Absolute Beginners(79)

I tried not to look too shocked, but I didn’t think I did a very good job. The men still seemed disappointed.

“I know, I know,” Julia said, sighing. “He is quite the piece of man candy. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve shown him my boobs, hoping for a little action. Sadly, he doesn’t like girls.”

Why is she saying this?

“Stephen, honey,” she purred, tugging at the bottom hem of my T-shirt. “Why don’t you give the boys a little peek as a consolation prize, since I’m stealing you away and all?”

She smiled at me but I could see an evil gleam in her eye.

She’s doing this to punish me!

I let her pull up my shirt to reveal my stomach for a few seconds, but when one of the men reached out to touch me, I had had enough. Grabbing Julia by her hand, I stormed out of there. I could feel the anger building in me as I dragged her across the deserted parking lot.

“What the hell were you doing back there?” I demanded when we reached my car.

“Relax. I was just playing.”

“This is not a game!” I seethed. “You can’t just do something like that.”

“Yes, I can, actually,” she said, raising her chin. “I can do whatever the fuck I want.” She poked me in the chest with her index finger, sneering at me. “And you can’t tell me what to do,” she said with a final poke.

“God, why do you have to be such a—” I was very close to calling her a derogatory term, but managed to control myself. Her eyes flared. She obviously knew what I’d wanted to say.

“What did you expect?” she asked. “Why did you even come here tonight? We’re over, Stephen!”

“No, we’re not—don’t say that!”

“Why not? It’s the truth, after all. We were just having sex and now we’re done. You can get yourself a nice normal girlfriend and live happily ever after. Isn’t that what you want?”

“No!” I said immediately. “I want you!”

I took two steps forward, forcing her to sit down on the hood of my car. I stepped in between her parted legs and pushed her back on her elbows.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I want you,” I repeated, placing my palms on the hood as I bent over her. I had no idea where this bravery was coming from. I’d only had a few sips of the drink that the bartender gave me, so it definitely wasn’t alcohol-induced like last time. I was angry with her for trying to reduce whatever we had to just sex. She had told her friends just minutes earlier that she liked me, but now it seemed that she was trying to push me away.

Not going to happen.

I made her lie all the way back and stared into her beautiful eyes. She was breathing faster and her skin had broken out in goose bumps. Tracing lightly from her neck down between her breasts with my index finger, I watched her, waiting to see if she would protest. When she didn’t, I leaned all the way down, stopping when my lips were an inch from hers. I felt her hands come up to my shoulders and I feared that she would push me away. But she fisted her hands in my blazer and pulled me down, mashing our lips together in a heated, aggressive kiss. She whimpered into my mouth when my tongue massaged hers roughly and I pressed my erection against her. She pushed a little on my shoulders, but I wouldn’t let her stop this. I knew that she felt it too. I grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head, something I would normally never do. My show of dominance made her gasp, breaking the kiss. For a second I worried she didn’t like me holding her down, until I felt her wrapping her legs around my waist.

“I missed you,” I moaned before kissing her jaw. “God, I missed you so much, Julia!”

She didn’t say anything, but I knew that she wanted this as much as I did. She was moving her hips with mine, and whimpered when I sucked on the soft skin on the side of her neck.

“Stephen,” she whispered. I finally lifted my head to look at her.

“Please say that you forgive me,” I panted. “Please, Julia.”

“I forgive you,” she whispered.

Thank you, God.

I kissed her again but this time it was slower, softer, and I released her hands, which she tangled in my hair. I wrapped one arm underneath her and held the back of her head with my other hand so she could lie more comfortably, and held her tightly while our kiss continued. I was in heaven. She was perfect in my arms, despite the fact that we were on the hood of my car in the middle of a parking lot. I never wanted this feeling to end.

I love her.

Through my love- and lust-filled haze I heard voices close by and reluctantly pulled my mouth away from hers.

“Someone’s coming,” I whispered.