A Forbidden Love (The Forbidden Series) (2 page)

“Sure,
what do you have?” Anything was better than sitting here staring at my lover’s
half naked brother.

“What
about Sex on the Beach?”

My
jaw nearly hit the floor. “I’d prefer it on a bed but…”

“No,
no I meant the drink!”

Utterly
embarrassed, I took the beverage and it was delicious. Two of my favorite
liquors, schnapps and vodka, were mixed in with cranberry and orange juice on
the rocks. After pounding back three drinks, I felt completely inebriated. I
noticed Jake staring at me from afar, undressing me with his eyes. By the weird
expression on his face and the awkward silence, I sensed Allan had no idea I
was here and it scared me a little. I wasn’t wearing anything extravagant, just
black leggings, an oversized white t-shirt, and my black flip flops.

“So,
what do you do for a living Jake?” I asked as a distraction.

“I
tattoo part time, but construction is my nine to five.”

“What
about you?”

“Well
right now I’m in school for Graphic Design, but I also work part time at a sub
shop.”

“How
old are you exactly?” he inquired.

“Twenty-four.
And yourself?”

“Twenty-seven
years young.  Would you like to watch a movie or something
til
Al gets here?”

“I
don’t know, Jake, he’s taking quite a long time to get home.”

“It’s
okay, you’ll be fine. So what kind of movies are you interested in? Let me
guess girly love shit right?”

“I
love action, comedy
and
some girly love shit, thank you very much!”

As
he began searching through his huge stock pile of DVDs, I found myself studying
his random tattoos. He had a huge lion’s head on his left arm with a snake in
its mouth. 

“What’s
the story behind that tat?”

“Which
one?
I
have hundreds.”

“The
lion head with the snake in its mouth.”

“The
lion is the king of the jungle and rules all animals. The snake is one of the
sneakiest poisonous animals around, so I combined the two as a representation of
pride, strength, and to fear no prey”

“Wow,
I didn’t expect that to have such a deep meaning behind it.”

He
stopped looking for a movie and slowly began creeping closer and closer towards
me.

“Do
you have any tattoos?”

“I
actually have two of them, this purple butterfly on my right foot, and the
other one is on a need to know basis.” I said with a smirk.

“How
about one more drink?” Jake said slyly.

“I
knew I shouldn’t have, but agreed out of the sheer fear of what would come
next.”

He
walked over and handed me another full cup. The robust scent of liquor quickly
filled my nose as I placed the red cup to my lips. This last drink was quite a
bit stronger than the others, but I inhaled it none the less. I watched Jake
closely as I gulped it down so fast it nearly knocked me on my ass.

“You
sure make some strong ass drinks Jake,” I slurred.

“Hey,
what can I say? I like to have a good time!” he said, as I felt the warmth of
his breath against the nape of my neck.

“Jake
what are you doing?”

“I
was searching for your mystery tattoo.”

“Well
it’s not on my neck.”

Panicking,
I grabbed his arm and yanked him back in front of me. While tightly grasping
his forearm in my hand, I pointed out another tattoo. This time it was a wolf
with a scar over its left eye, with a dream catcher dangling off his bottom
fangs.

“You
sure have a lot of animal tattoos. What’s the story behind the wolf and dream
catcher?”

“The
wolf epitomizes leadership, strength, and determination. The dream catcher is
symbolized for keeping bad dreams away, so in reality, it means to find your
inner strength and pursue your dreams no matter what. So about that secret
tattoo, what part of your body is it on?”

“I’m
not telling you, and if you want to know so bad ask your brother since he knows
where it is.”

“That’s
not fair; I need to see it for myself.” He stepped directly behind me and
placed his hand upon my shoulder. Feeling him slowly inch down the front of my
t-shirt, I pushed him away.

“Jake,
stop.”

Suddenly
the door swung open and Allan appeared right before my eyes. With his fingers
tightly clenched by his sides and a scowl on his face, he looked pretty pissed
off. Looking at his brother then back over at me he shook his head in both
disappointment and disapproval.

Despite
being upset, Allan looked amazing tonight. He wore a black sleeveless
undershirt and a pair of fitted ripped blue jeans. I wanted to pounce on him
and rip his clothes off that instant!

“Allan,
I got your text and came right over to see you.”

“Alecia,
I never sent you a text.”

I
stood up and staggered towards him, extending my arms to give him a hug and
said, “I don’t understand.”

“You’re
drunk. Maybe you should lie down and we’ll talk about this in a few.”

Sitting
down on a long, blue futon, I shook my black flip flops on to the glossy wooden
floor beneath me and lay down. I watched as Allan and Jake stormed through the
white bedroom door, and listened as they stomped down the stairs like a herd of
elephants. There was so much yelling and cursing going on, but I was too
intoxicated to comprehend anything they were saying. I closed my eyes and fell
into a drunken slumber.

Next
thing I remembered, I awoke well after 1 P.M. the following day. It wasn’t as
sunny and bright as the day before, but dark and gloomy instead. I rolled over
hoping to see Allan’s face, but he was nowhere to be found. My head felt as if
someone had smashed it in with a sledge hammer and I was in desperate need of
caffeine right away.

One
glimpse around the room and I quickly realized Allan had abandoned me in Jake’s
bedroom last night. Allan didn’t have any posters of tattooed, topless women,
or silver guns hanging up in his room, nor did he have a large plasma TV
mounted to the wall.

In
a panic, I slipped into my flip flops, grabbed my duffel bag, and bolted
through the empty liquor bottle and plastic cup obstacle course on Jake’s
floor. I pulled my phone out of my bag to check my messages and one was waiting
there from Allan.

Lover
: I didn’t mean to ditch you like
that Alecia but I had to get to the bottom of this. I couldn’t understand why
the fuck Jake lured you over the house. If I knew he would’ve pulled this, he
could’ve kept his phone and let mine die. We both went straight to work this
morning so that’s why I never woke you.

Me
: It’s okay, but I feel like shit
right now, so I’m heading home.

Lover
: No stay, I’ll be home in less
than an hour.

Me
: I rather not. This whole
situation is just crazy and I don’t feel very comfortable being here right now.

Lover
: K.

I
really can’t stand when people send me one letter responses! I would much
rather be ignored.

While
taking a step outside the front door, I was greeted by a vast array of dark
blue and black clouds. Feeling a brisk breeze blow through my tresses, I knew I
had to hurry up and get home before I got stranded here. The city of Auburn was
known for its heavy rain and flash flooding.

I
reached the parking lot outside of my complex just before the storm hit and ran
inside barely escaping the rain. While the exterior of the building I lived in
wasn’t much to look at, the inside is what actually drew me into the place.

Our
unit was gorgeous; it was completely gutted and renovated before we moved in.
There was a huge eat-in kitchen with brand-new stainless steel appliances, a
stacked washer and dryer in the closet, a spacious living room, and two full
bathrooms. I was lucky enough to get a unit on the first floor and could walk
less than a hundred feet to my front door from the main entrance. I unlocked
the big maroon door and saw an eager face staring me down from the kitchen
table. It was my roommate, Lacey.

“Hi
Lacey,” I said slightly depressed. 

“Hi
Alecia, you seem bothered. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,
I’m going to take a shower and head to bed, I’ve had a rough night.”

“It’s
only 2:30 in the afternoon.”

“I
know, but I’m really tired.”

“Good-night?”
she said sarcastically.

“Night.”

Lacey
wasn’t your typical college roommate. She was very neat and organized,
constantly had craft projects going on, and possessed a never ending bout of
energy. She always made a chart to plan out the week ahead for bills,
groceries, and homework assignments.

She
stood about five-feet, five inches tall, with long, red, spiral locks, thick,
black, square framed glasses, pale skin and the tiniest freckles on her cheeks.
She appeared to be innocent but, that small stature meant nothing when she had
a point to prove. She was originally from a small rural area just outside of
Portland, but could definitely hold her own in a fight.

After
dropping my bag onto my bedroom floor, I stood back to admire all the hard work
I put in to it. A brand new pink and brown cheetah print set covered my
king-size bed, with several matching throw pillows-lying against my metal
headboard that was full of asymmetrical swirls and flowers. A small nightstand,
a six drawer dresser, and a mounted 42 inch TV also complimented my room. Being
the art nerd that I am, I had a painting by my favorite artist Claude Monet
hanging above my bed. The only thing missing right now was... him.

I
disrobed and marveled at my figure in the floor length mirror. My five-nine
stature was paired with small perky breasts, a curvy waistline, smooth thick
thighs, a firm round ass, long naturally curly hair, and a light tan that I
kept year round.

Stepping
onto the bathroom’s icy tiled floor, I eagerly jumped behind the pink and white
shower curtain, turning the water up as hot as I could physically stand it.
Shame and guilt set in as the sweltering water collided with my skin. “
Why
would I allow myself to leave the house so late, just for sex? Why would I let
my guard down and get piss drunk with a man I barely even know? Granted, it did
feel kind of right, even though I knew it was absolutely wrong
.” Jake was
definitely an attractive man, but he was also Allan’s brother. I did wonder why
he didn’t have a ‘girlfriend’ of his own though.

The
hot water quickly became frigid, which was the only thing I hated about living
in a complex, and I immediately started to shiver. I snatched my fluffy robe
from the towel rack, turned the fan on to clear away some of the steam, and
walked back into my room.

Before
sitting down on the side of my bed, I slipped on another white t-shirt and a
pair of blue boy shorts. While connecting my phone to the charger, I decided to
lay
down and take a nap.

I
was awakened out of a deep sleep by my phone ringing. I had six missed calls,
one voicemail, and three texts. They were all from a number I didn’t recognize.
I played the voicemail first: “Alecia, it’s
Jake,
I
hope you don’t mind but I got your number from my bro’s phone. I wanted to
apologize for last night. I know you’re Al’s girl and that was pretty fucked up
of me to act like that.”

The text messages read:

Unknown
: Call me, it’s important.

Unknown
: Why aren’t you responding?

Unknown
: I’m sorry.

I
didn’t understand why Jake was bothering me so much. I’ve only spoken to him
one other time before last night and he keeps harassing me. I made sure to save
his number under the name “Creep” in my contacts, so that I’d remember it was
him.

Me
: Apology accepted I was taking a
nap that’s why I didn’t respond to you right away.

Creep
: It’s cool.

I’m
pretty sure Jake could bother any other girl in the world, so why me? Why the
girl that is sleeping with his older brother? Technically, Al and I are labeled
as ‘fuck buddies’ not boyfriend and girlfriend, but that’s beside the point. I
messaged Nikki for some insight on the situation. I’m pretty sure she’s still
pissed at me for not calling her back sooner, but at least she’ll be honest
with me.