Everything She Needs (The Everything Trilogy) (13 page)

“Can I take you out tonight? Unless, do you have other plans already?” Hell, someone would have to wrap me in bubble wrap and masking tape and stuff me in cupboard to keep me away from him now.

“No, no plans tonight. Sure, going out with you would be good.” Damn I was babbling.

He smiled at my awkward reply. “You’re adorable, you know that?” No I didn’t. If I was adorable, he’d want me, and he’d be mine. Even as I reasoned this, I also knew that I so desperately wanted to feel his arms around me, skin to skin. I must be sick to want someone this badly, who only wanted me for my body.

We watched the street entertainers in the square at Covent Garden
; there were some very clever, talented artists, including a comedy, mime artist, some circus entertainers juggling on a unicycle, and a fabulous magician who performed an incredible levitation illusion whilst lying flat in a glass box that was hoisted six feet off of the ground.

There was a team of kids that did a kind of stomp act, using garbage can lids, brooms and some
tackity boots. These guys seemed to impress Alfie the most. I had to agree with that, they impressed me too.

The oldest could only have been twelve at the most. They were amazing percussionists. Their flawless rhythm and timing
of the changing beat never faltered as they danced their complicated choreographed routine.

Being used to the heat of Florida, it wasn’t long before we were both feeling chilled to the bone. I suggested we started walkin
g again to keep ourselves warm.

We strolled down through The Strand towards the Embankment, boarding a riverboat docked across from the London Eye. We passed many famous historical sites on the way down to Greenwich as we braved the cold for an outside view. Alfie was in awe of the sights, his
favorites being The Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

The studio hired for the band rehearsals was only a five minute walk from where we disembarked.

Alfie behaved like a gentleman the whole time we were out after leaving the coffee shop, so I invited him to Jack’s tonight. All I had to do now was invite Jack to his own party.

I left Alfie by the side of the road without kissing him
. Running, I’d seen a black cab, and they were like gold dust around town at this time of the year. I flagged it down and jumped in, closing the door. I opened the window and called out that I would text him Jack’s address in a minute.

I left him wanting at the side of the road. I
felt a little guilty, because he had tried hard to behave himself, but at the same time, it served him right for how he’d behaved all those times when he had hurt me.

I rang Jack
. “Hey, Lily.” He sounded sleepy, his voice husky. I had probably woken him from a food coma from the stuff he’d eaten after leaving me.

“Did I wake you?” I giggled at his grunts as he stretched and waited for him to be able to focus on me again.

“Yeah, what’s up, how did it go?” I cringed a little, feeling like I was stretching our friendship by calling in another favor from him.

“You know those drinks you’re having this evening?” I suggested.

“Sure, what time? I’ll call the troops in.” And just like that, Jack knew exactly what he needed to do.

I had just arrived home when he called back to tell me what everyone was bringing and told me
he was bringing a girl he’d met on the tube. “Jack’s back!” I shouted.

He chuckled
. “It’s your fault, Lily. All this angst has given me the raging horn. I can’t beat it down.” I giggled again, and blushed, but was glad that he couldn’t see me to tease me about it.

“Well, Jack, seriously, you need to tone the flirting down tonight, if you keep that stuff up with
me, you’ll be getting laid alright, but it will probably be laid out on a slab in a mortuary, if the girl has any sense.”

I texted Jack’s address
to Alfie, and he rang back, asking if it was okay to bring the band. I called Jack, and he said it was fine, but they needed to bring some extra food with them.

I smirked at that, Jack was happy to supply the drinks, but don’t dare try to raid his food stash. After talking to ‘my men’ I
was looking forward to tonight.

It should be a relaxing drink with the guys that had my back, with the guy I wanted, and knowing he had some support
, and we were sharing our friends too, gave me a kinda fuzzy feeling.

After the stunt Alfie pulled with the bottle last night, I decided to put on some jeans to prevent another ‘no hands’ episode. I was racking my brain for anything else he could do without hands, but I guess my sexual imagination isn’t yet a match f
or my actual experience of sex.

I ran a hot bath
with the rest of Elle’s bubble-bath-Christmas-gift and sunk into it, lying back for a long soak. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, my mom’s voice was calling me from the hallway.

The water was cold now
, and I shivered as I stepped out, pulling my fluffy towelling material robe from behind the door to wrap around me.

I spoke to my parents briefly
, and my dad hugged me warmly. My mother was in a great mood until she opened the fridge, then threatened Jack with all sorts of torture the next time she saw him. I knew she didn’t really mean it.

My mom love
d Jack almost as much as I did. My dad told me my auntie insisted I visit before I left again. I promised to do this, and thought maybe I would take Alfie. I could just imagine her face. My Auntie Bertrice was a snob, and Alfie’s leather jacket made him a criminal, never mind the ink he sported.

I dressed in some black skinny jeans and a deep purple sheer blouse with hidden buttons. I wore a deep purple satin bra and panties underneath. It was sexy, but the dark
color of the bra and the dark blouse still left something to the imagination.

I straightened my hair tonight
; I wanted to switch my look up a little and put some kohl around my eyes to make them smoky.

I wasn’t sure what shoes or boots to wear, knee
-high or ankle, heels or flats, but I didn’t want to wear fuck-me shoes, that was for sure.

I decided on some cute black leather ankle boots with metal stud detail. They went great with my outfit.  I called a cab and kissed my parents
goodnight, telling them that I wouldn’t be home until tomorrow.

By the time I arrived at Jack’s place, Alfie and the band were already there, as well as my friends David and Emily. Elle was working
, and Sam was catching a cab with her after work.

Jack flung his arm over my shoulder and escorted me into the sitting room. “Look who’s here.” Alfie’s eyes went wide when he saw me. He stood up and smoothed his plain black
t-shirt over his fabulous abs. Why did I always want to be his hand when he did that?

Drew was on his feet too
. Drew was the lead guitarist in Crakt Soundzz, Alfie’s band. He was a good guy and although I had only met him the one time, he was kind to me and tried to make me feel comfortable around them.

Des was there, the bas
s player; I wasn’t too keen on him, he was too smart with his mouth and had made a comment to Alfie about me, in front of me, that left me feeling mortified.

He was partly the reason for my bust up with Alfie. That argument resulted in me staying alone in a hotel in Orlando after their gig, instead of traveling back to Miami in the minivan with the band. The drummer,
who I hadn’t spoken to, but he smiled at me and seemed shy. I couldn’t recall anyone ever telling me his name.

“I see you’ve met all the guys
,” I said to everyone trying to sound more confident than I was actually feeling. Alfie closed the distance between us and placed his hand on my arm, kissing me lightly on the cheek. He leaned back, smiling.

“Glad you finally got here. You look stunning as always
,” he said as his eyes checked me out and showed their appreciation of what they saw by the dark look he was now giving me.

Jack moved over to a tall slim blond girl with a gorgeous face.  I wouldn’t expect him to be with anyone less beautiful, Jack could have anyone he wanted, and usually did. “This is
Cat.”

I put my hand up
. “Don’t say it, Jack, thinking voice.” He smirked and chuckled. David and I smirked at each other and burst out laughing.  Alfie turned to the guys in the band and they cottoned on to what he may be about to say. They all fell about laughing too.

We all knew that Jack was about to say
, “As in pussy,” by way of explanation. It was Jack, after all, and it was definitely an icebreaker.

I spoke with Cat for a few minutes when Jack was getting us drinks and was able to help her see the funny side of his introduction. She was a really nice girl, clever too
; she worked as a mental health professional. “You may be a keeper for Jack, then,” I joked.

Soon the guys were ‘shooting the shit’, as Will would say, and I was pleased about this, because there were no awkward moments. It seemed like these guys ha
d all known each other for years.

They were finding common themes to talk about, and as all my friends
were into the music scene in one way or another, they could hold decent debates about different genres and artists.

Alfie seemed content to
watch me to move around my friends and chat naturally. I was quite impressed that he didn’t feel the need to stay beside me.

He wasn’t behaving all jealous or being off with my male friends the way I’d seen him behaving around Will. Maybe he saw som
ething with Will that I hadn’t.

He was almost behaving the same jealous way with Jack, but he controlled that yesterday when Jack was being tactile with me.

Seeing Jack with this girl tonight has helped the situation. I could see Alfie was still wary when Jack talked to me, but he was coping better. I knew he still didn’t get us. To be fair, not many people did outside of our group.

We seemed
content to chill out until Elle arrived and started her usual drinking games.  Jack produced two bottles of tequila, and Drew pulled out a bag from a liquor chain store and shouted, “Snap.” I was thinking, jeez, that’s a lot of tequila on top of what everyone has drunk already.

We began to get pretty drunk taking shots
, and the next thing I knew, Elle was laid out flat on the kitchen countertop, with her stunningly toned abdomen on display, making all the guys drool. Drew was being egged on to take a body shot from her, and he was looking game.

I watched Drew sprinkle on the salt, and he
looked like he thought he’d died and gone to heaven.

Jack whispered to me, “He’s been eye fucking her since the minute she walked into the room.” I thought it was just ‘crude Jack’ until I glanced over at Drew, and Jack wasn’t under
estimating the situation there.

Elle was lying down and her eyes met mine, and I could see she was more than happy that Drew was up for this. Drew eyed the shot glass and turned it around in his fingers
. He’d already sprinkled the salt, and he poured some tequila in Elle’s belly button.

Des and Andy, the drummer’s name by the way, had ringside seats and were encouraging Drew. “Fuck Drew
, savor that, take it slow man,” said Des.

Drew bent forward and started licking around Elle’s naval.  Elle began giggling. Alfie took the opportunity whilst everyone was
watching to come closer to me.

“Hey
,” he cooed. He whispered from behind the beer bottle he held to his mouth, one finger from his other hand stroking my hand. He smelled amazing, so clean and alluring. I turned to him as his head turned and met his gaze.

“Are you having a good time?” I a
sked softly, smiling up at him.

He dipped his head forward
, and his lips met mine in a slow sensual kiss. He briefly broke off to look at me with the beginnings of a smile, and reconnected with me, his tongue probing my mouth.

Our tongues twisted and explored each other, and his hand came around and buried itself in my hair at the nape of my neck as he deepened the kiss.  I shivered.  It was
really a small, unhurried kiss, but it turned me on so much.

He always gave me a buzz of electricity when we touched
, and this time was no different. He broke away again, leaving me breathless, and grinned widely now, showing his dimple to me.

His eyes were dilated, his eyelids drooping sexily with desire. “I am now
,” he husked. He took my hand and walked away from the spectacle that was Elle and Drew, leading me over to the furthest sofa.

He sat
down, his long legs spread apart and pulled me onto his lap. His hand stroked my back as I lay with my head on his chest, and he breathed deeply. “You don’t know how happy you’ve made me, letting me spend time with you here,” he stated.

He had no idea what his words did to me, I felt so much joy that he was happy just spending time with me. “So tell me
,” I murmured.