Popping the Cherry (29 page)

‘Do you like cherries?’ I whispered.

Ryan’s eyes widened and he released the suction on my thumb, creating a popping sound as it slipped from between his lips. A giggle bubbled up at the same time as a hiccup and caused me to lose my balance. My fingers dug into his arms as I tried to save myself from a date with the sticky carpet but then Ryan’s hands caught me around the waist to keep me upright.

‘As in the fruit?’ he asked.

I discovered a new type of smile in my arsenal and aimed it at him, then followed it up by climbing onto my tiptoes again to press my lips against his. This new ‘improved’ Lena was fun, flirty and damn sexy, too. If Damian could see me now, he wouldn’t be calling me frigid, that was for sure.

‘I see,’ Ryan said. ‘So how about we continue this conversation somewhere else? Somewhere more … private?’

An echo of the old me reared, fighting to be heard, but her protests were muted by the hazy glow around my brain. She’d had her chance and she’d failed. Jake had moved on, even Zac had moved on, and the only person stuck in the exact same place was me.

‘Sure.’ I swayed. ‘Let’s go.’

Unsteady on my feet, I was guided by Ryan towards the stairs and he helped me to climb. He checked each bedroom we came to before he finally found one that was empty. Not the most romantic of settings: the tiny box room had a single bed pushed up against the far wall and not much else. Ryan led me inside and settled me on the unmade bed, then stepped away to close the door.

A flicker of apprehension danced at the edges of my conscience when he turned the key in the lock, but I pushed it aside, reassuring myself it was to keep others out, not me in. He came to sit beside me, first needing to adjust his toga and revealing a hell of a lot of firm, muscled leg as he put his arms around me, then used his upper body to ease me back onto the mattress.

‘Now what’s all this about cherries?’ he asked, trailing kisses over my jaw and down to my collarbone.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the party, my bravado slipped. The merry feeling faded fast and the room began to spin around me.

‘Can we go back to the party?’ I asked, trying to keep my voice normal. ‘Just for a while? I could really use that fresh air still.’

‘You know it’s OK to be nervous, Lena?’

‘Nervous?’

‘Sure, but don’t worry, I’ll be real gentle,’ he said, running his hand over my leg. His lips traced the scooped neckline and I stiffened.

‘Relax, Lena. You’ll enjoy it, I promise.’

‘But—’

‘I saw my name on that list of yours, you know. Kinda flattering, really, but, if you’re embarrassed, it can be our secret?’

Omigod
.

He’d seen the list.

What the hell had I got myself into this time?

Ryan’s lips cut off any further words, kissing me deeply. I tried to respond, but my common sense had broken through the impervious shield. The ‘new’ Lena had upped and left.

This is all wrong
.

I must have twitched, because Ryan climbed on top of me, pinning me down as if he knew I’d been about to try to make a run for it. The movement caused the knot of his toga to come undone and his costume got left behind, so he was left in just a pair of boxers. Shoving him off would be useless. He was huge, made of pure muscle, and it would take a dozen of me to be able to shift him.

I needed help, but Gemma was gone and nobody else knew I was here. I was in a houseful of people, yet I’d never been so alone.

How could I have been so stupid?

Jake

The pub started to empty; even the hard-core fairy, goblin and vampire had left. They’d been the bright spot of Jake’s evening, but it was only a Thursday night and most people were expected at work in the morning. Him included. He could be home in bed, asleep by now, or, failing that, he could be watching movies. Instead, he’d been coerced into staying out with a load of the guys from work on a team night out.
Team
. Yeah, right … so long as the team member was deemed suitable.

It wouldn’t have been half as bad if Nathan had been there too, but he’d cited homework as an excuse to avoid a night out with several committed homophobic twats. And who could blame him? Jake was just gutted he couldn’t think of a decent enough reason to make an early dash and get the hell out of there. He went back to staring at his pint instead, waiting for the bubbles to punch through the amber liquid to the surface, as they had when he’d first bought it. They never came. He’d been nursing the damn beer for over an hour and still couldn’t find the motivation to drink it.

Fuck it
.

‘Right, I’m off,’ he said, pushing his chair back and standing up. ‘I’ll see you in the morning, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, I hope.’

Jake stepped outside and filled his lungs with the fresh air, away from the stench of stale beer, body odour and cheap perfume. His phone buzzed in his back pocket, so he reached for, enduring that torturous split second of hope that it might be Lena at long last. Nope, just Gemma, texting: ‘Staying at Ben’s tonight. Don’t tell Mum. See you in the morning.’

‘Is Lena with you?’

‘What’s it to you?’

‘Fuck off with your bullshit. Is she with you?’ he fired back, sick to death of Gemma’s games.

‘WTF? No she’s not. I had to leave the party early to get Ben. She’s probably still there.’

‘You left her at the party on her own? Are you a complete moron?’

‘Oi shitface, she wanted to stay. She was hooking up with a guy from college and said she’d get a taxi home.’

Lena was hooking up with someone else. Already? Or was it just more of Gemma’s nonsense?

‘What’s the address?’

‘What’s your problem? She’s fine.’

‘Address. Now.’

Jake sat in his van with the engine running, ready to leave as soon as the address came in. Pushing the limits, he did the fifteen-minute journey in twelve. The heavy feeling in his stomach only got worse as each minute ticked by. He pulled over to the side of the road, double-parking outside a house with Hallowe’en decorations hung from the branches of a tree. It had to be the place. Everywhere else was in darkness. Lena must still be in there. Somewhere. The front door was wide open—something in his favour at last, as he could just walk right on in. First, he had to find somewhere to park.

The slight tremble in his legs was fast becoming a nuisance. He’d stalled the van twice. Half a mile or so away, a space finally appeared and Jake threw the van into the gap, not caring that one of the wheels was up on the kerb. Rationally, he knew it had been no more than five minutes since he’d driven away from the house, but a lot could happen in five minutes. Jake broke into a run, trying to stay calm as he navigated the route back to the party. Too distracted to pay attention, he caught his foot under a tree root and hit the ground hard. He picked himself up and brushed the dirt and grit from his hands and took off running again.

It seemed to take forever to get back to the party house. Adrenaline spiked again when he drew near, and he forced his legs to slow to a walk. He didn’t want to cause a scene and show Lena up if she was nearby when he arrived. He still hadn’t figured out an excuse for showing up there. Maybe he could say Gemma asked him to stop by and take her home. No, lying wasn’t the way to go. Not if he wanted to win Lena’s trust.

Jake sauntered into the house as if he was meant to be there. He’d got no more than three steps inside before a girl latched onto him, inviting him to join her in one of the bedrooms. She was off her head on something, with her wild, bloodshot eyes staring up at him. As if he had time for her bullshit. With a curt ‘no, thanks’ Jake unhooked her arms and left her pouting in the hallway. The house was like a goddamn maze, with rooms splitting off everywhere, but there was no sign of Lena.

After checking all the downstairs rooms, he had a look outside in the garden. Still nothing. If Lena was here, she had to be in one of the bedrooms. A cold sweat broke out on his forehead and the hairs on the backs of his arms stood on end. He might be too late already. And what if she didn’t welcome his intrusion?

Tough
.

He’d deal with that problem later.

Jake dashed to the stairs and ran up them three at a time. Not bothering to knock, he wrenched open the first door. A guy dressed as a pumpkin was going hell for leather with a girl dressed as a fairy all in white, her wings crumpled beneath her. She wasn’t Lena, though. The couple didn’t even notice him, so he closed the door and tried the next one. Couples were shagging in every room, but still no Lena. Surely if she’d gone home already, she’d have texted Gemma.

Which meant Lena had to be there somewhere.

He couldn’t remember seeing another staircase, so she had to be in the last room. If he’d been a dog, his hackles would have been raised as he tiptoed towards it. His breaths grew short, laboured, as he reached for the door handle. Whatever was going on behind the door wasn’t going to be pretty, so he needed to be prepared for the worst. The last five doors had all been the same, with some guy fucking some girl; he had to accept he might find the same behind this door too.

And that this time it might be Lena.

Except that the door didn’t open. It had been locked from the other side. He pressed his ear against the door and heard muffled voices, but then he heard another sound. A whimper. Lena was in there. He’d found her. And it sounded as if he was too late. Jake’s blood ran cold and his heartbeat thrashed erratically in his ears. He jerked away from the door, the shock hitting him as hard as a thousand volts and throwing him against the wall opposite. He clung on, struggling to support his own body weight as his legs shook, the shakes spreading to the whole of his body as he kept his gaze fixed on the locked door.

The narrow confines of the landing closed in on him, but then he heard a girl’s voice—Lena’s voice—calling out just one word.

‘Help!’

Jake had his foot through the door before he realised he’d moved. The sight that met him would be for ever burned into his memory. Lena lay sprawled on a single bed, her flowing tears carving a path through the harsh white face paint; her long black dress dragged up over her hips; and a brute of a guy pinning her down on the bed. He was naked bar some sort of sheet half hanging off him, and a pair of boxers he was in the process of dragging down.

If he’d been just a few seconds later—

A roar burst out of Jake’s chest, primal and wild. He dipped his shoulder and slammed into the ribs, tackling him to the ground. The first to react, Jake got two solid punches in. Blood spattered the carpet in a satisfying spray, but then the guy swung his fist, connecting with Jake’s ribs. It didn’t even hurt. Nothing hurt. He sprang back to his feet and tried again, grabbing the guy around the neck and hauling him to his feet before smashing his head back against the wall with an equally satisfying
thunk
.

A red mist descended over Jake’s eyes, blocking out his conscience as he landed another blow. He was pulling his fist back for the next punch when Lena begged for him to stop. She was staring right at him, watching him act like a crazed, bloodthirsty, maniac. Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes were so wide he could see the whites all around the golden brown irises.

‘Jake, is it really you?’ she said, her words all slurred.

‘Yes, Tink, I’m here,’ he replied, prompting an anguished sound from Lena’s throat.

‘How did you know?’ Her whisper turned into a sob, and she screwed her eyes tight shut, then popped them open again as if to check he was really there. The disbelief and sheer relief in her tone latched onto his heart, squeezing it tight until he feared it would never beat again.

‘Are you ready to go?’ he asked.

Footsteps drew closer, drawn by the fight, and he sprang back into action. Ignoring the body on the floor, Jake crossed the room and kicked the door shut just in time. He leaned against it, holding it closed and keeping his back to Lena to offer her some privacy. He heard her slide off the bed and stumble, then the sound of her hands brushing over the fabric of her dress to smooth the creases.

‘You bet,’ she said, but it turned into a groan. ‘Oh God, major head rush.’ She flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

‘Need a hand getting out of here?’

‘Please.’

She was like a rag doll in his arms as he gently lifted her and propped her against his chest, electrocuting him as no other girl ever had before. He couldn’t help closing his arms around her and simply holding her, just for a moment. The slow, sluggish thump of Lena’s heartbeat was the complete opposite of the painful racing of his own. She alone had the power to unleash a fierce hunger in him that he kept locked deep inside at all times. Almost all times. Jake shook his head to clear the memory of their one and only kiss. Now was just about the most inappropriate time ever in the history of the world to be even thinking about it.

Sirens suddenly blazed in the street outside, flashing blue lights rebounding off the four walls of the tiny box room. The blaring music shut off abruptly, and official-sounding voices rang out, telling everyone the party was over and that no one was to leave. Lena stiffened in his arms.

‘Am I in trouble?’ she asked.

‘Why?’

‘I’m … um … hammered,’ she whispered, and he had to bite back the urge to laugh. ‘And stupid. Very, very, stupid.’ She buried her face into the crook of his neck, tearing into his soul again as he made his way down the stairs. Two officers charged towards him as soon as he reached halfway and his footsteps faltered, but then WPC Flood came into view.

‘Hello, Jake, Lena,’ WPC Flood said, immediately letting the other officers know she knew them both. ‘We’ve been called out to a disturbance. Would you know anything about that?’

‘Upstairs. In the farthest room. It was me. He was about to …’ Jake’s voice faltered, unable to get the words out. His shoulders tightened and his heart moved up another gear, racing so hard it could explode any moment. He swallowed and made eye contact with WPC Flood but he couldn’t hold it. ‘I … um … might have got a bit carried away.’