Winning Back Ryan (20 page)

             
His eyes met mine in the darkened room, and I felt the heat between us. His finger tip brushed over my bottom lip as I exhaled against his skin. I felt rather than saw him lean over as his hands held my face and his lips claimed mine.  He rolled over in the bed on top of me, and I thrilled at the feeling of his body weighing me down. He was so different from Ryan. He felt so different. I couldn’t get over the difference. Where Ryan was bulky, Brian was lean. His body didn’t engulf me the way Ryan’s did, allowing me to maneuver much more easily. I liked that. It made me feel more like Brian’s equal.

             
I knew Brian’s eyes, I had known them for a while now, but his lips… I didn’t know them well yet. They had no familiarity to them, like kissing a stranger. But, my tongue moved at a comfortable pace with his, and my hand dragged up the side of his undershirt, my fingertips gliding along the black panther on his rib cage.

             
My other hand slid up his shirt and both hands massaged his back gently, running up and down his spine. He groaned in appreciation, and I felt his body shift as he pressed his desire into me. My reaction was instantaneous, without thought, purely animal instinct. As I inhaled sharply, my legs wrapped around his body, allowing him better access to my core. His breathing was heavier as his hand made its way up underneath my camisole.  His fingers caressed the swell of my breast as though asking for permission to touch more. It was vastly different from Ryan who simply grabbed me as though it was expected that he was allowed to handle me anyway he chose. Maybe that was normal when two people were together for a while. But, I realized as Brian’s finger pad ran across my nipple, feeling him through the sheerness of my bra that I enjoyed his respectful touches. He treated me like a lady, and in return made me feel like one.  I could feel just how much Brian wanted me beneath his boxers, how much restraint he was using.

             
“Brian,” I breathed out.

             
“I know. I know. We need to stop.” He sighed, dropping his head onto his chest in defeat.

             
“I don’t want to either,” I admitted.

He glanced up, his lips tenderly brushing against mine, and my arms wrapped around his body, my legs still around his hips as I held him to me.

I never heard the squeaking sound from the door opening, or heard the clicking sound of the door unlocking.

             
“Alright, I’ve got your money.”

I glanced up from beneath Brian, both our heads turning at the same time to a gaping Ryan. Revenge had never ever felt that delicious in the history of the universe, I was sure.

              “Just leave it on the table,” I said, my voice shaky still from my erratic breathing.

He dropped the money on the counter before walking over and turning nearly every light on in the apartment.

              “What the hell, Ryan,” I shouted in anger.

He didn’t answer, instead ripped the T.V. power cord out of the wall. He flung open his bedroom door, and with a grunt and bulging biceps, marched his prize into his room. To complete his thought, he slammed the door closed behind him.

I glanced at Brian, giggling before kissing him again. 

             
“Let me go turn off the lights.” I stood up and walked around the apartment settling the place down for nighttime. I walked back, and the bed springs creaked loudly as I lay back down.

We fell asleep with me lying on his chest, his arm wrapped around me. When I woke up in the morning, I felt flustered from a sex dream I just had involving Brian- my very first one, but definitely not the last.

The dream haunted me the rest of the day.

             
Brian kisses me again, his hand cupping my face moving down my neck, down my breast before maneuvering around to my back. He stops kissing me, his eyes watching me, while his one hand is paused on the clasps of my bra, the other hand threaded in my hair. I nod and in one quick tug, the snaps are undone. Brian slides the undergarment off my shoulders, throwing it onto the floor before kissing his way down from my neck to the newly exposed skin.

             
His tongue circles my nipple, before he gently bites down. It doesn’t hurt, but it shocks me. I jump at the feel, completely unused to the feeling because blood is rushing down past my belly quickly. He glances up, smirking before kissing his way across my breasts gently sucking my other nipple. In this position, there’s very little of him that I can reach, so I settle for rubbing his shoulders.

             
His lips continue down my body until he’s completely out of my reach. Now I have no idea what to do. His hands run down my sides, his fingertips gliding along my skin before his fingers hook the side of my underwear, sliding them down my thighs.

             
He glances up at me with a mischievous smile before his head disappears. Brian kisses every single part of my body except for the spot I thought he was heading for. He kisses my inner thighs, my ankles, my navel, my collar bone, everywhere. It feels incredible. Not just because his lips pressed against my skin or his fingers touching me feels amazing, it’s the amount of attention and care he’s paying me. He makes me feel truly wanted and desired.

             
Brian finally leaves open mouthed kisses down my belly before settling between my thighs. He inhales deeply before letting out a soft groan, and then takes one long lick. My eyes roll back as I thrust my hips to meet his mouth. My fingers entwine in his hair, massaging his scalp. It’s a new exploration as his fingers and tongue are everywhere. Some places make my feel like my blood is on fire, some spots make me feel tingly in my toes, and some spots make me have an intense feeling in my lower belly like a tightly sprung coil. He seems to be paying attention to all of my reactions, because suddenly he’s only doing the things that make me feel like there’s a coil in my stomach. I’m panting heavily as my fingers tug on his hair…

Then I woke up.

              Throughout the day, I couldn’t stop focusing on how the dream made me feel: excitement, curiosity, respect, trust, and comfort.  But, the one I felt the most was trust, which told me that my subconscious was trying to tell me something. I was not just having some wild sex dream where my feeble mind just placed Brian as the guy. It was deeper than the physical.

             
I didn’t want to pay the dream too much credence however, because I hoped if I just ignored it, it would go away. You know, like a door-to-door salesman ringing your bell. If you just remained on your couch and muted your television, eventually they’d move on. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t want Brian. The problem was that he was my best friend and this was very unfamiliar territory. The other problem was that I just stepped out of a relationship. Even worse? I was afraid of messing up. Ruining things with a guy was one thing. Ruining things with your best friend after half a decade of friendship was pure stupidity. I felt that I needed to tread lightly.

             
After work on Wednesday, I stopped by the library and picked up a murder mystery book. I couldn’t even pick up a romance book without wanting to gag. On the way home, Ben called, “He went through your lease. I’ve sent to your email a scanned copy of your apartment agreement. Highlighted parts have explanations of what they mean. So, your landlady can’t try anything funny.”

             
“Thanks,” I replied, walking with the book tucked under my arm.

             
“You can’t get out of the lease unless either you or Ryan loses your job. Then if you show proof of your job loss, you can then get out of the lease after one month.”

             
“Great,” I muttered under my breath.

             
“Another option is to sublet. Not only can you sublet, but according to your contract you don’t even need to give notice to your landlord. So, that’s an option. However, since it’s only a one bedroom, you can only sublet to one more person if you wanted to do everything legally.”

             
“You mean I could sublet the apartment to someone, then leave, and my portion will be covered?” I asked hopefully.

             
“Yes, technically.” I could hear him inhale deeply, so I knew he must be smoking. “But, you will still be responsible for the apartment at the end. So, if they trash it or damage it in any way, you’ll be responsible for that.”

             
I sighed. There were always ridiculous drawbacks. “Thanks, Ben.”

             
“So, what are you doing?” he asked.

             
“Just went to the bookstore and took out a book.”

             
“What kind of book?” I heard the mischievousness in his voice.

             
“A murder mystery.  The cheating ex-boyfriend gets killed. Run over by a bus. So sad.”

             
He chuckled loudly. “I was hoping for an erotica book, but one about hurting an ex is second best.”

             
“Thanks, Ben, I owe you big time for helping me out with this,” I said.

             
“Hmm… Well, I wouldn’t mind a blowjob as payment,” he replied casually.

             
“Ugh. Don’t you have a girl that you owe orgasms to? You can get your blowjob from her,” I spat.

             
He sighed dramatically into the phone. “Then I suppose a simple thank you will suffice.”

             
“Thank you.” The words came out through gritted teeth. I rubbed my forehead. “So, I pranced around my apartment last night and cooked in lingerie while Brian was there. Ryan was seething. It was beautiful!”

             
“Interesting.” I heard him exhale again. “Tell me about it.”

I relayed my whole night to him starting with what I did after leaving the office. Ben listened, and I could tell that he occasionally took deep drags of his cigarette.

              “I’d like to be called before your next belly-dancing lesson. I feel I’ve missed out on this experience,” he remarked.

             
“What? No. I didn’t even want Brian there.”

             
“Ya gotta let me come. You’re branching out, Princess. This is big. I don’t think I’d be a good friend unless I supported you.” I could practically see his smile through the phone.

             
“You cannot fondle me or sleep with the other women in my class. Keep your man-whoring to New York.” I hung up, and stopped short as I passed a small bookstore. In the window, I saw a book titled:
How To Tame That Wild Boy

I stepped into the store, smiling. I did owe him a thank you. I picked the book up, thumbed through some of its slightly ridiculous advice and then took it up to the counter. 

The woman behind the counter, highly tattooed, with a septum piercing, didn’t look up from reading her newspaper.

             
“Absolutely shameless,” she said in disgust at something she saw.

I glanced down to see a picture of Ben holding a woman’s breast, smiling devilishly. The woman was smiling brightly, clearly allowing him to do this. His shirt said:
Save the ta-tas
. Beneath the picture was an article I couldn’t read except for the headlines.

The
Hurleys Come Out for Breast Cancer Awareness. Reduce Crowd To Tears With Moving Speech.

Ben had told me the week before that he was expected to attend the event.

              “All part of being a Hurley,” he had explained.

             
“Absolutely disgusting,” the clerk scoffed.

The hairs on the back of my neck instantly rose.

              “Do you have any idea how much money people like that man raise for causes such as this?” I spat.  The woman glanced up at me, startled.  “And do you really think that his hand would be on her breast if she wasn’t allowing it? Hell! She probably wanted him to!”

             
“Why on Earth would she want that?” She asked, scathingly.

             
“Have you ever had breast cancer? No. I didn’t think so. Maybe she just wanted to feel wanted. He’s very talented at making a woman feel desired and appreciated.”

             
The woman looked completely taken aback. “How would you know?”

             
“Whatever.” I waved the woman off as I took the right amount out of my pocketbook to pay for the book. The woman took the money, looking at me strangely before handing me the change.

I turned to leave before turning back around.

              “And how many twenty-three –year-olds do you know donate their time or do anything for someone else that doesn’t strictly benefit themselves? I wish there were more Ben Hurleys in the world; it’d be a much better place.”

             
I turned with my purchase in hand and stormed out of the bookstore with a puzzled clerk staring at me as I left. I’d never be shopping there again. I thought about Ben lately and all of our conversations, and I decided that he needed a gag gift. I also thought about George and the video, punching Ryan in the face, and I felt deeply touched all over again. Still angry from that ignorant clerk, I stomped my way to the pharmacy to pick up a few more things for Ben and George’s care packages.