Fragments (35 page)

              Once we have our drinks, Trinity comes over, screaming, and grabs the girls, jostling them against her.

“Oh, my God! Hazel! You’re really here! Yay! Holy hell, you women look hot!”

“You saw me the other day, you doofus. You look hot too, babe.” Haze laughs. Trinity has chosen to dress like the actual Trinity from
The Matrix
. Her black, skin-tight leather pantsuit looks like a second skin, and she has slicked her hair back with a slight part to the side. Around her hips, she has a weapons belt with two fake guns.

“Alex! You’ve got guns, too! But do you like my guns? They’ve got vodka in them! Winner!”

I laugh and see Theo standing nearby dressed as Blade, the vampire, in a long leather jacket and a tight black tank, pants, and sunglasses. He has filled out since high school. It does not go unnoticed, as several other female guests are giving him the once over. He looks mean, especially when he glances away from the group that he is talking to and back over to Trin. I never understood those two. Blind as bats.

After a couple of hours, the main lights are turned off, leaving a multi-coloured disco ball and a few overhead droplights, giving the room an almost nightclub look.

“The girls sure have made an effort tonight,” Robbie muses.

“Yeah,” I agree while sipping my beer. I have only taken my eyes off Bea for a moment to check out my surroundings, before honing back in on her. Robbie and I continue to drink while strolling around the room, checking out the surroundings and readjusting the mannequin arms. Superman is now scratching himself.

“So tell me, Al,” he begins while adjusting Wolverine’s hand to give the bird, “You and Bea getting along all right?”

I step near Captain America, holding my shoulders firm, while replying, “Fine. Been good having a housemate again.” 

He tilts his head and gives me a knowing look. “Good. So I suppose now you guys can move on and get your act together?”

My hand is frozen mid-air from adjusting Captain’s shield. Bewildered, I look through the mannequin’s bent elbow at Robbie, seeing his smirk while asking, “What are you talking about?”

“Mate, you two are both ridiculous. It’s been years and you’re still tied up in knots about each other. If you’re looking for my blessing, you had it years ago. I know something happened between you—I’m not stupid—but if it’s all past, then either get your shit together or move on to someone else.”

My shoulders stiffen as I survey Robbie’s face,

“Oh, man … I don’t …” I hesitate.

He puts his hand up to silence me. “Don’t bullshit me. I know enough about not pursuing, and it’s bitten me in the arse.”

I step around the mannequin to stand in front of him.

“If you like her, go for it. Least that way, I don’t have to pretend anymore. Sick of you both dodging each other, when clearly there’s something there.” His words cloud my ears, but one tiny phrase stands out.

“Who is she, Robbie?”

Caught off-guard, he looks sheepish. Looking out across the room towards the girls, he mutters, “Someone I should’ve let catch me and instead, I let her go. Now, she has experienced the world and there’s probably no room in it for me. Tonight, she’s chosen to poison me with her costume—if you know who I mean.”

I mouth,
Hazel?
And he nods.

Staring along with him, I can’t help but ask, “Have you been banished to the friend corner?”

I smirk; keen to wipe the forlorn look on his face.

Robbie laughs. “Yep, been chained to the corner. But don’t you worry, going to break out of it soon. Just biding my time.” He waves his hand and continues, “Enough about me. I see how my sister looks at you, how you both deliberately dodged and weaved around each other’s lives and your puppy eyes deserve to have your man card revoked, so I’m telling you—get your shit together. Before you’re stuck where I am.”

I am just about to ask him more, when a group of guys step in front of us, blocking my gaze from Bea. Josh from her dance class and a few others I don’t recognise stand by, admiring our work on the mannequins.

“Nice effort.” Josh grins. “I think slipping some fake boobs into Wolverine, though, would work nicely.”

Laughing, I pretend to contemplate it, putting my finger to my chin. Josh is dressed as the Phantom of the Opera, complete with open white shirt. This guy is ripped. He is yet another reminder of when I have been a jerk to Bea. “Josh, about the other month, I’m sorry if I offended you.”

He waves my hand away and tuts. “Not at all, I’m just sorry I forgot the popcorn.”

I chuckle, relieved that he isn’t making me pay for it.

“Josh, in all the year’s I’ve known you, I thought you would’ve dressed as the real Phantom, tights and all,” Robbie jokes.

Josh flicks his hair out of his eyes and pins Robbie with a cheeky grin. “Oh, Robbie, I know I can rock a pair of tights, but if I had known how much you wanted to see me in them, I would have dropped over to see you sooner.”

We all burst out laughing while Robbie’s face heats. My gaze returns to the dance floor behind the couches where Bea has begun dancing with a small group of people, as well as Hazel. Theo and Trin stand nearby in what looks like a heated discussion.

“Well …” Josh gestures to the drinks that are behind Bea. “All this sexual tension is making me thirsty. Catch up with you guys later.”

Winking at me, he saunters off with the others following.

“He’s such a flirt,” Robbie quips. “You know how many times I’ve heard, ‘are you sure you’re happy living the straight and narrow’? Almost every time I came home and visited Trice, he was there.” He rolls his eyes and continues to stare at the dance floor. While looking at the girls, he seems just as forlorn as I feel.

Robbie is right; it’s time to get my shit together. I nudge him and begin walking towards the girls. A small group has gathered on the dance floor and the girls in question are dancing together to the jazzy tones of Amy Winehouse. I look at Robbie, who is staring intently at Hazel.
Interesting.
I catch his eye and cock my eyebrow and he gives me the bird. Yep, he has it bad, all right. The sneaky shit.

The end of the song is nearing, so I throw my beer in the nearest bin and stand by the end of the couch, watching her move. The soft sub beats of Iio’s “Rapture” begins. The accelerated beats, combined with the sexy lead singer’s voice, lure me close to the dance floor. Bea has her back to me, dancing almost skin to skin with her friends and a whole lot of admirers staring at them. 

I don’t understand the composition of music. All I do know is whether it is decent or not. Listening to the familiar lyrics, I know that if ever there was a song made for seduction, this is the one.

Once again, the siren has reawakened me with the alluring roll of her hips, leading me, the little lamb, into the lion’s den. Walking closer, the animalistic urge to lay my hands on her surges through me like molten lava. Bea and Hazel turn to each other and begin dancing closely, and twisting their bodies together to twirl down to the floor and up. This alone is beyond hot, but I want Bea to myself. I hear a distant frustrated, “Fuck,” from Robbie nearby. I don't turn my gaze away, but I continue until I am within touching distance. My heart rate increases as Bea’s hair swirls down her back. I want to grip it in my hand and pull her neck back and taste those cherry lips. The guys dancing near her sense my perusal and my glare, and begin giving me room to finally touch her. 
That's right, fellas, back off. 

Haze looks up at me, and takes a step back as her gaze then zones into Robbie. Her startled

eyes soon turn curious as he steps forward and holds out his hand. Friend corner, my ass. Timidly smiling, she clasps his hand and allows him to draw her closer, while also keeping a safe distance.

Trice's arms are above her head, reminiscent of the seductress’s dance for me at the bar RTs. I step behind her and place a hand on her tight hip, she stiffens as I move my other arm to wrap around her torso and rest flat against her stomach. Her body relaxes when my face nuzzles against her cheek, until I trace the shell of her ear with my nose and breathe deeply onto her neck. Her skin breaks out into goosebumps, and I bury my face into the side of her hair while drawing her body to sway with mine. We no longer follow the beat of the music; instead, we create our own.

My legs shadow hers, and I begin to softly sing the words of “Rapture” into her ear. She tilts her ear towards my mouth and curls her body into mine. The sway of her skirt, wisped against her toned thighs, makes my need for her grow substantially. If she doubted me before, my grip against her now signifies a fierce possessiveness that I can barely control, and I am in no way near done in claiming her back to me. The song changes into another but I am not listening to the music—instead, I focus on the beating of her chest against mine. The delicious way her body syncs with mine, against my front, causes a friction so intense that if we didn’t move from this dance floor soon, I was going to create a floor show of the naked kind with her, soon.

“Four years, Bea, and I never forgot. You were beautiful then, my Bea, but now you are incredible.” I feel a sharp intake of breath, but I continue, “Do you remember us that night, Bea? I do. I remember how you moved, how you tasted, and how you felt.” I linger my lips under her ear and whisper loudly, “Every … single … second.”

She tenses then pushes my arms away. Before I can grab her, she storms off towards the end of the room. Her shoulders are tense as she marches through the groups of people.

She reaches the end of the hall and is about to head up the stairs when I grab her arm and pull her with me into the first changing room. Tearing the curtain across, I cloak the room in darkness but can still see her silhouette.

“What’s wrong, Bea? What did I say that hurt you?”

Her arms are tense by her sides as her chest heaves up and down. “Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just leave the past alone? I don’t know what you want … You confuse me,” she pants.

I reach out and grab her face with my palms. “Bea, I want you, I—”

“I’m not just a fucking notch, Alex. I’m worth more than that. Worth more than to be left and ignored,” she hisses. 

I gaze into her eyes and hold them firmly. “I know, Bea. You were never a notch. That night, afterwards, I could hear my father tell me what a piece of shit I was. I believed him. I watched you sleep and all I could think of was that you deserved better than me. That I would never be good enough.” Her eyes widen as she studies my face.  I suck in a deep breath and stare down at the ground, ashamed to look at her.

”I still don’t feel that I am good enough for you. I’ve made so many mistakes trying to rid his words, but they ruined me. I guess I’ll always just be a piece of—”

Her hand wedges between our bodies and she tilts my face up, covering my lips.

“Shh,” she hisses, her eyes filled with rage. “You were
never
like him. You are not a piece of shit. Do you think that I’d have feelings for you if you were? Geez, Alex, you might be an arsehole sometimes but you’re nothing like him—ever!”

I clench my eyes shut and breathe in deeply. It is a lot for me to take in. Opening them slowly, she stares back at me, with a look so intense that my chest tightens, leaving me vulnerable and exposed.

“Bea, I need you to—”

She grips my vest and pulls me forward. “Alex, please just shut up.”

She slams her lips into mine. I sigh in relief, as this time it feels like she is claiming me. Her tongue dives eagerly into my mouth as our lips push and pull against each other. Both our breathing escalates and I lift her hips until her legs are wound tightly around my waist. Pushing her against the changing room wall, I grind my hips into her and watch as her head tilts back on a moan. I am three seconds away from unzipping my pants, when a cold breeze whips across my back; looking over my shoulder, Josh is standing there, smiling, and starts to clap.

“Popcorn? Where’s the popcorn?”

Bea squeals and quickly moves her legs down. I cut Josh a death stare and make sure to guide her so she is standing behind me. He grins at the both of us and looks at my face muttering, “Red looks good on you. So does arousal. Oh, and I ordered a taxi while you were dry humping the dance floor. Figured it would be best. It’s out the front.”

My annoyance fades to gratitude as I grab Bea’s hand.

“Yeah, thanks man,” I mumble, pulling her closer to me. We both power walk to the yellow taxi out front and before stepping inside, I catch her eye to see if this is what she wants. She lifts her finger and touches all over my face and giggles.

“Looks like you’ve been attacked by a crayon,” she says, and she opens the door and slides across the seat. I don’t hesitate. I follow after her like a man starving for his next meal.

              The taxi ride home is the longest of my life. I hold her hand and softly kiss her, not wanting to lose any momentum, while also not mauling her either. I didn’t want the driver to see any of her fire. I want it just for me.

              Bursting through the door, our lips fuse as I push her into the nearest wall and slam the front door shut with my boot. Licking and tasting her mouth, I swallow each moan she makes as my hands rake up her skin. Both hands beg to trace and learn the fabric of her body. I push against her, rubbing my groin firmly into her hips, and rotate it, relishing in the soft moans she makes while I swallow each one down. Her hands are tangled into my hair, gripping me tighter and pulling me closer until I feel like we are the same person. I continue to kiss her like it’s the first time, and love her like it’s my last. I want this moment to imprint itself on my memories forever; I want to mark her, and I want her mark on me.