Always Remember (Memories) (25 page)

“
Ew,” Lexy mutters. “I’m no prude, but ew.”

“I
’m with you on that.” I point to her. “So that’s it? She’s just leaving?”

“Tomorrow,”
Saph clarifies. She sinks the rest of her wine and eyes us, settling on me. “So I’d finish your drinks and get your asses to Sam. She ain’t done with your guy, Jen.”

~

“Why are we doing this outside instead of in the basement?” I groan, chills starting on my bare arms.

“You
’d be a shit surfer,” Alec mutters, not for the first time.

“Yeah, I
’m more of a sun guy. I’m a city guy, remember?”

“A city guy who regularly gets his ass handed to him by a small town girl.” He grins.

“Fuck off.” I laugh, standing up and wiping my face. The back doors open and I look up.

Jen comes flying through the door, runs across the garden, and launches herself at me. I stagger slightly, holding her ass in my hands as she jumps up, wrapping her legs around my waist. She grabs the back of my head and presses her lips against mine.

It’s a desperate kiss, one I’ve felt before. It’s the same kiss she’s given me each time since last weekend – but this one is tinged with determination.

Her tongue slides against mine, her fingers tightening in my hair, and I dig my fingers into her skin. Her legs grip me tighter, her body pushes against mine, and I almost forget we have an audience.

“Well, that’s the best hello I’ve had in a long fucking time,” I mutter, staring at her still closed eyes. They snap open, and I’m suddenly swimming in the blue of them.

“She can kiss my ass. She might be leaving, but she
’s not fucking having you. I don’t care. The day she gets you is the day she climbs over my dead body to get to you. You’re
my
guy, and I don’t give up anything that’s mine.” Her eyes are full of steely resolve, as hard as ice. But… Heidi’s leaving?

“Heidi
’s leaving?” I repeat out loud.

“That
’s what Saph said,” Lexy says from behind Jen. “And she thinks she’s not done with you, thinks she’ll show up here or something in a last ditch attempt to get to you go back to Kent with her. It brought out Jen’s tiger.”

“I happen to like that tiger,” I mutter, feeling her thigh muscles clench. I lower us carefully to the ground, letting her sit in my lap, and wrap my arms around her back. I hold her tight to me, proving to her that the feeling is mutual. “I
’m not going anywhere, babe. You know that. Me and you, remember?”

“I know,” she says in a quieter voice. “But she
’s kept up this game because I’ve let her. I should have grabbed her bleach blonde extensions and flipped her over my shoulder onto her surgically enhanced chest the first time she tried it.” Her eyes flick away and back to me. “I’m not even letting her try, Sam. I don’t care anymore. I’m looking at everything I care about.”

I touch my lips to hers. “I love you,” I whisper. “And your tiger.”

She smiles against my mouth. “I love you, too, and so does my tiger.”

I smile, running my hands down her back.

“They make me feel slightly sick,” Lexy says deliberately loudly.

“Then I hope you never have to see you and Alec. I
’ve ruined perfectly good toilet bowls over you two in the past.” Jen laughs, spinning so she’s sitting next to me.

Lexy pokes her tongue out and Jen does the same. I watch as Jen flicks her tongue across her bottom lip. I glance up and she
’s looking at me from the side of her eye. Her lips creep up on one side.

“Stop teasing him, Jen. It
’s not nice.” Lexy grins, glances at Alec, and bites her lip. His eyes double-take before the smile drops from his mouth. She slowly releases her lip, and Alec shakes his head. I look at him sympathetically. He shrugs.

“Fuckin
’ girls,” he complains, dropping back to the grass himself.

“Do you think Heidi will come here?” I direct the question to Lexy.

She shrugs one shoulder. “I don’t know. Saph thought she might. I don’t know what she’d come here for, though. She hasn’t spoken to you in a week.”

“Does she know that her little plan didn
’t work?”

“No idea.
Saph didn’t mention it, and neither of us thought to ask. Funnily enough, we were preoccupied with the news of her leaving.”

“Why is she leaving?” Alec asks.

“She lost her job, thought she could live off Daddy, and he refused. She has to move back in with him and her mum,” Jen explains.

“And
Saph knows this how?”

“One of
Saph’s guy friends was pretending to seduce her and he was at Heidi’s when she spoke to her Dad.” Lexy pauses. “She’s kind of… influential.”

“She paid this guy?” Alec
’s eyebrows raise.

I shake my head. “
Saph wouldn’t have paid anyone. She’s… Shit. Well, she’s a bit of a tease. She’ll promise him something and not deliver, but she always gets what she wants. If you’re male, you’re capable of being wrapped around her little finger.”

“The only person resistant to her charms is sitting right in front of us,” Lexy says dryly.

I smirk, resting my head against Jen’s. “I’m only into blondes.”

“You
’re only into one blonde,” she says.

“I
’m only into one blonde,” I correct myself. I feel her nod her head.

“Sam?” Mum shouts from the back door.

“Mm?” I look up.

“Heidi
’s at the door asking for you.”

Jen scrambles up and storms across the garden, followed by Lexy, before me and Alec even think about moving. We stare at each other for a second.

“Shit,” Alec mutters.

“Fuck shit asshole is more like it,” I respond, jogging across the garden and into the house. We pass through the kitchen and into the hallway.

“No.” Jen shakes her head. “I don’t care if you’re here to see Sam, you can go and fuck yourself with a teaspoon for all I care. You’re not welcome anywhere on this property.”

“It
’s not your house,” Heidi argues.

“No, but its mine,” Lexy interjects. “You have five seconds to explain why you
’re standing on my doorstep before I let Jen remove you.”

Judging by her clenched fists, Jen would love to remove Heidi.

From more than this house.

“I want to see Bing.”

“Sam,” I correct her, leaning against the railing. “My name is Sam. Don’t forget that, Heidi.”

“Noble. You dropped your nickname.” Her voice is sweet despite the sneer on her face. “I was just bringing you a few things from our time-”

“Really? You have used condoms?” Jen puts a hand on her hip. “There’s a bin at the end of the drive. In fact, while you’re dropping them in there, just climb in yourself. That’s where trash belongs, after all.”

Heidi sighs raggedly. “Perhaps you should see them, Jen. There
’s a few dated pictures here.”

“Go on then, I
’ll humour you,” Jen says dryly.

Heidi delves inside her bag and pulls out a few pictures, handing them to Jen. Jen snatches them and flicks through them. She reorganises them neatly, puts her hands at the top, and tears straight through the stack. Lexy and Heidi watch with their mouths open, and me and Alec both have to hold in our laughter.
Lexy’s mouth closes and twitches into a grin.

“I guess that
’s what Jen thinks of that,” Lexy states.

Jen rips through the pictures again. “Unless I
’m mistaken, five seconds was up a while ago.” She slaps Heidi in the chest with the ripped images. “Nice try. Don’t try art on an art student, sweetheart, because any art student worth their shit can see those dates have been photoshopped on. Your bitch really does know no limits. Like I said, nice try. Your last ditch attempt at getting him back failed, just like every attempt before now.”

Heidi
’s face contorts in anger, her mouth twisting to the side and her eyes narrowing.

“Let me give you some advice.” Jen steps in front of Lexy, her back to us, and I guess she
’s looking Heidi right in the eye. “It’s only two words, and simple enough for an airhead like yourself to understand.”

“I bet I know what those words are,” Alec whispers, nudging my arm.
I smirk, nodding.

“Ready for my expert advice?” Jen asks. “Fuck. Off.”

“Before she makes you,” Lexy mutters. “I’m not gonna stop her.”

“Neither am I,” I mumble to Alec. He shakes his head.

“Or me, mate.”

“Do I need to repeat that?” Jen
’s voice rises a little.

Heidi steps to the side of her, her eyes meeting mine. “Bi – Sam?”

“You heard what my girl said, Heidi.” I hold her gaze. “It was a nice try, but you failed. I’m not going anywhere with you. Ever.”

She shoves her hand in her pocket and makes to move. Jen
’s arm shoots out, her hand clamping around Heidi’s arm.

“Don
’t even think about it,” she hisses. “Or I’ll key your damn face.”

“Be doing her a favour,” Alec says. Lexy shoots him a look over her shoulder, amusement in her eyes. “I
’m just sayin’, Princess. That’s all.”

“You
’d be right,” I whisper under my breath, my eyes focused on the door. Mum taps my shoulder.

“Do I need to get her removed?” she asks quietly.

I shake my head. “I think Jen will do that for us.”

Jen releases Heidi
’s arm, and she turns, storming down the driveway to her car. She gets in, slamming the door behind her. I push off from the banister and stand behind Jen, slipping an arm around her front.

“Okay, babe?” I kiss the side of her head.

“No. I’m actually kinda pissed. I was hoping I could bitch slap her.” She turns in my arm, looking up at me innocently.

I let my lips move into a smile, pulling my other hand up to cup her cheek. I search her beautiful blue eyes. “We
’ll have to work some frustration out later,” I whisper to her. “Because I’m kinda turned on right now.”

She smiles, her eyes twinkling. “My tiger turns you on, huh?”

“Mhmm,” I purr. She grabs the collar of my shirt and pulls my face to hers, kissing me hard. I slide my hand around the side of her head, sinking my fingers into her hair, and hold her face against me. She rests her head against my chest, and I rest my chin on the top of her head.

Mum
’s soft brown eyes meet mine, and her face slowly breaks into a smile. She raises an eyebrow, and I know what she’s asking. I raise both my eyebrows in response, giving her a helpless look.

She nods once softly, winking, and she looks exactly like Gram as she does it. I swallow and smile at her before she disappears up the stairs.

I drop my head and hold Jen even tighter to me.

She said to stop proving to her that it
’s her. Right here, right now, with her in my arms, I vow to never stop proving to her. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving to her how beautiful she is, how much I want her, how much I love her.

I will never stop proving it to her.

I hum happily to myself as I climb the stairs to my flat, my folder tucked under my arm. Funny. Last week I was threatening to castrate the humming bird next to me, and now I
’m the chirpy little fucker. The difference ten days make!

I slip my key into the lock, twist it, and push open the door. Sam is stood in the middle of my living room holding a giant white box with a red ribbon. I can
’t help the grin on my face

“What
’s that?” I ask him, kicking my door shut. I put the folder on my kitchen table and shrug off my coat.

“It
’s a gift that will last a lifetime.” He grins, holding it out.

“Have you bought a vibrator with rechargeable batteries?”

“Jennifer.” He frowns a little. “Do you always have to make a stupid comment? Can’t you see I’m trying to be romantic?”

I smile. “I know, but stupid comments are always necessary.” I bound up to him and take the box. I set it on the sofa gently and sit next to it, tugging at the bow. Sam shoves his hands in his pockets and watches me as I unwrap the box.

I rip off the paper, tear open the box, and pull out the box within it. It’s wrapped – I frown. “Another box?”

“Just unwrap it.” He grins.

“Um, okay.” I shrug a shoulder and unwrap it, shoving the first box to the side. I find the same thing inside this box – another wrapped box. And another. And another.

And another.

“Are you kidding me?” I raise an eyebrow at Sam. “How many goddamned boxes do I have to unwrap before I get to the actual gift?”