“Um, just a little,” he said modestly. “Do you mind, Mr. Bloom?”
“Not at all. Rosie, go help him find a shirt. Just don’t give him my Bubba Gump shirt; that’s my favorite.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, Dad.” I turned to Henry and said, “Come on, slob.”
“Don’t forget to soak his shirt,” my mom called out. “I would hate to see it get ruined.”
Grabbing Henry’s hand, I led him upstairs and toward my parents’ bedroom, but Henry stopped me in the hallway and said, “I want to see your room.”
“You’ve seen it before.”
“But not in a while. I always love looking at your pictures.”
“No, you like making fun of me in braces and overalls.”
“You were adorable, come on.”
He pulled me toward my childhood room that was too embarrassing to have a guy in. Thank God I was comfortable enough with Henry.
The room was a mauve color with pale blue bedding, sheets and curtains. The furniture was an oak color, and if it wasn’t for the Furby, Nanopet, posters of Jonathan Taylor Thomas, and other teenage knick-knacks, you would have sworn an eighty year old grandma was living in there.
On the bulletin board behind my desk was my wall of achievements, which was a pathetic assortment of made-up certificates. I didn’t have much talent when it came to sports, so my mom decided to make up her own certificates and award them to me. I had a certificate of completion for a clean set of braces, for fitting into my first training bra, and successfully using my first tampon. Yup, big time achievements.
“I love it in here,” Henry said, while taking in everything, as if he had never seen it before.
“Why?”
“It just shows me what formed you, why you are the perfect person you are today.”
“I’m not perfect.”
“Pretty damn close,” he winked at me. “Ah, the certificate for inserting your first tampon. Such a great accomplishment. I really love how your mom used tampons as a border.”
“Could we not look at that?”
“And it’s laminated; she really excels at making certificates.”
“Maybe she can make you one for being nosy.”
“What I love most about you is that, instead of throwing away the certificates, you actually hung them up,” he chuckled to himself.
“Well, that would have been rude. My mom spent time making them, even though they are slightly inappropriate and highly embarrassing.”
“So adorable.” Walking up to me, he grabbed my hands and said, “Want to make out in your bed?”
“No!” I practically shouted, as a wave of heat washed over me.
“Come on, it would be fun,” he wiggled his eyebrows.
“We need to get you a shirt before you get us in trouble. Come on.”
I dragged him out of my room and into my parents’, where the mauve theme continued. My poor father. My mom was a mauve and frills kind of gal, where doilies were acceptable and muted colors were welcomed.
“Do you want a T-shirt or button up?” I asked, while I looked through my dad’s closet.
“Whatever works,” Henry responded.
Just as I looked up at him, I saw him take off his shirt and grip it in his hand. He wasn’t wearing an undershirt or anything, so I was privy to stare at his well-defined chest and abs. He must be working out on his lunch breaks more often, because he was looking so fine.
Did I just say he was looking fine? When have I ever thought that about my best friend? Almost never, but now that he was in my head, all these thoughts about kissing and holding hands and whatnot, now I felt like I examined every last sexual aspect of him, and damn if he wasn’t the sexiest guy I had ever met.
“Love, you can’t just stare at me like that and get away with it.”
“I’m sorry,” I shook my head and turned around to look for a shirt, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get my arms to function.
The strength of Henry stepped up behind me and placed his hands on my hips, sending Virginia into a frenzy. She was practically eating up my panties just to get closer to Henry.
My breath hitched as he leaned forward and moved his hands to my stomach, pulling me against his bare chest. The exposed skin on my back met his warm body, sending a thrill of excitement through me.
I shouldn’t be feeling this way, I shouldn’t be thinking naughty things about my best friend…like how I wanted him to press me up against a wall and finally take what I was trying to offer.
“Turn around, love,” he said in a low voice, tempting me.
My mind and heart weighed against each other, trying to figure what was the best move. My mind was saying, no don’t do it, you’ll ruin everything, but my heart was beating at an alarming rate in my chest, letting me know if I didn’t give in, I might lose at one of the most amazing opportunities of my life.
This time, my heart won out, so I turned in his arms and met his strong gaze.
His hands ran up my body until they were cupping my face. I stood rigidly, not really knowing what to do, how to blink, how to breathe, but the moment Henry lowered his head to mine, my body relaxed into his embrace and followed his direction.
My lips parted to his, and very slowly, he let his tongue slip into my mouth at just the right pressure so that I thought I was going to ignite into a pile of flames. He teased my mouth and caressed it, making me weak in the knees. With every movement he made, he turned me further and further into a pile of mush.
My hands found his waist and slowly started to creep up his chest, taking in every contour and ridge of his body. His breathing became just as labored as mine from my perusal, and it only encouraged me to move my hands up farther until they lightly ran over his pecs.
In a flash, Henry pushed me away and held onto my shoulders as he looked down at me, gasping for air, the same as me.
We stared at each other for a brief moment, wondering what the hell we were just doing, and what we were supposed to do next. I just hoped Henry wasn’t looking for answers from me, because I had no clue how to handle such a situation.
Sparks flew between us, ignited like the damn Fourth of July. There was something different about Henry, something that felt so erotic, so wrong, but oh so damn right.
“Did you two get lost up there?” my mom called from the stairs.
Snapping out of the haze, I called back, “Nope, just picking out a shirt now.”
“Okay, hurry up. Dad and I want to get in a couple of rounds of Yahtzee before you leave.”
I rolled my eyes and shook my head as Henry chuckled to himself.
Trying to avoid the awkward conversation, I turned around and picked out a tye-dye T-shirt and handed it over to Henry.
“Here, this should be fine. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
I started to walk away, when Henry pulled on my arm and wound me back into him like a Yo-Yo.
“Oh, no you don’t. You’re not walking away from me like that.”
“Like what?”
He didn’t answer, instead he gripped my chin with his thumb and index finger and brought his lips back down on mine. Instinctively, I kissed him back, even though I probably shouldn’t have.
Just as quickly as he kissed me, he pulled away again and put the shirt on that was one size too big and two decades too old, but he still looked good.
“Let’s go, love,” he said, grabbing my hand and entwining our fingers together. “Time to beat your parents at Yahtzee.”
Stunned at his drastic change in mood, I whispered while we walked down the stairs, so my parents couldn’t hear our conversation.
“So, you’re just going to kiss me and then act like nothing happened?”
Before we were in plain sight for my parents to see, Henry turned and pinned me against the hallway wall.
His strong body pressed up against mine, while his hands found my waist again.
“There is no way I can act like nothing happened. Right now, I’m on fucking cloud
nine from that kiss, and instead of hashing it out like you probably want, I just want to enjoy it and play some Yahtzee. Sometimes, you just have to let things happen, Rosie, and not overanalyze everything. Live a little.”
“I’m living,” I said defiantly.
“That you are, but live a little with me, Rosie.”
“What does that even mean?”
“Are you two coming?” my dad called out this time.
“Yup,” Henry said, while pulling me behind him.
We met my parents out on their deck, where they had Yahtzee set up, and a special set of dice for each person.
“Look, honey, we found cat dice for you,” my mom said excitedly.
No matter how many times I told my mom I didn’t like cats, she still insisted upon getting me cat mugs, T-shirts, and calendars. She had it in her mind that since I worked at a cat magazine, I was in love with cats, when in fact it was the opposite. If I worked at a golf magazine, she would probably be stuffing golf balls in my stocking every year.
“Wow, thanks, Mom,” I said, sitting down. Henry sat down right next to me, scooting his chair over, so he was practically on top of my playing space. He wasn’t letting up anytime soon, and hell if I secretly wanted him to keep it up.
“That shirt is very becoming on you,” my mom said to Henry.
“Thank you, Mrs. Bloom. I’m sure Mr. Bloom does it more justice than I do.”
“I would say that’s true,” my dad said, chuckling.
“Oh, Dave, don’t be jealous of the boy.” She clapped her hands together and said, “Ready for the roll off? First to roll a six gets to go first. And, go!”
We all grabbed one die and started rolling until one of us got a six.
“Ah ha!” My dad called out, while fist pumping the air. “Looks like the old man has the upper hand.”
It actually didn’t matter who went first, but my mom insisted on a roll off at the beginning of each game. I wasn’t as into it as much as my parents were, but looking over at Henry lightly smacking the table, I could see he was disappointed he didn’t win the roll off. He was too damn cute.
“Next time,” I whispered to him, causing his hand to once again find my thigh.
It was as if his hand to my thigh injected some kind of stupid serum, because my mind went blank, and everything around me went fuzzy. He had that effect on me.
“Honey, you’re up,” my mom said, just as Henry squeezed my thigh and leaned over into my ear.
“You’re up love. Don’t let me distract you.”
Evil bastard, he was going for the win. Well, two could play at that game.
Puffing my chest out a little and adjusting the straps on my dress, I grabbed my dice and shook them up. From the corner of my eye, I could see Henry perusing my body, and even though it was making it that much more difficult to concentrate, I enjoyed hearing him clear his throat and shift in his seat.
The rest of the game was spent flirting shamelessly with Henry, trying to throw him off by bending to the side to pick up one of my dice that fell on the ground, showing off a great deal of thigh from my dress, as well as leaning over, showing off my cleavage to him every chance I got.
By the end of the game, we both had scores that were sadly unmentionable, and my parents took the win, blowing us both out of the water.
“Boy, what a good game, but I’m a little thirsty. Dave, why don’t you help me in the kitchen? Rosie, why don’t you take Henry down to the beach? It’s only a block away; I’m sure he would enjoy it.”
“That sounds great,” Henry answered for the both of us as he stood up.
My mom winked at me as I got up too, making me roll my eyes at her matchmaking attempts. Once we were out of sight, Henry grabbed my hand and walked with me down to the beach. There was a little walkway that granted people in the neighborhood access to the beach, which was nice, since beach access was quite hard to find.
“Did you go to the beach often when you were young?” Henry asked, as we took off our sandals so we could walk in the sand.
“Not much, but during the summers I would bring my books down here and read on occasion.”
“God, that image is so adorable. Of course, you would bring your books down here. Did you have a spot?”
“Not really, just anywhere that I felt like sitting at the time.”
“Do you want to sit and watch the waves with me?” he asked, while pressing his hand on the small of my back and guiding me to a little private alcove.
“I guess I don’t have a choice,” I laughed, as we sat down, gaining privacy from everyone else on the beach.
We sat in silence as we watched the waves crash against the sands of the beach. It wasn’t the white sands of the Virgin Islands, but it was still pretty, even if there was trash here and there, thanks to the locals with no sense of protecting Mother Nature.
The sun peeked through the partly cloudy skies, warming us against the rocks we were sitting on and shining on the waves of the water rolling in. It was picturesque. I just wished I knew what was going through Henry’s mind.
The way he’d treated me all day was weird, the way he touched me, talked to me…kissed me. Yeah, we’d never been kissers before. What did I do with that? Don’t get me wrong, I would kiss him again, because how could I resist him, now that he’d broken that seal, that “we’re just friends” seal? There was no going back from there, because I knew what he tasted like now, what it felt like to have my hands on his body, to have his lips pressed against mine. I couldn’t just back away from that, but I also couldn’t seem to gain the courage to move forward.
“I wish I grew up out here,” Henry broke the silence. “It would have been nice to have the beach in my backyard.”
“But you got to have the concrete jungle as your playground,” I joked.
Henry grew up in the city, born and raised, so to him, he didn’t really get to escape away from his childhood home. But, he did know where all the good and cheap places were to eat while we were all in college. Him growing up in New York City was also a reason as to why he got such a great job right out of college, because he’d made connections growing up; he did internships in high school…he was set.
Me, I didn’t have those opportunities, but who doesn’t like working with cats, eating cat hair every day, and writing about the different clumping formulas on the market?
“It would have been nice to have a backyard, but I guess I can’t complain,” Henry said. “How’s the book coming, Rosie?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Alright, I guess. I still have yet to touch any kind of sex scene. I feel like I could write one, after all the books I’ve been reading and the research I’ve been doing, but I feel like there will be a lack of energy, or spark, you know? I feel like, in order to do my writing justice, I have to experience the real thing. I want there to be emotion, passion, and right now, the closest I’ve gotten to an orgasm is a fart on a face and a vibrator stuck in the vag.”
Chuckling softly, Henry nodded his head. “I can understand that.”
Feeling a little uncomfortable, I shifted on the rock I was sitting on and continued to stare out at the water, waiting for Henry to say something else, because I was at a loss for words.
My insides were all jumbled, my mind felt frazzled, and I wasn’t the same person that I normally was around Henry. Henry literally flipped my world upside down the minute he kissed me, because even though I was sitting next to my best friend, someone I could tell anything to, I felt at a loss. I felt tongue tied, nervous, and sweaty, like I was on a first date.
“Let’s get out of here,” Henry said, after what felt like half an hour of just sitting. He stood up and grabbed my hand, leading me back to my parents’ house, still in silence.
Was he feeling the same way? Was he feeling as anxious as me? As confused?
When we made it back to my parents’ house, they were sitting out on the deck, enjoying a glass of lemonade, typical Blooms.
“Oh, there you two are. Ho
w was the beach?”
“Sandy,” I muttered, as I tried to ignore the matchmaking gaze beaming from my mom’s eyes.
“Oh, aren’t you a card?” My mom waved at me and laughed.
“It was quite lovely, Mrs. Bloom. Good suggestion,” Henry kissed ass.
“So glad you enjoyed it. Would you two like some more food? More Yahtzee?”
I was about to say no, when Henry started talking for the both of us.
“Actually, Mrs. Bloom, I think Rosie and I are going to head back to the city; we have some research to do for a project she’s working on, and I’ve been dying to get some hands-on time with it.”
With a squeeze to my hand, he winked at my mom, and gave both my parents a hug as I stood stiff as a board from his comment.
Hands-on time? What the hell did that mean?
My parents led us out to the car and gave me a hug good bye. Like a robot, I got in the car, buckled up, and looked out the window, while Henry said his last goodbyes.
I didn’t know what to say, what to expect as we drove away.
Like clockwork, Henry’s hand once again found my thigh, and when I looked up at him from his caress, he just smiled back down at me and turned up the music, ignoring my questioning eyes.
Just like the ride to my parents’ house, it was going to be a long ride back to the city, and I thought the drive to my parents was bad, boy was I wrong.
Chapter Nineteen
The Fleshy Popsicle
The apartment was empty when we arrived. On the way home, we got stuck in traffic, shocker, so when we got back to the apartment, we were met with a dark living room.
The ride back was full of sexual tension, something I never really experienced for such a long period of time. So, instead of trying to make up conversation, I turned my head toward the window and pretended to sleep. Pretended being the key word. There was no sleeping with Henry’s hand lightly caressing my thigh for the entire trip.
Feeling anxious and unsettled, I followed Henry into the apartment as he switched on lights. Like a coward, I headed straight to my room, where I could debrief my day with my notebook, and possibly think about what kind of Chinese food I wanted to gorge myself with.