Going Under (Going Under 1)

“I want to kiss you, but I shouldn’t,” she breathed against my mouth.

“I want to kiss you, and I don’t have a reason not to, but I won’t until you ask me to,” I said as I remained close enough to feel her breath on my mouth.

“I wanted you to meet me here alone because I needed to ask you if there was something between us. I think I have my answer.”

I thought my attraction for her was so transparent, but I guess I was wrong. I touched her lip with my thumb as I asked, “Did you really think you had to ask?”

Her lips were so soft and I felt them move against my finger as she replied, “I had to be positive before I asked you what I’m about to ask you.”

The anticipation of finding out what she wanted from me was about to kill me. “Which is what?”

“I feel this insane attraction between us, but I have a year and a half vested with Forbes and I need a little time to be sure I’m ready to throw all of that away. I need to know if you are willing to give me the time I need to find out.”

“How much time are we talking about?” I questioned.

“I don’t know because I’ve never done this before. A week? Maybe two tops, but there’s something else I need from you and you might not find the rest of my requests so reasonable.”

I moved to her other ear and softly whispered, “Tell me what you want from me.”

She hesitated before answering, “Ditch Gretchen. Don’t sleep with her because I won’t be able to have a relationship with you if you do.”

That would not be a problem, but she didn’t have to know that, then I remembered what Dane had told me about Forbes’ plans with Claire tonight and I thought it was only fair for her to agree to the same rules.

I pulled back to look at her because I wanted to see her reaction when I said, “I’ll strike a deal with you. I agree to not sleep with Gretchen if you won’t sleep with Forbes and we can see where this thing between us is going without any regrets,” I proposed.

She smiled and looked happy to be getting what she wanted. “I commit if you do.”

I smiled because I was happy I was getting what I wanted and vowed with her, “I do.”

This agreement would seem ridiculous if made with any other girl and I would have never made it with anyone but Claire. The upside was that I couldn’t be more pleased with the idea of Forbes’ girlfriend being with him while thinking of me and I laughed to myself when I realized I was responsible for issuing a c**k block with his name on it without really even trying.

“I guess I better get back out there before they start to miss me and call out the search party,” she said, reluctantly.

I knew I wasn’t sticking around if my time with her was over, so I told her, “I think I’m going to split.”

She looked disappointed when she asked, “Why so early?”

“Frankly, I don’t think I want to watch you hang out with your boyfriend,” I said. “And it kind of seems useless for me to hang out with Gretchen.”

I could tell she didn’t want me to leave and that made me happy, but I saw no point in staying if we couldn’t be together.

“Okay, then I guess I won’t see you again until class on Monday. Want to be my partner? I know we still need to cover Making Connections.”

“I’m pretty sure we just made one,” I replied and even in the darkness of night, I could see her beautiful smile and I was happy because I knew I was the reason behind it.

14 I Don’t Want To Be Alright

Claire

The moment I returned, Payton pulled me off to the side, which wasn’t necessary considering how wasted Forbes and his pals were, and began questioning me about my secret rendezvous in the woods with Jessie.

“So, how did it go? I was right, wasn’t I? He wants you,” she said, so sure of herself.

I remembered how close his face was to mine and chills radiated down my body. “He was so close to my face I could feel the warmth of his breath on my mouth, but he didn’t kiss me. He told me that he wouldn’t until I asked him to.”

“I knew he wanted you,” she beamed, then lightly shoved my shoulder. “Why didn’t you ask him to kiss you, dummy?”

“I don’t know, maybe something about asking a guy to kiss me when my boyfriend is standing 50 yards away didn’t exactly feel right to me,” I explained.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. That could qualify as a little bit on the sketchy side,” she admitted.

“Ya, think?” I asked.

“I probably would have done it,” she confessed.

“Yeah, I have no doubt you would have.”

I looked back over my shoulder at Jessie getting into his truck, then looked at Forbes’ drunk ass and there was no decision to be made. There wasn’t enough tolerance juice in those kegs for me to stay and deal with a wasted, horny Forbes the rest of the night. From the looks of it, I had about one minute before the only interesting thing here tonight left in an old, junked out truck.

“Forbes and Cooper are trashed and I don’t feel like babysitting so I’m gonna take off. Do you think you could cover for me with Forbes and get my car home for me?”

“Sure, but it might be in the morning, depending on how things go here.”

I gave her a hug and said, “No problem and thanks, Payton. You’re a sweetheart.”

“If your car is staying here, how are you getting home and what am I supposed to tell Forbes?”

“I’m gonna catch a ride with Jessie so I can work on the plan. You know…strike while the iron is hot. Just make something up to tell Forbes. He’s too trashed to know the difference and you can text me later so we can get our stories straight.”

I heard Jessie start the loud motor to his truck and I knew I had to hurry. “I’ll call you tomorrow and tell you everything.”

I began running when I saw Jessie’s truck back out of the spot where it was parked. It begin to slowly creep forward, but I caught up with him and knocked on the driver’s side window to get his attention. After stopping the truck, he rolled his window down. “Is something wrong?”

“No, everything’s fine, but I was wondering if I could catch a ride with you? I mean…if it’s not too far out of your way?”

“Sure, I can drive you home.” As I begin to walk around to the passenger side of the truck, he stopped me. “Wait.”

He got out of the truck to walk me around to the passenger’s side. He opened the door for me and I climbed in quickly in hopes of not being seen. I was simultaneously nervous and excited about where my risky move was going to take me as my heart raced and my stomach fluttered.