Unconditional (6 page)

‘Hey,’ he says, helping me out of the car and placing the lightest of kisses on my cheek, ‘you look beautiful.’

I blush, murmuring my thanks. My cheek feels like it’s burning where he kissed me. He looks at me intently and I wonder if he will kiss me again, properly this time, when Dannii puts herself in between us, throwing her arms around Joe and planting a loud kiss on his cheek. He steps back in surprise but she doesn’t let go, and her boobs are crushed right up against his chest, nearly popping out of her top.

‘Hi, babe,’ she trills, as if Joe is some guy she’s known for years. She’s usually much cooler around boys. She notices me looking at her and steps away from Joe with a funny little laugh, winding her arm through Dean’s and
giving me a smug look over her shoulder. What is that all about? But I quickly forget about Dannii and her weird behaviour when Joe takes my hand as we walk in to the cinema.

He pays for my ticket and popcorn as well, waving my hand away when I reach for my purse. Dannii pays for Dean; I think she usually pays for his beer too. Dannii doesn’t work, she just gets a generous allowance from her parents, so I guess it doesn’t bother her too much. Still, I think it’s a bit skanky of him.

We sit on the back row of course, with Dean at one end, me at the other and Joe and Dannii in the middle. She makes a fuss of sitting in between the two boys, and all through the trailers she seems to talk more to Joe than to Dean, leaning into him and touching his knee or shoulder. I don’t know what point she’s trying to make but she’s definitely flirting, and she knows it. Dannii always has an agenda when she’s around guys. Perhaps she wants to make Dean jealous. Either way I’d be getting pretty damn annoyed if it weren’t for the fact that Joe seems to be completely oblivious to her charms. She finally gives up trying to involve him in conversation and turns to snogging Dean instead.

I’m acutely aware of Joe’s proximity to me, and he feels even nearer when the lights dim. I can hear Dannii and Dean kissing, the rustle of clothes and her giving a breathy little moan. They’re definitely making out, and when Joe’s fingers brush mine I hold my breath, not knowing which will be worse, if he tries to touch me or if he doesn’t. But all he does is lightly hold my hand, curling his fingers around mine. He looks at me and smiles shyly in the dim light, squeezing my hand. I squeeze back, unable to stop my eyes dropping to stare at those full lips. I want him to kiss me again, like he did on Saturday, but then the opening credits
for the film come on and he settles back in his seat with his eyes fixed on the screen, though he doesn’t let go of my hand. With his other arm, he nudges Dannii.

‘The film’s starting, lovebirds,’ he says, and I detect a note of annoyance in his voice. Glancing over at them I see Dean remove his hand from within Dannii’s skirt and lean back to watch the film with a smirk. Dannii digs in her rucksack and pulls out a four pack of beer, offering us one. I shake my head, glancing around to make sure there isn’t an usher nearby but Joe takes one, and the pop of it opening sounds overloud as the music stops and the first scene begins. He takes a long swig and then places it in the drink holder in the arm of the chair and casually drapes his arm over so that his hand is on my knee. It’s the gentlest touch rather than a typical boy grope and yet it sends a funny tingle up my leg that makes my inner thighs quiver. I should probably put my own hand on his leg, or at least hold his hand again but I sit frozen, aware only of the heat and weight of his palm on my leg just above my knee. Does he wish I had worn a skirt, like Dannii?

The film is a typical action movie, not my type of thing at all, and in any case I’m way too distracted by Joe to pay much attention to the screen though he seems engrossed in it. I wish Dannii was on the other side of me so we could have a giggle but she’s too busy resuming her grope fest with Dean, though after a while she leans over Joe and waves a bottle at me. It’s vodka.

‘Want some, Ash? It might loosen her up a bit.’ She winks at Joe, and I’m sure she’s letting her cleavage brush against him on purpose. I shake my head, and I’m glad when Joe does too.

‘Dean’s driving,’ he says to her pointedly. Dannii shrugs.

‘More for us then.’ She sits back, ignoring Joe’s comment. He looks at me in concern.

‘I’ll walk you back.’

‘Okay.’ I nod, my heart leaping at the thought of getting some time on my own with him and then sinking again as I see Dannii passing Dean the bottle and knowing there’s no way I can let her get in a car he’s driving. I’ve never known her to be this irresponsible.

Joe’s hand is still on my knee and after a few minutes he begins to move his fingertips in little circles, massaging the inside of my knee cap. It feels nice, and somehow as intimate as anything Dannii and Dean are getting up to next to us. I still really, really want him to kiss me again. His hand moves further up my thigh, moving in circles, squeezing the fleshy bits on the inside of my leg through my leggings. My leg feels hot under his touch, and my mouth has gone dry. When his hand stops its travelling and settles near the top of my thigh I let out a breath I didn’t know I had been holding, just as Joe leans over and brushes my lips with his.

‘You taste of popcorn,’ he whispers, flicking the tip of his tongue across my lower lip.

‘You taste of beer,’ I whisper back, and go to do the same to his lip but he puts his mouth over mine fully and before I know it we’re kissing properly, his other hand sliding around my back and pulling me into him so that the arm of the chairs separating us pushes into my tummy. It should be uncomfortable, but I really don’t care. He moves the hand on my leg up into my hair, burying it in my curls as he pulls back to nibble on my lower lip. He pulls away smiling, leaving me feeling dazed.

‘You’re a great kisser, Ash.’

‘Thanks.’ I don’t know what else to say to that, it’s not as if I’ve had much practice. I didn’t think about what I was doing either, it just felt natural, as if there’s no reason for me to be doing anything else in the world apart from
kissing Joe.

He takes my hand again and sits back, and I lean in closer to him, feeling happy.

‘I don’t know what’s going on now,’ he says, motioning at the screen. Dannii, who must have taken a break from snogging the face off Dean, hears him and laughs.

‘I wouldn’t ask, Ash, she’s not interested in anything that happens unless it was at least five hundred years ago are you babe? Total history geek.’

Although she says the last bit with affection, I feel stung at her comment, but before I can say anything Joe jumps to my defence.

‘Don’t blame her. It’s why I like cars so much, they’re easier to deal with than real people.’ He squeezes my hand again and I smile at him gratefully. I suppose he’s right too, it is a way of escaping. Funny how he’s made it sound like our very different interests are actually something we have in common. I give Dannii a smug look but unfazed she takes another swig of vodka and turns back to Dean.

The two of them get louder as the film goes on, with Dannii letting out mock-offended squeals and Dean laughing loudly. I see his hands disappearing into her bra and Dannii making a loud show of slapping them away without actually removing them. In the row in front of us an older guy turns round and shushes us angrily. Dean leans forward like he’s about to say something, then sees Joe glaring at him and sits back, mumbling. They’re quiet for a while, then start up again just as the film’s gearing up to its climax. Annoyed tutting comes from the row behind us and Dannii sticks her two fingers up without removing her face from Dean’s neck. I bury my head in Joe’s shoulder in embarrassment.

‘I’m sorry,’ I groan. He kisses the top of my head.

‘It’s not your fault, but I thought this would happen
when you said they were coming.’

‘It was Dannii’s idea.’

‘Really?’ He gives me a sideways glance. ‘She said it was yours. I thought you were worried about being on your own with me.’

He sounds almost hurt and I glare at Dannii over his shoulder, not that she notices. I’ll get no sense out of her now, she must have had at least half of that bottle of vodka.

‘I wanted to be on my own with you,’ I say quietly, then wince at how it sounds. Still, he looks pleased.

I’m glad when the end credits roll and we can get out of there. People walking past from the rows in front glare at us and I duck my head in embarrassment when Dannii trips over the seats, laughing at something only she finds funny.

‘She needs to go home, she’s wasted,’ I say to Joe, but Dannii puts her hands on her hips and glares at me, her eyes unfocused.

‘I’m going home with Dean. Staying at his. Aren’t I?’ she nudges Dean, who nods and walks out of the cinema unsteadily, Dannii at his heels. I turn to Joe in despair.

‘He can’t drive her like that.’

‘I know,’ he sighs, following them out. I catch up with Dannii, trying to reason with her. She could get her parents to come pick her up, or maybe I should ring my dad.

‘At least get a cab,’ I plead with her, but she shakes her head mutinously like a naughty toddler. She’ll be stamping her feet in a minute.

‘It’s all right,’ Joe calls. He’s standing by the car with Dean. ‘I’ve got the keys, I’ll drive.’

‘You’re not on my insurance,’ Dean protests. Joe rolls his eyes at him. ‘No, but at least I’m sober. I’ve had one beer, how many have you had?’

Dean looks like he’s giving serious thought to that
question, then he gives in and gets in the back of the car. Dannii follows him, giving me a furious look. I just ignore her, but if I’m honest I really feel as if she’s let me down. She’s ruined the night, our first date. She could have got drunk with Dean anywhere.

I get in the car and buckle up, looking over at Joe, who looks grim.

‘I’ll drop these two off first, then you,’ he says without looking at me.

‘What about the car?’

‘Dean can come and get it before he goes to work tomorrow. Walk his hangover off.’

I glance at Dean lolling in the back seat. I hope the pool hall doesn’t open too early in the morning, because I doubt he’ll be fit for anything. He must have been drinking before he picked me up too. Mum would go mad if she knew. At least I should be getting in before her; it’s still only ten.

Joe drives in silence, his hands tense on the wheel, constantly checking his mirrors as if he’s worried about being pulled over.

‘You’ll be okay. You’ve only had one drink,’ I try to reassure him, but he just shakes his head angrily and I shrink back, wondering if I’ve done something wrong.

By the time we pull up outside Dean’s the anger is rolling off him in waves. He practically hauls Dean out of the car and although he helps Dannii out he steps back so quickly when she tries to hug him that I’m surprised she doesn’t fall on her face. Too drunk to care she blows me a kiss through the window.

‘Bye, babe, I’ll call you tomorrow. Make sure you get her home safe,’ she says to Joe, wagging her finger at him as Dean pulls her into his house. He shares with three other guys, so at least they don’t have to worry about angry
parents.

‘That’s rich coming from her,’ Joe huffs as he pulls away. It’s the first time he’s spoken since we left the cinema.

‘You seem angry,’ I state the obvious. He glances at me in concern.

‘Not with you. Just Dean getting in that state. If we had got pulled over…I’m on probation, Ash, and those two are as high as kites and I bet Dean’s got weed on him, maybe worse.’

I hadn’t thought of that. Perhaps Dean isn’t so harmless after all. He certainly doesn’t seem to be doing Dannii any good.

‘Yet you drove us home anyway. That’s twice you’ve rescued me now,’ I smile at him, and finally he looks a bit more relaxed.

‘You’re turning out to be pretty high maintenance, Ash,’ he chuckles. Feeling daring, I put a hand on his knee. He puts his hand briefly over mine before he has to change gears and his touch sends a jolt through me. I squeeze his leg, feeling the firmness and width of his lower thigh, before putting my hand back in my lap, my heart racing.

‘Did you have a girlfriend before you were in jail?’ I ask, curious but at the same time almost not wanting to know. He hesitates, then nods.

‘Yeah, but she didn’t want to know afterwards. I can’t say I blame her. I let everyone down.’ He looks angry again and I wish I hadn’t mentioned it. There are so many things I want to know about him, but I don’t want to seem like I’m prying. To my horror I spend the next few minutes silently seething with jealousy about his girlfriend, and wondering if she was prettier or cooler or smarter than me. Probably all three. And definitely not a virgin.

He must have read my mind, or at least sensed an atmosphere, because he leans over and squeezes my knee
in a way that seems more affectionate than sexual.

‘I got over her ages ago. It would never have worked out.’

I nod and mumble something non-committal, trying not to seem too interested.
Please don’t ask me
, I pray, wishing I had never opened this particular can of worms, but of course he does.

‘How about you, no recent exes?’

‘Erm, no, not recent.’ I clear my throat, deciding not to bother lying because no doubt Dannii would have filled him in anyway. ‘In fact not any, really.’

He takes his eyes off the road for a moment to glance at me with that unreadable expression I’m quickly becoming familiar with.

‘That’s good,’ he says blandly, and I have no idea what he means. Good as in
good because I like you and I don’t want any rivals
or good as in
oh my God she’s even more inexperienced than I thought but I’d better be polite?

‘Why do you live with your aunt?’ I blurt out in a desperate attempt to change the subject and then mentally kick myself for being way too nosy yet again. He’s quiet for a few moments as he turns the car into my neighbourhood and when he speaks it’s in a monotone, as if he’s reciting answers.

‘I haven’t seen my dad in years and my mum’s dead. Cancer.’

‘I’m sorry.’ Now I feel awful, and at the same time want to throw my arms round him. I can relate to a father not being around but the thought of anything happening to my mum makes me feel ill. All of a sudden I just want to go home and hug her, before remembering she’s probably not in.