No Attachments (8 page)

"
You won't fall in love with me?" she asked earnestly. Had the situation been different, I would have busted a gut at her question.

"
I promise I won't fall in love with you," I said solemnly since she seemed so serious.

"How about if I promise
I only plan to use you for sex?" I joked.

"
That would help," she said, nodding her head in total agreement.

"
You know this conversation is kind of messed up," I teased, trailing my hand a little farther down.

"
I'm pretty sure everything we've done up to this point is messed up," she said, finally relaxing. "We might as well stay consistent."

"
So, let me get this straight since I tend to look at things a bit analytically. It's okay if we date, but even better if I decide I want to ravish your body to my heart's content, and then walk away when I'm done?" I questioned.

"
Exactly," she said, shivering slightly as my hand continued exploring.

"
I'll pick you up at seven," I said, pulling her toward me. I settled my lips against hers for a moment, devouring the sigh of surprise that left her mouth. I pulled the lip that had been enticing me into my mouth and gave it a soft nip with my teeth. It tasted faintly like a combination of cherry lip gloss and minty mouthwash, but it was the heat that beckoned me. I could have made a feast of her lips and mouth. I wanted to explore every inch of them. After a moment, I forced myself to pull away and open my car door.

Her eyes looked at me questionably as
I stood outside her car. "Sorry, you're bottom lip was driving me nuts. I had to see if it tasted as good as it looks," I explained.

"Well
?" she asked exasperated as I started to close the door.

"
Sweetheart, it tasted better than my wildest fantasies could have ever conjured up," I said, closing the door to her astonished face.

Ashton

I drove home in a fog after the earth
-shattering kiss Nathan planted on me. "Earth-shattering" was so cliché, but this kiss was that and more. Never has a kiss affected me in so many different ways. The clumsy kisses I'd shared with a few boys in high school and college paled in comparison. It was the difference between ordering an aged steak at a five-star restaurant and the chopped meat patties they used to serve in the school cafeteria. His parting words, though, affected me the most. With just a few words, he made me feel desirable and cherished all at the same time.

Pulling in front of my
cottage, I managed to clear the fog in my head long enough to go inside. Along the way, the cold air made its way through my wet clothes, chilling me to the bone and effectively putting out the rest of the fire he'd ignited inside me. My trembling fingers fumbled with my key until I was finally able to slide it into the lock. Closing the front door behind me, I began to strip down, leaving a trail of wet clothes behind me on the way to my bathroom. It took all the hot water the small water heater could muster to fight away the chills that had gripped me. Only when the water started to cool did I switch it off.

I
stepped from the shower, quickly wrapping my body with a towel, and another turban-style around my head.

I was in the midst of pulling skinny jeans and a cable
-knit sweater on when I heard my TV click on in the main room of the cottage.

"
Want to hang out?" Tressa greeted me around a mouthful of gooey cheese pizza. "I figured we could watch a couple movies and gossip."

The tantalizing smell of the pizza reminded me that I had skipped breakfast.
"Sure," I replied, grabbing a piece of pizza as I rounded up my wet clothes from the floor. Still munching along the way, I carried them to the utility room that had been built onto the back of the cottage. I shivered at the quickly dropping temperature outside, and heaved the clothes into the basket so I could rush back inside.

"Man, it's crazy how quick
the weather changes," I commented, heading back through the kitchen.

"
Welcome to northern living. What I wouldn't give for warm weather all year around."

"
Trust me. It's not as glamorous as it sounds. No seasons to speak of and scorching summers take the fun out of warm weather states. Did you bring chocolate too?" I asked, changing the subject as I sat down next to her.

"
Chocolate fudge brownie ice cream," she answered, hitting the button on my Bluray player.

"
Yum. What movies did you get in from Netflix?" I asked, grabbing another slice of pizza.

"
This week it was comedies."

"
Sounds good," I said, settling back against the cushions on my couch.

"
So, are you going to tell me how your jump went, or am I supposed to brush up on my mind-reading skills?"

I took a moment to finish my second slice of pizza before answering her, unsure of how much
information I wanted to divulge. "What makes you think I went through with it?"

"
Uh, maybe because you left wet clothes strewn across your living room. Duh. I can't believe you were dumb enough to go by yourself."

I looked at her questionably.

"Brittni texted me about her strep to warn me, I'll probably get it next since the bitch took a swig of my beer the other night. So, spill it."

"
I jumped off the bridge today," I said evasively.

"
So help me, I will hit you upside the head with this remote if you don't answer my question," she threatened, holding up my remote like a weapon.

"Okay, psycho
. I jumped, and it was scary, amazing and exhilarating all wrapped up into one. I'd do it again if I didn't freeze my ass off afterward, well that, and if I wasn't afraid the bridge was falling on top of me."

"
What?"

"
It would seem someone with a superhero complex was under the impression that I fell in and needed to be saved."

"
OMG, please tell me it was Mr. Hot and Sexy who jumped in to save you," Tressa asked, bouncing on the couch with excitement.

"
How did you know he was still in town?" I asked, surprised that was the natural conclusion she would reach.

"
Hello. You do know this is Woodfalls, right? I could tell you who took a shit yesterday and who was constipated. The whole town is buzzing about the mysterious journalist who's decided to stick around in the boonies for a while. According to a very reliable source, he's super private and won't even let the maid service come in to clean his room. He has them drop off clean towels and sheets in the morning and leaves the dirty ones outside the door of his room," she said in an excited rush. "So, was he your knight in shining armor?"

"
Wow, you're like Google, your knowledge knows no bounds," I joked, ignoring the way my heart rate had kicked into hyperdrive at the knowledge that he was sticking around for a while.

At my comment
, she reached over and whacked me with the remote.

"Bitch
, that hurt," I complained, rubbing my sore leg. "Fine," I said when she held up the remote again. "Yes, it was him. He nearly scared the shit out of me, jumping in after me like that. I was under the water when I heard a big-ass splash behind me. I was convinced that damn bridge was coming down."

"
So, you're telling me this guy also has a hero complex? God, that's rich. Now I'm super bummed I didn't take him first the other night. I wouldn't mind a little mouth-to-mouth if you catch my drift."

"
I'd have to be in a mineshaft, hundreds of miles beneath the earth not to catch your drift," I answered dryly. "It was sweet, but I'm not looking for some heavy relationship."

"
Honey, neither am I, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun in the meantime. He's obviously panting after you like a dog. Use him for mind-blowing sex and move on," she said, grabbing a third slice of pizza.

"Y
ou sound like Fran. Aren't small-town girls supposed to have a higher sense of morals or something?"

"
Honey, it's Sunday. Do you see me at any kind of church? Nope. My lack of morals was exposed many years ago. That and the fact that I may or may not have corrupted some of the boys when I was younger may have me on the 'we need to pray for her soul' list at all three churches in town. Seriously though, they act like skinny-dipping in the baptism pool is frowned upon," she quipped, winking at me outrageously.

"
Nuh-uh, please tell me you didn't," I asked, torn between laughter and horror. I wasn't a churchgoer, but I'm sure that pretty much ranked up there with peeing in holy water or something like that.

"
Only a couple of times."

"
A couple of times?" I said, finally giving in to the urge of laughing.

"Okay, m
ore like five times, but seriously, it was spread out at all three churches. So, really it was closer to one-and-a-half times at each church. No biggie," she said defensively.

"
Well, that's one way to look at it, I guess. At least you were spreading the love, or boobies more accurately," I teased, pointedly eyeing her large chest that never seemed to want to stay confined beneath the material of her shirts.

"
Truth. These babies deserve to be shared," she answered, cupping her breasts for emphasis.

"
Does that mean you've decided to break it off with Jackson again?" I asked, naming her on-again, off-again boyfriend who drove me more than a little batty.

"
Yeah," she said, looking guilty. "I just couldn't take it anymore. His dumb-ass mom is forever feeding his head with stories about how a good girl should act. She has him convinced he's going to go to hell for sticking it in me before marriage. She's always telling him we're too young for sex and not mature enough to handle it. I swear I feel like I'm back in high school rather than my senior year of college. I like him and all, but he seriously needs to figure out the kind of man he wants to be. Either he's a man that has his own mind, or he's a mama's boy. Regardless, I'm sick of holding his hands through his guilt. He gets all excited during the whole act, but after it's over, he acts like he's run over a dog or something."

"His mom would shit
if she knew how many teens were sexually active at my old high school, and it was even worse at college. She should be happy you two are at least adults. Are you going to drop him for good this time?"

"
I think so. There's a guy in my Psych II class who's been asking me out since the semester started."

"
Good for you," I said, not admitting that I'd always questioned her and Jackson's relationship. I'd seen his wishy-washy attitude about things firsthand. Plus, he was a total douche about letting Tressa do certain things, like attend parties closer to her college. He had once commented that she was lucky he allowed her to make the forty-five minute commute to her campus each day. I had to fight the urge not to punch him in the throat for that one.

"
You think so?" she asked, sounding insecure for the first time since we'd become friends.

"
Absolutely. You totally deserve someone who's not constantly belittling you when he's not trying to sex you up."

"
It feels scary," she admitted. "We've been on a break before, but we've never dated other people, and we've been together practically since we were freshman in high school."

I nodded my head
, already knowing everything she was saying. As far as I was concerned, seven years of bullshit was seven years too many. "I think you're making the right decision. You deserve way more than that mama's boy is willing to give you," I reassured her. "When are you going out with the guy from your class?"

"
His name is Michael, and next Saturday. We're going to go listen to some new band everyone's been raving about. They're supposed to be uh-fuc-king-mazing. You and Britt should come check them out."

"
Right, because having you're two best friends tag along with you on your first date isn't a buzzkill. Besides, Brittni leaves in the morning for the internship training thing."

"
Don't be a smart-ass. I meant you guys should go and check it out too. Maybe we could go check them out tonight before Britt heads out."

"
Can't tonight," I said around a mouthful of pizza.

"
Why not?"

"
I kind of told Nathan I'd go out with him tonight."

"Are you fucking with me? Y
ou've known this whole time I've been here that you're going out with make-me-wet stranger and you're just now mentioning it?" she yelled, whacking me with the remote again.