Under the Surface (13 page)

They left.
Danny did exactly what I thought I was going to keep him from doing and took
Emmy home. And they left twenty minutes ago. I should’ve told her to come find
me before she left, instead of foolishly thinking she automatically would. And
I didn’t even consider the back gate. I didn’t notice it when I was back here
earlier.

Fuck. If
Danny took her home, would he take her to his place or hers? Her house is about
a twenty minute walk from here and Danny’s is a lot further than that, so he
probably took her home. And
just
took her home, hopefully.

I’m already
walking out the backyard and onto the street. If I hurry I can make it to
Emmy’s in about ten minutes. Meaning they will have only been there for a few
minutes before I barge my ass in the front door.

As I
’m practically racing
down the street, I pass the spot where Danny parked his car. It’s empty. The
idiot fucking drove them home. He was drunk, he should have never put Emmy in
the car with him and gotten behind the wheel.

I need to get
my ass to Emmy’s house. Right fucking now. I pray to god she’s in one piece
when I get there, because I know Danny won’t be when I leave.

Chapter Thirteen

Emilie

I lost track of how many beers I drank
after the fifth one. Those plus the
Jack
Daniel’s
I had in Danny’s car has gotten me pretty fucked up. And
I can’t say I mind.

All night
I’ve had a blast dancing and talking to people. It’s been the most fun I have
had in ages. It also doesn’t suck that I keep seeing Ren’s eyes on me. I know
the outfits working, I also can’t help but notice Danny’s eyes have been on me
too.

The
attention, I won’t lie, is nice. I’ve been keeping to myself lately, and I like
to be reminded that I still got it.

Maybe tonight
will be the night Ren actually takes notice. I can’t tell if he likes me as
anything more than a friend, but I certainly feel that way about him. If he
doesn’t do anything tonight, maybe I’ll have to show him what he’s missing. And
with the alcohol in my system right now, I’m starting to feel more daring.
Daring and clumsy I might add, as I catch myself from stumbling into some guy
next to me. Luckily Danny catches me and stops the embarrassment before it
happens.

“Someone’s a
bit tipsy tonight, am I right?”
He asks me.

“Oh definitely,
but the good kind, don’
t
worry.
” I smile at him, and he smiles back. His cheeks are flushed from
the alcohol and his dark hair is slightly disheveled. He isn’t as tan as Ren,
and he isn’t as tall either, maybe five foot eleven or so, but he’s pretty hot.
If Ren doesn’t want to take me home tonight, maybe Danny will.

“You smoke,
Emmy?”
He uses the nickname Ren gave me and I have to say it bothers me a
bit, but I don’t correct him.

“No, sorry,”
I reply.

“Will you
join me outside though? You don’
t mind if I smoke do you?
”

“Nope, let’s
go. It’s hot in here anyway, too many people.”

He nods his
head and leads me into the backyard through the door in the kitchen. He keeps
his hand at the small of my back the whole time.

“Here,”
he points to a white lawn chair on the patio and sits down. He
pats his left leg and I take his invitation and sit on his lap. He holds me by
my hip, which is welcome because I notice I’m having a little trouble sitting
up straight.

“I can’t
believe I haven’t met you before. You haven’t been hiding from me, have you?”

“Nope,
haven’t been hiding. I just transferred here this year, and I don’t party that
much, so that’s probably why we haven’t met yet.”

“I’m also
surprised you’re single. I was starting to think Ren wanted to keep you all to
himself.” Danny smokes his cigarette as he talks.

I try to
stifle a bitter laugh. “Trust me, that wasn’t the case.”

“Well good.
Something tells me we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. You do look
familiar to me though. Even though we just met tonight, I swear I’ve seen you
before.”

“Maybe, I
work at the diner on Molallah. If you’ve eaten there late at night, there is a
good chance you’ve seen me.”

“Yeah, I’m
sure that’s it. I love that place. Great food, and even better service.”
He winks, and although I should find it cheesy, it comes across as
charming.

He’s flirting
with me, and right now I like it.

“So what else
do you do besides wait tables, hang out with Ren, and look gorgeous?”

“
I don
’t really know.
Relax I guess, relieve my stress. You know the usual things college kids do.”

“And how
exactly do you relieve stress, Emmy?”
He’s ditches his
cigarette on the ground and leans into me, rubbing my outer thigh. I’m starting
to breathe a little faster, and I’m trying to focus enough to figure out what
my next move should be. Should I kiss him? Or wait and see if Ren comes around?
Just when I think he’s about to make the decision for me and kiss me, I hear
Mason’s voice.

“D., E., how
are my two favorite party people doing? You’re looking awfully cozy I see.”

“That’s
right,”
Danny replies while he looks a little pissed at Mason’s
interruption. “Emmy here was just telling me about her work. I can’t believe I
didn’t recognize her, one of the most beautiful waitresses at one of my
favorite diners.”

“I had no
idea Danny ate there so much. He probably sits in Farrah’s section.”
I half realize my talking is getting a little sloppy.

“Emmy I think
you’ve had too much to drink.”
I look up and see it’s Ren
who’s talking.
Where have you been?

“Yup, I don’t
doubt that! Ha!”
I’m laughing now, because it’s somehow
funny. Why does he care that I’m drunk? I’m pretty sure he’s drunk too, he’s
swaying back and forth. Oh wait, maybe that’s me?

“Let me do
the drunk test,”
I say. “My friend told my once if you
can’t feel your hips, no wait, I mean your lips, then you are definitely drunk.
Let me try it,”
I touch my lips, totally numb. “Yup, can’t
feel a thing! Ha see, drunk. Drunk, drunk, drunk.”
I can’t slow my speech down enough to only say drunk once.

“Hey, I can’t
feel mine either!”
I hear Mason say. “Guess, I’m drunk too.”

“Me too!”
I turn and Danny is touching his lips. Everyone’s joining in.

Time to find
out if Ren is drunk like the rest of us. “Ren are you drunk? Get over here.”
I wave my hand in a “
come here
”
motion and grab his face.
I give him a good smack on the lips. “Ya feel that, mate?”
I say in an Australian accent. Who can resist an Aussie?

“Yup, I
definitely felt that, but I think it’s because you smacked part of my face and
not just my lips.”

Time to mess
with him, “Aww, I’m sorry Ren. I would kiss it and make it feel better, but you
know, none of us can feel our lips right now.”
I laugh a
little. Maybe it’ll make him think about actually kissing me.

“That’s nice
of you to say, Emmy, but I think I’ll live.”
Ouch. Not the response I
was hoping for.

“See Emmy,
that’s where I think you’re wrong,”
Danny says to me. I turn
to give him my attention. “I bet you can feel a kiss.”
He leans forward and plants his lips on mine. They’re warm and
soft and I can’t help but lean into him. If Ren doesn’t want to kiss me tonight
fine. I grab the side of Danny’s face and continue to kiss him back, secretly
hoping Ren is still watching.

The grip on my
thigh gets stronger and a moan escapes Danny’s lips. I open my mouth to him and
he sticks his tongue inside, kissing me deeper and stronger. I try looking to
my left to see if Ren is still watching, but I can’t with the angle I’m
sitting. I turn for a moment and Danny starts kissing my neck. Lightly moving
his mouth up and down.

Ren’s gone.
He must have not cared enough to stand by and a watch, or stop me for that
matter. Suddenly the moment is lost. When Danny moves back to my mouth I give
him one last peck and move my mouth away.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,”
I say. “Everything’
s fine.
”
I try to move my body a
little further away from Danny. I still haven’t made up my mind if I want to go
any further than that kiss with him. My judgment, my thoughts, everything just
seems a little fuzzy right now.

“I think I’ve
had too much to drink,”
I tell him. All my confusion and all the
alcohol are catching up to me. I’m suddenly tired, and desperate for a drink of
water. “I think I need water or something.”

“
Sure, come on.
”
Danny isn’t mad that I stopped kissing him, and gently lifts me
off his lap. He takes my hand and I think we’re about to head to the kitchen to
get water, but instead we exit out the backyard gate.

“Where are we
going?”

“To my car.
I’ve got a bottle of water in there. You don’t want to be drinking out of these
peoples’ cups here anyway. Trust me.”

Sounds
reasonable enough. And at this point I don’t care. I just need some water.

We walk down
the street and get in his car, and Danny and I take turns drinking from his
water bottle.

“Thanks, I
really needed that.”

“Me too,
drinking a lot always makes me thirsty.”
He says, finishing off
the bottle of water. “You want to get out of here? I’m over this place I
think.”

“Sure, let’s
go get Ren and Mason.”

“No need. Ren
texted me a while ago, he left.”

Why didn’t he
tell me he was leaving? Did he not care enough to make sure I got home? At
least Danny’s here to take me back.

“Oh, I
would’ve thought Ren would’ve found me and said he was leaving.”

“Don’t worry
about it. I’ll take you home. You’re safe with me, Emmy.”

My drunk self
just automatically believes him.

He starts the
car and drives in the direction of my apartment.

I feel him
place his hand on my leg as he drives. Gently squeezing it and rubbing up and
down. I don’t say anything. It doesn’t bother me and feels kind of nice.

We pull into
the parking lot of my complex and exit the car. Danny walks with me up the
stairs to my apartment, and I don’t stop him when he enters with me.

“It’s kind of
small, but rent’
s cheap,
”
I say, feeling some need to explain my crappy little apartment.

“No, it’s
cozy. I like it.”

I just shrug,
saying nothing else. I throw my phone onto the couch in the living room and
take off my shoes.

“Show me
around? I didn’t really get a look at the place when I was here earlier.”

“Sure, well
as you can see we’re standing in the living room. Couch, chair, table,”
I point to each. I step into the kitchen, “And this is the lovely
kitchen.”
I hold my arms out and do my best Vanna White pose.

“Very nice,”
Danny says to me. “And what about the bedroom? Living room,
kitchen, you have to sleep somewhere.”

“I actually
sleep on the kitchen counter,”
I try to say seriously.

“What?”

“Kidding. I
was just about to show you my room. This way.” I walk him through the hall. “
Bedroom. Table, lamp, bed.
” I point to each object.

“Like I said
before, very nice.”
Danny says, stepping towards me. He places
his right hand on my waist. “Did I tell you how sexy you looked tonight? Or how
I haven’t been able to keep my eyes off you?”
His face is
only inches from mine and he’s talking only a few volumes above a whisper. I
can’t think of how to respond. I only shake my head back in forth for a “no.”

“
Your
fucking legs, this piece of skin showing on your waist.
I couldn’t believe it earlier when Ren said you were fair game. He’s an idiot
to not want you.”

And there it
is. Ren doesn’t want me. Confirmed by what Danny just said.

I don
’t want to break down and
cry. I’ll look insane to Danny. He wouldn’t understand. My emotions feel ten
times wilder while I’m drunk. I need to focus on anything else.

Maybe Danny
is what I need right now. My head is swimming. I’ll kiss him, try to forget my
problems, and try to forget everything. I can’t go swimming right now, I’ll
likely drown.

Yes, Danny is
what I need. A distraction, and I don’t stop him when he kisses me. This time
with much more passion than before.

It’s hungry
and wild and I grip the sides of his shirt, pulling him to me. He places his
hands on my waist and leans me backwards to fall slowly onto the bed.

I move back
until my head lands on my pillows. Danny follows and pushes my legs apart to
rest his body on top of mine.

I can feel
the warmth of him enveloping me. His erection presses hard against my stomach.

“Take this
off,” he says, touching the bottom of my top. I oblige and quickly pull it off
of me.

I’m laying
now in my lace bra and white skirt, suddenly becoming more nervous—not a common
feeling when I’m hooking up with a guy. It’s not very dark in my room. I left a
light on, and I can see his eyes devouring me.

His mouth is
on me again making its way from my lips to my cheek to my neck. Sucking and
gently biting as he goes. He pulls the right strap of my bra down, exposing my
breast. He sucks in a breath and lowers his head to draw my nipple into his
mouth.

“Ah,”
I say, moaning briefly as my breath quickens.

I close my
eyes and try to soak it all in. Try to feel nothing but what Danny’s doing to
my body. Try to feel wanted. Try to substitute his touch for the one my body’s
really craving.