Chapter Thirteen:
Stuck with Tommy Quincy? I certainly hope so.
He smiles at me devilishly. "Which room is yours?" he asks, looking around.
I point towards the back of the apartment. He grabs my hand and pulls me towards the guest bedroom. He pushes me in and locks the door behind him, turning around to face me.
And before I know what's happening, he's crashing his lips onto mine, penetrating my mouth with his tongue almost instantly.
His hands roam down my body and he pulls me against his own. His lips trail down to my neck, leaving my skin hot beneath his ministrations.
"Do you know what it does to me, seeing you with someone else?" He breathes between kisses. He pulls his head back, keeping our bodies close. "When he touched your hand, I wanted to rip his off so he'd never do it again. And when you smiled at him, even politely, I wanted to make him blind so he'd never see that beautiful sight again. And when you were dancing with him and he was holding you close, I wanted to kill him. Or at least break every bone in his body so that he'd never think of dancing with you again. You're mine, Harrison. No one else's."
He leans down and continues his assault on my senses by kissing my collarbone.
I feel my legs weaken beneath me. I should be really offended by his statement, but I'm not.
Because it's true. I am his. Completely and unconditionally, I belong to him.
"Well, Quincy, it wasn't exactly fun watching you flirt with her either," I say, my voice weak from desire.
He brings his lips to my ear, nibbling on it. "You're mine and I'm yours. And that's all that matters," he whispers.
And suddenly we're unable to wait any longer. We pull each other's clothes off quickly and they scatter across the room as we throw them away in haste. We need to be united; we need to prove that we do indeed belong to each other. No matter what other people think, I can survive if Tommy and I know the truth.
Tommy lays me on the bed softly and covers my body with his own after putting a condom on. We move slowly, lingeringly. Over the next few weeks, moments like this will be sparse. So we must take the time to enjoy each other when we can.
He presses his lips to my breasts, my stomach and my core and I think for a moment that I will faint from pleasure. I pull him up, needing him to fill me, needing to feel him inside of me. He enters me and, like every other time, it's exhilarating. He starts moving slowly, unhurried. But it's not long before the need is too great between us and he's thrusting quickly. I feel myself climaxing beneath him and within moments, he collapses on top of me.
He moves beside me, pulling me flush against his chest and kissing the side of my face. "Good night, Jude."
"It certainly has been," I say, smiling contentedly as I drift off to sleep.
I wake up hearing Jamie talking really loudly just outside the door. I sit up quickly, slightly frightened by the sound. I feel Tommy's heavy arm and leg strewn across my naked body.
"I don't think she's awake yet, Stuart. I'll go check!!" I hear Jamie yell and I look down at Tommy's sleeping form.
I begin to shake him, whispering as loudly as I can without being heard, "Tommy! Tommy!! You've got to hide."
He finally rouses, staring at me in confusion. Then I see his features grow panicked as he hears for himself what Jamie's saying just outside the door. He rubs his eyes quickly and we both rush around the room getting our clothing on. I kiss Tommy quickly before pushing him into the closet and shutting the door.
I sigh, taking a deep breath as I open the bedroom door. Jamie's standing right in front of me, lifting his hand like he's about to knock.
"Hey Jude!" he says loudly, smiling apprehensively at me. Then he lowers his voice to a whisper, "Is Tommy here?"
"He's hiding in the closet," I whisper. "I'll get Dad out of here and you let Tommy know when it's okay to leave, okay?"
"You two are going to give me an ulcer," he says, leading me out to where Dad's waiting.
"Hey Dad," I say as he gets up off the couch to hug me. "Do you want to take your caffeine starved daughter out for her daily fix?"
"I'd love to," he says and leads me towards the exit. I look back and wink at Jamie. He just rolls his eyes in response.
As Dad and I are walking towards the local Starbucks, I feel Dad stop walking all of a sudden. I look back at him in confusion.
"Is that Mark over there?" he asks, looking across the street. I spin my head to look. I think it is him. Oh God. Considering how much my dad liked him last night, Mark is the last person I wanted to run into today.
"I don't think so, Dad. Let's just get going, okay?" I say, continuing to walk. But Dad's not moving. Oh no.
"I'm pretty sure it's him, Jude," he says, still staring in Mark's direction. "Mark!!! Mark!!" He yells across the street. I want the pavement to open up and suck me right down. Besides being incredibly embarrassed by my father's actions, I just really don't want to deal with Mark. I don't want to lead him on and make him think I'm interested.
I pray that Mark doesn't hear Dad. Please God. Please.
Then like a scene from my very own horror film, Mark turns, recognizes us and crosses the street towards us.
"Hey Jude, Mr. Harrison." Mark says, as he approaches.
"Please, call me Stuart. What a coincidence meeting you on the street this morning."
"It is. I live around the corner and I was just heading to work at the building I manage. Are you feeling better this morning?" he asks sincerely, shooting me a very nice smile.
It takes me a minute to remember what he's even talking about. Right. I was sick last night. "Oh, much better, thank you."
"Do you want to join us for coffee?" Dad asks, looking really pleased with himself. I want to kill him. If he wasn't my father, I might actually do it. The sad part is he thinks he's doing me a favour, trying to set me up with Mark.
I have to feign a smile as Mark agrees to come with us. This is just great.
We sit in the coffee shop as I pretend to be interested in the conversation my dad and Stuart are having about the economy. I'm sitting, staring out the front entrance of the shop and I see Tommy strolling by. I feel my eyes widen. Keep walking, Tommy. Keep walking. The last thing I want is for Tommy to see me here with Mark.
It feels like Tommy's walking in slow-motion. I look down at the ground, praying he won't turn his head and see me.
I hear the bell ring, signalling that someone has entered the store. I'm still looking down, praying that it's not Tommy, when I feel someone approach the table.
"Tom! What a surprise!" I hear my dad say.
NO.
I look up and see Tommy staring at Mark.
"Hey Mr. Harrison, Jude. Mark, right?" Tommy says. I can tell he's being as polite as he can manage.
"Yes, it is." Mark says, oblivious to Tommy's barely concealed hatred.
"Do you want to join us for coffee, Tom?" my dad asks. Oh God. I can feel the thick tension that my dad is apparently unaware of.
"Actually I was hoping I could steal Jude. We have a lot of work to get done today," Tommy says, raising his eyebrows at me, prompting me to agree.
"We do have a lot to do. Dad, you're more than welcome to sit in." I say, beginning to gather my stuff.
"Mark, do you want to come, keep an old man company for a while? Once these two start working, they'll forget I'm even there." I glare at my dad, dumbfounded. He can't be serious.
"I'm sure Mark has to get going to work," I say, trying to prevent this from becoming a disaster.
I look over to see Tommy and Mark glaring at each other. Apparently Mark has finally caught on.
"Actually, I'd love to come," Mark says, a smug look on his face.
Great. As if things couldn't get more complicated.
I look up at Tommy. "Let's go," I say, motioning him to go and I follow after him, and we're trailed by my dad and Mark.
"What's going on?" Tommy seethes through his teeth.
"Apparently all hell has broken loose," I say, sighing loudly.
With a start like this, I really don't even want to know what other disasters this day will hold.