them, wrapped around my cock with her own wetness as lubrication. My dick is starting to stir just thinking about it. The feeling of her pussy grinding on my leg while I fondled her. I need to sit down. Hand jobs are usually fine, but nothing I can't achieve on my own: a means to an end. But fuck, if giving a hand job were an Olympic event, Tris would be the all around gold medal winner. Not that I would be cool with that.
We were so close to having sex and Jesus I wanted to, and I think she did too. That's what scares me. I can't resist her.
In my experience, and that's not saying much, relationships don't seem to last long if you rush into the physical aspect of things. Although, Zeke and Shauna got together when Zeke went to Dauntless Gym after-hours to interview for the Self-Defense instructor position. He said he had her up against the wall in the men's locker room by the end of the interview and here they are two years later. He stopped by my place that night with a sixer of beer saying, "Four my man…I just met the woman of my dreams!" He's still so whipped. As If I'm one to talk….fuck. Shauna has a slightly different (but not by much) version of how that night went but either way they are still together and Zeke has even mentioned proposing.
I need to make a decision. Hands off for a while? Yes. That's the right thing to do. Decision made.
"Hey Bud," I say as I give him a head-nod and go to walk in the building.
"Uh…Four?"
I turn around and walk over to his window. "The Jimmy John's delivery guy was here looking for you so I said I would make sure you…got…this."
He hands me a Jimmy John's sandwich with a note scribbled on it.
I'm jealous of this sandwich. Love, Tris
Decision un-made.
I text Tris at 5:00 seeing if she has plans for dinner. She works the late shift tonight but I'm hoping she may want to get a quick bite before she starts.
Tris: I would love that.
Me: Do you want to meet now? I know you don't have a lot of time.
Tris: I'm visiting my brother right now and then I was going to take some shots at Navy Pier. Want to meet me there?
Me: Sounds great.
Me: Can't wait to see you.
Tris: Me neither!
Tris: Was the ! too much?
Me: No….I almost added one myself.
She's visiting her brother? She didn't tell me he lives in the city. She didn't really tell me anything about him, aside from his existence. Who am I to talk? Hopefully she'll tell me and then I will know more of her story.
An hour later I find her sitting cross-legged on a bench right by the Ferris Wheel. She looks so peaceful looking out over the water towards the Chicago skyline. I just stand back to watch her. She is wearing cut off jean shorts and I can tell by the way they are hiked up, that they are very short and a faded Black Hawks hoodie. She's a Hawks fan? Her hair is up in a tangled bun but she also wears a thin headband that wraps around her whole head.
She lifts her camera and seems to be using it more as binoculars rather than for it's original purpose. But I see her pressing the shutter button every now and then as well. I can't wait for her to show me some of her work. She puts the camera down and smiles down at her hands seemingly happy with whatever she just did. She must sense my presence because she quickly turns her head to the right and gives me that Tris smile: the one that warms my soul.
"Hi."
"Hi," I say as I sit down next to her and give her a soft kiss on the cheek, putting my arm around the back of the bench.
"You know that could have been the best sandwich I have ever had. But my imagination was running away with me. Thank you for the visual."
"My pleasure…no pun intended," she says laughing.
"So photography at Navy Pier?"
"I know. Total cliché right?
"I wasn't going to say anything."
"This is one of the best places in the city to people watch. This place draws people from all over the world believe it or not. It certainly brought me here."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the Ferris Wheel is how I ended up in Chicago…I would have left Kittridge either way, but this is why I chose Chicago."
"Really?" I ask, relishing in the fact that I'm learning about her.
"The only trip my parents ever took us on was to Chicago. My dad's congregation pooled money together and forced him to take us on a 2 night "vacation." Which only consisted of walking around the city and my dad commenting on overconsumption, indulgence and commercialization." She laughs to herself and sighs in remembrance. "I remember looking up at the Ferris Wheel and being so angry because he dragged us out here just to explain to us how frivolous it was to pay to ride this 'piece of metal'." And how many people we could help by saving the money it would cost to ride it."
She stops and seems to be thinking.
"Sorry, but I don't understand how that brought you to move here."
"In accordance with my rebellious nature, I told myself that I not only would ride this ferris wheel someday, but I would move to Chicago, out of spite at that time, and live a life of overconsumption, indulgence and commercialization."
I have to laugh at that. That is so Tris: to do the opposite of what people tell her.
"I also told myself that if I ever had kids, I would never make them feel guilty for wanting to indulge in what makes them happy. I don't want to raise them to be selfish, just to know that enjoying life makes you a better person, not a worse person. Does that make sense?"
"Yes."
I can see Tris as a mom. I bet she would be great at it. A little Tris going round and round on The Ferris Wheel. They would not get me up on that thing…wait what?
"You okay?" She asks me. I can only imagine what my face looked like. "TMI?"
"No, it's fine," I say smiling. Why am I smiling like that? Subject change! "Well if the Ferris Wheel brought you to Chicago, then it's the best thing the city ever did," I say wrapping my arms around her. I look down at her face and see a wide grin.
"What about you?"
"Well, as you know I lived in Highland Park at the time when I was supposed to be leaving for school. I decided to apply to UIC knowing full well I wouldn't get in. Hana said I should at least try. I sent in the most half-assed application essay in the history of that school; yet somehow I got in and was magically offered a full-ride scholarship."
"Wow. To UIC? What do you mean magically?"
"Funny thing is, my grades in high school sucked because I didn't give a shit about…well anything back then. So this all made absolutely no sense. But, I'm not a total idiot so—"
"Well, let's talk about that one—"
"May I finish?" I say jokingly. "So I did some digging and found out my father, I'd rather call him Marcus by the way…"
She nods at this.
"He donated a large sum of money to The University of Illinois at Chicago and started a scholarship fund. And who do you think was the first "winner"?"
She breathes in for a second. "This might be the wrong thing to say but that sounds generous….like crazy generous…I don't understand. I thought there was no love lost between you and your father."
"There isn't." I don't know what else to say about that at this point.
"Okay." Okay? No 'why'? No 'what happened between you two'?
"Thank you for not asking why."
She smiles looking out at the water. "You'll tell me….someday."
She can tell there's a bit of an uncomfortable silence. "So you took him up on his "offer"?"
"At first….no….I was emphatically not going to do that." I sigh deeply.
"Hana," Tris says quietly.
I chuckle. "Yes….she said that there are so many kids that would trade places with me in a heartbeat if it gave them a chance to better their futures. And that I shouldn't waste this opportunity because I'm a stubborn ass. That I need to use this as my fighting chance: to make myself better, work harder, earn my way. Who cares if it's Marcus's money. Use it for good…which is something he doesn't. I'm paraphrasing," I say slightly smiling. "It was more of a rant on her behalf and me just scowling and sulking."
"I think I would really like her."
"She would love you. You're stubborn."
"Yeah. You're one to talk. Two stubborn people….what do you think will happen when we have our first fight?"
"Hopefully lots of make-up sex…like lots…I'm talking—"
"So…should we start fighting now?" She whispers leaning over sucking lightly on the sensitive spot behind my ear and running her right hand up my thigh. I still her hand as she laughs lightly.
"Stop that please…." I grit out between my teeth.
"You're the who mentioned sex."
"I know. But I'm an idiot, as you have mentioned…I still fully intend to control myself, to some extent, around you." I say as I move my arm that is resting behind her on the bench around her shoulders.
She smiles shyly as she says, "I actually kind of love that about you. I mean that you are even thinking that way." She take a deep breath. "Why are you thinking that way?"
I shake my head at myself because I am going to give her the most honest answer I can. "I am not able to put that into words yet." I rub the back of my neck and look away really not wanting to see her reaction to my vague yet not vague at all response.
"I'm not either," she says softly.
We both sit in companionable silence for a few minutes.
"So, you probably want to know about my brother."
"If you're ready to tell me."
"He lives at The Kerrington Center for Mental Health and Substance Abuse."
"He lives there?"
"He is a full-time resident there: a patient. Although he frequently asks when he gets to come home."
"I assume he's not?"
"Not in the near future….if ever."
She looks off onto the horizon over Lake Michigan. I know she just needs a minute to put her thoughts into words.
"My parents died in a car accident as you know. We think a deer ran in front of the car. It's the only explanation that makes sense to anyone seeing as my dad was a ridiculously careful driver. When they found the car, my dad had driven head-on into a tree." She takes a deep forced breath as I instinctually take her hand and start subconsciously picking her fingers up one by one in my hand and then putting them down one by one.
"The coroner said the air bags never deployed, and if they had, my parents would have probably survived."
"I'm sorry Tris." There is nothing else to say.
"My brother had purchased a car off a used car lot knowing there was a recall on the airbags. My dad wouldn't let him drive it until he took the car to the mechanic to have it checked out. Caleb had a date with his girlfriend Susan a couple nights after he bought the car and he lied and told my dad he had the airbags checked. The next day my dad and mom took Caleb's car to run errands…." The tears that had long since gathered on her long lashes spilled over. Just tears…almost like the physical reaction to sadness but not the emotional. I wonder why?
"Caleb never forgave himself…I blamed him for a long time too…I feel like I'm part of the reason he lives at Kerrington."
"Why?" I say tracing circles around each of her knuckles.
She ignores my question, not being ready to answer it yet. "He started drinking….heavily…then got into drugs. Six months after my parents died a neighbor found him on my parent's kitchen floor barely alive from a heroine overdose." Now there is emotion behind her tears.
"I left for Chicago the day after my parents' funeral and haven't been back since…..I wasn't there for him…I was too caught up in my own shit….."
I take a stray hair and tuck it behind her ear. I've never wanted to take someone's pain away so bad in my life, even more than my mother's. From what I know of Tris, she is not looking for consolation. She just needs to know she isn't alone. So I pull her close and just let the tears fall. I kiss her forehead and run my right hand up and down her arm. She shivers so I pull her into my chest and rest my chin on her head.
"Now he only has me, the one who wasn't there for him," she says in a muffled voice against my chest.
"Tris, anyone that has you is the luckiest person on the planet."
Tris's POV:
"Mmm Hmm…okay."
"I just don't know, it was some kind of whiskey….it had a lime in it…whatever the mixer was it was sweet…but not too sweet…there may have been Jager in it."
I'm listening while this girl is trying to describe to me a drink she had here last week, made by a bartender, who wasn't me.
"I'm pretty sure no bartender on the planet would put whiskey and Jager in a cocktail. Why don't you tell me what you like and I'll make you something," I say impatiently.
"Awesome! Okay I like whiskey and Jager." Fuck...me.
I make her a whiskey sour and give her a shot of Jager on the side.
"Thank you! Sorry, you probably hate serving people like me."
"Trust me, I've served worse. You want me to put it on your table's tab?"
"Ummm…" she looks over at her table trying to get someone's attention. A shorter dark-haired man waves his hand in the air encircling the whole table signaling that all drinks will go on his tab. "Yes! Yay! That's my boss….he's awesome…."
I nod my head as if I care.
"About once a month he takes the support staff here for happy hour and he stays and hangs out with us and everything. He says he wouldn't have a successful company without us. How cool is that?"
"Very cool."
"I'm Lauren by the way. You're here almost every Friday, right?"
"Yep," I say wiping down the bar top.
She looks at me expectantly. "I'm Tris…sorry."
"It's okay." She has been taking inventory of the crowded bar since she got here.
"Looking for someone?"
"Oh! Wow, I was that obvious?"
"Yes."
"Just a guy that I like. He comes here often."
"Oh." I really don't care.
She leans over to me like she's telling me a secret. "When he found out that I come here on Fridays he made it very clear to me that he plans on coming here a lot in the future."
"Sounds like a bright future."
"I'm a coffee barista in his office and the last time I served him I know he wanted me to slip him my number because he checked his cup to see if I had…anyway, I don't see him. Thanks Tris!" And off she goes!
"Another life story?" Lynn asks from her station.
I just shrug not very interested. Probably because I'm emotionally drained from pouring my heart out this afternoon. But at the same time I feel lighter than I have in years. Christina knows about Caleb, but I've never confided in her that it's partially my fault he's in a mental health facility. She would just say, "It's not your fault," "Don't beat yourself up," "You didn't know that would happen." They would be all the appropriate and rational things to say.
Only someone with true regrets of their own would know that no amount of consolation can fix those kinds of wounds. Tobias must have regrets. He knew that all I needed was for someone to be there…not to say a damn word…just listen to me. He held me like I've never been held before. Almost as if he was trying to take on some of my pain as his own: to alleviate some of the burden.
"Tris! Geez! 4 Hendricks and tonic, 4 Bombays and tonic, 4 Tanquerays and tonic, all with double limes!" Lynn says loudly with annoyance.
"Just give them all Tanqueray," Tori says in passing." She's right, people rarely notice.
"So you and Four, huh?" Lynn asks.
"Do you really want to know or are you feigning interest?"
"Feigning interest."
"That's what I thought."
"Just for the record. He's a good guy."
"Wow. How did that taste coming out of your mouth?"
"Like semen." I choke on my Jack and Coke.
"Christ Lynn! I have a high tolerance for vile comments but I think that just took the cake!"
"Hey…I like what I like!" She is laughing at my expense as she walks away.
I've been trying really hard not to think about Tobias, knowing I won't be seeing him tonight and now all I can think about it what he tastes like! Can't say anything like that has ever crossed my mind before!
Glancing to my right I see an irate Christina stomping toward me. "Why did I have to find out...just now...about AL...from Tori?!" Christina is literally in my face.
"Because I've barely seen you!"
"A call? A text?"
"You did not just say a text!...How would I word it? Let's see...'Hey, someone I considered a good friend tried to accost me in the lounge! YOLO!'"
She takes a deep breath calming down surprisingly fast for how upset she was. "Fine, I'm just surprised and then I heard how you reacted…." She starts making a Belvidere and tonic.
"How did I react?" I ask as I see a guy at the end of the bar tip his empty bottle of Blue Moon at me.
"You know damn well how you reacted."
"$24 bucks boys!" She says smiling flirtatiously at the two men as she hands them her drinks.
"Well, the self-defense classes you made me take when I moved here came in very handy."
"Again, you know that's not what I'm talking about."
"Well, if you know so well then I don't have to fucking tell you." I say angrily in her ear as I bring a Blue Moon down to the guy at the end of the bar.
"Tris, right?"
"Huh? Yes…."
"You don't remember me?
"Sorry…I see a lot—"
"Yeah, yeah. Apparently I didn't make a good enough impression. I'll take responsibility…..Matthew, I touched your boob."
"Oh my God…yes. You're right that was a terrible impression." I know my cheeks are turning bright red.
"I would have thought more memorable….Unless that happens often."
"I'm sorry…I was pretty distracted that night. And…no…it doesn't." That last comment annoyed me.
"Sorry, that came out weird or wrong or both."
I stare at him for a second. He's cute, in a Mark Ruffalo kind of way. He's no Tobias.
"Did you need anything else?"
"Yes…let's see…he grabs the drink specials menu." I look down the bar. Everyone seems to be taken care of.
"I would like….a date," he states matter-of-factly. I just stare, darting my eyes to the left and the right seeing if by chance he is talking to someone else.
"With me?" I ask incredulously.
He raises his eyebrows. "Yes….unless there is another beautiful bartender who I've accidentally made it to second base with. If that's the case—"
"I'm seeing some-….I mean." I slightly shake my head. It's more than that, right? "I have a—"
"Boyfriend," says my favorite deep melodic voice scooting in the bar stool next to Matthew. "She has a boyfriend," Tobias says making eye contact with me and not breaking it.
I probably have the stupidest grin on my face ever…in my life…ever.
"I can finish my own sentences you know."
"I just thought you needed some assistance…you looked a little hesitant," he says with a smirk.
"No hesitation here," I say as I grab his collar and pull him toward me for a quick kiss, which he returns and then smiles against my mouth. (I love that!) As both pull away, we realize we aren't quite done yet. Now we are both smiling as our lips meet for another kiss, this one lasts a little longer but is still sweet. We try pull away again, but go back for more with fervor as his tongue finds mine and I climb up on the counter that separates me from the bar on my knees. Were alone right? May as well take advantage! I run my fingers up through his hair and hold him to me. He returns the gesture by running one hand up the back of my neck taking a hand-full of my hair. I groan because that makes my panties wet. His other hand makes it's way down my back and grabs my right butt cheek firmly.
"Yeah! Get some!" yells Christina as the whole bar starts whistling and laughing.
Tobias and I look at each other as he lowers his amazing mouth down to my ear
"So apparently we aren't alone…I think we may have a serious problem with exhibitionism in our future."
"I look forward to that."
He shakes his head as he pulls me in for another kiss.