The Boy Next Door

Chapter Eighteen

I had told Olly to walk in, but he was too polite.

My heart rate increased when my gaze met his, and my finger twirled my hair like a love-struck teenager going all gooey inside.

"Are you coming in?" I asked, and he stepped inside, removing his shoes before we headed upstairs.

"Uh-hum," Dad said, stopping us as we looked down at him and Mum standing in the living room doorway.

"Door open," they said in unison.

"Don't worry, Sir, we're just watching a film," Olly said. Dad's face dropped, and I couldn't help but burst into laughter. Mum and Olly, though, were utterly clueless on the matter.

*

The first few weeks of the summer had passed, and I had spent every waking moment with Olly. Either at my house or out venturing on his bike. He rides it and gives me a croggy. We'd been to town numerous times for lunch and wandered around the shops. We liked the small café upstairs in Waterstones, reading books we didn't buy. All our pocket money went on blockbuster films and twister ice lollies. We'd walked the parks, sunbathed in the fields, climbed the trees above the river, and managed to pry ourselves away from each other for football training on Wednesday nights. I'd had the most fantastic time with him, and I had lost count of how many make-out sessions we'd had. I couldn't keep my lips off him, yet the bedroom door rule still stood at my house, so we often went to his.

It was Friday night, and Mum and Dad were going out to the pub for a meal along with his parents. We had heard the never-ending, repeated warnings of "We're trusting you alone, no funny business." Each time was as humiliating as the first.

Being alone with Olly couldn't come quick enough. I could safely say I had found my confidence around him and was utterly smitten with the idea of experiencing something more than kissing. A warning didn't help the situation; it had become more of a rule I wanted to break.

*

"Nate and Zoe are watching a film downstairs," I told Olly as I entered my room, where he was lying on my bed, throwing the tennis ball up and down.

"Okay," he said hesitantly, giving me the idea that something was troubling him. So far, other than prom night, we'd had no issues, arguments, or worrying conversations.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I lay beside him, watching his hands open and close.

He stopped and gripped the ball, turning onto his side to face me. His gorgeous, tanned face was freckled more than before and shone under the light. He reached over, stroking where my stitches had now healed and curled a handful of hair around his finger. His body tensed up as he faltered. He took a deep breath and said, "I think I love you," which stole my voice. "I mean, I don't know what love feels like, but this feeling, this ache in my chest, I can't stop it. I can't get you out of my mind."

Olly was saying the three words I had wanted to say to him for weeks, and after what we had been through, what I had been through, he had no doubt been the only therapy I needed in my messed up life.

His words wrapped tightly around my heart, not causing pain, but instead, a silk bow hung gently around it. I felt serenity and pure bliss at that moment, a moment I had never expected myself to encounter.

"I feel the same way," I said in a near whisper, smiling as he stroked his hand down my cheek before touching my lip. "I don't want to be without you."

"You will never be without me, even if we are apart," Olly said as his deep eyes became glossy. "Cheesy, I know," he laughed, blushing as I agreed with a nod. "Just don't forget that, please, no matter what. You mean so much to me."

"Olly, you saved my life," I said. "Now kiss me."

I leaned into him, placing my lips on his, and as our kiss heated, I moved my hands under his top touching his bare skin. Excitement coursed through me as his kisses intensified and his grip on my body tightened. He was soft and warm, and my cheeks reddened as he allowed my touch to wander.

He opened my legs and placed himself between them, kissing me in a position he hadn't before; it was enthralling and sparked something deep inside me. Despite my hands trembling with nerves, I didn't want it to end.

When he leaned on me, his weight took the sensations in my body to another level. I could feel him, every inch of him, and only his clothes restricted us, which caused me to take a breath.

"Are you okay?" Olly asked, holding himself above me.

"I want to," I paused shyly, looking at him. "I want to experience new things with you."

"Me too," he said, nibbling his lip before getting up and shouting to Zoe and Nate, making sure they were okay. He shut the door as they responded before climbing back on the bed.

Olly was beside me and continued to trail his soft kisses along my neck and collarbone. I embraced how beautifully electric he made me feel as he tentatively unbuckled my denim shorts with his shaking hands. I was thankful his nerves showed, just like mine.

Lowering my shorts, we distracted our fumbling with kisses, entwining our tongues before he nuzzled into my neck. When his hand slid down the front of my panties, I gulped and bit the inside of my mouth, it tickled my bikini line, and my breathing instantly rose.

He lowered his hand, and I automatically took hold of his neck, pulling him closer to me. I kissed him passionately as the intense feeling of his touch made me feel sexy.

The rhythm of his zen-like breathing compelled my hands to roam to his football shorts. He pulled back a little hesitant, and I looked into his alluring eyes. He smiled and reassured me.

Beneath his layers, I felt him. My fingers softly trailed against his skin, touching him in ways I had never touched any boy. I treated him as fragile whilst spikes of sensations trembled the both of us.

His warm breath reached the most sensitive parts of my neck, the closeness of him being enough to drive the fear from my mind, and the idea of going all the way with him crossed it. "I want to have sex with you," I said as I became breathless, feeling a flutter within my stomach as he continued to touch me.

I realised we were not kissing anymore but instead studying each other. The silence between us was the longest time we had spent together without talking.

Olly moved on his back, allowing me to see him for the first time, and I didn't know what to think. I tried to keep my poise, licking my lips at how sensual I suddenly felt. I bit my lip as I watched his expression expose the pleasure he was experiencing as he became winded. His cheeks pinked as he rose to kiss me, removing his hand from my panties, and I pulled my shorts back up.

Raising his shorts a little, he puffed out his chest, stood up and headed to my bathroom, and I stayed on the bed with a Cheshire smile. I couldn't believe what was happening to me when just weeks ago, I thought I would never feel like this, in a bubble where I wanted to stay with the first boy I had ever loved.

I slowly trailed my fingers on my lips, down my neck and body, and rested them on my cartwheeling stomach. Every inch of me was electrified, and it felt incredible. I was confident in my skin for the first time, and I loved it. I didn't need to hide from Olly or myself anymore.

"That was nice," Olly said as he re-entered my room.

"It was," I grinned as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"What you said. I want to have sex with you too, if you are ready," Olly muttered, running his hand through his hair, looking nervous. "I just don't want you to regret it."

"I won't. I love you."

He took my hand, raised me to my feet and cuddled me tightly, "I have to go and put Nate in bed."

"I miss you already."

My emotions bounced from exhilaration, euphoria, anxiety, and despair rapidly and confusingly. They made me realise I had become the love-struck teenager my dad warned would happen. I had inevitably become a victim in my own romance story. And as I watched him walk down the driveway, I concluded that it would be painful even if fate brought us a happy ending.

From what I had learned in such a brief time, falling in love was unexpected and created the most undeniable ache for someone else. It was unquestionably, painful joy.