She gladly kicked off her heels and spun around. I took her tiny feet in my large hands and began to massage while we watched the movie. She occasionally made a sound I could only describe as something between a sigh and a moan. I concentrated on everything in the room trying to not get turned on by the sounds coming from her because I knew she didn’t intend for them to be sexual in any way. The more I tried to forget, the worst it got and my hands slowly drifted from her feet to her lower legs.
I stroked her calves up from her ankles to her knees and down again, over and over. Her freshly shaved legs were so soft and smooth against my palms and I ached to feel more of her, but didn’t dare push further.
She took her feet from my lap and I cursed myself for pushing her too far. “I’m sorry, Princess, I shouldn’t have…,” but she scooted closer and interrupted my words when she kissed me urgently. She put her hands in the back of my hair and pulled my mouth hard against hers and when that wasn’t close enough, she fell back against the couch, pulling me on top of her. She pulled me tighter against her and bent her knees to tuck me snugly between them, but when she wrapped her legs around my waist and pressed her lower body tightly against mine, I decided I had to tell her that I needed a minute.
When I broke our kiss and pulled away to break the news, I saw someone standing behind the couch peering over at us. It took a minute, but my brain eventually registered that I was seeing Forbes Henderson watch Claire and I while we made out. I reached to pull Claire’s dress down over her legs and yelled, “What the hell are you doing in Claire’s house?”
Claire quickly raised up from the couch to see who I was yelling at and I watched a look of shock, horror and disbelief come over her face. “How did you get in my house?”
“So, you’re screwing the Collinsville skank, Claire?” Forbes screamed. “When did you decide you wanted to go slumming?”
“Get out,” Claire shouted.
Forbes grabbed his hair with a fisted hand and slurred, “He doesn’t care about you, Claire. He’s just screwing you to get to me. Why can’t you see that?” then he stumbled toward her.
I stepped in front of Forbes and put my hand on his chest. “Whoa, dude. You’re drunk and you seriously need to back off.” He attempted to push me, but stumbled backwards.
“Shut up, skank. You have no right to be here,” he yelled at me.
“Don’t, Forbes,” Claire pleaded.
“Don’t what? Remind him he’s trash and not one of us?” he said as though I needed reminding of what I was or how I didn’t fit in.
Claire folded her arms. “We broke up and you have no right to come into my house uninvited.”
“How do you think your parents would feel about you slumming with the trash?” When Claire didn’t answer him, he continued, “I don’t understand you, Claire. We’ve been together for a year and a half and you broke up with me so you could screw around with a nobody you’ve known all of two weeks.”
She shook her head and said, “You wouldn’t understand, Forbes.”
He took another step toward her. “He’ll never be able to give you the things you want or need.”
“I want you out now!” she screamed.
I had heard enough. “I think it’s time for you to go.”
He was about to retaliate against me, but there was a knock on the front door. Claire and I looked at each other, wondering who it could be. She went to the foyer, opened the door and I could hear Cooper’s voice in the living room “I thought I’d find him here. I tried to take his keys, but he got away from me before I could. I’ll get him out of here.”
Cooper walked in the living room and put his arm around Forbes. “Come on, buddy, you’re coming with me.”
Forbes didn’t fight Cooper, but on the way out the door he turned to me and narrowed his eyes. “This isn’t over by a long shot.”
When they were gone, I walked over to Claire and hugged her closely. When I loosened my hold, she looked up at me. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. Will you stay with me?”
23 Sweet Dreams
Claire
The look in Forbes’ eye was feral and I had never seen anything like it. I was unnerved because he knew my house as well as he knew his own, but I was more alarmed by his ability to slip in unnoticed because I was positive I locked the front door after I let Jessie inside.
Another nerve-racking factor was my bold invitation for Jessie to spend the night alone with me in my house. I lifted my head from his chest to gage his response and saw an expression I couldn’t define. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that. I’m sure you’ll be expected home tonight.”
His strong arms pulled me tighter and he stroked his hand down the back of my hair the way a mother comforts her child. “Of course I’ll stay with you. There’s no way I’d leave you in this house alone after what just happened. Are there any keys hidden outside?”
“There’s one, but he doesn’t know about it.”
“It’s probably wise to get it because he doesn’t need to find it and have access to the house while your parents are gone,” I recommended.
We walked outside and I retrieved the key from it’s hiding place. “It’s here, but I can tell it’s been moved recently. That has to be how he got in because I know I locked the door behind you when you came in.”
He shook his head like he couldn’t believe Forbes has gone so far. “That was a pretty daring move. I think you should probably turn on the alarm as a precaution.”
Things suddenly felt much more serious and he saw the worried look on my face. “I don’t think he’ll be back.” He placed two fingers under my chin and lifted my face for me to look at him. “Don’t be scared. I’ll be here if he comes back and I won’t let him hurt you.”
I started to relax because I was confident in Jessie’s ability to protect me and I reveled in how safe he made me feel. “Thank you. I don’t think I could stay here tonight without you.”
He tried to lighten my mood. “Are we going to paint our nails and talk about boys at this slumber party?”
I reached up, resting my arms over his shoulders. “Nope. I want to pick up where we were before we were interrupted.”
He didn’t look like he shared in my anxiousness to continue where we left off and my hope plunged to my feet. “Did I do something wrong?”