“Oh sorry.” Sophie smiled up at him shyly. “I was thinking.”
“Yes, you did look deep in thought. Want to talk about it?” He looked at her in concern. “You looked like you have a lot on your mind.”
“Hey, just a lot of college graduation thoughts.” She smiled at him, surprised by his concern.
“You know I meant it about the internship and job right?” He looked at her sternly. “I’m not joking Sophie, Van Harkel Enterprises would be lucky to have you.”
“I know. And thanks.” She sighed unconsciously.
“Something tells me that’s not all that’s on your mind.” He followed her into her room and sat on the bed as she went to her bag to take out her underwear. “You know you can always talk to me right.”
“Yeah.” She tried to ignore her beating heart. Maxwell Van Harkel was in her bedroom, and he was sitting on her bed. Breathe Sophie, breathe Sophie. She willed herself to calm down.
“What’s this?” He picked up her journal and it took every ounce of her being to not scream and snatch it out of his hand. Please God; do not let Max open my journal. She sent up a silent prayer. She would die if he saw any of her posts talking about how much she loved him.
“My journal.” She held out her hand and grabbed the journal from his hands.
“Ah.” He grinned. “Mopping around for your boyfriend are you?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She answered quickly.
“Unrequited love?” He cocked an eyebrow at her. “He’d be a fool to turn you down.”
“Thanks.” She stared at him sitting on her bed and wondered what he was waiting for. “I don’t even think he knows I exist.”
“Then he’s an idiot.” Max patted the spot on the bed next to him. “Don’t worry about him Sophie. There will be plenty of other guys.”
“Yeah.” She went and sat next to him, careful not to sit too close. It didn’t matter. Maxwell still grabbed her hands and held them in his. “You are a beautiful girl. Any guy would be happy to date you.”
Don’t you want to date me then? She stared at him, willing him to gush of his true love for her. Isn’t that how movies always went? She stared at his lips and wondered what he would do if she just reached over and kissed him. She licked her lips and thought about just going for it.
“This reminds me of old times.” Maxwell’s words broke her mental pep talk.
“Huh?” She looked at him confused.
“When you’d come running to my room because you were scared of the creaks.” He grinned at her.
“I don’t remember that.”
“It was the first couple of times you stayed over. You were scared of the noises. I would comfort you.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.” He lay back on her bed and closed his eyes. “It seems like such a long time ago now.”
“Yeah.” She leaned back and felt her shoulders rubbing next to his. “We were just kids then.”
“Well, you’re still a kid. I’m an old man now.”
“I’m not a kid.” She answered him indignantly. “I’m 22 you know.”
He turned to face her on the bed and she turned to face him so that their eyes were gazing into each other’s. She held her breath as he stared into her eyes deeply. “22 is still a kid.”
“No, it’s not.” She pouted at him.
“If you are still pouting, you’re still a kid.” He laughed.
“I’m not a kid.” She licked her lips and moved closer to him.
“I’m too old for you Sophie.” He stared at her mouth.
“I’m not a kid.” She moved her face so close to his that she could feel his breath on her mouth. “I’m not…” Her voice trailed off as Maxwell moved in closer to her and kissed her on the lips.
She closed her eyes and sighed. His lips felt warm and sweet and perfect. She moved closer to him and pushed her tongue into his mouth hesitantly. He devoured her tongue and she felt him groan before he brought his arms around her and brought her into him. She opened her eyes and saw him staring down at her. He was now on top of her and she felt the weight of his body crushing down on her. She wriggled beneath him, delighting in the feel of his body on hers. She brought her hands up and rubbed his bare back; it felt smooth and hot to the touch. She ran her hands down his back until she came to the top of his shorts. She paused for a second before running her hand down to his ass. She heard his gasp of surprise and grinned up at him as she squeezed his butt. He reacted by pushing himself into her and she spread her legs so she could feel him closer to her sweet spot. She felt her skirt ride up a little bit and she wrapped her legs around Maxwell, willing him to push himself into her closer. He responded by slowing grinded himself into her and she could feel his hardness push up into her mound.
She sighed happily and his lips left hers to kiss down her neck. She squirmed underneath him hoping he would pull her top off so that she could feel his naked chest on her skin.
“No Sophie. I can’t.” He pulled away from her and sat up. “This is not a good idea.”
“But I want to.” She looked at him uncertainly. “I’m not a kid.”
He smirked as he stared at her. “That I know Ms. Sophie.” He licked his lips. “I shall never call you a kid again.”
She stared at him wanting to reach out touch his chest. “Kiss me.” She whispered.
“What?” He sat there still.
“Nothing.” She looked down at her lap unable to keep his gaze. His blue eyes seemed to pierce right through her.
“Okay.” He sat there next to her and they listened to the grasshoppers outside the windows.
Finally she looked up and he was watching her with a dark and bemused look. “You can leave now Maxwell.”
“I know.” He remained on the bed.
“Then go.” Her voice sounded angry. She was upset. She felt like she had been rejected and wanted to wallow in her misery. Another part of her wanted to delight in the fact that she had kissed Maxwell and that it had been as wondrous as she thought it would be.
“I’m not going to leave this room with you angry.” He frowned. “Why are you angry by the way?”
“I’m not angry. I’m fine. I need to shower and get ready for tonight.”
“Is it a guy?”
“What?”
“Don’t let a guy get you down Sophie.” He looked at her with concern. “Trust me, whatever putz has you feeling so down will regret it. Most college guys don’t have a clue.”
Sophie sighed loudly. “Most men period don’t have a clue.”
He laughed and nodded his head. “I’ll agree with you there.” He looked over at the journal she had placed on the bed. “So do you write about him in there?”
“Maybe.”
“What have you written?”
“I’m not going to tell you.” She looked at him like he was crazy.
“I was just curious as to what goes on in a 22 year Old’s head.”
“Then go and ask Ella what she’s thinking.”
“I don’t want to know about Ella.” His voice was soft and he looked at her intently.
“Oh.” She wanted to ask him what he meant. If he was saying that he cared about her as more than a sister but she was scared to ask him. “Well, I guess I can read you an entry.” She paused and looked at him carefully.
“That would be great.” He lay back on the bed and Sophie wanted to run her hands through his hair. Lying down like he was, made him seem so much younger than his age. She reached for her journal quickly and opened it to a page randomly and started reading.
“I wonder what he’s doing today. If he has thought about me at all. I’ve thought about him so much that the law of averages would dictate that he has to have thought about me at least once. Maybe if I think about him one hundred times in the next two days that will make him think of me at least once. I had a dream about him last night. We were in the ocean and his eyes blended with the water and I asked him if he were a mermaid. And then he laughed and I laughed and I was soo happy because we were together. I’m going to go look at the stars tomorrow. I’m hoping I see a shooting star and then I can make a wish on it. I’ll wish for him to love me as I love him. Perhaps we’ll wish on the same star together.”