The Complete Memories Series (33 page)

Jen steps away. “Fine. I’ll go get my stuff.”

“
No need,” I reply. “It’s already in the boot, and your bag is on the floor by the front seat.”

“
Presumptuous ass,” she grumbles, walking around my car. She yanks the door open, gets in, and slams it behind her.

“
Hey!” I get in next to her. “Piss off with the door slamming.”

She gives me an evil look out the corner of her eye.
“It’s the door or your face. Whichever one you’d prefer, Samuel. Personally, I’m down for whatever.”

I start the engine, smirking to myself.
“I wanna say face because it’s a part of me, even if it isn’t the body part I’d rather you be slamming right now.”

I hear the snap of her teeth, and I
’ve never been gladder to be driving. As much as I love winding her up, she’s got a right hook that would knock out Ricky Hatton.

“
You,” she grinds out. “Are the biggest goddamn asshole I’ve ever had the complete displeasure of meeting in my whole life.”

“
Yet you still can’t stay away from me.”

“
Believe me, if it wasn’t for the fact you’re my best friend’s brother, I’d be avoiding you as much as humanly possible.”

“
Or would you have given into my charm by now?”

“
What charm is that? It certainly isn’t anything endearing.”

“
Oh, she wounds me.”

“
The only thing I’ve ever wounded of yours is your ego.”

“
Whenever you fancy kissing it better, you know where to find me, babe.” I wink at her.

Jen looks at me with forced disdain.
“I wouldn’t kiss it if your ego was water and I was dying of thirst.”

“
I’ll just have to make sure that if that situation ever arises, my ego is made of vino instead of water, then.”

“
Have you had an award for your comedic statements yet? ‘Cause, really, Samuel, I applaud your complete and utter lack of hilarity.”

I grin.
“University has made you eloquent, Jennifer, and I see Devon has made you your usual snarky, bitchy self.”

“
I’ve always had a way with words.” She puts her feet on the dash, and I clench my jaw. “You just bring out the best in me, Sam.”

“
Get your feet down,” I order.

“
Oh, don’t you like it?” She turns her face to me, her eyes wide and innocent.

“
This isn’t the first time you’ve been in my car, Jen. You know it’s my baby. She stays clean.”

She grins widely, her sapphire blue eyes twinkling.
“Then I won’t tell you about the splatter of cow shit on the back.”

“
You’re kidding,” I deadpan.

“
Absolutely not.” She shakes her head.

“
Fuck sake,” I grumble, turning onto the link road.

“
Bet my Uggs aren’t quite so evil now, huh?” she says smugly, settling down into the seat.

“
Not really… But I hope you’re wearing a jumper over that jacket.”

“
I haven’t. Why?”

“
Because there’s two inches of snow in London, and when I left this morning, it was still going.” I grin.

“
You’re kidding?”

“
Absolutely not,” I throw her words back at her.

“
Fuck a duck,” she curses, reaching forward to turn the heater on. “Could have told me before I got in the flippin’ car.”

“
Where’s the fun in that?”

She grunts, and I chuckle quietly to myself. Yeah, this journey is gonna be as fun as it will be sexually frustrating.

~

I sigh and look at my phone. Dead battery.
“Is your phone working?”

She huffs like extracting her phone from her Mary Poppins size bag is such a chore, and it probably is.

“You bringing the kitchen sink back with you? Is yours broken?” I motion towards the bag.

“
Nope.” She rifles through it. “But there’s a high chance I’m considering keeping a blender in there for your balls.” She pulls her phone out triumphantly.

“
Why would you put a blender in there for my balls?”

“
Because you’re the most infuriating person on Earth. As you well know.” She holds the phone out, and I look at her. “Take it then!”

“
Why can’t you do it?”

Her blue eyes narrow at me.
“I have no idea why you want a phone, Bing. You never told me.”

Twat.

I take the phone and do a quick Google search for a nearby travel lodge, B’n’B, anything that could get us apart. Five hours of being next to her in this car watching the scenery change from green to white has felt like a fucking age. I catch her crossing one of her long legs over the other and tapping her knee out the corner of my eye, and I purposely look at the phone. I don’t really see anything. It’s more of a blur on a white page as I imagine what...

Nope. I
’m stuck in the middle of nowhere and have no idea where we’re going to go tonight until the roads are ploughed. I am not going to fantasize about the crazy ass blonde next to me. Fuck knows I’ve spent enough time doing it since our almost kiss at Dad’s party last year.

“
Anywhere?”

Yeah... The walls, the car bonnet, the... Oh.

“What?” I blink, and look at her. She frowns.

“
Have you found anywhere to stay tonight?” she asks me slowly.

“
You don’t need to talk to me slowly, Jen, I’m not deaf.”

“
No, but you are stupid, so you could always misunderstand.”

“
Keep it up, and we’ll be sleeping in the back seat of the car,” I threaten.

“
I’m not sleeping anywhere with you.” She laughs. “That’d be like social suicide, you do realise that? I have a bad ass reputation to keep up and it doesn’t involve staying in even the same room as London’s playboy.”

“
Unfair,” I flinch slightly anyway. “I’m nowhere as bad as I used to be, and you know that. Call Mum and get her to find us somewhere to stay.”

She tilts her head towards me.
“You’re not as bad as you were, I’ll give you that, but you’re still like a dog on heat sometimes.”

“
You realise it’s the females that have heat, right?”

Her lips curve into a smile.
“That’s the point I’m making, Samuel.”

I lean over the gearstick
, putting her phone in her hand, brushing her fingers with mine. Her face is inches from mine, her eyes focused on mine. “Anytime you feel like letting me prove you wrong,” I say in a low voice. “I’ll be more than happy to oblige you, Jen.”

Her fingers tighten around the phone, and her eyebrows shoot up.
“I’m sure you’d be more than happy to try, Sam, but I’m unsure if you could satisfy my needs.”

I laugh, moving even closer. I can feel her breath across my mouth, and the urge to close the gap and take that breath from her is stronger than ever.

“Believe me, Jen, I could satisfy every need you have and then some you didn’t even know about.” My eyes flick down to her slightly parted lips and back up. “So don’t push me into proving it.”

“
You wouldn’t dare,” she challenges.

“
It’s not a secret I’m as attracted to you as I am annoyed with you. I’m just better at hiding it, so yes. Yes, I would dare, and I’d enjoy every fucking second of it.”

Her eyes are full of warring emotions, and she finally settles on anger. They narrow, and she yanks the seatbelt out. I lean back, smirking smugly with the knowledge I
’ve got to her.

“
I don’t even have a word in my giant repertoire strong enough to scream at you right now,” she hisses, pushing the door open.

“
The only word you need to be screaming at me is my name, babe,” I reply, watching her climb out of the car.

She gets out, stops, and turns to me. She opens her mouth for a second, shakes her head, then closes it again, apparently settling on giving me the finger instead. I grin as she slams the door.
I win that round.

“
You have got to be kidding me.” I lean over the counter in the travel lodge. “One room?”

“
I’m sorry, miss, that’s all we had available when the phone call was made. The lady I spoke to assumed you’d rather have one room than none at all,” the receptionist says, his eyes scanning my body.

I clench my jaw, turning to face Bing.
“Fine, but you’re sleeping on the floor.”

“
We’ll see.” He smirks.

I hold my hand out to the guy behind the desk. He looks down at it then up at me questioningly.

“Key,” I demand. “I want to go to my room.”

“
Oh, of course.” He grabs it from the back rack and gives it to me. I take it from his grip, spinning with the elegance of a ballerina. Bing is glaring at the guy.

“
If you’d rather stay here in reception, Samuel, its fine with me,” I throw out as I stroll past him.

“
Stay out here when I finally have you in a bedroom all to myself? Not a chance,” he responds.

“
I see you’re still dreaming.” I step into the elevator.

“
Oh, didn’t you know?” He steps in after me and raises his eyebrows. “I can see the future.” He winks and it does funny things to my stomach. God dammit, it is way too cold for those butterflies to be fluttering about and flirting with my insides.

“
Then your eyesight needs checking.” I slide the key into the door. “Because your perception is as screwed as a prostitute at a stag night.”

“
So is your sleeping alone plan.” He smirks and takes my suitcase from me, wheeling it into the room. “Double bed. Enough room for both of us.”

I suck my bottom lip into my mouth and glare at him and the bed.
“Fantastic. Not only am I stranded with Mr. Slaggy Pants, I now have to share a bed with him. Can it get any worse than this?” I shrug, kicking the door shut behind me.

“
Oh, come on, Jen.” Bing looks up. “Is it really gonna be that bad to share a bed with this?” He gestures to his body. I’m not surprised I have to force my eyes to stay on his. He’s not exactly hard on the ol’ peekers.

“
Maybe not, but it isn’t exactly gonna be all that great either.”

I shrug my coat off and sling it over a chair, looking around for the TV remote. The bed springs creak as Bing drops himself back onto it, and the room fills with the sound of the television. I spin, and he
’s holding the remote up.

“
How did you find that? All I can find is these stupid little pots of sugar and milk.” I frown at them.

“
I’m a male, gorgeous. If it’s woman, TV, or sport related, I’m on it faster than you can scream my name.” He grins. “You, however, are female, which means you naturally gravitate towards the kettle. Be a love and pop it on for me.”

I turn and launch the pot of milk at his head.
“Pop that on, prick.”

He laughs. I grab some pyjamas from my suitcase and lock myself in the bathroom to change and take a few deep breaths.

He’s so fucking infuriating. His smart arse comments, his winks, his little smirks... Just him.

“
Argh,” I growl under my breath and quickly change. I leave the door open on my way back into the hotel room and try not to stop as I notice Bing. He’s lying back on the bed, his arms crossed behind his head showing ripped biceps. His top has ridden up his stomach slightly showing the darkened indent of a ‘v’ disappearing under his jeans.

He clears his throat, pleasure shining in his brown eyes.
“Checking me out, Jen?”

“
Not in a million years.”

His lips slowly curl up on one side.
“Sure.”

“
I wasn’t.” I clench my teeth together, and eye the bed warily. The prospect of sleeping next to him all night is as annoying as it is appealing.

“
Do you want me to bite you?” He grins wolfishly at me. 

“
You what?” I half shriek, secretly thinking how hot that could be...

“
I said, do you want me to bite you?”

I clear my throat, perching on the bed.
“Like I want a hole in the head, a stake to the heart, a bit of lego under my foot...”

“
Then don’t worry. You can move up.” He pats the bed. “I’m not going to seduce you.”

“
Why do I not believe you?”

“
Because you’re too intent on the thought of me seducing you?”

“
Never gonna happen.”

“
Then move up.”

“
I don’t particularly want to be next to you right now.” Liar, liar, thongs on fire!

“
Jen…”

I roll my eyes.
“Sam…”

He pats the bed more insistently, and I shake my head firmly.

“Not gonna hap-” I scream the last of the word out as he reaches over the bed, grabs my waist, and pulls me over. My arms wrap around his neck on reflex, and my head hits the back of the pillow.

It occurs to me that Bing is leaning right over me, his hands settled on my waist, and his face inches from mine. My knee brushes his thigh as I move it, and I feel his fingers dig into my skin a little.
I unlink my fingers behind his neck and let my hands drop a little, my heart pounding. The last time we were this close…

“
I told you I wouldn’t bite,” he whispers, and I feel the breath he lets out with each word flutter across my lips.

“
Get off me, you bloody great buffoon,” I mutter, shoving at his shoulders.

He rolls to the side, his fingers brushing across my stomach. My muscles clench, and I yank the covers from under me
. I slip under them, huffing, and roll over, putting my back to Bing.

“
Sleeping already?” he asks.

“
It’s either that or I hit you.” Or rip off your clothes. I’m guessing both wouldn’t be acceptable, so this is an all or nothing kind of situation.

“
Depends where you’re going to hit me.”

I flick my leg backwards, the heel of my foot making contact with his shin sharply.

“Ow! You bitch,” he hisses, and I feel the bed move as he rubs his leg.

I smile smugly to myself, snuggling down into the quilt.
“Not the place you were expecting, huh?”

“
That wasn’t a hit. That was a kick.”

“
What’s your point?”

“
Donkeys kick.”

I shrug.
“So I’m a donkey, you’re an ass. We’re even. Now shut up, I’m trying to sleep.”

The tele goes off, and the mattress dips as he lies down. He moves a little closer to me,
and I feel him move my hair from my ear.

“
And one of these days, Jennifer, I’m gonna ride that donkey right out of you.”

“
You absolute-”

“
Goodnight, gorgeous,” he whispers, shifting to the other side of the bed.

My lips twitch. Butthead.

~

I honestly thought that if I didn
’t get out of that bed, that room or that hotel this morning as soon as humanly possible I was gonna go bat shit crazy and jump on that annoyingly arrogant git.

Bing is sex on legs and then some, and he knows it. He knows he
’s got that sexily styled messy hair that looks like he’s just run his fingers through it, and he knows his smoky, mocha brown eyes can draw you in to another world with just one look. He also knows he has a better six pack than Carlsberg could ever dream of making.

Him knowing it is the problem because he flaunts it every second he gets. Like this morning, when he came out of the shower wearing nothing but a little white towel. I
’m pretty sure my face went seven shades of pomegranate and well, if I was a lesbian, which I’m definitely not, the sight of him all wet and dripping would have made me straight again.

I shake my head and unlock my flat door. I think I
’m mentally disturbed. I just broke up with my boyfriend of three years and I’m dreaming about licking water droplets off my best friend’s brother.

God, someone call the men in white coats or,
better – pass me the vodka.

I nudge the door shut with my hip and set my suitcase down against the wall. After a day of travelling, being attacked by my crazy yet loveable niece, that final day in Lilac Bay, and a night sleeping next to the guy who has inappropriately appeared in my dreams for the last six months, I
’m ready for a holiday abroad. Or maybe, if I’m lucky, a trip to space.

Crap on a lollipop. I shake my head at myself, and chuck my c
oat on the sofa. My phone rings, and I jump, my heart thudding. Okay, it’s too damn quiet here.

“
Hello?” I hold it to my ear.

“
Are you back? Mum said you were stranded with Bing. You have no idea how sorry I feel for you right now!” Lexy exclaims.

“
Considering you’re ringing on the landline phone then yes, I am home, you moron.” I laugh. ‘“And you have no idea how torturous it was.”

“
Torture? Tell me more.”

I can envision her sitting down with Alec leaning in to listen.
“Your mum rang ahead and booked us two rooms, or so we thought. We get there and there’s only one. Your brother, the fucking genius he is decided that because it was a double bed, we’d share. I wanted to toss him into the snow.”

“
And he sleeps naked,” Lexy muses.

“
I’msorrywhatdidyoujustsay?” I spit out without breathing. “
Naked
?!”

I had that fine, naked piece of ass next to me all night and I didn
’t even realise?! Wait, “fine, naked piece of ass?” Mother Nature must be on her way ‘cause this is definitely my hormones.

“
Mm, he usually does. I think its habit from when he used to sleep around,” she explains almost apologetically. “I don’t know if he did last night though. Probably not.”

I remember the way he leaned over me, his lips millimetres from mine.
“He probably did. It’d be just like him to do that.”

“
You have a point. But he didn’t crash you into a lamppost or anything, did he?”

“
No, if he did I would have crashed his ass into a tree or something.” I shrug even though she can’t see me and take the orange juice from the fridge.

“
I don’t doubt it. Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you got back okay. We’ll be back in like ten days.”

“
I’m fine. How is... Um, how’s Carl?” I flinch at the guilt that slices through me. Wait, I don’t have anything to be guilty about, do I? Oh, I am so not on board with this self-doubt shit.

“
He’s... Okay, actually.” I imagine her frowning. “I dunno, this was for the best, Jen. Neither of you have really been happy lately, have you?”

“
No, I don’t think so. The arguments and all that crap was just wearing us down. We were trying to hold onto something that slipped away a long time ago. We have totally different paths in life. He’s happy to stay in that small town and I’m... not. You know, there’s a part of me that wishes he could be more like Alec.”

“
Why?” She’s incredulous.

“
He followed you to London because he couldn’t be without you. For everything me and Carl shared, he never did that. He didn’t even visit me once. But it’s done now, right?” I put the carton down.

“
Jen, are you okay?”

“
I am. Really, I’m fine. I guess I’m just a little upset things had to end the way they did, but at least it was a mutual thing.” But not upset enough that I can’t think about your brother in an inappropriate way.

“
Okay. Look, I gotta go. We’ll speak later, yeah?”

“
Of course. Have fun. Bye!”

I drop the phone, and watch it slide across my counter. There is another guy in this city I could use to get the break up out of my mind, and get my inner Jen back out. But again with the best friend
’s brother. The best friend’s stupidly hot here-have-it-on-a-plate brother. Ugh. Again with the inappropriate thoughts.

The photos stuck to my fridge with magnets taunt me, especially the one of me and Bing at Si
’s 50
th
birthday party last year. Carl couldn’t make it up, as usual, so I went with Bing. I sigh at the teal gown I wore that made me feel like a princess, and him in his sharp, tailored suit. His arm is hooked around my waist and we look, for all intents and purposes, like a couple. That picture was taken not long after our almost kiss.