My best friend finally gets the decorations in place and grins down at me.
We’re in the club Jamie works for as a social media manager, where he sometimes has to pitch in and help with other tasks, like decorating the club for a special private party later.
I smile as convincingly as I can when he looks down at me.
“It’s not a problem. It’s a nice break from studying.”
He grins and hops off the ladder. “You’re the best, Lori. This would take so much longer on my own.”
I’m not the best, I want to tell him. Five days ago his father pushed me up against a wall and gave me the best orgasm of my life.
I’ve crushed on Lukas for years and often imagined what it would feel like if we ever did anything like that, but nothing prepared me for the feeling of his hands on my body, the spark of pleasure that became an overwhelming storm the moment he touched me.
As we move the ladder over to the opposite corner of the room, Jamie says, “I’m sorry it didn’t work out at the laundromat. I know you were getting a lot of work done.”
For a second I’m sure he can hear the pounding of my heart. It drummed so heavily the moment he mentioned the laundromat… bringing to life the scene that has stayed with me every moment since I left that night.
I remember the way Lukas’s face changed when I told him I was a virgin. It was difficult to read his expression, but he didn’t look pleased… more like he was pissed that he’d brought me to an orgasm and then didn’t get to take me right after.
But then he’d said he didn’t know if he could forget about what we’d done, further confusing matters. He said it like he still wanted me. Maybe he does, as badly as I want him. Maybe he’s dreamed of me every night since it happened the same way I’ve dreamed of him.
“Lori?” Jamie calls, hand outstretched for more decorations. I hand them over to him quickly.
“It’s okay. I’ve got an interview for a restaurant near my college campus.”
“At least he let you keep the car.”
“Yeah… but only if you agree to take his other one and give up your hunk of junk.”
Jamie smiles as he begins to climb the ladder again. The smile threatens to make me confess everything, just blurt it all out before it kills me. He has no idea what I’ve done, what his dad has done.
He has no idea I want to do it again, and more… that it’s all I’ve thought about since I walked out of the laundromat.
“I agreed to that last night, actually,” Jamie says. “Dad finally wore me down.”
“You saw him?” I ask, trying to keep the jealousy out of my voice.
“Yeah. I went over to his place for dinner.” Jamie pins the decoration in place and leans back slightly, studying it. “Does that look okay?”
I look from one end of the streamer to the other and then nod. “Looks good to me.”
Jamie climbs down. “Yeah, it was nice, seeing dad. But I don’t know…”
“What?” I say, hoping he can’t hear the eagerness in my voice.
He shrugs. “He seems a bit off lately. Dad has never been a super upbeat and go-happy guy. He’s kind, generous, all those things, but his demeanor has always been a little grumpy. But last night, it was even worse. I asked him if something had happened and he said no. I feel like he’s lying to me.”
It takes everything I have not to turn and run for the door.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I just wish he’d find somebody. He’s never been the same since mom died.”
I swallow a ball of nerves. Jamie doesn’t know what Lukas told me about his mother, about the cheating, about how he never truly loved her, just trying to do the right thing.
This has become too tangled too fast, putting me in an awkward situation I don’t feel equipped to deal with.
“I was telling him last night,” Jamie goes on, as we walk across the dance floor to the bar. “He’s not an old man. Forty-three, fit and healthy, he could have a whole second life if he wanted to. He could have a wife, a family. But ever since mom, it’s like he’s been running in place. At least where relationships are concerned.”
“I don’t remember him having many girlfriends when we were growing up,” I say carefully, hoping he can’t hear the curiosity in my tone.
“He didn’t have a single one, as far as I know,” Jamie says, reaching under the counter and bringing up two sodas. “I used to think he was just getting over mom. But I’m not so sure now. I miss my mom. I miss her so much it hurts. But she died over a decade ago. Sometimes, I wish he’d move on.”