An Unexpected Love (Complicated Love Series #2) (3 page)

Upon reaching my room, I take a long, hot relaxing shower and lather my body with soap and massage the night’s events away. Dressing in my favorite white silk nightie, I slide under the covers of the double bed occupying the guest room. I’m so exhausted by the thoughts circling my mind and they’re all thoughts of
him
. After twenty minutes passes and I’m still not asleep, I huff and roll over. Closing my eyes, I try to forget about Karl and the fantastic sex we had.

It didn’t mean anything…did it?

This woman is beginning to annoy me. What was her name again? I think it's Rachel or Riley or something starting with ‘
R.’
Let’s face it, I didn’t really care when she came flouncing up to me at the bar. I’m trying to forget a certain blonde haired beautiful treasure that’s permanently stuck in my head and she’s all I can think about.
What the hell is wrong with me?
We’re standing at the bar and she has her hands trailing all over my chest and her fake fingernails rake over my skin. I tossed my jacket and tie on a chair earlier because I’m hating, wearing this Tuxedo. I didn’t want to wear one today, but it’s what a Best Man does for his best friend. The woman is talking animatedly to the bartender while stroking my chest, I’m zoning in and out of the conversation. Her voice is nasally, and she has the most annoying laugh I’ve ever heard in my life.
What the hell possessed me to talk to her in the first place?
As I’m standing here, I can’t help but notice her gigantic snout. My God she could give Pinocchio a run for his money. Her head looks surprisingly too big for her body too. I have to stop myself from laughing as she looks a bit like a caricature. I’m trying to come up with a plan to ditch her before she starts expecting things to happen, but I’m pretty sure she already thinks that.

“Karl, baby…are you listening to me?”

Shaking my head, I notice that the bartender is making another couple of drinks and the woman standing next to me is looking at me with a frown on her face.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

She leans in and licks her lips, she has lipstick on her teeth. I can’t help but wince at the ugliness of the red concoction smeared on her two front teeth.

“Do you want to go someplace quieter?” She flutters her fake eyelashes. I’m not feeling this connection at all, and all I want to do is go to bed. This has been a very tiring day and I’m off back to Oxford in the morning.

“Look gorgeous, it’s been a pleasure talking to you but I’m sorry nothing is going to happen with us tonight.”

She pulls back with her eyes opened wide. “What? You’ve been all over me and now you don’t want to?” She plants her hands on her hips and she looks infuriated. “How dare you lead me on like you have!” She’s starting to get louder and I really can’t deal with a woman screeching at me.

“Okay, R…” I’m stumped as to her name, and she looks really pissed.

“My name is Ruth, you asshole!” She stomps her foot and walks away. Resting my arms on the bar, I drop my head in my hands. This day has been a nightmare from the start. It all began with Tracy. Why am I so attracted to her? Why did she have to get under my skin? No one has done that in a long time. Not since Beth…

Beth was a girl I started seeing in secondary school. It was that typical ‘my parents were friends with hers’ and they literally had us paired off since our parents first met. We used to do everything together, and in some ways, she was my best friend. I always protected her from the meatheads at school. Beth was a popular girl with short brown hair, hazel eyes and the most delectable curves. She was one of the girls that had hit puberty early, and one of the reasons why every guy was after her. That was where I came in. Whenever we went to parties, I would be there to protect her. She never realized that I held a torch for her myself. She was constantly in my thoughts, day and night consumed my life, and I loved her. I never believed that Beth would reciprocate the feelings for me, and it took us ages to finally get together.

We both applied for the same college in London and luckily enough, we both got in. It was exciting going to college, and even more exciting, going with Beth. We both ended up moving into the dorms, and going there was the start of our college experience. I was scared of starting college. I know it seems like a wussy thing to feel, but it was entirely different to being in school. There were new people and being away from my parents was tough. Beth was going to make new friends and that didn’t sit right with me, especially if they were male. She was always good at making friends and she made many on the first day of term. We didn’t see each other as much as we used to, but Beth always set aside some time for me. I made a few friends myself, but all I wanted was to be with Beth.

After waiting three months, I needed to tell Beth how I felt. She was gaining a lot of interest and attention from guys and it pissed me off. Eventually, she was going to start dating, and I couldn’t stand idly by and watch her with someone else.

Me and my mates got invited to a dorm party and I found out that Beth and her friends were going too. The party was in full swing when we arrived, and all I could think about was Beth. I left my mates at the door and went in search of her. The party was very chaotic and it wasn’t just in one room. The party expanded along the whole corridor, and there were so many people milling around. It was becoming impossible to squeeze through all the bodies either standing or dancing. I weaved in and out until I finally saw her leaning against the wall. She was laughing with a tall, muscular guy in faded jeans and a tight green T-shirt. I was incredibly jealous watching her fawning all over this guy that I hadn’t seen before. It was my fault because I hadn’t told her how I’d felt, so I decided that night to tell her no matter what. I went and hung out with my mates for the rest of the evening because I needed a drink if I was going to tell her.

The dorm party was winding down at about eleven-thirty. Loads of people were leaving, and as I made my way out into the corridor, many couples were plastered to each other. They looked pretty drunk, and one couple looked like they were ready to start having sex right there in the corridor. My mates walked ahead of me and all left to go back to the dorm, but I wanted to hang around and wait for Beth. She was still with that guy she was with earlier, and she seemed to be really enjoying herself. I told my mates I’d catch them up and waited out in the car park for her. I waited for ages, but I didn’t see her at all. People kept coming and going, but Beth never came out. Maybe she went home earlier? I decided to walk back to my dorm and speak to Beth tomorrow. Before I got very far, I heard a scream and a shout from around the back of the dorm. I quickly made my way to where the noise was coming from. There were massive trees and bushes shrouding the side of the dorm building in shadow. I couldn’t see anyone, but I could hear a whimper and then a guy speaking.

“Come on beautiful, you were up for it earlier. You’ve been all over me all night.”

“Please, I don’t want this!” The girl was sobbing now and her voice seemed very familiar, I’d know that voice anywhere.

Quickly walking to the spot where Beth was being held against the wall by the guy that she was talking to earlier, he had one hand on her thigh and the other was stroking her jaw. His body was keeping her pinned to the wall, and I could see Beth’s face in the moonlight. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

“Oi, get your hand off her!” I raced toward them and removed away from Beth.

“Hey, man! What’s your problem?” He stood there with his hands in the air.

“You’re my problem, asshole! Leave her alone, and get lost.” I stood in front of Beth and faced the guy. He was furious by that stage.

“Who are you? Beth, who’s this creep?” He tried to talk to Beth, but I wouldn’t allow him to. She gripped on to my jacket tightly.

“It doesn’t matter who I am. She doesn’t want you anywhere near her, and I think you’d better go before the cops are called.”

“Whoa, whoa, okay man. You know what girls are like. She wanted it! She’s been teasing me all night.”

Moving to pull away from Beth to punch his lights out, she gripped my jacket tighter. I tried to calm my breathing because this guy was really getting to me.

“Whatever…she isn’t worth it anyway.” He turned around and walked off through the trees. I didn’t know where he was going because the dorms were in the complete opposite direction. Turning around, I noticed that Beth was still sniffling and trying to wipe her face.

“Are you okay?” I cupped her face and wiped away her tears with my thumbs. “Did he hurt you?”

She swallowed hard. “I’m okay, and no he didn’t hurt me. You saved me, Karl. I’m so glad you came along when you did.” She wrapped her arms around my waist and gave me a hug. It felt so good to hold her. She pulled back and smiled before planting her lips on mine. I couldn’t believe it was finally happening. I’d wanted to kiss her in like forever, but I never thought it’d happen. I froze and forget what I was supposed to do. Before I knew it, she pulled back and frowned at me.

“I’m…sorry, Karl. I don’t know why I did that” She looked down and seemed a bit unsure of herself. I felt stupid not kissing her back.

“Please don’t be sorry…Beth…I…” I swallowed hard and tilted her chin up so I was looking into her hazel eyes. I didn’t know how to put what I felt into words, so I kissed her crushing my lips to her mouth. Her lips felt so soft and she made this little whimpering sound. Gliding my tongue along her lips, she took that as a sign to open her mouth. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and massaged her tongue with mine. My God, it was the best kiss I’d ever had. It was unbelievable, I’d wanted to kiss her for so long that I felt like I was in some sort of dream and that I was about to wake up any minute. Slowly I pulled back and she looked really flushed and her eyes were glazed over. Smiling, I released her from my hold and held out my hand for her to take.

“Shall I walk you back to your dorm?” She shyly smiled and took my hand. I walked her all the way back to her dorm in silence. I couldn’t think of anything to say and I was feeling stupid for helping her out then kissing her, and then walking her home and not talking. We arrived at the dorm.

“Thank you so much for tonight, Karl. I really appreciate the help back there.” She seemed really shy and she wasn’t usually shy with me. I had known this girl for years and she was still my best friend, but I’m not sure now if the kiss we shared had changed anything between us.

“I would do anything for you, Beth, you don’t have to thank me. You’re my best friend.” She looked down and played with her fingers.

“Is that all I am to you, Karl, you’re best friend?” She glanced up and her cheeks had reddened. She looked so beautiful.

“What do you mean?” She stared at me before looking away. She couldn’t seem to keep eye contact with me.

“Well, that kiss we shared, I really liked it and I was kind of hoping…” She glanced back at me and her cheeks had reddened even more. “Maybe you were going to ask me out?”

Oh, crap! I was such an idiot. I’d kissed her and then just walked her back to the dorm in silence. How stupid was I? I took a breath and did something that I had wanted to do for a long time.

“Beth, would you like to go out to dinner with me?” She smiled widely and it was excellent to watch her smile at me like that.

“Yes, Karl, I’d really like that.” After that, I walked back to my dorm in a complete daze and was looking forward to my first date with Beth.

After that night, Beth and I were inseparable. Once again, just like we were in secondary school. We flirted with each other all the time and our first date went really well. So well, in fact, that soon we were a couple. I was so happy and I loved spending time with her, walking her to class every day and eating lunch with her too. We went on countless dates and sometimes her friends and my mates all hung out together. That was awesome, and college was going by so quickly. Spending time with our friends was becoming the norm. My mates, Jase, and Kieran, and Beth’s friends, Taylor and Katherine, all came over to either mine or Beth’s dorm and we would all hang out. I’ve never had a group of friends, but it was really cool to have one now.