I swallow past the lump that has formed in my throat at the mention of him. “He did last week, but I just ignored it.”
Lila walks back towards me. Jimmy is my ex-boyfriend. He’s one of those men who doesn’t like to admit things are over. He went through spells of calling my phone repeatedly and it scared Lila who spent a lot of time watching true crime shows from her DVR. She thinks because I wouldn’t sleep with him, he’s obsessed with getting it from me now that we’re not together. I think her thought process is a little extreme.
“Addy, I think you should tell your father he’s harassing you.”
“He’s not harassing me, Lila, I promise. If I ever feel threatened I will get help. Okay?”
“Okay. Just remember not all men are like him.” She hugs me again and leaves. I can tell she’s not convinced I’m telling her the truth. I can’t think of Jimmy right now.
Taking one last look in the mirror I make my way into the living room to sit on the couch and wait the remaining five minutes for him to arrive.
The doorbell rings and I freeze in place. Great, he’s going to leave if I can’t get my nerves under control. I need to show confidence. I have some strange desire to prove myself to him. What I have to prove, I don’t know. Seeing him again has turned me back to the lovesick little high school girl I was when he asked me out. I hope that girl doesn’t come out tonight, I really don’t care for her that much.
I get up and go to the door, opening it and putting on a huge smile.
“Hi,” Charlie smiles and extends flowers towards me. They’re beautiful, pink roses are my absolute favorite. There’s no way Lila didn’t tell him that.
“Beautiful, thank you.” I take them from him and happily go into the kitchen for a vase. It will give me something to do while he takes a look around my humble abode.
“You look great Addy. I’m really sorry I didn’t recognize you yesterday. You just look different than you did in high school," he says.
I can see him looking at the pictures on the mantle as I fill a glass with water. Just pictures of my dad and I fishing and my mother and I painting before she left.
“It’s okay it’s been so many years I probably look completely different,” I say and walk over to the couch to sit while he continues to study my photos. I know I don't look different. The only thing different is my hair color and I got contacts.
“Did something happen to your face?” I ask alarmed. His eye looks black and there’s a cut on his eyebrow.
“Nothing you should worry about,” he says with a casual shrug. He tries to play it off, but I can tell he’s leaving details out and now I’m curious.
I immediately picture him picking fights in the parking lot of some skeevy bar but that’s silly, he isn’t an oversexed sixteen-year-old boy anymore. Maybe he fell down like I did earlier. I self-consciously put a hand up to my cheek hoping the redness has gone down.
He sits down closer than I thought he would. My body slides down his arm and the contact between us is almost electric. His walk across my carpet probably created static and the electric current was nothing but science.
“Are you ready to go eat, I’m pretty hungry,” he stands up from the couch. If I don’t do something now I’m going to lose my nerve. I pull him back down onto the couch and attack him. I quickly smash my face into his and by some miracle find his lips with my clumsy attempt.
He tenses, I’m hoping because I just caught him by surprise. So, I keep attacking him. My mind is having a meltdown screaming what are you doing you crazy bitch. Step away from the man, step away from the man.
This is no time for me to lose my nerve. I bring my hands to his neck and turn my head so I can open my mouth against his. He doesn’t resist so I push my tongue into his mouth. Now my body is starting to heat up and I’m finding my groove or at least I’m hoping I am. I’m good at kissing, several former boyfriends have told me that. I just never allowed anyone to take it any further. I ignore the pain from where I bit my tongue. It’s worth it.
He pulls back and I find satisfaction in the fact he’s breathing heavily.
“You know when we were in high school you called me an oversexed teenager who wasn’t going to get anywhere with you.” He runs a hand through his hair and it goes back to exactly where it was before.
I lean back. I’d left a voicemail for him saying such, but I never knew if he heard it or not. It was after I’d found out he had been out with Denise and I knew her reputation.
“Why would you bring that up right now?”
“I don’t know, I just assumed you were still conservative with your body. I don’t want you to think you need to impress me by doing all this. I want you to sing with me and I don’t want to screw this up. When it comes to being successful, I really want it not just for me, but for you too.”
“I’m much more experienced than I was in high school Charlie,” I lie. “Why would you think I wouldn’t be?”
“I don’t know,” he holds his hands up in defeat. “I’m sorry, continue if you want to.” He smiles and brings his hand up to my cheek.
The kiss starts up again and now he’s gotten into my head. I can’t focus on what’s happening. Maybe I still give off a virgin vibe? Is that a thing? I need to get it together. He brings me back to reality when his hand finds my breast and he makes a sound in the back of his throat. It sounds like the sound I make when I taste a good piece of chocolate. I take this as a good sign and gasp as he pinches my nipple through my dress. I gasp as his expert hands take both my breasts and start to do magical things to them.
I remind myself a girl with experience would think this was a perfectly normal thing for a man to do. Also, it doesn’t feel bad. I move closer to him putting a hand on his leg. His breathing has sped up more and his hand is now going down the front of my dress. He moves my hand to his crotch and I feel a hard bulge. I fight every urge I have to pull my hand back and clutch my pearls, and I’m not even wearing pearls. Am I really pretending I know what the hell I’m doing?
My heart trips and stutters in my chest as his tongue presses against mine. Clouds are beginning to swirl inside my mind, making it difficult to form a rational thought. His teeth rake against my lower lip as he nibbles gently. Wow! Who knew nibbling could be so . . . hot. I sure the heck didn’t.