Trust Me (Finding my way) (13 page)

“
Sure,” he shrugs.

Sophie stands up and pats my shoulders.
“Right, you’ll do,” she smiles at me and slaps me on the ass before pushing me away from Ethan and in front of two men that are in one my classes.

“
Hey Brooke,” they greet me smiling.

“
Hey, umm if you’ll excuse me a sec…” I quickly walk away before Sophie can hunt me down and throw me in front of any more men. I head to the bathroom but there is a queue so I head upstairs to use the ensuite.

In the bathroom, I adjust my dress to attempt to cover up some of the flesh Sophie put on show, but it
’s no use. I prick my finger on something and pull the top of my dress back to see that she’s pinned it to my bra. Where the hell did she get pins from? I walk out of the bathroom shaking my head at her randomness and stop when I see Tucker standing by the bed waiting for me.

“
Hi, Tuck. You okay?” I ask, eyeing him nervously; this is the first time I am looking him in the eye since the dream.

“
Yeap…I’m fine, are you?” he asks, watching me sway slightly.

“
I’m good,” I nod .

“
You need a ride home later?”

“
No, I’m actually going to head home now.” I start pulling the pins out of my dress so I can pull it up a bit, just so I have something to do with my hands, to avoid wringing them nervously.

“
Brooke…have I done something to upset you?” I look up at him when I hear his footsteps coming closer.

“
No, why do you ask?”

“
Well, you’ve been avoiding me.” He’s looking into my eyes so intensely I have to look away.

“
That’s Sophie. She’s been pulling me around the party since we got here, thrusting me in front of as many men as possible.”

“
And this morning? This afternoon? Was Sophie pulling you away then?” he asks frowning.

“
No,” I swallow.

“
Then why have you been avoiding me?” he asks softly.

I look up at his face, his eyes are concerned, his brows are pulled together, and there is no hint of a smile on his lips. Taking a step forward so we are almost touching, but not quite, I rise up a little and kiss him. I brush my lips against his softly to see if he will return the kiss; he does and soon he is parting my lips with his tongue and the kiss deepens. When I let out a moan that I desperately wish I could take back, I pull away from him. He looks stunned so I take advantage of that and walk past him to the door.

“That’s why,” I whisper as I pass him and leave the bedroom, wondering if I just ruined our friendship for good.

I wake up covered in sweat and shaking, looking around the dark room, the little light that comes through our only window casts shadows all over the room; squinting into the dark, I can see that Sophie’s bed is empty. I turn on the lamp next to my bed and get up to take a shower, hoping to wash away any remains of the nightmare.

Throwing on one of my old baggy hooded tops and the first thing that comes to hand from my underwear drawer, I sit at the table nursing a mug of coffee, knowing my chances of getting back to sleep are slim to none anyway. To pass sometime, I start up my laptop and log in to Facebook. I click through the notifications that tell me I
’ve been tagged in a bunch of photos from the party earlier this evening. Seriously, who uploads photos at that time of night?

The flashing light on my Blackberry catches my eye and I browse through the messages and missed calls I got while I was asleep. A few are from Sophie asking where I am and a voicemail from her sounding worried. I quickly tap out a reply apologising for not saying goodbye, but tell her I headed out early and fell straight to sleep when I got back. I have two missed calls from Tucker but no messages, so I send him a message just saying
‘sorry’ and lock the phone; it starts ringing instantly.

“
Hello” I answer it quietly. I’m not sure why, maybe because it’s so late.

“
Hey, can’t sleep?” Tucker says just as quietly.

“
Bad dream. I can never get back to sleep after them.”

“
Do you want me to come over?”

“
Umm…” Do I want him to come over? I’m not sure...

“
It’ll be fine. I promise.”

“
Are you sure? It’s like three in the morning.”

“
I’ll be there in two, pour me some of that coffee.”

I look down at my cup, surprised that he knew what I was doing. I hear him chucking as he hangs up.

I shut down my laptop and am pouring two fresh coffees when there’s a soft knock at the door.

“
Hey,” Tucker greets as he walks past me straight to the table collecting his drink. He’s obviously just got out of bed. He’s wearing a plain white tee, jogging bottoms, socks, no shoes and his hair is sticking up everywhere.

“
I’m sorry I woke you,” I say softly as I sit opposite him.

“
You didn’t wake me,” he smiles.

I feel like an idiot; obviously if I didn
’t wake him then there is another reason he is rumpled. That other reason must still be in his bed. Shit.

“
Oh,” is all I can reply.

“
Think you’ll be able to get back to sleep if I stay with you?” he asks smiling encouragingly at me.

“
Umm, no. I don’t think we should be spending the night together anymore…the nightmares really aren’t that bad and I can catch up on any sleep I loose in the nights in the day when I don’t have classes.”

“
So you’d rather lose sleep than spend the night with me…what happened last night?” he’s frowning at me now. “Did I do something to hurt you? Is that why Sophie was dragging you away from me tonight?”

“
Eh…no. Sophie was trying to get me to spend the night with someone else, anyone else actually. She wasn’t exactly fussy with who she was putting in front of me,” I say, frowning myself now.

“
Why would she want you to spend the night with someone so badly? I don’t understand.”

“
I’m not answering that.” I shake my head at him, beyond embarrassed.

“
Does my being with you still keep the nightmares away?” he asks looking confused.

“
Yes…”

“
But what? I know you didn’t sleep all the way through the night last night because you were gone early this morning.”

“
No I didn’t, I got woken up.”

“
By me?”

“
Umm…kind of…no…I don’t know. It was a first,” I mumble.

“
Does this have anything to do with that kiss at the party?”

“
Maybe. I’m sorry about that by the way.”

“
I’m not worried about that. I want to know why it happened.”

“
You’re really going to make me say it?” I ask desperately.

“
Yes. I’m guessing Sophie knows so that means Matt knows. I’ll ask him if you don’t tell me and I’m thinking you might want to tell me because whatever it is; I can guarantee he will make it sound a lot worse that what it probably was.”

“
I doubt it,” I say quietly but I know he’s heard because his left eyebrow rises. “Okay fine. I had a dream…you were in it…it came out of nowhere…it felt so real and it…well…let’s just say the ‘climax’ of the dream woke me up feeling breathless.” I finish and watch as he chokes on his coffee. I wait patiently for him to calm down. “Don’t you dare tell
anyone
! You have no idea how much crap Sophie and Matt have been spitting at me because of it.” 

“
Wow…that…umm…changes things,” he nods at me “So Sophie wanted you to sleep with someone else hoping the dream was as a result of you not having sex lately and spending so much time with me?”

“
Not exactly.”

“
Then what?”

“
She thought it might distract me. Last night, or this morning was the first time I’ve ever…I’ve never had sex before and well I don’t…you know, myself and no boyfriends have ever…I usually just sort them out to avoid it.” Why am I telling him all of this? Someone please put a gag on me.

“
You’ve never…”

“
Nope.”

“
Not even…”

“
No.”

“
What about…”

“
Nothing” I shake my head.

“
And you were avoiding me because…”

“
I was embarrassed! We’re friends; you don’t dream of having sex with your friends and wake up mid orgasm.”

“
Right, well I can’t say I’ve had any wet dreams, but I’ve definitely been thinking about you in non-friendly approved ways pretty much since that day I first spoke to you.”

“
Really?” I ask scrunching my nose up.

“
Yeah. I just never thought you thought of me in the same way and then, I didn’t want to anything to ruin our friendship.”

“
So you agree it’s not a good idea to spend the night together anymore then?” I ask both hopeful and disappointed.

“
Hell no, I don’t agree!” he says grinning and standing up. “Come on let’s get to bed, maybe you’ll be getting back to sleep after all.”

I look up at him nervously biting my lip. I
’m not sure what he thinks is going to happen when we get into that bed, but I am not being someone’s one night stand.

“
Trust me?” he asks sincerely.

I watch him silently for a minute and decide that after everything, I do trust him. All the nights we
’ve spent together and all the times he talked me through the hard times. I nod at him and crawl into bed, he climbs in next to me and pulls me into him, tucking me under his arm so my head lays on his chest, I wrap my arm around him across his stomach.

“
You have no idea how long I’ve waited to hold you in my arms like this.” Tucker sighs above me and leans down to lay a kiss on my forehead.

“
It would definitely make sleeping in you’re bed easier,” I tease but frown when I feel him stiffen. “What’s wrong?” I ask lifting my head to see his worried expression.

“
I don’t want you to be in my bed, not anymore.”

“
Umm…okay”

“
It just wouldn’t be right.”

“
Okay.” I’m not going to say I understand because I don’t but I won’t push him on it, I’m sure he’ll explain when he’s ready.

His arms tighten around me and I squeeze him back.

“Can I ask you a question?”

“
Sure,” I answer unsure.

“
You never did tell me why you’ve never had any sort of sex.”

“
It’s hard for me to talk about…one of the last things my dad said to me before he died, was how he wished I could stay innocent forever and I guess it was the only innocence I could save. I know that’s backwards when you consider the things I’ve done for boyfriends in the past and the one thing I really I like doing is really not innocent at all. But, I thought if I didn’t let myself get to that point then my innocence would remain. It worked you know, until last night that is.”

“
You don’t talk about your dad much, do you?” he asks softly while playing with my hair.

“
No. The years I had with him were my happiest. I try not to think about it, it’s easier to get through all the rubbish times that way,” I shrug and yawn.

“
Go to sleep Brooke, we have a long weekend ahead.”

“
I’m glad you’re coming, thank you.” I yawn.

“
Anything for you,” is the last thing I hear him say before keeping my eyes open becomes too much.

I wake up to Tucker kissing my neck just below my ear softly. I turn my head to smile at him. “Morning,” he smiles before leaning down and kissing me.

“
Good morning.” I smile and stretch out “How long have you been awake?”

“
Not long, about ten minutes. Did I wake you?” he grins and starts kissing my neck again.

“
Mmmnnn,” is all I can reply while he continues his assault on my neck.

I pull away and crawl over him so I
’m hovering above him on my hands and knees.

He tilts his chin up silently asking for a kiss; I obey. As the kiss deepens and his tongue softly moves against mine my knees give way and I fall onto his stomach. I pull back and smirk at him because he
’s poking me in the stomach. He shrugs and grins sheepishly at me.

I raise an eyebrow at him and lean in to kiss him again.

“Come on,” I sit up and get out of bed “The others will be here soon, so get up.” I pat his leg and head to the bathroom leaving him grumbling to himself.

“
Ready?” Sophie asks when I come out of the bathroom. I look around the room at Sophie, Matt, Luke, Katie and Tucker who are all sat at the table in the kitchen area. I look down at myself in just a towel.

“
I won’t be long,” I call as I grab some clothes and head back into the bathroom. I don’t take long to get ready because I didn’t wash my hair so I just leave it down with its natural wave. 

“
We’ll have to stop in a driveway on the way,” Kate tells me, washing her cup as I join them all in the room and accept the take out cup of coffee that Matt hands me.

“
Sure,” I say distractedly as I watch Tucker walk to the bathroom; he really does have the perfect ass.

“
Why was he here before us?” Sophie asks pulling me aside and gesturing towards the bathroom.

“
He came over last night,” I shrug at her.

“
And…” she prompts.

“
And nothing,” I tell her. Obviously Tucker hadn’t mentioned anything because she didn’t know why he was here. I don’t want to say anything to anyone, because I don’t know what’s happening and everyone has warned me plenty of times about him. I don’t want a lecture or any awkwardness on this trip.

“
I can share a room with you this weekend and Matt can share with Tucker if you want?” she asks watching me closely.

“
No, don’t be silly. It’ll be fine, I promise.”

“
Right, let’s go then,” Luke calls when Tucker comes back from the bathroom.

“
Don’t worry about it,” I say quietly to Sophie as we all head out.

“
Who’s going with who?” Matt asks once we’ve reached the cars.

“
We’ll take two cars, three in each. Tucker can come with us and Brooke can go with Luke and Kate,” Sophie tells us all. I roll my eyes at her attempt to keep me and Tucker apart a bit longer.

We pull into the hotel and once we have all parked the cars and gotten our luggage, Sophie hands Matt her bag to put in their room and follows me and Tucker to our room.

Tucker sends her a look of annoyance when we walk into our room, but I just smirk at him.

“
Why won’t she leave us alone for two minutes?” he demands as soon as Sophie walks into our bathroom.

“
She’s keeping an eye on you, to make sure you behave,” I smirk at him.

“
Does she always babysit you?”

“
No, normally she encourages me to be alone with guys.”

“
Guys, as in plural?”

“
Well…you know like Jason and others that I haven’t really dated for long.”

“
Who?”

“
Ready?” Sophie asks joining us and frowning at Tucker who is glaring at me.

“
No one,” I answer him rolling my eyes before turning to Sophie. “Yes, let go.”

We all meet downstairs and decide to have lunch in the hotel restaurant.

“What’s the plan then Brooke? What do you want to do?” Luke asks me once we’ve ordered our drinks and have finished eating.

“
I’m not sure. I’d like to meet Will, but I want to do that tomorrow. All I want to do is go to the pub tonight, so whatever everyone wants to do today is fine with me”

“
What’s the pub called again?” Matt asks me over his pint.

“
The Black Horse.”

“
So we’ll split up and all meet there at seven?” he asks looking to Sophie for confirmation.

“
That sounds good,” I answer, but someone walking past our table catches my attention. I’m not sure why the guy looks so familiar but I feel like I know him; he’s about my age maybe a little older. Blonde, tall, good looking and very athletic looking. He catches my eye and smiles but then does a double take and frowns at me. Shaking his head he walks away.  I frown to myself and turn my attention back to the table; everyone is watching me.

“
What did you say?” I ask the table not sure if someone has spoken to me or not.

“
Who was that?” Sophie asks and I notice her and Katie are both watching the man walk away.

“
I’ll be right back,” is all I say and head over to the bar where the guy is now sat on a stool.

“
Excuse me, sorry for interrupting you but do I know you? You look familiar but I’m not sure?” I wince internally because what I said sounds like a lame chat up line.

“
Brooke?” he asks me.

“
Yeah…” Is all I can say because he gets up from his stool and pulls me into a hug. I’m not sure what to do so I just keep my arms by my side.

“
Will said you were coming,” he releases me and holds me at arms length. “I can’t believe how grown up you are now,” he smiles as he takes me in with his eyes.

“
Umm…”

“
Sorry. I’m Andrew. We used to play football on the beach when you were younger. I’m sorry about your dad,” he finally fills me in.

“
Oh, sorry I don’t remember much from before he died,” I explain.

“
That’s okay, how long are you in town for?”

“
Just tonight.”

“
My dad will want to see you, come on.” He grabs my hand and I blink at the intimacy of it.

“
Is Will you’re dad?” I ask still looking at our joined hands.

“
No,” he laughs slightly. “This is so strange, you really don’t remember?”

I shake my head at him.
“I should really tell my friends that I’m leaving the restaurant if you want me to meet your dad.” I tell him sure, that my friends must be wondering what’s going on.

“
Of course, he’s only upstairs anyway, he’s the owner.”

He leads me
– still holding my hand – back to the table where everyone is sat.

“
Hi guys.” I smile at everyone. Sophie and Katie are staring at Andrew with their mouths slightly open, Luke and Tucker are both staring at our hands and Matt is glaring at Sophie.

“
This is Andrew; we used to play football when my dad brought me here.”

“
Hi,” Sophie and Kate say at the same time, but it’s almost a whisper.

“
Andrew this is Sophie, Matt, Luke, Katie, and Tucker.” I point to everyone as I say their names and he says hello to each of them.

“
Why don’t you join us?” Sophie asks him and then winces and glares at Matt; my guess is he kicked her under the table.

“
Sure,” Andrew says releasing my hand and grabbing a chair from a nearby table. I take my seat and he slides his chair in between me and Luke.

“
Brooke, you have to have sex with him,” Sophie whispers in my ear, making me choke on my drink and turn bright red.

“
What?” I screech. Everyone turns to stare at us.

She rolls her eyes and pulls me up from the table. Once she
’s dragged me a few paces away from the table she grabs both of my arms and shakes me slightly.

“
This is very mature and inconspicuous, Soph,” I roll my eyes at her but keep one eye on the table.

“
Do not tell me you don’t think he’s hot,” she says raising both her eyes brows at me.

“
He’s cute, but I’m not going to have sex with him. I don’t know him.”

“
You do! You used to play football with him. You have to and then you have to tell me and Kate what he looks like naked,” she begs. I look back to the table and sure enough Kate is staring at him almost dreamy eyed.

“
Forget it. If Matt could hear you now he would kill you,” I scold, but can’t help smirking at her. She’s never once cheated on Matt and I don’t think she ever will, but the way she is looking at Andrew almost wistfully, makes me wonder. I walk back to the table and ignore her when she calls me back.

“
Are you staying here?” Andrew asks me once I’m seated again.

“
Yes, we all are,” I answer.

“
Are you single?” Sophie blurts out and Matt glares at her once again.

“
Yeah, why?” Andrew asks her.

“
Just wondering,” she smiles sweetly at him but pinches me under the table.

“
Andrew wants me to meet his father; he knows me as well and it’s been a while since he’s seen me, so he wants me to go upstairs to meet him,” I say this to everyone, but send Luke a look that says I’m not comfortable with this.

“
He owns the hotel” Andrew explains to everyone when the girls send him hopeful looks.

“
Sure, we’ll still be here when you get back, so meet us back here?” Luke says smiling at me encouragingly.

“
Fine,” I smile back but glare at him “Ready?” I ask Andrew.

He takes me upstairs but only to the first floor and into an office. His dad looks exactly like him just with a few wrinkles and a few grey hairs. His dad is just as happy to see me and pulls me into a hug just like Andrew did. He tells me a few stories of my dad and tells me how sorry he is that he died so young. Andrew doesn
’t return to the restaurant with me, so I leave the office alone. I take the elevator up to my room so I can collect my jacket but when I walk back out of the room towards the elevator, Tucker is leaning on the wall outside it, facing me with him one leg bent up and a foot on the wall.

“
How’d it go?” he asks smiling as I walk towards him.

“
Good. It’s strange, I don’t really remember much about this place. They both said that my dad used to bring me up here twice a month, but I can’t remember anything. I’ve tried but I can only get a few glimpses of things,” I shrug and step into the waiting elevator.

As soon as the doors close Tucker backs me up into the wall and blocks in with his hands on either side of me.

“Well there’s a few things I can remember,” he says quietly before his mouth comes crashing down on mine. I groan as the kiss deepens and lift my arms to wrap them around his neck. He puts one hand on my hip and keeps the other one on the wall. I can’t help the second moan that escapes once Tucker moves his lips to my jaw and under my ear, as he trails kisses along my neck; his hand moves up my side to cup my breast. I moan and pull his head back up to mine so he can kiss me again as he pinches my nipple between two fingers. He presses his body into mine and I pull myself up so I can wrap my legs around his waist and press myself against his erection.

“
Shit Brooke,” he groans and puts his forehead on the wall next to my face. I unwrap my legs from his waist as the doors open.

“
Sorry,” I grin at him, not sorry at all. “If you’re going to start something…” I smirk at him as I leave the lift. He doesn’t follow me out but before the doors close; I catch sight of him adjusting his jeans muttering to himself. I laugh and shake my head, that’s the second time today I’ve walked away from him talking to himself. I bump straight into Sophie.

“
What’s so funny?” She asks eyeing me suspiciously “Where’s Tucker? He said he was going to follow you to make sure you were okay.”

“
Umm…he just had to go to our room. He forgot something.” I try for convincing, but fail when the snort comes out halfway through. We both turn when we hear the ping from the lift behind us and watch as Tucker walks out holding my jacket, I didn’t realise I dropped it.

“
You forgot this,” he grumbles to me and passes me the jacket.

“
Thanks,” I grin and slip it on.