Everything She Needs (The Everything Trilogy) (6 page)

Once we had struggled into our blue plastic skating boots that were completely dorky but highly effective, we hung on to each other, like new foals learning to walk.  I had to smile at how Jack was so willing t
o put himself out there for me.

We staggered around
, clinging to each other, our feet arching in, as we tried to stay upright and master balancing on the thin blades. It was hilarious.

Jack was much more proficient at mastering the physics of skating on thin blades than
me and was soon hugging my waist, helping me around the ice.

“Now this is my kind of activity
; why haven’t I brought girls skating before? It’s a great way to cut out all that macho foreplay-shit us guys usually have to go through to get to this stage of the date.” He glanced down, chuckling, his perfect smile beaming widely.

“I’m not falling for
that, Jack, you didn’t bring me here so that you could feel me up on the ice. I know you better than that.” I chuckled and was so busy chatting that I lost my balance and almost fell over from lack of concentration.

Jack’s arm tightened like a
vice around me briefly, and he adjusted his body stance to right me. Once he knew I was okay, he relaxed his grip to the much gentler guiding hold that was necessary to keep me upright.

“I can’t fool you, can’t I? I know I can touch you anytime I want, but I…”
Suddenly, Jack tripped and fell, landing on one hip then sliding over onto his ass.

A pair of strong, leather
-clad arms wrapped around my waist preventing me from going down as well by pulling me into a solid muscular chest.

I tilted my head upwards and saw a grinning face with a
chiseled jawline.  My rescuer placed me back on my feet. He didn’t speak, just turned and skated off.

As he skated
away, I saw the back of his black leather jacket was embossed with big yellow letters that said, ‘STEWARD’.  I giggled and called after him, “Thank you!”

He looked back, winked
, and gave me a small salute.  It was only after Jack fell that I realized how fast some of the people were skating around us and was suddenly glad that the stewards were here to keep everyone safe.

I turned my attention back to Jack, who was now standing, brushing wet ice away from his ass. I smirked and couldn’t resist a little taunt. “Are you wet? Are you okay?” I tried to stifle my giggle and keep my face straight. I pretended to be concerned at his tumble.

“Hey! Those are supposed to be my lines on a date,” he protested with a wicked grin. “And yeah, I am wet, and not in a good way. Maybe you could help me resolve that though.”

My jaw gaped
, and I tried to control another smirk at his flirty comments. “You are adorable, Lily.” He chuckled at my reaction and grasped my coat hem, pulling me into him.  He dipped his head, kissing my forehead, and enveloped me in his arms.

Holding me tight to his chest, he began laughing loudly. At that moment, I just wanted to stay against his arms listening to his loud, rumbly laughter and feeling it vibrate against my cheek.  I felt happier than I had in ages just spending time with Jack.  He was like a second skin to me.

We didn’t last our whole allotted ninety-minute skating session.  Both of our feet and ankles ached desperately in the horrible synthetic boots, so we gave up after an hour.

Jack pulled one of my feet on his lap and rubbed the arches of it before I put my outdoor boots
back on.  It felt brilliant and gave my aching feet instant relief.

I reciprocated the same care to him. 
Jack, of course, milked my act of kindness and turned it into an embarrassingly erotic display, moaning, “Oh, God, yeah, honey.  Just like that, right there.” His noises drew an instant audience to us.

I kept threatening to stop massaging his feet if he didn’t quit the noise.  He was attracting more and more of an audience, both male and female, who seemed to be enjoying his vocal display. “Dammit, Lily, I can’t help it if your touch
elicits noises out of me like no one else.” He winked, and I blushed.

As we left
, Jack’s attention turned to his stomach. “I hope you don’t mind, Lily, I thought I’d make us lunch, rather than brave going to a bar today. I’d prefer quiet alone time with you, so that we can chat. Is that okay with you?”

As usual, Jack had pitched it just right. He knew that it would be difficult to share everything we had to say in a noisy bar full
of large rowdy parties still enjoying the holiday period.

We rode the tube back to Pimlico, and Jack made lunch for us, which was perfect.  Tapas of smoked salmon, olives, anti-pasta, soft cheeses, humus, green salad, bread sticks
, and crusty bread.  He had champagne and elder-flower sparkling water.

I felt touched that he’d made the effort in his little bachelor pad by setting the countertop for two and topped it off with a small vase
filled with blue forget-me-not flowers.  I wondered where he found our favorite flowers at this time of year.

We chatted about everything from his work to gigs he’d been to.  He filled me in on all the gossip I’d missed out on since I had been away, then turned his focus on me. “So Lily, back to
what was on your mind earlier.”

I tried to play coy
. “What was on my mind?” Jack sighed, probably because he knew me so well.

“Yeah, you know…the guy in the past.” He rotated his index finger, encouraging me to go on.  I inhaled deeply and sat silent for a moment.  Jack got up, walked over to the fridge,
and uncorked another bottle of champagne.

He walked over to his couch and patted the seat. “
C’mere, I feel this is going to take up a bit of time.  Get your ass and your glass over here, girl.”

I crawled onto his big comfy couch, my legs tucked up under my chin and his strong arm came around me scooping me into his side.

He scooted down a little to make himself more comfortable after filling our glasses.

Jack exhaled loudly. “Okay, pour! Get it all out.” So for the next two hours I didn’t hold back, giving him the warts-and-all account of my life since I went to study music overseas.  He sat silently listening
; occasionally kissing my temple or stroking my hair as a way of letting me know he was still paying attention to what I was saying.

When I finished, I turned my head and looked up at him, my eyes brimming with tears.  One fat tear escaped and trickled down my face
, and he closed his eyes and put his head back.

It felt good to let someone
else know everything, but I was worried that I’d shattered Jack’s opinion of me with everything I had done. “Jack?” He brought his head forward and looked down at me. A small smile curved his lips.

“Fuck, Lily… you’re human after all.” He dipped his head and placed a tender kiss on my cheek, then tugged me all the way down, stretching us the length of the couch.  I was lying down with him, my head on his chest snuggled against him.

“That must have been exhausting, getting all of that off your chest.  I’m not going to ask questions just now, the wine has made me sleepy.  Let’s nap.  I do have questions, but we’ll analyze it when we wake up.”

He fell silent
, and I lay wondering if I had disappointed him.  I was so comfortable lying beside him, listening to his steady breathing and slow heartbeat as he held me tightly. With the exertion and the food and wine, I felt my eyes getting heavy as well and drifted off to sleep.

I woke
up alone on the couch. I was lying on my stomach drooling.   Jack was coming out of the shower. “You showered again?” I croaked.

He chuckled, “
Yeah, I found my jeans had deposited blue dye all over my ass from the wet ice.”

I started to chuckle as I stretched
. “What?” he scowled.

“I had a naughty thought
.” And giggled wickedly at him.

He smirked. “Well, hell Lily, I’m in a towel
, and you’re having naughty thoughts?” he teased.

I shook my head
. “No, I was thinking, not only were you wet in not a good way, but you had blue balls too!”

He threw his head back and laughed heartily
. “Yeah, damn, Lily, I’m not dating you again, this is so not how it’s supposed to go when I’m with a hot chick. You’ve done nothing for my ego today.”

I freshened myself up after my nap
, and Jack and I headed out to see Elle dance in her production. We had great box seats to the side of the stage, and we sat mesmerized by the musical Elle was in for two and a half hours.

She was the lead female dancer.  I was enthralled by her
skill, strength, and agility as she weaved and spun around the stage.  She looked ultra-sexy in her Basque and stockings.

Jack leaned over
. “Damn, Lily, Elle’s body is so hot, I bet she’s fucking amazing in the sack, with that bendy body and those legs.” I swatted Jack, and he snickered.

“Are you sitting there
perving on our friend, Jack? That’s shitty,” I teased him, and he smirked.

“What do you expect after the day I’ve had, blue balls and sleeping next to a really ho
t little body? I’m only human. My big head knows it’s you, Lily, my little head isn’t so intelligent.  He… reacts.” He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows. “Be warned, before we’re snuggled up in bed tonight, I’m going for a long shower. I’ll need to rub one out before lying next to you.”

I screwed my face up at him, “TMI, Jack.”

He smirked and shrugged. “It’s natural,” he cooed back before turning back to face the stage and getting lost in the production again.

I glanced at him several times wondering if it was a good idea to sleep over at his house
this evening. The last thing I needed was anything else to add to my complex love life, and the way I was going, I briefly doubted my ability to keep the relationship with Jack platonic, which was actually ridiculous.

The rest of the evening put my mind at rest.  When Elle finished we went for a late supper with two of the girls from Elle’s dance troupe. The conversation was once again easy and
light, and Jack managed to snag himself a leggy blonde’s phone number and an invitation to go to a party with her a few days into the New Year.

Jack asked Elle to come to his place
to sleep over with us.  She told us she needed to soak her muscles and bones in her bath. Dancing took its toll on her body.  She knew Jack only had a shower at his place, so she opted to go home.

By the time we got back to Jack’s place it was around midnight. I sent a text to my dad to remind him that I was staying at Jack’s place. I was stunned when he rang me immediately after I sent it.

“Your phone has been off all evening, Lily. I’ve been trying to contact you,” my dad pointed out.  I reminded him that we had been at the theatre. My dad told me I’d had a visitor call to see me.

I was puzzled
. I didn’t know who would be coming to see me, as all of our friends knew we were going to see Elle. “It was an American chap; he said he’d be back tomorrow at ten am, and he said his name was Alfie.” My heart stopped for a second and I froze. Alfie’s here?

“Hello? Hello? Are you still there, Lily? Damn, the connection must have gone… click.” My dad hung up.  Jack had started his shower and was coming out to the closet to get fresh towels but stopped dead in his trac
ks.

“Jesus, Lily, what’s wrong?
Come and sit down.” He ushered me to the couch, and my cell began to ring again. I waved it at Jack.

“Tell him I’m in the shower
,” I whispered to him.

Jack answered the phone and chatted with my dad, then smirked
. “Course not…she’s sleeping in the spare room, that’s a gross thought Charlie it would be wrong on so many levels.  Lily’s like my sister.” He chuckled and hung up.

“
Your dad just officially warned me off of you, Lily.” He grinned wolfishly. “And I’m to make sure you’re home by ten am, you want to tell me why?  Whatever it is, I think that’s what’s floored you.”

He handed me back my cell as he sat down beside me, draping his arm around my shoulder.  He leaned back into the couch, taking me back with him.  I swallowed hard
. “Alfie… he’s here.  It
was
him I saw today.”

Jack pushed me away a tad, so that he could see me properly
. “No shit, what’s he doing here?” I shrugged and could feel my eyes begin to well up.  I began blinking back tears, but it was too late, they ran freely down my face anyway.

Jack exhaled heavily, dipping his head to kiss the top of my mine. “Come on,
shower, then to bed. We can talk there.” He grabbed my hand and led me through to his bathroom.  The room was filled with steam because he’d turned the shower on and had been in the process of getting a towel.

He leaned across and wiped the mirror clear with the sleeve of his long
t-shirt. “Shower and brush your teeth, then get yourself into bed, honey. I’m going to get you a drink and some tissues.” He left me standing in the bathroom, and I went through the motions of getting ready for bed.