Everything She Needs (The Everything Trilogy) (14 page)

Alfie inhaled deeply, then spoke, his voice vibrating in his chest so that I could feel as well as hear it. “You’re very important to me, Lily.”

Important?
  “
I am
?”
I sounded surprised, but still kept my voice soft.

“Absolutely, you are, I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”  I pushed myself up to look at him.

“How, how am I important?” As I was waiting to hear him answer I saw Jack making his way to us and gave him a glare that told him to back off. I wanted to hear this.

“I care about you.”

I twisted my mouth. “You care?”

He smiled slowly. “I want to be near you all the time. I can’t explain it, and I like being with you.” He pulled me back, resting my head on his chest again, and stroked my hair tenderly, kissing the top of my head.

“Don’t overthink anything, Lily. Please, I’m just trying to get to know you.” I had to give it to him, he was making an effort. I’d been calling all the shots, and he had been there so far. He lifted my chin, and my eyes met his. He smiled and licked his lips. “You are the most beautiful, amazing girl, do you know that?” I stared back at him.

“If you feel this, why aren’t you with me?
” He smiled widely.

“I’m here
now, aren’t I?” He drew my head forward and kissed me tenderly murmuring, “God, I need to be alone with you, Lily, please?” I raised my head and glared at him.

“I’m not having sex with you, Alfie
,” I commented dryly.

“Yeah, you said, I heard you
,” he replied in a clipped tone. “I just want to hold you, Lily. I promise. I won’t try anything. I’m respecting your decisions.”

I glanced over at everyone in the room, and
realized I just wanted to be alone with him too. Elle and Drew were getting cozy on the sofa across from us. I met Jack’s gaze, and he shrugged.

Elle was in a long
-term relationship, but seemed to have forgotten this. Jack mouthed, “Everything okay?” I gave him a small nod.

“Give me a minute.” I looked at Alfie before pushing myself off of his
lap and wandering over to Jack.

He smiled and cuddled me when I reached him. “Thank you for doing this for me
,” I muttered into his chest.

“You know I’d do anything for you honey, always
,” he stated matter-of-fact.

“Would you be pissed if we went to your guest bedroom?
” I asked.  He pushed me away from him to look at me.

“Seriously?
You’re going to let him fuck you anyway?” I scowled at him and his assessment of the situation.

“No
, Jack, we just want to talk. I am not going to let that happen tonight. Trust me.” He raised his eyebrow.

“Wasn’t that the point of tonight, being here? That you don’t trust yourself?” He had a point, but I felt stronger about what I needed to do for myself now.

“Point taken, but I’m asking for your trust now.”

Jack pulled me back in for a hug and murmured into my head
, “I hope you know what you’re doing, Lily, but sure, you didn’t have to ask. You know you can do what you like here.”

I smiled at him
. “Get Drew off Elle before she regrets it tomorrow,” I hissed. He smiled and nodded as I walked back to Alfie.

“
Y’all looked very cozy there,” Alfie scowled.

I smirked at his jealous comment, and took his hand. “Come on we’re going somewhere quieter, but don’t get too excited, I’m not having sex with you.” 

He looked seriously at me. “I know, you keep saying that, and I’ve accepted it.  It’s you that seems to be the one you’re trying to convince here, I think.”

I led Alfie through to Jack’s guest bedroom, the one I’m supposed to sleep in when I visit. Alfie’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when he saw it and
not because he liked the décor.

The soft glow of the bedside lamp created a seductive ambiance in the room. “Don’t get any ideas Alfie.  You wanted to be alone, so I asked Jack if we could use this for some privacy.”

He smiled sympathetically and pulled me in for a hug. “It’s alright, Lily, whatever you want,” he cooed. My emotions were almost overwhelmed by his comment.

I wanted to cry
, because I loved him, and I couldn’t really have whatever I wanted like he said.  It would be the easiest thing in the world to let him take me right now, which was what I really wanted, but more than that, I just wanted him.

I pushed off his chest and walked over to the bed, the mattress dipping as I sat down. Alfie came over
, and it dipped again as he sat next to me. He turned to look at me, his mouth curving into a seductive smile.

He reached out for my hand and took it from my lap, into his, lacing our fingers together. He glanced down at them and lifted them to his mouth, placing his lips against my fingers. I lay back flat, with my back on the bed, my legs still
bent and my feet on the floor.

He twisted to look at me
. “I know this is hard for you, Lily. I get it.” I lifted my head to see him.

“I don’t know that you do, Alfie. Unless you can feel what I feel, you’ll never get it.” I let my head flop back again. He stood up, letting go of my hand and reached under the la
mpshade, turning the light off.

The switch made a small clicking sound and darkness filled the room.  He found the bed and the mattress dipped again.  I felt his warm body
slide alongside me on the bed.

“Let me hold you, Lily
,” he cooed. The mattress shifted as he slipped his arm under my neck and turned me to face him. His arms then enveloped me as I curled my legs up and nestled into his hard body. He took a deep breath. “Thank you,” he whispered softly.

I moved my head slightly, raising it to look at him.
“For?” I wasn’t sure which direction this was taking.

“For letting me hold you like this
,” he husked. “I know it’s hard for you.”

It
was, but hearing him say it made tears prick and fall silently. “Are you crying?” he asked softly. I sniffed and wiped fat tears from my face swiftly with my sweater sleeve.

“I’m fine
,” I lied.

He kissed my tears away. “I’m sorry, baby
,” he murmured as he laid soft kisses all over my face. His lips settled on mine, his breath softly wafting over them. He stroked my mouth with his, gradually slanting his head, and deepening the kiss, his tongue finding mine.

We lay kissing tenderly whilst he held me tightly. We didn’t talk much after that, and eventually we moved up the bed lengthwise. I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke
up needing to pee and noticed that we were covered by a blanket and Alfie’s hand was tightly holding me around my waist.

I tried to slip out from beside him, and his arm immediately tightened. “You’re not going anywhere, you’re here with me
,” he grumbled.

I smiled. “I need to pee.” Giggling, I managed to extract myself from his grip. “It’s cold now, you need to hurry back
,” he mumbled sleepily, as I left the room.

Jack was coming out of his bedroom
. “And? Did he fuck you?” Good old Jack, as blunt as ever.

I smiled
. “Nope, and he didn’t even try.”

His eyes widened.
“Damn, the guy must be in training to be a monk, even I have difficulty restraining myself with your warm little body.”

I batted his arm
. “Eww, Jack, stop it.” He chuckled, his head gesturing towards the bedroom. “Well, kudos to him, he must have the worst case of blue balls back there.” I smiled, and felt proud that I had been strong, but in all fairness, I think the strength was due to Alfie digging deep to hold himself back.

I had felt his erection a few times when our bodies brushed, but he’d move away from me, rather than grind himself
on me, as he would have in the past.

Once I had finished in the bathroom, I quickly went into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of
Coke to quench my thirst from the tequila.  I peeped into the sitting room on my way back to Alfie. Elle was lying snuggled up with Drew on one of the couches.

Her leg was tangled in his, looking way too involved for it to be innocent. But then again, who am I to judge, if people looked at Jack and
me sometimes, they would assume too.

I crept back into the bedroom and crawled across the bed. Alfie’s arm reached out and pulled me down beside him, rolling me
onto my side, as he snuggled up to my neck.

He inhaled sharply, and adjusted his hips slightly away from me, but still managed to wrap his leg over mine. “That’s so much better, I missed you
,” he whispered. “Sleep, honey,” he commanded, and I didn’t need to be told twice.

The next few days played out pretty much the same. Alfie was being a gentleman, and I was feeling happier than I had for a long time. He seemed to want to spend all his time with me, even taking me to sit
through the band’s rehearsals.

Elle came with me one day and whispered that she was definitely into Drew. “What about your dancer guy?” I asked raising my eyebrow at her. Elle told me she was seeing a dancer from another musical she was in. I hadn’t actually met him, but they had been an item s
ince before I left for Florida.

Elle smirked
. “Well, Lily, it isn’t serious, at least I’m not.”

I scowled
. “You know he’ll be gone in a few days right?”

Elle shrugged
. “It’s new, Lily, don’t sweat it. Don’t you think I know that? It isn’t as if he’s leaving me barefoot and pregnant now, is it?” She smiled like she didn’t have a care in the world.

All my friends seemed to have the same attitude towards relationships, not really interested in finding ‘the one’
. So maybe I should question how I seemed to have gotten attached to Alfie so quickly.

New Year’s Eve had come quickly, and the past few days had been great.  I wasn’t seeing Alfie until after his gig tonight.

He and the band had given all of us complimentary tickets for it. Today, though, it was all about sound checks and rehearsals at the venue for him.

We were going to see them perform in support for Cobham Street
, and they had invited us to their after show party too.  All my friends were stoked to be able to go. Going to the gig and the after show party beat the tickets we had for a nightclub New Year’s Eve party, hands down.

David was ultra-excited, because he’d been a Cobham Street fan since 2005, but his computer crashed when he tried to get tickets, and by the time he rebooted they had sold out.

We all met outside the O2 and went to Wagamamas restaurant for dinner, then headed inside to the VIP section of the venue. We showed our tickets to the stewards and rode the escalator that took us up to a red carpeted area on the floor above the main concourse.

There was a bar situated in the
center of the foyer immediately outside the door we were allocated to enter into. The gray door looked like a broom closet.

When we opened the door, it was a corporate box
on the side of the stage. There was a flat area to mingle in at the back of the box, and a flight of stairs, dropping down with tiered seating towards the stage at the front.

The view of the stage was fantastic
, and it was the perfect place for us to celebrate the end of the old year. Crakt Soundzz had been given the choice of tickets on the first tier near the stage or a corporate box.

They had chosen the box for all of us, so they could join us when their set was done. It was a brilliant idea, and we even had our own attendant who cooked sn
acks and fetched drinks for us.

There were no crowds to deal with
, and we could move around, either dancing in the space at the back or sitting near the front. There were about twenty seats, but we only made eleven including Maddie.

It was great that she could join us. There was no way she would have been able to in her condition if we’d been
down in the seats at the front.

Jack and Elle organised our drinks
, and we all chose where we were sitting. I was feeling a mixture of nerves and excitement, and if I was honest, a lot of pride. Alfie was an incredible artist, and I personally thought Crakt Soundzz was fantastic as a band when I saw them a couple of months back.

I hadn’t heard Alfie sing or perform with them until the night he’d invited me to Orlando. When I witnessed their talent though, it scared me, because apart from Alfie telling me that he couldn’t love me, I knew I’d fallen in love with the worst type of guy going,
a rock star.

Seeing them perform in front of a huge crowd of fans, I could see they had already started to build quite a fan base and their performance was so polished, it was as if th
ey’d been doing this for years.