Chapter 25- You Mean I’m Not the Only One Who Bathes in the Nude?
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Olivia!”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Get up or you’ll be late for school!”
I groaned and rolled over to my side to snuggle up to someone warm. My breathing matched with his and when we both sighed at the same time when the alarm clock refused to shut up. This jolted me awake.
“Omigosh! What time is it?”
I rolled over and glanced at the clock and felt a rush of relief over me. Seven thirty. Okay, that’s not so bad. I still have an hour to get ready for school.
Once I silenced the clock I turned back over to look at me bed buddy. He was still sleeping, mostly. He was moving around a little more now.
I was in shock he was still in my bed really. He promised he’d be gone by morning and after the last time he spent the night with me, I believed him. Thomas wasn’t the sticking around type. Anyone he’s ever been with can attest to that.
That realization sent an unjustified bitterness through me. It wasn’t me right to get mad at him for anything he did in the past, present or future. We were just friends and nothing more. He could do whoever or whatever he wanted to.
I threw the covers off of me, grabbed some clothes, and stomped to the bathroom, closing the door behind me as I left.
“I’m up!” I shouted before slamming the door the bathroom and starting the shower.
I took a relatively quick one, trying to make sure I wouldn’t miss my first period class and didn’t even pay attention that someone had joined me inside the bathroom. I could hear them lift up the toilet seat and do their business.
“Cody, get out!” I yelled assuming my brother was the only one dumb enough to enter a clearly taken bathroom like he had on many occasions through his impatience.
“Someone’s grouchy,” Thomas laughed. “Forget to take your vitamins this morning?”
My stomach dropped and my breathing stalled for a moment until I realized I was standing naked in the shower…alone in a bathroom…with a very hot and very experienced teenage male.
“Thomas, what are you doing here?” I shrieked. “Are you crazy?”
“That seems to be the common conclusion.” I could hear the amusement in his voice through the shower curtain. “And I had to pee,” he added casually. As if it were the most common thing in the world to intrude upon someone’s shower.
“What if someone saw you come in here? I have two siblings and an aunt who also live here.”
Does he seriously not think about these things before acting on his decisions?
“Are-are you decent?” I asked as I gripped the curtain firmly in my hands. I was ready to lash out at him the moment I was in the clear.
“Mm hmm,” was his only reply.
I cautiously, but fiercely stuck my out of the shower and saw Thomas was standing over the sink washing his hands. One he finished up and dried his hands I began my lashing out. Halfway through, the alertness of my situation got the better of me and I started sputtering for words.
“I-you-ugh- I’m naked you know!” I felt the need to point out the obvious since he obviously wasn’t getting it and made no move to leave.
He crossed his arms, smiled and looked at me through his thick, dark lashes. My knees temporarily weakened in his presence.
“Really?” he asked in feign disbelief. “You’re naked…in the shower? You mean I’m not the only one who bathes in the nude?”
I felt my face blush at the thought of him naked and moved to cover up my face, letting the curtain fall closed.
He chuckled.
“Anita will kill me if she finds out you spent the night here without her knowing.”
There was a moment of silence and then, “I think you’re about ten minutes too late for that one.”
My stomach dropped to the floor. “Wait. Y-you already saw her?"
"That would be why I said you were too late."
Uh oh. Not good. I yanked the curtain back and stared at him once again. “What did she say? Did she look mad? Should I leave through the window today?”
He took a step forward and I clutched the curtain tighter as if it were some sort of invisible shield protecting me from him.
“She smiled, said good morning and told me it was nice to see me again.,” he said.
I allowed my eyebrow rise a faction of an inch, not sure if I believed him or he was just messing with me.”
He started to laugh. "I'm kidding. She was coming up the stairs the same time I was walking by the bathroom so I came in to hide. I didn’t want to get you in trouble."
Well, I suppose that was kind of considerate in his own way.
Then something dawned on me. “Wait, where is she now?”
He shrugged. “Not sure. But I think I heard the downstairs door close a second ago.”
“And the twins?”
“Probably with her.”
I shivered involuntarily. “I see.”
My knuckles were as white as snow now from the tightly fisted curtain in my hands. Thomas noticed.
“Something wrong, Liv?” he teased.
My heart was beating wildly in my chest. This was really happening. I was trapped, alone in the bathroom with Thomas and he showed no signs of leaving. I was starting to feel like an animal backed into a corner facing down a wolf that hadn’t ate in anything in a week. Thomas the equivalent to the big, hungry wolf of course.
“Uh, what? No. Nothing,” I said snapping from my thoughts. “Just um… just to clarify here. My Aunt is gone and my brother and sister are gone, so we are…”
“Utterly alone? Probably.”
His eyes roamed up and down the shower curtain as if he could see me through it and glanced back up at me with a mischievous gleam in his eyes.
Oh sweet heaven. This is not going to end well for me.
“Well.” I tried to act like that fact didn’t bother me, but I’m sure he could hear my heart thumping rapidly. “Thank you for avoiding her for my sake, but I’d like to finish my shower now, if you don’t mind.”
He smirked, dropped his arms and backed to the door. “Yeah, sure.” He motioned to my body with the wave of his hand and said, “I’ll let you get back to that.”
I was just about to ask him what that was supposed to mean when he picked up my clothes off the bathroom counter and turned and left with them clutched in his hands without another word.
I sighed. Great.
I stood in the shower for what felt like an eternity then finally forced myself out. There was no way I would be able to avoid Thomas forever. He was probably lurking by the door anyway, waiting for the perfect opportunity to pounce on me. This was his dream come true.
I was wearing nothing, but a towel, in a house, alone with him. I wasn't so sure me, or my virginity were very safe at the moment.
“Thomas?” I called, pressing my ear against the white wooden door. It was the only thing separating me from him and I wasn’t about to lose that without some reassurance he was not waiting for me.
No answer.
Hmm. It’s probably a trick to get me out. But I can't exactly see myself staying in here forever just to avoid him. THat woul get pretty boring.
“Thomas?” I called again even louder.
Again no answer.
Alright. Here we go. It’s all or nothing. I gripped the door handle flung it open and stood back, far inside the bathroom. I knew from enough scary movies it was a dumb I idea to just step out into an empty hallway until you looked around a bit first. That’s how the stupid character ended up dead in the first ten minutes of the movie. I was not that character.
“Hello?” I said loudly enough that he should be able to hear me no problem.
Thomas said nothing. The only reply was his silence.
Maybe he left. Yeah, right.
I crept closer to the door and poked my head out. Thomas was nowhere to be seen. I breathed a sigh of relief and stared at my door across the hall. It was standing open wide and there was no sign of him in there either. Now, if I could just make it to the door and lock the door behind me, I’d be fine.
I stepped into the hall and waited for an attack. When it didn’t come I felt safe to proceed to my destination. Silently I crept to the door, making a little noise as possible, just in case he was listening for me from somewhere else in the house. When I reached the entry way to my room I checked for him again and made my way inside.
Still no Thomas in sight. Good, my room was safe.
I quickly slammed and locked the door behind me. Take that, Thomas, you jerk!
I shuffled through the clothes in my closet and found another outfit to wear. I tossed it on the bed, grabbed some undergarmets from my drawers and slipped them on under the towel before removing it. I dried my hair letting it fall into a natural, careless wave across my back and started to get really worried when I still hadn't heard from Thomas. Maybe he really did leave.
I turned to my window and peaked out my blinds looking for him and gave up after a couple of minutes. When I turned back to my bed I let out a loud shriek and reached for my towel on the floor to cover up.
Thomas was casually stretched across my bed like his was a permanent fixture there and he belong. I'd never admit this to him, but he did look good there.
After a few seconds of blind panic I was finally able to speak. “What are you doing? You nearly gave me a heart attack!” I yelled at Thomas.
"Wow, Liv. I didn't think you'd be so trusting out here in the open. "Nice. That shows guts."
My face was flaming red, the top of my head my prickling with anger, and my heart working overtime to pump blood through my body. And one thought kept constant on my mind. For a split second I’d been standing in front of Thomas in only a bra and underwear.
“Nice? Nice? I almost died!”
He gave me an incredulous look. “You’re just being dramatic.”
Of course I was dramatic, he just scared me to death!
I huffed and pointed toward my door. “Out! Get out, get out, get out.”
He didn’t move from his position in front of me, almost as if I hadn’t spoken at all. He only smiled at me.
“I’m serious,” I said. “Get out of my room.”
He shook his head and made step toward me. He now stood between me and my clothes and I began to panic again. He was slowly nearing me still. I didn’t like when he got too close to me. He messed with my head and breathing. It was impossible to think clearly.
“Come on, Liv. What are you so mad?” he teased.
I crossed my arms and gave him a looked that dared him to come any closer. He paused only for a moment. “You took my clothes!” I said.
“But it was funny.”
I narrowed my eyes and stared him down. He took another step forward. “It was a little funny. Admit it.”
“No.” My voice was firm though I didn’t feel it.
He took another step closer. “Yes.”
I shook my head. “No.”
Another step. His body was touching mine now, our fronts barely touching. “Yes.”
My breathing hitched for a second. It was as if he had hold of my wind pipe and wouldn’t let it go. After a second of trying to get my head together I tried to speak again but my voice only shook. “No?”
He nodded, his eyes bore into my daring me to contradict him again. They were still full of humor, but he also and an intensity about him that made my knees go weak. You are weak, Olivia.
I gulped. “Okay, maybe a little funny.” At least it would be once some time passed and we both looked back on this moment together.
He grinned finally, taking a piece of my hair between his fingers and sliding it threw them. “That’s my girl.”
That snapped me out of whatever spell he had me under and I moved around him to my bed. He didn’t try to stop me from try to retrieve my clothes thankfully, so I gathered them up and turned to look at him.
“I’m not your girl. You don’t date, remember?” It wasn’t something someone like him was likely to forget.
“Just because I don’t date,” he said, motioning between the two of us, “doesn’t make this any less than what it is.”
I slipped on my pants on under my towel and then turned away from him before stripping out of it completely and placing my shirt over my head. It wasn’t anything Thomas hadn’t already seen before, but I still felt shy.
I turned back to face him. “And what is “this” exactly?” I asked, deliberately making air quotes to emphasize the word.
He stared at me for a minute as if trying to think of the answer and after what seemed like a considerable amount of time he finally answered me. “It’s whatever we want it to be. We don’t have to break it down and define it. Just because it doesn’t have a title doesn’t me it isn’t something.”
I laughed, though it was absent of humor. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. It has to be something or else it’s nothing. What am I suppose to tell people when they ask what we’re doing? If I give them your crazy answer they’ll laugh at me.”
He raised his eyebrow at me as if I’d just initiated a challenge by rebelling against him and he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at me, hard. Thomas liked challenges. It gave him a chance to show off his power and what he could really pursued someone to do. I can't ever remember a challenge he didn’t win. Whether it was fighting, arguing, or just trying to show-off, he never backed down and never lost. And, unfortunately, I was the reciprocate this time.
I didn’t stand a chance.
“Then don’t tell them anything," he said. "It’s not anyone’s business but our own.”
I stood there shaking my head feeling at a loss of what I was supposed to do. I suppose on some level he was right, it wasn’t anyone else’s business, but I wasn’t because of them that I was asking. It’s because of me. I needed to know what to tell myself what was happening between us.
“Maybe, but I have to know. What is it that you want from me exactly? I don’t even know what you’re suggesting.”
The space between us didn’t last for long. Thomas made his way to me and erased it completely. Without enough time to think about what he was doing, I stood there watching him unsure of what was going to happen next.
He reached out and hooked his fingers in the belt loop of my jeans and pulled me forward until my body crashed into his. It temporarily startled me that I didn’t have time to register what was going on, and before I knew what he was doing, his lips were on mine.
They were hot and rough at first, as if he were starving for something he couldn’t quite have, something just out of reach and then after he realized I wasn’t going anywhere, and was slowly starting to respond to him, he relaxed a little and he became gentler.
His hand cupped the back of my neck as his tongue touched my bottom lip. It was very warm and my mouth was welcoming to it. I didn’t even understand what I was doing, as I was doing it. It was as if my body had suddenly had taken over and my mind was in the backseat. In the moment I was just a bystander watching myself succumb to Thomas’s charms without a spark of resistance.
I found myself acting on impulse, reaching up and tangling my hands in his hair. He needed to be closer; I wanted him to be closer. I pulled him against me so hard it was as if our bodies were trying to mold into one person.
Heat was spreading like fire through my body. It touched in all the most dangerous places. My head was spinning. I had no idea how to control myself and I didn’t have time to figure it out now.
No doubt he’d been through this routine several times with Sarah and whoever else struck his fancy. This thought seemed to bring me out of my stupor long enough to see what was happening and I let out a light squeal.
Thomas froze and pulled away from the kiss. His look was startled and then confused.
He looked worried as he tried to speak. “Liv,-”
I looked down and straightened out my clothes while avoiding making eye contact with him. I could still feel the heat on my face from what I’d done. “We can’t do this. My aunt could come home at any minute despite her schedule, we have no protection and I refuse to be a cliché of the aftermath.”
If I slept with him, not that I was planning on it, I knew I’d be that girl. The one that asked all the wrong questions that freaked the guy out and made her seem needy. Where’s this going? Are we dating now? I guess we should tell our friends.
Uh-uh. No way. I didn't want to be her. But I refused to be just some random hook-up. I'd feel cheap and used and I knew that's exactly how he made girls feel.
Ohmigod. I'd be Julia.
That was more than awkward. It was clear my willpower needed some serious work.
“That’s a lot of reasons,” he finally said after some thought.
I fumbled with the end of my shirt, suddenly finding the stitch work very interesting and worthy of all my attention as I spoke back to him.
“They’re very good reasons,” I said. “I know that this is probably second nature to you, but for me this is new and I want more than…” I took in a deep breath before finishing. “…just sex.”
He grinned teasingly. “For the record it wouldn’t be “just sex.” It would be great sex.”
I shot him a look. “Thomas, I’m serious. I need more something real. You feel-” I cut off. Was I really about to confess my fears and thoughts to him just like that?
"Yes?" he questioned.
He was staringa tme intently when I looked up to meet his gaze. He was waiting for answers and I was the one who had them.
I sighed. Here I go. "You feel unstable. I feel like once we take that last step you'll have had what you wanted and you'll evaporate into thin air, like you were never really here."
What I also didn't say was I couldn't imagine a life that Thomas wasn't in. He'd made my life far complicated than it needed to be, drove me insane and intemidated the hell out of me, but the truth was, life would be quite boring without him. And the only scarier than a life with Thomas was a life without him.
"I want," I continued searching for the right words.
He cut in. “What I can’t offer you.”
I looked at him and nodded. It was a bitter realization to come too. What we had been doing the last few weeks had been fun, and annoying and real. I hated to give that up so quickly, but I knew I couldn’t let this go on anymore. It wouldn’t be fair to either of us. I would always want more and he’d never want to give enough.
“So, what do we do now?” I asked, almost reluctantly. I feared the answer.
He looked down at his feet and no matter how hard I tried to study him, I couldn’t even guess what he must be thinking. He was a closed book and always would be.
He sighed and ran a hand through his blonde hair. “We go to school.”
"Okay. School." If that's what he wanted then I would go along because anyhting was better than facing this right now.
Neither of us came to a solution on the way to school. Of course that was probably because he was in his car and I was in mine. I had to carpool today. Today it would only be Farrah and I though. Grace texted me on the way to her house saying she already had a ride. I think Farrah and I both knew it was a guy. One in particular she was ready for either of us to meet you.
Thomas had asked me to meet him after school today before either of us finished the “Where is this going” talk. And against my better judgment I had agreed. I knew there was a chance he could talk me out of what I wanted, but somehow it seemed like a risk worth taking. If I didn’t go, I’d never know what he wanted and one of the most maddening thoughts is “what if.” Better to know and be disappointed than to never know and always wonder.
Pulling up to the curb just outside of Farrah’s house I checked the car clock. I was about five minutes late picking up Farrah which meant I’d be five minutes late getting to my locker. That is if traffic is bearable. Some days were worse than others.
From the look on Farrah’s face I could tell she’d been worried about me.
"I know, I know, I'm late!" I said as she opened the door and got inside.
She looked in the backseat and frowned. “Where is Grace?”
I smirked. I guess she hadn’t heard the news. “She said she already had a ride and would meet us at school.”
She laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“Nope and I’m pretty sure it has to do with the mystery guy she's seeing.”
Farrah smiled to herself and fastened her seatbelt as we pulled away from her house. “Maybe we should follow her after school today and find out who it is,” she suggested.
“I can’t today, sorry. Thomas and I are supposed to meet after school.”
I suppose I should have been more concerned about Grace and agreed to go with Farrah on an official investigation to make sure she wasn’t on a date with a psychopath, but that was also bordering along the lines of stalking an invasion of privacy. I wasn’t sure if Grace would appreciate either of those things.
“So, how are things with the two of you?” Farrah asked.
I knew she’d been talking about me and Thomas and I was not ready to go there yet. Even I wasn’t sure how things were between us.
I decided on the most basic and simple answer shrugged. “Fine, I guess.”
Farrah’s expression was one of disappointment and that moment I felt like a bad friend. I shouldn’t have lied to her, but Thomas wasn’t something I could talk about right now.
"Fine," she said. "That's it? That's all I get is “fine”? Come on, there has to be more than that. You spend every waking moment with him. I can tell he really likes you.”
I smiled, but I didn’t feel it. It was meant as reassurance more for her than it was for me.
“What’s wrong?” She asked in a more serious tone of voice. This time I knew that she wasn’t kidding. She needed to know."Did Thomas do something to you. Shall we kill him? We could do it you know."
I laughed at her and shook my head. Only Farrah would be willing to kill a guy for me. “It’s nothing. It's not important,” I told her.
“Olivia, I‘ve known you a long time so, that’s means I know when you’re lying to me.”
This time I decided not to answer her and no nonsense Farrah came out. Her expression grave and she refused to take her eyes off of me until I broke, so I did. She was not one to give up when she thought something was wrong.
“It’s everything, okay, " I told her. “It's Thomas, it's the fight, it's me."
I surprised myself by the mention of the fight. I hadn’t expected the words to come out of my mouth, but they did. After Kyle and Jake both told me, after we first arrived at the station, that the fight had partly to do with Sarah I had become a little worried and insecure that Thomas might have been beating up an ex boyfriend or something. But they both quickly assured me that it went a lot deeper than that and that the guy had it coming. They said Thomas would have to tell me the rest.
“Yeah what was that about anyway? The fight I mean,” Farrah said.
I guess I really should have told her sooner, but time and circumstance hadn’t allowed it. There was no better time than now.
“Well," I began."We all went to get tickets to this concert Thomas insisted I go to. I barely knew the band but he seemed to love them so I eventually agreed to go. Plus, I had been standing in line for like ever and I wasn't about to waste all that time waiting there when-"
“Anyway,” Farrah interrupted saving me from my own babble. If she didn’t I would go on forever. It was easy for me to get off subject when I got started.
I quickly picked up where I needed to and went on.“So after we had been standing in line for so long some guy gets bored and shoves someone, who shoves someone else, who shoves another person and so on. Anyway, we get shoved, I fall on some random guy, and Thomas becomes furious and stalks off to go find the guy responsible for it all. As it turns out the person happens to be, Travis Milton. The guy immediately started saying some bad things about Sarah when he saw him and started running his mouth about a party and Thomas got really upset. That's what Kyle and Jake tell me anyway, but I have no idea what it was about, they wouldn’t tell me. And that’s when Thomas punched him in the face."
"That's quite a story. You must have been freaking out."
I shrugged. "Not really. I was more worried than anything. And it’s a good thing that Thomas’s brother is a cop or else I’m sure he would have gotten off with a lot worse. He’s lucky it was only a warning.”
“Wait, I’m confused. What’s the problem?”
“He fought for Sarah,” I said. "And things are kind of complicated between us right now. I don't know what's happening or where we're going."
I couldn’t see Farrah well due to have to share my attention with the road, but she had an air or understanding and realization about her as she spoke. “Believe me; you have nothing to worry about. I can tell Thomas really likes you a lot. And as far as Sarah goes, she has found a really great guy. I think he might be the one for her."
“Really?” I asked. That lifted me a little, but it all still seemed hopeless. Sarah was only a minor thing.
“Yes. I can safely say she doesn’t think of Thomas that way anymore and I’m pretty sure the he feels nothing for her. But if you don’t believe me you can always ask him for yourself.”
"But there's more. We're kind of at an impasse right now," I confessed. My knuckles were tight from my grip on the wheel and she noticed. "I think we're both headed in different directions and neither of us are willing to change our course for the other."
"Oh," she said in slight surprise. "Maybe he just needs some time. Guys can be difficult sometimes and let's face it; most of them aren't very smart. Sometimes it takes something big for them to even realize that they have something they don't want to lose."
Out of the corner of my eye I saw her wince and I knew why. She must have been recalling Blake. He had lost her and he didn’t have a shot in hell at getting her back.
“Maybe, and then again, maybe he isn't one of the smart ones,” I said.
Thomas seemed like the type of person who might let something, potentially a good thing, slip away from him.
"And Farrah, Thanks for listening to me," I added.
“Anytime," she smiled. "That's what friends are for."
We reached school with only a couple of minutes to spare. I rushed to my locker to gather my things for class while Farrah wonder the hall looking for Brody. I was the last person inside the room before the bell rang.
I sat quietly waiting for Farrah to come in while Mrs. White worked on getting the movie in the DVD player to play. It wasn’t long into the movie when Farrah strolled in with Brody only minutes behind her. Mrs. White didn’t seem to notice either of them. She only stared fondly at the TV screen mouthing the words along with the characters in silence.
At least it was a good movie.
At lunch I made my way through the lunch line alone after I tried and failed to locate Grace. It was like she had vanished off the face of the earth. Or school property at least. She didn’t even answer my text. If I failed to hear from her after school I would take it upon myself to visit her house and check on her whether I was meant to meet Thomas or not.
When I arrive at our usual lunch table Farrah and Sarah were in a discussion about Lucas. That was the guy Sarah has been dating according to Farrah.
Where’s Brody?” I asked her when I noticed his absence. It was unusual that he ever arrived to lunch late. He was either here or he wasn’t.
Before she could answer the set of double door to the cafeteria opened and Brody and Thomas both came strolling in together. Thomas’s eyes met mine before he reached them table, but they said nothing. I could tell how he was feeling. Was he angry, worried, or indifferent? I was feeling a lot of things too and it would have been nice to know his emotions as well.
“Hey,” he mumbled as he sat down beside me.
“Hey,” I mumbled back in return.
And that was it. That was all we said to each other for most of the lunch hour except for the last five minutes when he told me where to meet him after school and he’d be a few minutes late because he was doing something with Brody. That gave me about twenty minutes to kill after school alone, by myself. I gave a short nod, ate my lunch and left the cafeteria with Farrah and Sarah.
I only invested half of myself in the rest of my classes until the day ended. I only hoped I passed my food safety test in Food 1 today. Thomas skipped so he’d have to make it up later, if he even bothered to do it at all. School often took a backseat to his life and anyone who knew him didn’t expect any less.
I walked the halls looking for Farrah so I could take her home and found her and Sarah both standing in front of a locker with a bunch of permanent markers, glitter, and other art supplies.
I perked up a little at the sight of it all. Finally, some action. I’d been sulking about Thomas all day and rarely found anything to smile about and this was exactly what the doctor ordered.
After I asked them what “we” were doing and Farrah stuttered a little bit, I decided to take part in the destruction of Brody Bauer’s locker with Sarah. If I couldn’t take out my frustration on Thomas, Brody would be a great substitute. Plus I never really got back at him for his water prank on me so, in my eyes, he had this one coming.
Farrah and I laughed about it all the way to her house, despite the fact she was a little worried about her boyfriends reaction to our work of art. Deep down I knew she agreed he deserved it too.
I made my way across town to the only pizza place in our town and took the only booth available in the back of the restaurant while I waited for Thomas. My drink was beginning to water down and I was growing incredibly bored when a very familiar and friendly face plopped down at the table in the seat across from me.
“Dining alone today?” James smiled picking up my menu and looking it over. When he saw nothing that interested him he laid it down and propped himself up on his elbow. “You don’t look like the type who dines alone?”
What’s that supposed to mean? I could eat alone if I wanted too.
He must have seen my reaction because he jumped in to clarify. “I just mean that you’re to pretty be here all alone.”
Oh. He’s hitting on me.
I laughed and took a sip of my coke. “I’m waiting on a friend.”
He raised an eyebrow at me. “You look awfully depressed for someone here meeting a friend.” He took a quick look around the bustling eatery and then back at me. “What happened? Have you been stood up?”
“No,” I said and then I paused. “At least, I don’t think so.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. Thomas was ten minutes late. With bitterness I thought about Farrah’s offer to follow Grace around today and became a little annoyed I declined. At least I couldn’t have been stood up riding around in Farrah’s blue MINI Cooper.
I sighed and shoved it back into my pocket. “He’s just a little late,” I said.
“Oh. It’s a he?” James’s voice failed to hide his surprise. “So, it’s a date then.”
I quickly shook my head to stop him before his thought process took him any farther. “No. Like I said, I’m meeting a friend. That’s it.”
He leaned back in his seat with a look of disbelief on his face. “It’s a date. No one is just friends with Thomas Cavanaugh.”
I felt the blood rise to my face, but I forced myself to remain calm. “How do you know that’s who I’m meeting? It could be anybody. Ann Just for the record, no one date Thomas Cavanaugh either.”
He quickly threw his hands up in surrender and his face turned three shades darker than its normal pale color. “Hey, sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. I wasn’t trying to step over the line.”
It was clear he was telling the truth, but I was still a little annoyed by it. Not because he said it, but because he was right. Thomas didn’t date, and Thomas wasn’t “only” friends with someone of the opposite sex. He had his own set of rules and even though I didn’t know them personally, I did know that had to be one of them. Never been friends with someone you can’t hook up with.
But then again…he never hooked up with me. And we were sort of friends. I mean sure we made out a few times, but we never took it further than that. We never crossed the line from innocent flirtation to whatever he had with every other girl he was ever with.
“No, its okay,” I finally told James when he showed no signs of dropping his hands until I forgave him. “Your right, I’ve just never heard anyone be so honest about it before, besides Thomas.”
He nodded when his hands fell back into his lap. “It sucks to hear sometimes, but it’s true. I think that’s what Jess thought too when she broke up with me for him.”
I grimaced. I had totally forgotten about James rough breakup after Thomas hooked up with his girlfriend. The guilt started to weight down on me. It wasn’t like James and me were the best of friends or anything, but I should have asked him how he was doing since the breakup. Though, it would have been a lot easier if I would have seen him more than twice since the whole thing happened. It wasn’t like we had any classes together so that also meant our paths rarely crossed.
“Sorry,” I said to him. “Have you saw her since it happened?”
He was studying the cubes of ice floating my drink as he spoke. “She called me a couple of times trying o apologize.”
“Did you forgive her?” He still didn’t look up at me and I was getting the sense he didn’t want to talk about it.
“No. And I won’t.” He voice was even his eyes still on my glass.
“I guess I can’t blame you. If someone were to do that to me, I’d be pretty pissed for a long time.”
James didn’t look up until the door chimed with another couple entering Greg’s Pizzeria. Behind them was Thomas.
His eyes scanned the room for me and when they found me they also found James and he tensed looking sideways at the door. Thomas didn’t move from his spot for a second, clearly surprised by seeing James there then clenched his fist and started our way.
He faced me then and his gray eyes flashed with worry. “He doesn’t look happy to see me.”
I glanced in Thomas’s direction. “He’s never happy to see anyone.”
“That’s not true. He looked pretty happy to be here until he saw me. I think I just pissed him off.” James ran a hand through his short black hair and sighed almost with anticipation when Thomas approached. He stopped at the end of our booth and frowned.
“What’s this?” he asked looking between James and I. “I’m fifteen minutes late and you’ve already replaced me with this guy?” His eyes darkened in James’s direction. “And didn’t we have an understanding about him, Liv?”
I guess I should have expected this to happen. James looked at me with a puzzled expression. “What understanding?”
I narrowed my eyes at Thomas and crossed my arms. My rebellious side was fighting back with vengeance. “That his male bravado couldn’t handle any competition,” I answered him. “It was requested I stay away from you,” I said to James.”
He looked up at Thomas towering over us then back at me. It almost looked as if that one look at him put the fear of death in him. “Maybe I should go. I didn’t mean to get in the way of anything. I just came over to say hi.”
Thomas glared at him. “And you’ve clearly overstayed your welcome. Now, goodbye.”
I shouldn’t have been surprised by Thomas’s rudeness, yet somehow I expected a little more from him. “Thomas! Stop being a jerk. He’s not bothering anyone.”
Thomas didn’t take his eyes off of James as he spoke. “He’s bothering me. I have to look at him don’t I?”
“Thomas!”
James flinched at his harsh tone and so did I. Thomas continued to ignore me.
“I think I should go now,” he offered standing up to leave.
I stood with him ready to make apologies for Thomas’s behavior when I notice we were gathering stares by passersby and half the restaurant. Heat rushed to my face from the embarrassment. The only pizza place and town and we were probably getting ready to be kicked out of it. Great.
“I’ll guess I’ll see you around, Olivia,” he said nodded to me.
That apparently didn’t sit well with Thomas because he caught him by his shirt before he walked away. There was an odd look about the way he smiled at the guy and even I braced for what was coming next.
“Say hello to your girlfriend for me, will you?” he said. When he released James’s shirt he was face was red and his hands closed into fists. They were white at the knuckles from the tight grip he had them in and his lower lip began to tremble with fury.
I’d always felt like James was a peaceful guy, but I suspected that this James was the one who decided to jump Thomas in the hall that day. I knew at that very moment this was not going to end well.
“How could you say that to him after you-after what happened?” I gasped. “That just low, even for you.”
Thomas glanced at me in surprise and opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out because at that exact moment James raised his fist and slammed it into Thomas’s face.
There was no crunch of broken bones or yelps of surprise like I expected there to be, but there was a furious looking Thomas with size and experience on his side who hadn’t even flinched for James punch. And the next thing I knew, he was swinging his arm toward James and this time I did hear a crunch and James was lying on the floor in a puddle of his own blood.
It was like I déjà vu walking into the police station again after the last fight Thomas had gotten himself into. I was called into questioning after the Greg of Greg’s Pizzeria called the cops and Thomas and James were both brought in.
Thomas’s brother wasn’t working this time, but it hardly mattered. Since James threw the first punch and Thomas only acted on defense and therefore didn’t need the help of his brother to get him out of something.
They asked him if he wanted to press charges and since he didn’t they agreed to let everyone go home after they finished up some paperwork.
I sat between Thomas and James on one of the benches next to the main desk and looked between them both. Thomas was my main focus though.
“You know you that all of this was your fault, right?”
“You’re point,” he asked me with a bored expression.
“My point is, you can’t go around punching people all the time. You need to find an outlet for your anger.”
“I had one, then you came along.” He looked me over from head to toe.
My face flamed and my pulse quickened. I fumbled around for words. “Excuse me? What-what’s that supposed to mean.”
He crossed his arms and stared straight ahead into the office that the one filling out paperwork was sitting at her desk.
“What it means, is that my life was fine until you waltzed yourself into it. Now everything is screwed up. I’m fighting guys for talking to you. I’m haven’t slept with a girl in a month. And thanks to you, I’m actually considering a relationship.”
My eyes widened. “You know, to most people that would be considered a good thing; besides you wanting to kill any guy that talks to me. Maybe you should consider that.”
“I’m not most people.”
I shook my head. “No. You are most certainly not.”
“Mr. Cavanaugh. Mr. Owens. If you’ll just sign these papers we’ll have you out of here,” the dark haired, middle aged police officer announce from her office door.
“And I’m leaving,” I said standing up. “And thanks for clarifying things for me. I see everything perfectly now. I suspect whatever this is is over now and we’re both better because of it. You can do your thing and I’ll do mine. And if our paths happen to cross again and I suspect they will, don’t even bother saying hi.”
I patted James’s shoulder as I walked by him. “See you around, James.”
Thomas didn’t spare me a second glance as I staked toward the door and didn’t follow me when I left. I had snapped and stalked out on an adrenalin high, but now that’d I said that things I’d been thinking, I wasn’t so sure I’d done the right thing. I wasn’t sure if my regret was going to outweigh that short moment of liberation if felt back in the station.
It’s not that I had expected Thomas to follow me out, but some sort of recognition that he actually cared I didn’t want to see him anymore would have been nice. I guess maybe he didn’t like me as much as I hoped he did. I guess that teaches me a bitter, unsavory truth about hope though. Don’t succumb to it or it will just tear you down and make you miserable.
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A/N
Hello, lovely readers. I hope this long update makes up for the long wait. I’m in the midst of editing TBBIP for publication, so until I get that finished there will still be very irregular updates on JMT. Hang in there though and soon enough I’ll be back on track again.
Comment and vote if you like. (:
-This chapter has not been edited yet.