Always Us (We Were Us Series Book 2) (6 page)

CHAPTER SIX

A week had passed. The house meeting had done some good. Michelle had stopped picking on Stefanie as far as I could tell, but Stefanie as still on edge about something. Every time I asked how she was doing, she’d wave me off and say fine in a way that I didn’t believe. Something was bugging her. I hoped it wasn’t still Michelle, but all seemed quiet on that front.

Tonight was Andrew’s Halloween party and I was excited. I’d finished my costume and it hung on the back of my door. Lauren had found a short black dress to go with her cat ears and she looked amazing. I hoped this Brandon guy she’d found knew what he was getting into with her. I laughed at myself.

“What are you laughing at?” Michelle asked as she wandered into our room.

“Oh nothing. Lauren is bringing a date to Andrew’s party. Brandon.”

“We’re supposed to bring a date? I don’t even know what I’m wearing yet!”

“You haven’t found a costume?”

“No. Nothing looks good.”

“My history teacher made a joke about slutty nurses last week. It was disturbing.”

“Old men talking about slutty anything is disturbing.”

We both laughed.

“Hello?” I said when my phone rang.

“Hey, you okay?” It was Andrew.

“Yes. Michelle and I were just laughing about something.”

“Cool. Hey, I need your help.”

“Anything for you,” I said.

“Can you come over and help me set up?”

“Set up? Like stock your fridge with beer?” I laughed.

Michelle gave me a funny look, but I ignored it.

“No.” He laughed too. “I bought decorations, come help me put them up. Please?” I’d bet a million dollars his bottom lip was stuck out in a pout right now.

“Fine! I’ll be right over.”

“Who was that?” Michelle asked. She’d pulled out her homework and was about to sit at the desk. She looked a little hopeful that I’d ask her to come with me.

“Andrew. He needs help setting up.”

“The party’s not for like two hours.”

“Yeah.”

“Can I come?”

“You have homework.”

“Yes Mom.”

“And you need to find a costume.”

“I’ll go do that.” She slammed her book shut.

I watched her go and packed up my costume and my backpack. I had some homework to do, so if we finished decorating his apartment early, I could probably finish up the reading for two of my psych classes.

The butterflies returned when I thought about being alone with Andrew. What if we are both trying to hang some orange garland over his couch and we lose our balance and he catches me and we end up kissing? What if we both reach into the fridge to straighten the beer and our hands brush and he pushes me aggressively up against the counter and claims my mouth as his, effectively erasing Josh from my memory forever?

I did this a lot. Thought of outrageous scenarios that would probably never happen, but it was still fun to think about. I grabbed my keys and my costume and snuck down the hallway to the front door. I peaked into Lauren and Stef’s room, Lauren was studying at her desk, and Stef appeared to be asleep on her bed.

Good. I left quietly and headed over to Andrew’s apartment.

                                                                                    ***

I skipped down the steep steps to Andrew’s basement apartment and flung the door open wide.

“I’m here!” I called into the empty room.

He rented the space from some family friends so it had come fully furnished and was dirt cheap. I don’t even think he paid rent. He’d asked me to live with him over the summer, and I half wished I’d taken him up on the offer.

The room was dimly lit with downward facing floor lamps. A black leather wrap around couch was pushed back against one wall, with a red and white chevron pillows carelessly tossed on the cushions. A large square coffee table sat in the middle of the room, topped with magazines and an abandoned game of chess. I wondered who else he’d brought down here.

A computer desk was opposite the couch, and was littered with Starbucks to-go cups, several iPods, and a thin, silver Apple computer, now shut off and the screen blank. In the other half of the room, against the wall was a flat screen TV in front of a red leather love seat where he and I did most of our homework and general hanging out.

I’d spent most days here during the school year last year. It was a home when the dorms started to feel too prison-like.

“I’m in the bathroom, be right out,” he called from somewhere in the back.

I didn’t need to know that, but that’s just how our relationship was. Comfortable. Last year we’d fallen into this comfort zone where we just knew what each other needed. I’d come over and make him food, usually frozen lasagna or something and he’d let me watch cable TV while I did homework.

I stopped short and stood in the middle of the living room when I realized that making frozen dinners was exactly what I’d done with Josh all summer. Maybe that was my thing. I made crappy food for guys, slept with them, and then let the walk all over my heart. Granted, I hadn’t slept with Andrew yet, but it was definitely on my mind lately.

“What’s up?” Andrew asked as he walked into the room. He fiddled with his belt and I watched with great interest.

“Nothing,” I said and shook my head. Dang, I really needed to get out of my head about sleeping with Andrew. He probably wasn’t even thinking about it anyway.

“Okay, well, I have like three boxes of stuff. I bought every Halloween decoration the store had.” He laughed a pulled out a skull on a string.

“Nice.” Yep, he wasn’t thinking about sex with me. Just Halloween decorations. Sigh.

“Where should I put my stuff? I just have my costume and my backpack in case the party is boring.” I winked.

“Gee thanks,” he said and walked over to me and took my bags.

He lingered for a moment, his left shoulder barely touching my right. He took a deep breath then let it out before turning away and walking into his bedroom. What just happened? I let out the breath I had been holding. Maybe he was thinking about kissing me like I was?

“Let’s get started, okay? We only have a few hours,” he said without even looking at me.

“Yeah, sure,” I said quietly.              

“What’s the matter?” he asked. He’d heard the disappointment in my tone.

Nothing,” I said a little too quickly, trying to recover. “I mean, your apartment isn’t that big, it’s not going to take two hours to decorate.”

I joined him at the boxes and started to dig through them. He nudged me with his elbow and threw me a little off balance.

“Hey,” I said. “Watch it.”

“You watch it.”

I looked up at him to find him staring at me intently.

“Um.” I managed before he snaked his arms around me and pulled me close to him. His hands pressed firmly against my back, our hips met as he pushed me against the counter. I knocked a box off the counter and it landed with a thud and a jingle as its contents spilled out.

“Jenna, all I can think about is kissing you. I know last year we were platonic, and you had that summer fling in Riverview, but I want more. I didn’t call you here to decorate for two hours. We don’t have to have sex, I mean, I want to, but God, I just want to feel your lips against mine.”

He stopped himself, but I knew he wanted to say more. I wanted to say something, but all I could think about was how much did he know about Josh? Did he know who Josh was? I didn’t like thinking about Andrew thinking about Josh. The two of them weren’t meant to be in the same thought bubbles.

“Um,” I said again. His maple brown eyes flicked back and forth between mine, searching them. “You can kiss me,” I said finally.

This seemed to be out of nowhere, but I was glad he was acting on his feelings for me, where I was too afraid to do so myself.

He smiled, no grinned. And while I silently contemplated the difference between a smile and grin, Andrew touched his thin lips to mine in the softest, most tender kiss I had ever received. They were barely touching mine, but the sparks shot down my neck, straight to my heart and pumped wildly through the rest of my body.

I leaned in, I wanted more. I parted my lips and pressed into him at the same time he pressed into me. Our lips meeting over and over again in perfect rhythm. His tongue flicked over the roof of my mouth, sliding slowly forward before catching my upper lip between his and he sucked gently. Then he took my mouth again, this time urging his tongue against mine so they met and twisted together. His hands roamed my body, over my arms and up my neck until he cupped my face in one of them, the other still at the small of my back holding me to him.

I sighed, unable to contain myself, his touch was turning me on, and I just couldn’t keep it in. I slipped my hands up and wrapped my arms around his neck and laced my fingers in his wild hair.

“What,” he whispered into my kiss.

I breathed out and smiled. This whole thing was throwing me off a little. Being here in Andrew’s apartment, Andrew’s hands laced in my hair, Andrew kissing me. His face remained close to mine as he waited with bated breath for my response to the reason why I’d stopped kissing him. My hands traveled down his strong arms and settled on his chest. I looked down at them and rested my forehead against his lips and he kissed me there.

I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes. The familiar scent of vanilla and cinnamon with a hint of lavender and peppermint filled my senses. There was a calming sense about it that made me smile into Andrew’s chest. I opened my eyes and looked past him into his basement apartment.

“What?” Andrew asked again.

I didn’t dare tell him I was picturing us naked on the red leather couch. Me on top, he with his arms hooked over the back of my shoulders, our mouths interlocked in a passionate kiss.

“I just like the way you touch me,” I whispered and pulled his arms tighter around me.

“Well, I like touching you,” he said.

He skimmed his hands up and down my arms, then wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling my hips to meet his. He took my mouth in his again, his lips covered mine, his tongue swiped lazily against mine, he was teasing me. His tongue flicked swiftly under mine and sent a shiver down my spine. I may have moaned. Andrew responded by squeezing my sides and pulling me closer if that was possible.

I cupped his face in my hands then reached around and tangled my fingers in his desperately unruly hair. I stepped up on my toes in a vain attempt at deepening our kiss. Vain, because I didn’t think we could get any closer.

Andrew’s fingers played with the hem of my shirt gently, before he slipped his hands underneath and pressed them against my skin. Sparks flew from where he touched my bare skin and I barely noticed when he pulled my shirt over my head, except that he had to break our kiss to do it. I released his hair and fumbled my fingers down the buttons of his shirt. The thought that we were about to be topless together barely crossed my mind. Once the buttons were open, my hands met his bare chest with the same electricity his hands had done to me.

Our mouths clashed again as Andrew walked me backwards to the red couch. My thoughts were about to become reality as I fiddled with his belt while he expertly unbuttoned, unzipped, and slid my pants down over my ass. When I still hadn’t removed the belt he took over and removed his pants and boxers effortlessly. I took a second to realize that Andrew was standing naked in front of me, my face inches from his.

“Um.” God, couldn’t I say anything else besides that?

“Are you okay?” he asked.

I heaved a single laugh and backed up a half of a step. I was fine. Andrew willingly took his clothes off for me and all I could do was say um and gawk at his bare chest.

“Jenna?” he questioned.

I realized I hadn’t said anything for at least a minute, maybe longer.

“Yeah,” I said quickly. I flicked my eyes to his abs when he leaned down to grab his clothes.

“I’m sorry. This was too much too fast.” His voice was slow and deep. He backed away like he was backing away from a tiger about to strike.

“No, I’m sorry. It’s not,” I shook my head. “It is. It’s just, you’re gorgeous, and I’ve thought about this a lot.” My voice trailed off.

“Is it not what you thought it would be?” Andrew said. He had his boxers back on and was sliding his pants back up his legs. His shirt was on, but still unbuttoned.

“No! I mean, yes, I mean, its fine. I don’t know what I imagined. I liked it.”

“Then what?

There’s no way I could tell him that I was thinking about Josh and all the times we made out on my ugly orange couch. Or when I lost my virginity to him in the river. Why was I thinking about Josh when Andrew was standing naked in front of me? Andrew, the brown eyed, mysterious, tall-dark-and-handsome boy who actually wanted only me.

“I don’t know?” I mumbled, looking down at my half-dressed self.

“Jenna, hey.” Andrew had his jeans on now and took a step toward me and lifts my chin so my eyes meet his. “We don’t ever have to do something you don’t want to do. No pressure, okay? I want to be with you, and have for a while now. I want us to take what we have to the next level.” He popped my shirt on over my head and kissed my nose as I wiggled my arms through the arm holes.