The Bond That Built Us (6 page)

“Then when he does this,” she imitates his serious face, “he looks l
ike he’s constipated!” She cries, wiping a happy tear from the corner of her eye.

“My favorite is his ‘o’ face. I can imagine that’s what MJ sees when he comes,” I laugh.

Aubrey grabs her sides and cackles as more tears run down her face. “Oh, my God, my abs hurt from laughing so much. Ouch!” She takes deep breaths and slowly calms down and fans her face. “Whew, okay, good thing I washed off that mascara.” She wipes underneath her eyes and examines her fingers, looking for excess makeup she might have missed.

“Why do you let MJ get to you?” I blurt out.

“What?” She asks, her eyebrows furrow. Her bouts of laughter are subsiding and I can tell she is trying to get serious but her smile is still gleaming.

“You, just… I don’t know, you let her walk all over you. Just tonight I saw her come up to you while you were
in line for the bathroom and she told you to get her a drink. And you did it. Then by the time you came back, you had to go back to the end of the line. I don’t get it.”

She looks down at her hands that are wringing at the hem of her shirt. “It’s complicated. I hate talking about it. I feel so pathetic.”

“Then do something about it. Change.”

“It’s not that simple. I can’t just throw away our friendship like that.”

“She did,” I say bluntly.

That makes her flinch. “Ouch,” she says sarcastically. “The truth is, I don’t know what it’s like to not be her friend. Even after all these years when she was running around with Cara and leaving me out of everything, I still felt connected to her somehow. I’m afraid of what will happen if I finally say no.”

“What happened? You guys were really close?”

She nods and keeps looking down. “Yeah. We were best friends growing up, until high school.” She looks up at me, hesitates, and continues. “We were both juniors and it was Cara’s first year there. They hit it off immediately and MJ started doing things without me. She joined the cheerleading squad and started going to make out parties. Then one day after school she left me there.

“We would drive each other to school every day, then one day she just… stopped. I had to walk home that night, and the next day when I went to pick her up she wasn’t there. I went to the door and my aunt said she got a ride with Cara. I was so confused and pissed, I didn’t know what to do. The rest of high school was her and Cara versus me. I tried so hard to get her back, but nothing I did helped. It was like it made it worse. That was why I came here; it was going to be my last attempt. And I already failed.”

It all seems so petty,
I don’t really understand. But I know how important that relationship was to her, so I don’t argue. I just nod and keep quiet. I think of a way to change the subject, but she manages to do it first.

“So, what are your plans after graduation?”

Graduation is just a few months away for me. I am about to start my last semester of my college career, and I am frantic and excited all at once. “Well, I applied to a bunch of internships. I haven’t heard back, but whichever one offers me a job I’ll be on the first flight out. I don’t care where it is.”

“Where did you apply?”

“All over. One in Memphis, another in Scottsdale. Those are my top two. I also applied to places in Chicago, Kansas City and St. Louis, even back home in Texas.”

“Did you apply at my dad’s firm?” She smiles.

“I don’t know, probably. What’s the name of the company?”

“DMA Designs. I’m the ‘A’ and my mom and dad are the ‘D’ and the ‘M.’ I came up with the initials idea,” she says proudly.

“I did apply for that one. So if I don’t get it, I can blame you, right?”

She laughs a little, and nods. “Absolutely.”

I can see how tired she is, and she still has that drunken look to her. I almost say something about getting some sleep when she yawns and stretches, exposing a little of her belly. Then she leans over and rests her head on my chest.

I am stunned into submission. I thread my fingers through her hair and play with the strands. She smiles and closes her eyes, a small hum escaping her lips. “That feels really good,” she moans, and before I can stop myself, I pull her down on the couch and hover over her. Suddenly she is very awake.
Her lips are slightly parted and her gaze keeps darting over my face, my eyes and down to my lips, then back up to my eyes.

“What are you doing?” She whispers so softly I could only tell what she said by looking at her lips as she said it.

“I don’t know,” I admit. God, what was I fucking doing? I told myself I wasn’t going to sleep with her, but for some reason my body won’t listen. It’s like I have a horny robot body that I can’t control.

Just to prove its point, my dick hardens and I hear her gasp. Shit, shit, shit. I trace a line with my fingers from her temple down past her neck and arm, to her thigh. Her breaths are shallow, and I can tell I affect her by how her own body is reacting.
I don’t know what I’m doing until I’ve already done it. I grip harder until my fingertips are dug into the skin on her thigh. I lean my head down until my lips barely graze hers.

“Kellan-“ She pleads. I’m not sure if that is a warning or an invitation. I hope for the latter. But soon find out it is the former when she shoves at my chest. “Stop,” she whispers. I raise my head just slightly, hoping she will change her mind. I’m still pressed up against her, my hand on her outer thigh. “Stop. Stop!” She yells urgently and slides out from under me.

I sit up and let her stand, her hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” I say, though I’m really not.

“Don’t say that if you don’t mean it.”

Damn, how does she already read me that well? “Fair enough. I’m not sorry I did that, but I am sorry I made you uncomfortable.”

She shakes her head and crosses her arms over her chest. Doing that makes her boobs perk up and her cleavage look fucking amazing, but I don’t tell her because she won’t do it anymore. I’m a selfish prick like that.

“We’re both drunk, that’s the only reason that almost happened.”

What?

“Whatever you say, Aubrey. If saying that makes you believe it then go ahead. But believe me when I say I wanted to do that way before the first beer.”

She stares at me for a few m
oments, processing what I said. Finally I get a reaction from her. “God, what kind of line is that? If you want to get laid so bad, then go back to the bar. I’m sure Cara or any of those sluts would love to bang your brains out.”

“Just because a girl knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to get it makes her a slut? Because a couple hours ago, you looked just like them- dancing around in a little dress and shit. What makes you any better?”

“Maybe because I don’t randomly hook up just because it’s convenient!” We are both yelling at this point, and I am glad we are the only two here.

“Well, I do! So that makes me a bad person because I like to fuck girls who are willing to reciprocate? That’s fucking bullshit, Aubrey. You know what? Screw this, I’m going to bed.” I storm up the stairs and slam the door to my room, open it up, and slam it again. I fall onto the bed and seethe.
How dare she. She doesn’t know me and until she tries it, she shouldn’t knock it. What a prude.

After a couple minutes I calm down, and I know I should have offered her the bed and take
n the couch instead. But it is too late for that now.

I can’t fall asleep, I can only think about how Aubrey thinks of me. Does she really think my lifestyle is disgusting? Well, of course it is. But I have fun and I do it responsibly. So why should she care? Maybe she likes me and that’s why she is acting like that.

I feel like my own body is going through a tug of war. One part of me likes Aubrey and wants to be with her, while the second part just wants to use her and be done with her. I’ve never had such conflicting feelings before about a girl and it pisses me off to no end.

5

Aubrey

I glance at the clock; we had talked for almost two hours. The others should be back any minute. I toss and turn on the couch, wondering if Kellan is still awake or not. I flip on my side and let out a frustrated growl. I can hear giggling on the other side of the door.

MJ and Cara come in, stumbling and laughing, clearly inebriated out of their minds. I can hear Josh shushing them but they don’t hear him, or they don’t care. I feign sleep, hoping they will go to bed themselves. No such luck. One of them turns on the radio really loud and they laugh together.

“Guys, stop! AJ is trying to sleep!” Josh yells over the radio and goes to turn it down.

“Buzzkill, Josh. We still want to party! Who gives a shit about if Aubrey wants to sleep?” MJ says, her speech slurred. The radio gets turned back up and I hear them crawl up on the coffee table and dance.

“Sorry, AJ,” Josh says before I hear the master bedroom door shut.

“Everyone is such a fucking bore!” Cara yells. “Let’s call that guy and see if he still has people over. We can probably walk there.” I hear her jump off the table and stagger across the room. Suddenly the radio shuts off.

“Hello? Brian? Hey, It’s Cara, from the club. You still having after hours? Sweet. What’s the address? I’m sure we can get a cab or something. You have some room for me in case I get too drunk? Awesome, I’ll see you soon, baby.” She hangs up and says to MJ, “We need a cab, it’s on the other side of the highway. And he said I can stay in his room with him! This is going to be such a good night.”

“Well, what am I going to do if you stay? I don’t want to take a cab back by myself.” I could hear the uncertainty in MJ’s voice.

“You can stay, too. I’m sure one of his friends has somewhere you can stay.”

“I can’t stay! What about Josh?”

“Oh, yeah, well he can come get you in the cab. Come on, I need to get some!”

Suddenly a door swings open and Josh’s voice carries through the house. “No! No way in hell you are going to that guy’s place. End of story!”

“You aren’t my dad, you can’t tell me what to do!” Cara whines. I bet even her own father doesn’t tell her what to do, the spoiled bitch.

“If you walk out this door, you are on the first flight back to Missouri, I swear to God!”

“Ughhh! I hate you, Josh! You’re such a loser!” Cara shouts and stomps up the stairs. It is like this living room
loves drama. Two arguments in one night, what a great vacation so far. Yeah, right.

I wake just minutes later to a knock at the door. The clock reads a little after three in the morning. Who could possibly be here? I am afraid to answer the door, so I don’t. I hear Cara’s phone chime upstairs and a minute later she is slipping down the steps. She unlocks the door and opens it.

“Hey, baby. Sorry I couldn’t come to you. Stupid friends,” she whispers.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind. This place is awesome,” a male voice, I assume Brian, answers.

“My room is upstairs. Come on.”

Footsteps lead away from the door and before they make it up the steps, Josh comes out of the bedroom. “What the fuck, Cara?”

“Josh, this is none of your business. Go back to bed and make MJ happy with that thing you do with your tongue. He’ll be gone before you wake up in the morning.”

“Hell, no! I’m not having a strange guy in my villa. You. Out. Now.”

Since there is no way I could possibly be awake now, I sit up and watch it all go down. The Brian guy is like Josh’s clone. They are the same height, same build, and same
short hair. It’s too dark to tell eye color, but from where I sit, it would be hard for me to know the difference between the two.

“This is my
villa, too. You can’t make him leave. Come on, Brian.” Cara grabs Brian’s hand and leads him farther up the stairs, right into Kellan’s chest. “Kel, stay out of it.” She shoves him out of the way.

“Kel, don’t let him through,” Josh barks.

I can barely see Kellan through the stairs, but he looks drowsy. He holds his arm out, effectively stopping Brian from proceeding up the stairwell. Brian looks at Kellan, then Josh, then up at Cara.

“Listen, she is a grown woman. She can make these decisions for herself. If you want, you can have my wallet and when I leave, you can make sure I didn’t steal anything before giving it back to me. I’ve done this before, it’s simple. Here,” Brian says and tosses his wallet to Josh.

“I don’t give a shit about that. I don’t want you here. I don’t want anyone who isn’t supposed to stay here to stay here. I don’t care if you’re a guy or a fucking chick. No overnighters.”

“What? That’s crap,” Kellan interrupts. Right after he says it, he looks over at me
and immediately looks down at his feet.

“Kel, n
ot right now. Don’t push me, man. Brian, you have five seconds to walk out that door before I
make
you.” I knew Josh worked out a lot, and normally I would have bet all my money on him. But Brian looks like a badass too, so I am a little nervous about who would win, should it come to that. Hopefully it doesn’t.