Three Hundred Words (15 page)

“Yes. He’s not
having another child. That’s really all you need to know about the situation.”

I grinned despite
myself. I really hadn’t wanted to get to know a little brother or sister, or to
accept that my father had moved straight onto another family. I was sure he
couldn’t have wanted another child, anyway. He wasn’t a spring chicken anymore.
“Good.”

“You should go and
see him, you know. He’s miserable. He’d like your company.”

I hesitated. “I
don’t know if I’ve forgiven him yet.”

My mum wrapped an
arm around my shoulder. “He’s your dad. It’s for me to forgive him for what
he’s done to me, you love him unconditionally anyway. At least go and visit
him.”

I strongly debated
just accepting, before daring to push my mother just a bit further. It was
selfish, but I couldn’t resist. “Is it okay if I see Mr. Lane one more time?
Just to let him know what you said?”

“I’ve already
spoken to him, that’s part of the reason I’ve made my decision,” she stated,
before shaking her head. “But yes, you can see him one more time. Get him to
give you a lift to your fathers.”

I grinned, hugging
her a final time before grabbing my phone to ring my teacher. “Thanks mum.”

Mr. Lane insisted
on pulling up around the corner when he got to my house and I was dying to know
what they’d spoken about. I resisted the urge to ask as Mr. Lane cut the
engine. “You know what my mum decided?”

“Yes. She came to
see me today. Are you okay with that?”

“Of course,” but
of course I was becoming slowly torn between sadness and gratefulness as the
initial relief began to fade. Not allowed to have any contact with Mr. Lane for
another two and a half months. That seemed like such a long time. “I mean, I’m
just glad you haven’t lost your job.”

He chuckled, a
dead sound. He’d clearly gotten over the relief and moved onto sadness. “I’d
already been looking for jobs, I’m glad to have been able to cancel a couple of
applications.”

“I’ll bet. I’m
going to really miss you, though.” Our gazes met for the first time and heat
sparked in the car. The urge to really see each other one final time was almost
overwhelming – to just drive back to his house and let our bodies unite once
more.

We resisted, fear
still reigning supreme when it came to my mother. It wasn’t worth the risk of
sneaking around anymore, even if the chances of her finding out were still
relatively low. We had to stick to staying away from each other, for real.

“I’m going to miss
you too,” Mr. Lane reached over and took my hand in his, giving it a squeeze.
“Come on, we should probably get going. Do you have an address?”

I gave him the one
my mother had given me and we set off driving in relative silence. I felt like
we should have been making the most of this small bit of time together, but no
words came and I didn’t try to force conversation.

The BnB we pulled
up outside was just a terraced house with a sign stuck on the front. It was
rundown and grim, with chipped paint on every surface. I looked at it
sceptically. “I guess this is it.”

Mr. Lane reached
across and brought my face to his, our lips moulding together as my desire
quickly ramped up. His hand slipped down to my hip and bit in deliciously; he
didn’t want to let me go. I brought my own hands up and wrapped them through
his black locks. His kiss was so hard it almost hurt, and I loved it.

When he pulled
back, he kept our faces incredibly close together, our short breaths mingling.
“I don’t want you to be with anyone else, Lily. I want you to wait for me.”

“I don’t want to
be with anyone else,” I fired back immediately. “Of course I’m going to wait
for you.”

We shared a large
smile before pulling away properly. “I really like you, Lily, and it was
definitely worth risking my job to get to know you.”

I beamed back,
“And I really like you too, Mr. Lane. I really should go, though. I guess I’ll
see you at graduation.”

I pecked him on
the lips once more time before hopping out of the car. I was so tempted to beg
him to take me back to his house that I knew this was for the best. He didn’t
call out a “see you later,” as I disappeared inside the grubby looking hostel.

I approached the
woman at the front desk with memories of Malta running through my mind. I was
hoping to surprise my dad, so ringing him to let me would seem like a bit of a
shame. Hopefully, the less posh nature of this establishment would mean they’d
let me up without many questions.

“Hi, my dad’s
staying here, I was wondering if you could tell me which room he’s in. It’s Richard
Harper.”

“First floor on
the left,” the bored receptionist let me know, returning to her game of
solitaire without waiting for my thanks.

It should have
inspired some kind of irritation in me, but I was just glad she’d given me a
straight answer.

Knocking on the
door, I held my breath. I’d been distracted by Mr. Lane until now, but faced
with the door, I wasn’t sure whether I was ready to see my dad. The entire time
my mother had been missing I’d been blaming him for everything that had
happened.

He opened the
door, blinking when he saw my stood before him. “Lily. What are you doing here?
I was expecting it to be your mother.”

“I came to visit,”
the corner of my lips quirked slightly. It couldn’t exactly be called a smile.

“Oh, okay, well,
come in, then.” He stepped out of the way and allowed me entrance to the small
room. There was a single bed, rundown looking sofa and his suitcase, unpacked,
on the floor. My father himself looked even drearier than the room. He had bags
that rivalled my mum’s and nearly a full beard. “How are you doing? How did the
badminton go?”

“The badminton
wasn’t so good, but Malta was really nice. I’m a fan of the Mediterranean.”

“I’ve only been
once, but I enjoyed it too.” His flat voice didn’t shine of any enjoyment and
the guilt began to gnaw at me. My mum was right, he was my dad and I should
have been there for him. “I take it your mother has made her way home. I told
her she needed to, really.”

“Yeah, she came
home this morning. How are you holding up?”

He shrugged,
taking a seat beside me, but refusing to meet my eyes. “I’m doing fine. I’m
going to look at apartments tomorrow.”

“I could come with
you, if you wanted? I like to think I have an eye for stuff like that.”

My dad’s eyebrows
knitted together. “I thought you hated me.”

“I was mad at you,
I’ve never hated you. You’re my dad.”

He didn’t smile,
but his face did soften a bit. “Then, yeah, it would be really nice if you
wanted to tag along tomorrow. I’d really appreciate the company.”

I budged up and
rested my head on his shoulder. It might take a while before my dad and I were
completely comfortable with each other, but this was a start and I was more
than happy to build from it.

Epilogue

My stomach was in
knots as I stepped down from the stage. It should have been the opposite, that
I was terrified to get on stage and accept my sporting award in the revealing
prom dress I was wearing, but that had been a piece of cake compared to what
came next.

Prom was over and
I was spending the night with Mr. Lane.

I clasped my hands
in front of myself, fingers brushing against the navy satin of my dress, as
people began filing out of the hall. The badminton girls came and I was forced
to embrace them in a four-way hug, even though my mind only had the capacity
for one thought right now.

“Goodnight,” I
called after them, leaving it until last before I exited the room. Mr. Lane had
gone first and would be waiting by his car, in his suit, to take me home. To
take me home to his bed, where his fingers would peel this tight-fitting dress
from my skin and drive me crazy with desire.

I swallowed,
trying desperately to concentrate on keeping myself upright in the heels I was
wearing.

I’d graduated and
so mine and Mr. Lane’s relationship was officially ready to go. We’d stayed
away from each other at prom, for obvious reasons, but now, at the end, I was
all his.

When I stepped out
of the building, everything was surprisingly quiet. People had rushed off to go
to after-parties, or to go into town, or back home.

Mr. Lane waited
for me, stood outside his car with a wide grin all over his face. Opening the
passenger door, he held my hand as I slid into the seat and that small action
sent heat rushing through me.

The first contact
with him in two and a half months and our chemistry definitely hadn’t dwindled.
He took his own seat and slammed the door and then we were off.

“Did you have a
nice time tonight?” Mr. Lane – no, Oscar, now – asked as he sped off towards
his house.

“I think I’m going
to be having an even nicer night soon,” I teased, tossing him the sexiest
sideways glance I could manage. I didn’t even need to, the tension in the car
was through the roof as our minds were consumed by the images of what was to
come.

We’d managed to
stay away from each other absolutely for the remainder of school, lasting
through with only heated glances every so often. We’d gone as far as to delete
each other’s numbers, just to make sure we never gave in and contacted each
other in the dead of night when my cravings were at their highest.

We’d done it and
now we were free.

At his house, my
nerves had completely disappeared. Instead, lust coursed through my veins. I
was on fire just from watching Mr. Lane, just from finally being this close to
each other, but as soon as I’d tottered through the door of his house I was
rewarded with a kiss.

A hot, searing
kiss that stole my breath as Mr. Lane pushed me backwards into the door. His
hands were possessive on my waist as I aimed to just get my hands onto him
somewhere
.
I just need to touch him, finally, and explore his body in the way I’d missed
so much.

Oscar bent down,
dragging the material of my floor-length gown up my leg and causing goose bumps
to rise in his fingers’ wake. His touch was soft, but dominating as he circled
my knee and dragged it up his body. Dress now high enough, he slammed his
clothed erection against my core and received his first moan from my lips.

Tonight was too
desperate for teasing. “Take me,” I begged. “Now, please.”

And Mr. Lane
didn’t need prompting again. He let my leg back down and took my hand, dragging
me up the stairs after I’d kicked off my heels and taking me to the bed.

I remained
standing and the removal of my dress was the only slow thing to happen during
our sex that night. Mr. Lane undid the corset agonisingly slowly, his knuckles
brushing against my back doing dangerous things to me.

I was writhing
standing up when he’d finished. I’d been daring tonight, foregoing my underwear
with this moment in mind. When the silk garment fell to the floor, I was
completely bare, and Mr. Lane took complete advantage of that.

He laid me down on
the bed, his lips pressing against every inch of my body. I was in ecstasy as
he took my nipple into his mouth and when his lips finally got to my clit I
could barely take it.

Screams left my
mouth as all the pressure I’d felt tonight was released. Oscar kept lapping at
my clit until I was panting with an unrestrained grin on my face. My body ached
perfectly before we’d even had sex yet and I felt rejuvenated. Being without
Mr. Lane had been stressful and hard, but now it all felt worth it.

For a change, I
shoved Oscar down into the bed and hovered over him, wondering when I’d missed
him getting naked.

Taking his cock in
my hand, I guided it towards my entrance, revelling in the desperate expression
on his face.

I was going to
ride him until I got to watch him find his climax and I knew it was going to be
one of the most erotic things I’d ever done.

Moving up and down
with my hands on his chest, I wasn’t expecting it to feel as great for me as it
did. From this position his cock was deep inside me every time I slammed back
down and I found curses and moans falling from my mouth as Oscar groaned
beneath me and grabbed my hips, aiding my movements.

His face was a
picture when he came, eyes screwed up and bottom lip trembling as his nails dug
painfully into my hips.

I slowed my
movements to a standstill and collapsed down on top of Mr. Lane, my body
exhausted.

He had his eyes
shut, chest still rising and falling heavily even with me on top of him. “I hope
you’re not planning on ditching me now that your debt is all paid off,” he
murmured, fingers tracing patterns on the flushed skin of my back as we both
calmed down.

I smirked,
pressing a kiss to his chin since it was the only thing I could reach from this
position and I was far too comfy to move. “I don’t think you did a good enough
job on the rewrite of my essay, Sir, I think I’m going to have to pay you for
another one.”