Playing My Love (24 page)

  "Hahaha, well that's okay cos I intend keeping
her
on her back!"  she laughed, and Phil nearly choked.  Gray had obviously twigged that we were winding Phil up because he carried on.

  "Good luck with that!  Ali's always loved it on top!"

  We all laughed loudly.  Me in complete surprise at his off the cuff comment, and Phil in disbelief at what was happening!

  "Well, thank you for letting me take her for a test drive tonight!  I promise to have her back to you by the morning."

  "Just don't wear her out completely.  We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

  I wasn't sure how much longer this would have carried on for had we not been interrupted by a lad who'd obviously just graduated as well.

  "Phil, dad wants you to come and get in some photos"  he said, oblivious to what he had walked into.  "Oh, hey, Darcy.  See you later at the party!"  he said as he tugged a reluctant Phil away for a family photo.

  After he'd gone, Nicki came running up and dragged Darcy off for pictures as well, leaving Gray and I alone.

  "Thanks, Gray."

  "What for?"

  "For going along with all that."

  "Going along with all what?"

  "Winding up Phil?"

  "Huh?  Did I miss something?"

  I looked at his puzzled face.

  "
Um, no, not really." 
I might have though.

  "Does Phil fancy Darcy?"

  "Come on"  I said, taking his hand.  "Let's go and check we've packed everything."

  Because the weather
was wonderfully warm, I decided to wear a short blue summery dress with a pair of white Gucci sandals I'd dug out of my wardrobe, and topped the outfit off with a cute cardigan for when it got cooler.  I also threw a couple of blankets into the boot, just in case it got really cold, then went to find Gray to say goodbye.

  "Have a nice time, but make sure you're home by six am, no later"  he warned, giving me a hug.  The only reason I was able to attend the students graduation party in the woods tonig
ht was because we'd cancelled our hotel reservation at the airport.  Luckily we'd booked an early flight which left at eleven the next morning, making it easy for us to rearrange our travel plans.  Gray had been amazing and said that I could go with Darcy to her celebratory party, so long as I was back by six to drive straight to the airport with him.  This meant a lot to me that he recognised the importance of Darcy in my life enough to allow me to spend tonight with her.

  "Okay, I'll be back way before then"  I said, hugging him back.  "I've got a full battery on my phone if you need to call me, and I'm not drinking so I can
come straight back if there's an emergency…"

  "Ali, darling, just go!  And have fun!"

  "I will!  Love you!"  I called back over my shoulder, even as I was texting Darcy to let her know I was on my way.  She sent a message straight back saying she was ready and waiting, so I jumped in my jeep and sped off.

  She was s
at on the wall outside her flat with her guitar case in one hand, and a glass of wine in the other.  As I pulled up, her mouth stretched into a wide, warm smile.  She looked so beautiful sat in the sunshine, my breath caught.  I was really going to miss her over the next four weeks, and was determined to enjoy our last evening together.  Her hair was in two plaited pig tails which looked very cute on her, and she'd opted to wear an extremely small pair of shorts (which made her legs look longer than normal if that was even possible) and a tight blue t shirt with the number '47' in big red characters emblazoned across the front.  She got in the jeep and I tried not to stare at her legs, failing miserably.

  "Wow, you've spent a lot of time sunbathing
"  I said, my face warm.  "Your legs look amazing!"

  "Just my legs, huh?"  she teased.

  "Well, no, I mean,
you
look amazing!  But your legs look great!  They're really tanned"  I said, trying to quell the urge to caress them and see if they were as silky smooth to touch.

  "Um, Alison?  Hello?  Are you going to acknowledge the rest of my body, or do you and my legs want to go get a room?  It's just that I'm kind of attached to them, so…"

  "I'm so sorry!"  I forced my eyes up and met hers, time freezing as something unspoken passed between us.  "You look amazing"  I said softly.

  "So do you"  she replied.
  We stayed that way for a while, just staring at each other dreamily, until a teenage mother walked by the open window swearing loudly at her child, snapping us out of it instantly.

  "Okay, so where is this party then?"  I asked brightly.

  "Oh…er, it's a hidden party in the woods, so I'll give you directions as we go."

  I smiled as we pulled away, not really caring where it was or who would be there.  As the sounds of
Eeek filled the jeep, I knew it was going to be a magical night.

  After an hour and a
quarter of mingling, Darcy caught my eye.

  "Hey, do you want to go for a walk?  There are some trails around here that lead to clearings like this one"  she asked quietly.

  "That sounds nice"  I replied, relieved.  I hadn't wanted to drag her away from her own graduation party, but was desperate to spend some time alone with her.  I could feel our time slipping away and just wanted her to myself for a while.  Plus, I had something that I wanted to give to her in private.

  We
walked away quietly, waiting until we were out of sight before our hands slipped into each other's.  I wasn't sure whose made the first move, but it felt good to have her soft hand in mine. 
Really
good.  Like, flip flops in my belly good.  Neither of us spoke as we walked, and I trusted her to lead the way as she seemed to know where she was going through the dark trees, although she was using her phone as a torch to navigate.  After about fifteen minutes, we suddenly stepped through the trees and into a beautiful clearing with a single large oak tree in the centre.  We headed for it, admiring the clear sky as we did and taking deep breaths of the fresh night air.  We released hands to sit down, but kept our bodies close.

  "Daneka, I…I got you a graduation present"  I said nervously, pulling my bag onto my lap.

  "Alison no, you shouldn't have!  You've already given me a car."

  "
Exchanged
a car, and look how far my playing has come!  It was worth every penny!  I actually have two gifts for you, but we're sharing one of them"  I said as I opened up my bag.

  "Is one of them the bag?"  she asked cheekily, nudging me with her shoulder.  I looked down at my favourite
three hundred and fifty pound Chanel bag and caressed the soft cream leather.

  "Then make that three presents"  I said decisively and held it out to her.  "She's all yours.  Apart from the keys and mobile phone, I'm going to need those back"  I added hastily.

  "Oh no, I was only joking!  This is your favourite bag!"

  "Now we can share it!
  Look inside."

  It wasn't quite a full moon, but there was sufficient light to see.  With shaking fingers she opened the clasp and pulled out the contents.  There was a miniature bottle of champagne and two
plastic flutes to drink it from, and a small box with a blue ribbon around it.  Ignoring the champagne she picked up the box.

  "This looks expensive"  she joked nervously, but I was certain I was more nervous than she.  I'd spent a long time searching for the perfect gift and I desperately hoped she was going to like it.  I held my breath as she pulled off the ribbon and opened the box.

  "Oh, Alison…oh my god, it's beautiful!"

  "You like it?"

  "I love it!  Thank you!"  She held up the delicate gold watch to look at it closer.

  "The back's engraved too."

  "I can't see, it's too dark.  What does it say?"

  "It says 'Daneka, Love Always, Alison' "  I said, my voice shaking.  She looked up at me and I saw she was close to tears.

  Thank you"  she whispered, then leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips, lingering a second longer than she should have.  She pulled back quickly.  "I'm sorry."

  I swallowed, breathing fast.

  "Don't be."

  "No, I'm sorry because I think I'm going to do it again."

  She leaned in slowly and I closed the gap, pushing our lips together.  Dear god I was so helplessly in love with this girl!  Her mouth was soft and sweet and perfect against my own, and I felt something inside ignite from our kiss.  It deepened and I held onto her as I tried to lie back on the grass, pulling her down on top of me.  Instead she pulled back, leaving me confused on the ground.

  "Please?  Stop?  I don't think I'll be able to stop if we carry on"  she whispered, her voice catching.  I wanted to ignore her but she looked so anxious, I knew I had to respect her wishes.  I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths.

  "Maybe we should head back?"  I suggested, not trusting myself to keep hold of my shaky self-control.

  "
Yeah.  Maybe we should."  She put the watch carefully back into the box and then replaced everything back into the bag before hanging her head down.  "I'm going to miss you so much.  Four weeks is a lifetime."

  "It'll fly by.  I'll be back in no time."

  She hesitated.

  "Alison, I have to tell you something.  I haven't been completely honest with you.  My mum…the reason she couldn't come today was because she's an alcoholic.  I've been phoning her all week to remind her about today, and…she just decided to get drunk instead.  When I spoke to her this morning, she
just got angry at me for hassling her!"

  I took her hand.

  "Oh, Darcy.  I'm so sorry."

  "I didn't tell you before because…it sounds so stupid now!"  She covered her face with one hand.  "I didn't tell you because I didn't want your pity!"

  "It doesn't sound stupid.  I understand completely"  I said truthfully.  After all, wasn't that the reason behind my not telling her about Gray's cancer?  Because I didn't want her pity?

  "I don't want us to have secrets.  I've hated keeping this from you, but it was nice in a way that you didn't know.  It was nice that I could just be happy and relax around you.  Sort of like escaping from my problems in a way."  She
sighed.  "Look, I'm not stupid.  I know there's something going on with you and Gray, and I know you're not ready to tell me yet.  At first I thought it was because you were ill or something."

  I was shocked to hear her admit this, but she carried on.

  "But I think we've both been escaping with each other, if that makes any sense?"  She sighed again.  "I know you'll tell me when you're ready, but I want you to know that, well, you can.  Okay?"

  "Okay."

  She stood up and held out her hand to me.

  "Come on.
  Let's head back."

  I took her hand and let her pull me up, then after dusting our bums free of dirt we started walking back the way we'd come.

  I wasn't quite sure what possessed us to keep holding hands when we reached the party.  I couldn't tell you if we simply forgot we were still connected, or if it was because it felt so natural that we didn't give it a second thought.  But when we walked past a group of lads near the fire, they erupted into whoops and cheers.

  "
Oi-oi!  Where you two been then?"

  "Get lucky did
ya, Darce?"

  We dropped hands immediately and carried on walking, hoping they'd drop it.  They didn't.

  "Nicki, I thought you said they wasn't shaggin'?"  one of them shouted out, loud enough to attract the attention of quite a lot of people who instantly turned to stare.

  "Trent, you're a fucking arsehole!"  Darcy suddenly said, her voice shaking with anger.

  "Oo-ooh, someone's defensive!"  Trent taunted.  A few people tittered, but now everyone's eyes were on the drama unfolding before them.

  "Guys, come on, leave it?  This is meant to be a celebration"  Nicki said, sounding extremely drunk.

  "Yeah, come on guys, lez-be friends?"  one of them shouted and more than a few laughed at the crappy joke.  My face burned with the humiliation, but Darcy just pulled me away from them, heading for the guy who'd been strumming on her guitar.  She took it from him without a word, then led me out of the clearing.

  "
Darce?  Darce, where you going?  Come on babe, don't listen to them, they're arseholes"  Nicki shouted, backed up by quite a few others, but she ignored them all.

  "Can you drive us somewhere else?  So it's just the two of us?"  she asked.  I nodded, wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible.  Behind us I could hear everyone giving grief to the lads who'd jeered at us.