Bound Together (67 page)
Authors: Marie Coulson
Amy’s eye lit up as she
dropped her computer on her bed and hurried over to mine. “Wow. You
look amazing. That dress is perfect.”
In preparation for our
dinner I’d taken the small amount of money I had saved from working
at Lorraine’s and headed to the mall. I’d managed to make it all
the way to the store and back to my car and only thought of Jared
eight times. It was definitely an improvement on my previous record
of constant.
My knee length purple
dress was an elegant yet cheap selection. Slim line and straight,
it accentuated my hourglass figure perfectly. A knock on the door
indicated Ollie was ready for me and as I hurried to get it, I had
to take a deep breath to calm my nerves. Standing in the door way,
he looked stunning. His hair was perfectly straight and dressed in
slacks and a black shirt that he’d left slightly unbuttoned, he
looked like a hot rock star ready to party. His eyes scanned my
body and he whistled loudly.
“
Wow. You look
incredible.” I smiled and gestured for him to come in. “I just need
to grab my shoes and we can go.”
“
Ok. Hey Mel, Amy. How’s
it hanging?” They eyed him curiously. Mel stifled a laugh. “Ollie
you couldn’t look more uncomfortable if you tried. Fess up, you’ve
never taken a date to a fancy dinner before have you?”
“
Mel!” She was stirring
again. “Honestly? No I haven’t but I’m glad that the first time I
do it’s with a girl as amazing as Layla. No other girl has ever
deserved it in my opinion.” Pressing a kiss on his cheek I smiled
before turning to Mel and sticking my tongue out at her. Shrugging,
she and Amy resumed their toying with their computers, merely
giving us a raise of their hands as we left.
The restaurant was small
yet exquisite. The lighting was dim yet bearable and candles sat in
the center of every table. Seated near a window, I beamed at Ollie
across the table. “Nice place right?” He slid his hands across the
table and nodding I placed mine on top of his. “It’s lovely Ollie.
Thank you for bringing me here.” He grinned and bit his bottom lip.
Picking up a menu I began scouring it for a dish that seemed
appropriate and also sounded somewhat appetizing. Selecting the
braised beef I placed my menu on the rack and focused on the hot
rock god sitting across the table.
“
I spoke to my mom
today.”
Ollie and his mother had
been on speaking terms since he went to see her a month before but
other than the usual pleasantries they hadn’t gotten very far
toward reconciliation.
“
Oh? How…was
it?”
He clutched my hand. “She
wants to get to know me better. She gave up the drugs over ten
years ago and I know she’s changed. I can see it but there’s still
that part of me that hates her so much Layla.”
I brushed my thumb back
and forth across his knuckles. “What do you want?”
He sighed deeply. “I want
a family. I want to belong to somebody.”
I smiled at hearing his
words. Any family would be lucky to have Ollie and his mother was
finally trying to make up for lost time. “That’s good Ollie. Maybe
you could go visit during spring break or she could come here.”
Sitting opposite me, his smile faded as he gazed into my eyes.
Reaching his hand to my face he brushed a strand of hair from my
eyes. A long sigh left his lungs and he pressed his eyes closed
tightly.
My insides twisted as
anxiety and worry flooded my body. “Ollie? What is it?” Opening his
eyes, he stared down at our joined hands.
“
I’m going to Utah.” I
stared at him not completely understanding his sudden sorrowful
expression. “How long will you be gone?”
He shook his head and I
knew the answer without him saying a word. “You’re not coming back
are you?”
Looking into my eyes he
shook his head again. A lump formed in my throat. I’d had him all
this time and now he was slipping through my fingers just when we
were finally moving forward together and I was powerless to stop
it.
“
My mother wants us to
give our relationship a chance. I’ve spent the past four days
thinking it over and I have to try Layla. She’s got a little boy.
He’s my half-brother. He’s real funny and he loves music. He wants
me to teach him guitar. This is my chance at having a family, a
real family. She’s changed. She’s been clean for over ten years now
and we’ve talked. A lot.”
He was gushing but I
couldn’t focus; his words were hitting me like bullets. “But, what
about us? What we have?”
He tilted his head to the
side and held his palm to my cheek. “You know how I feel about you.
I love you. That’s why I had to tell you. I wanted to give you
time.” Give me time? Time for what? I gave him a bewildered look
completely confused at what exactly he was talking about. “Layla, I
want you to come with me. Let’s get out of here. Start a new life
in Utah. Leave all the hurt, pain and past behind us here and start
our new life there.” Was he serious!?
Snatching my hands from
his I sat back in my chair and stared at him. I couldn’t get my
head around everything he’d just said. “I can’t leave. My life is
here. Amy, Mel, my parents. What about college?” Leaning across the
table he rested his hands on my forearms. “We’d be ten hours’ drive
away. Less if you go by plane. Your folks can come visit us, we can
visit them and you could transfer to college there. My mom has an
apartment above the garage and she said we can live there
completely rent free. She’s actually a successful realtor now. I
can’t believe how different she is. I want you to come with me
Layla and I want you to want to come too. I’m going in summer break
once the year is over. I’ll transfer to college there. Look, this
is a big decision and I need you to think it through. Be completely
sure. Don’t answer right now. Think about it.”
I nodded. There was
nothing I could say. I was in shock. Rounding the table he crouched
in front of me and pulled me into his arms holding me tightly. I
swallowed hard and found the strength to speak “What do we do
now?”
His lip ring pressed
against my cheek and I closed my eyes tightly, savoring the
sensation. “We carry on. Like right now, we have dinner and
tomorrow we hang out with Amy and Mel. Friday nights we go to
Benny’s and we continue to do everything we always have. Nothing
has to change right now. Ok?”
Lifting my face with his
hand he kissed me. He was wrong. Everything was about to
change.
and before I knew it, spring break was upon us. Carrying a bag of
essentials in his hand, Ollie entwined our fingers in the other. We
were heading for the beach and since the weather was so fine, I’d
elected to walk there rather than drive. In my denim white hot
pants and bathing suit, it finally felt like summer was coming to
Long Beach. Ollie looked like an underwear model with his white
cotton shorts and slim, muscular body. He was utterly scrumptious
to look at. Holding his hand tightly, I couldn’t help but smile.
We’d grown so close over the past few weeks and I was really
beginning to let him in a little. We spent every day together in
class, in his room hanging out and in the evenings we’d take his
Ducati up to the hills for some privacy. He and his mom had been in
constant contact and she was planning on coming down to visit him
on Saturday. “I can’t wait for you to meet her Layla. She’s only
staying one night so I figured we could go for dinner and then I’d
hang with her a while at the hotel. That ok with you?”
I nodded. “Sure, can’t
wait.”
Meeting Ollie’s mother
was not an experience I was looking forward to. He may have
forgiven her for walking out on him but I was not so easily
persuaded. What kind of woman walks away from her child and leaves
him with his abusive father?
Deciding I would keep my
mouth shut for Ollie’s sake, I listened as he gushed about the
apartment she was readying and although I’d yet to give him my
answer, he still insisted on saying
we
. “It’ll be amazing. There’s
already a couch and a bed and we can get everything else we need
once I sell the bike.” Halting my steps I gawked at him. “What do
you mean sell the bike? You love that Ducati.”
Pressing his lips to mine
he smiled. “I know. But I love you more and I want to make a nice
home for us.”
My stomach churned. Oh
god, he was giving up his pride and joy for me and I wasn’t even
sure I was going with him.
“
Ollie, don’t make any
big decisions yet. I still haven’t decided if I can do this with
you. Just, hold fire ok?”
Staring at the ground he
nodded and I knew my words had hurt him.
“
I’m not saying no Ollie.
I’m saying I’m not sure yet. You said I should think it through and
that’s what I’m doing. Can we please not talk about it and just
have a nice day at the beach? Wanna rub lotion on my back for me?”
I gave him a suggestive smile and it worked.
“
I’d happily rub anything
you want Layla. All day and night if you’d let me.” I grinned and
placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Let’s just start with sun lotion
for now. We can discuss the rest later.”
The sun was gloriously
hot and as I lay on the warm golden sands. My head in a book, I
tried to catch up on my reading for our psych class but as he lay
beside me, skin glistening in the sunlight, Ollie became a big
distraction. Closing my book, I put it aside and leaned on my
elbow. He was so still he could have been sleeping and with his
dark shades over his eyes, he may well have been and I’d be none
the wiser. His hands behind his head he let out a satisfied moan
and it called to me like a siren to unfortunate sailors. Placing my
hand on his chest, I traced my fingertips over his perfectly formed
pecs. A trail of hair led from his chest to his happy zone and with
a smile on my face I twirled and dragged my fingers down to the
waist of his shorts. The corners of his mouth curled up and I knew
he was watching me from beneath those specs. So we were going to
play huh? Brushing my fingertips across his torso, I grazed it
gently, swirling my fingers back and forth before sliding my hand
beneath his shorts.
Gripping my wrist he
caught me and grinned, tut-tutting. Flipping me on to my back he
laid on top of me. My toes pressed against his feet as he pinned me
to the sand. My heart pounded and my insides clenched as his mouth
closed over mine. His kiss was sweet, loving and yet passionate
simultaneously. “That’s a risky game you’re playing. We’re in
public for a start.”
Pressing my palm against
his chest, I could feel his own thundering heartbeat beneath it. He
was clearly as turned on as I was as his erection pressed against
my sex. If I could have willed the world to disappear and our
clothes to disintegrate, I would have been in the throes of ecstasy
right there on that beach.
“
Layla, stop. We can’t do
this here.”
I shifted under him and
slid my hand between us to his crotch. Grasping him in my hand, I
breathed heavily against his mouth. “When Ollie? I don’t think I
can wait much longer.” I was giving him the green light and I
expected him to dart right through like a bullet. Rolling off of me
he laid on his front and shrugged. “Not yet. Soon.” We’d been
holding off so long I was fit to burst and I feared soon wouldn’t
be soon enough to save me.
What do you think Layla?
Layla?”
I shook my head not
hearing what Amy had said to me. “What?”
Rolling her eyes, she
sighed. “I said what do you think about throwing Ollie a going away
party?”
“
Oh, yeah, sure.
Whatever.”
As the week had gone on,
I’d found myself becoming more and more despondent. Talk of Ollie
leaving was a subject I didn’t want to discuss. After he’d asked me
to go with him to Utah, he hadn’t brought the subject up once and I
knew he was avoiding it because he was afraid of my answer. But I
didn’t have one yet. I’d tried desperately to figure it out and
even spent three hours with Amy and Mel drawing up a list of pros
and cons. But even that didn’t get me very far as for every pro
there was a con. It ended in a tie breaker and me tearing it up and
groaning into my pillow. How could I make such a huge decision just
like that? I wasn’t just leaving college I was leaving my friends,
family and everything I’d built over the past year.
I didn’t want us to break
up but could I seriously leave and follow him across the country?
My heart was torn between my family, friends and the man I’d grown
desperately close to. Sitting down next to me on the bed, Mel
nudged me with her shoulder.
“
Still can’t figure out
what you’re gonna do huh?”
I shook my head. “I can’t
just drop everything and go Mel. I care about Ollie I do and I
don’t want to end what we have but...” The words were stuck in my
throat like a thorn. Amy and Mel were only too aware of the reason
I was holding back.
“
You don’t love him do
you Layla?”
Holding my hands over my
face I shook my head. “I want to. I want to so much but I just
can’t. He’s amazing, wonderful and everything I could ever want in
a man but my stupid broken heart can’t seem to let go of Jared.
It’s killing me!”
dropped her computer on her bed and hurried over to mine. “Wow. You
look amazing. That dress is perfect.”
In preparation for our
dinner I’d taken the small amount of money I had saved from working
at Lorraine’s and headed to the mall. I’d managed to make it all
the way to the store and back to my car and only thought of Jared
eight times. It was definitely an improvement on my previous record
of constant.
My knee length purple
dress was an elegant yet cheap selection. Slim line and straight,
it accentuated my hourglass figure perfectly. A knock on the door
indicated Ollie was ready for me and as I hurried to get it, I had
to take a deep breath to calm my nerves. Standing in the door way,
he looked stunning. His hair was perfectly straight and dressed in
slacks and a black shirt that he’d left slightly unbuttoned, he
looked like a hot rock star ready to party. His eyes scanned my
body and he whistled loudly.
“
Wow. You look
incredible.” I smiled and gestured for him to come in. “I just need
to grab my shoes and we can go.”
“
Ok. Hey Mel, Amy. How’s
it hanging?” They eyed him curiously. Mel stifled a laugh. “Ollie
you couldn’t look more uncomfortable if you tried. Fess up, you’ve
never taken a date to a fancy dinner before have you?”
“
Mel!” She was stirring
again. “Honestly? No I haven’t but I’m glad that the first time I
do it’s with a girl as amazing as Layla. No other girl has ever
deserved it in my opinion.” Pressing a kiss on his cheek I smiled
before turning to Mel and sticking my tongue out at her. Shrugging,
she and Amy resumed their toying with their computers, merely
giving us a raise of their hands as we left.
The restaurant was small
yet exquisite. The lighting was dim yet bearable and candles sat in
the center of every table. Seated near a window, I beamed at Ollie
across the table. “Nice place right?” He slid his hands across the
table and nodding I placed mine on top of his. “It’s lovely Ollie.
Thank you for bringing me here.” He grinned and bit his bottom lip.
Picking up a menu I began scouring it for a dish that seemed
appropriate and also sounded somewhat appetizing. Selecting the
braised beef I placed my menu on the rack and focused on the hot
rock god sitting across the table.
“
I spoke to my mom
today.”
Ollie and his mother had
been on speaking terms since he went to see her a month before but
other than the usual pleasantries they hadn’t gotten very far
toward reconciliation.
“
Oh? How…was
it?”
He clutched my hand. “She
wants to get to know me better. She gave up the drugs over ten
years ago and I know she’s changed. I can see it but there’s still
that part of me that hates her so much Layla.”
I brushed my thumb back
and forth across his knuckles. “What do you want?”
He sighed deeply. “I want
a family. I want to belong to somebody.”
I smiled at hearing his
words. Any family would be lucky to have Ollie and his mother was
finally trying to make up for lost time. “That’s good Ollie. Maybe
you could go visit during spring break or she could come here.”
Sitting opposite me, his smile faded as he gazed into my eyes.
Reaching his hand to my face he brushed a strand of hair from my
eyes. A long sigh left his lungs and he pressed his eyes closed
tightly.
My insides twisted as
anxiety and worry flooded my body. “Ollie? What is it?” Opening his
eyes, he stared down at our joined hands.
“
I’m going to Utah.” I
stared at him not completely understanding his sudden sorrowful
expression. “How long will you be gone?”
He shook his head and I
knew the answer without him saying a word. “You’re not coming back
are you?”
Looking into my eyes he
shook his head again. A lump formed in my throat. I’d had him all
this time and now he was slipping through my fingers just when we
were finally moving forward together and I was powerless to stop
it.
“
My mother wants us to
give our relationship a chance. I’ve spent the past four days
thinking it over and I have to try Layla. She’s got a little boy.
He’s my half-brother. He’s real funny and he loves music. He wants
me to teach him guitar. This is my chance at having a family, a
real family. She’s changed. She’s been clean for over ten years now
and we’ve talked. A lot.”
He was gushing but I
couldn’t focus; his words were hitting me like bullets. “But, what
about us? What we have?”
He tilted his head to the
side and held his palm to my cheek. “You know how I feel about you.
I love you. That’s why I had to tell you. I wanted to give you
time.” Give me time? Time for what? I gave him a bewildered look
completely confused at what exactly he was talking about. “Layla, I
want you to come with me. Let’s get out of here. Start a new life
in Utah. Leave all the hurt, pain and past behind us here and start
our new life there.” Was he serious!?
Snatching my hands from
his I sat back in my chair and stared at him. I couldn’t get my
head around everything he’d just said. “I can’t leave. My life is
here. Amy, Mel, my parents. What about college?” Leaning across the
table he rested his hands on my forearms. “We’d be ten hours’ drive
away. Less if you go by plane. Your folks can come visit us, we can
visit them and you could transfer to college there. My mom has an
apartment above the garage and she said we can live there
completely rent free. She’s actually a successful realtor now. I
can’t believe how different she is. I want you to come with me
Layla and I want you to want to come too. I’m going in summer break
once the year is over. I’ll transfer to college there. Look, this
is a big decision and I need you to think it through. Be completely
sure. Don’t answer right now. Think about it.”
I nodded. There was
nothing I could say. I was in shock. Rounding the table he crouched
in front of me and pulled me into his arms holding me tightly. I
swallowed hard and found the strength to speak “What do we do
now?”
His lip ring pressed
against my cheek and I closed my eyes tightly, savoring the
sensation. “We carry on. Like right now, we have dinner and
tomorrow we hang out with Amy and Mel. Friday nights we go to
Benny’s and we continue to do everything we always have. Nothing
has to change right now. Ok?”
Lifting my face with his
hand he kissed me. He was wrong. Everything was about to
change.
Chapter
43
Time
and before I knew it, spring break was upon us. Carrying a bag of
essentials in his hand, Ollie entwined our fingers in the other. We
were heading for the beach and since the weather was so fine, I’d
elected to walk there rather than drive. In my denim white hot
pants and bathing suit, it finally felt like summer was coming to
Long Beach. Ollie looked like an underwear model with his white
cotton shorts and slim, muscular body. He was utterly scrumptious
to look at. Holding his hand tightly, I couldn’t help but smile.
We’d grown so close over the past few weeks and I was really
beginning to let him in a little. We spent every day together in
class, in his room hanging out and in the evenings we’d take his
Ducati up to the hills for some privacy. He and his mom had been in
constant contact and she was planning on coming down to visit him
on Saturday. “I can’t wait for you to meet her Layla. She’s only
staying one night so I figured we could go for dinner and then I’d
hang with her a while at the hotel. That ok with you?”
I nodded. “Sure, can’t
wait.”
Meeting Ollie’s mother
was not an experience I was looking forward to. He may have
forgiven her for walking out on him but I was not so easily
persuaded. What kind of woman walks away from her child and leaves
him with his abusive father?
Deciding I would keep my
mouth shut for Ollie’s sake, I listened as he gushed about the
apartment she was readying and although I’d yet to give him my
answer, he still insisted on saying
we
. “It’ll be amazing. There’s
already a couch and a bed and we can get everything else we need
once I sell the bike.” Halting my steps I gawked at him. “What do
you mean sell the bike? You love that Ducati.”
Pressing his lips to mine
he smiled. “I know. But I love you more and I want to make a nice
home for us.”
My stomach churned. Oh
god, he was giving up his pride and joy for me and I wasn’t even
sure I was going with him.
“
Ollie, don’t make any
big decisions yet. I still haven’t decided if I can do this with
you. Just, hold fire ok?”
Staring at the ground he
nodded and I knew my words had hurt him.
“
I’m not saying no Ollie.
I’m saying I’m not sure yet. You said I should think it through and
that’s what I’m doing. Can we please not talk about it and just
have a nice day at the beach? Wanna rub lotion on my back for me?”
I gave him a suggestive smile and it worked.
“
I’d happily rub anything
you want Layla. All day and night if you’d let me.” I grinned and
placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Let’s just start with sun lotion
for now. We can discuss the rest later.”
The sun was gloriously
hot and as I lay on the warm golden sands. My head in a book, I
tried to catch up on my reading for our psych class but as he lay
beside me, skin glistening in the sunlight, Ollie became a big
distraction. Closing my book, I put it aside and leaned on my
elbow. He was so still he could have been sleeping and with his
dark shades over his eyes, he may well have been and I’d be none
the wiser. His hands behind his head he let out a satisfied moan
and it called to me like a siren to unfortunate sailors. Placing my
hand on his chest, I traced my fingertips over his perfectly formed
pecs. A trail of hair led from his chest to his happy zone and with
a smile on my face I twirled and dragged my fingers down to the
waist of his shorts. The corners of his mouth curled up and I knew
he was watching me from beneath those specs. So we were going to
play huh? Brushing my fingertips across his torso, I grazed it
gently, swirling my fingers back and forth before sliding my hand
beneath his shorts.
Gripping my wrist he
caught me and grinned, tut-tutting. Flipping me on to my back he
laid on top of me. My toes pressed against his feet as he pinned me
to the sand. My heart pounded and my insides clenched as his mouth
closed over mine. His kiss was sweet, loving and yet passionate
simultaneously. “That’s a risky game you’re playing. We’re in
public for a start.”
Pressing my palm against
his chest, I could feel his own thundering heartbeat beneath it. He
was clearly as turned on as I was as his erection pressed against
my sex. If I could have willed the world to disappear and our
clothes to disintegrate, I would have been in the throes of ecstasy
right there on that beach.
“
Layla, stop. We can’t do
this here.”
I shifted under him and
slid my hand between us to his crotch. Grasping him in my hand, I
breathed heavily against his mouth. “When Ollie? I don’t think I
can wait much longer.” I was giving him the green light and I
expected him to dart right through like a bullet. Rolling off of me
he laid on his front and shrugged. “Not yet. Soon.” We’d been
holding off so long I was fit to burst and I feared soon wouldn’t
be soon enough to save me.
* * *
What do you think Layla?
Layla?”
I shook my head not
hearing what Amy had said to me. “What?”
Rolling her eyes, she
sighed. “I said what do you think about throwing Ollie a going away
party?”
“
Oh, yeah, sure.
Whatever.”
As the week had gone on,
I’d found myself becoming more and more despondent. Talk of Ollie
leaving was a subject I didn’t want to discuss. After he’d asked me
to go with him to Utah, he hadn’t brought the subject up once and I
knew he was avoiding it because he was afraid of my answer. But I
didn’t have one yet. I’d tried desperately to figure it out and
even spent three hours with Amy and Mel drawing up a list of pros
and cons. But even that didn’t get me very far as for every pro
there was a con. It ended in a tie breaker and me tearing it up and
groaning into my pillow. How could I make such a huge decision just
like that? I wasn’t just leaving college I was leaving my friends,
family and everything I’d built over the past year.
I didn’t want us to break
up but could I seriously leave and follow him across the country?
My heart was torn between my family, friends and the man I’d grown
desperately close to. Sitting down next to me on the bed, Mel
nudged me with her shoulder.
“
Still can’t figure out
what you’re gonna do huh?”
I shook my head. “I can’t
just drop everything and go Mel. I care about Ollie I do and I
don’t want to end what we have but...” The words were stuck in my
throat like a thorn. Amy and Mel were only too aware of the reason
I was holding back.
“
You don’t love him do
you Layla?”
Holding my hands over my
face I shook my head. “I want to. I want to so much but I just
can’t. He’s amazing, wonderful and everything I could ever want in
a man but my stupid broken heart can’t seem to let go of Jared.
It’s killing me!”
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