The Heart Wants Ch. 01-04

She smiled at me, "That's sweet... maybe I'll take you up on it..."

I nodded, letting the conversation lull as I looked at the floor.

"What about you?" She asked.

My eyes snapped up to her face, "Huh?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I showed you mine... now you show me yours. Do you have someone?"

I felt my face drop, "I just asked you out a couple of weeks ago... remember?"

I could see the embarrassment leap onto her face a split second before she burst out laughing again, "Oh, yeah... duh..."

See, that's how little it meant to her, how little you mean to her. She didn't even think about the fact that you asked her out...

I smiled at her.

"So when was the last time you were with someone? Tell me about her?" She asked.

I shrugged, the painful memory of Brittany riding into my mind like a freight train made of pain tearing its way through my mental barriers...

"It's been a while."

She crossed her legs in the big chair she was sitting in, leaning forward, "Oh, now this is interesting, how long?"

Rolling my eyes at her, I told her, "We are not talking about that."

Her eyebrows went up, "Oh! It's been that long!"

I managed to keep my jaw from dropping, but just barely...

"I said, we're not talking about this..." I managed through gritted teeth.

She put a finger on her chin, "I'm thinking... three months?"

My eyes settled on her, "It's been two years since I had a girlfriend."

I thought on that and wondered if that was really hedging the truth... yes... it had been two years since I had had a girlfriend, but it had been significantly before that since I had actually... been with her...

She shrugged, "Yeah, but how long since you got laid?"

I looked away from her, "I said... it's been two years since I had a girlfriend."

Sue me. It was a lie, but I really didn't feel like explaining the whole dynamic of my relationships with Brittany...

She sat in silence, her jaw actually dropping open.

My nostrils flared, "Thank you so much for your deeply embarrassing silence..."

Honest to god, she put her hands over her open mouth before laughing... "You know Tinder is a thing, right?"

I rolled my eyes at her, really letting the embarrassment settle in... "That's never really been my thing..."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "What, having fun?"

I felt sorrow enter my eyes, "No. The whole hit it and quit it thing..."

Her face screwed up, sorrow lining her perfect features... finally, she shook her head at me, "You haven't listened to a word I've told you, have you?"

That hurt, deeply, "What do you mean?"

She put her head in her hand, propping her elbow on her knee, "Girls like sex every bit as much as guys do, or at least they do if you're doing it right..."

I shook my head, "It's not just that... I mean, I get it." I shrugged, "I'm also not that guy... you know, the guy that... you know, closes the deal fast. I feel like I really have to work on a girls sympathy for a while before she likes me!"

She smiled, a small chuckle escaping her, "You mean you think you aren't handsome? That you're just not the type that makes a girl's knees go weak?"

I looked at her, feeling the coolness settle onto my heart. She had known me for such a short time, but she always seemed to see right through me... I nodded, "Look at me, I mean, not the way a friend looks at a friend. Try to see me as a woman would."

She laughed as she tilted her head at me, "I am a woman, and I can see you that way just fine. You're handsome. In fact, you have that thing going for you, that thing that drives most woman batty..."

I felt my brow furrow, "What do you mean?"

She held her hands out, "Look at you. You're a big guy. Strong features, a kind face, a quick smile, and not a single hint of self-importance. There's no arrogance about you. There's nothing sexier to a woman than a man that thinks he's not god's gift to women."

I pointed at her, "See, that's you, seeing me as a friend."

She laughed at me again, "You can't be that clueless!"

I tilted my head at her, "What do you mean?"

She put both her hands under her chin, "There are like three girls in just our History class that hit on you every day!"

She was starting to annoy me, "Stop. Please."

Her eyes opened wide, "Plebus Crikey! Your radar is that broken!" She held out a finger, "Melissa, Miss" She bounced her head as she said each word, "would you like to come join our study group? Oh! Tee hee!" her voice took on Melissa's annoying nasally tone... "That bubblehead Marcy, who always sits up front?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah?"

"Totally into you."

Now I knew she was fucking with me... I never got any sense that Marcy was ever coming onto me...

Laurel threw her head back, "Oh... and that delicious brunette? The one that always sits way in the back, the one with the amazing rack? The absolutely gorgeous one?"

I felt my face screw up, "Kelly?"

Laurel snapped her fingers at me, "That one! She's totally into you!"

I folded my hands in my lap, ready for this game to come to an end. "This isn't funny Laurel. Kelly was my lab partner last semester in Biology. She's just being friendly."

A look of pity crept onto her face... "Okay... dude, we need to get you laid. Your brain is completely backed up!"

I ground my teeth, "So what? I should just walk into History class on Monday and what, drop my pants and drop a ten-pound salami across Kelly's desk and be like, hey baby!"

She took a piece of what looked like pepperoni, wrapped up in a plastic bag out of her satchel and started chewing on it absently, "Well, yeah. I mean if you're packing a ten-pound salami that will definitely be a show stopper! I mean hell, I'd like to see that and I'm into girls..."

My nostrils flared again, "Well I'm not packing a ten pounder!"

She took another bite out of her pepperoni stick, "Well, I don't understand why you even put the option on the table then..."

"Nope. That's it. We're done here..." I said in exasperation, starting to grab my bag...

She started to get up, "Wait, wait, wait! I'm sorry!"

I settled back into my chair...

She offered me a piece of pepperoni, "Peace pepperoni?"

I shook my head, feeling drained...

She held up a finger, "Wait! I got it! I've got a friend, Isha..." She got visibly excited, "Oh, you'd be so perfect for Isha!"

"Yep. We're done here..." I said, starting to get up again.

She jumped out of her chair, this time actually pushing me down... "No. Please, hear me out. You and Isha would be so cute together."

I shook my head, finally letting my face settle into my palm. There was no way I was letting Laurel set me up...

Wait a minute... The thought came to me suddenly, What if she's right? I mean, not about needing to just get laid, maybe just meeting someone else would make you realize... or make you at least stop obsessing?

I sat back down, clenching my jaw... "Goddamn it! Okay... Tell me about Isha."

Her face flickered, a look like... something... and then she was ear to ear smiles, "Okay... No! Wait! I'm not going to ruin the surprise! You can meet her tonight!"

I felt my face screw up, "Tonight?"

She smiled, practically bouncing with joy, "Yeah, Rachel and I, we were going to a party tonight, I'll make sure we bring Isha, and you can meet her and hang out with her at the party! That way you don't have to worry about putting anything together, and if you don't hit it off, you can just hang out!"

Sighing I told her, "Okay..." Then a thought occurred to me, "Fuck! I can't. Not tonight."

She gave me a strange look, "Why not?"

A new, fresh wave of embarrassment washed over me, "My car broke down..."

She laughed, "We'll pick you up, no big deal. We'll make a night of it! Also, that would be cool because you could meet Rachel too!"

Disappointment crashed down on me, "I don't want to put you guys out..."

She smiled at me, "It's no big deal."

Chapter 4

I got home from school with just enough time to grab a quick shower, change, and then deeply consider every life choice I had made up until that moment...

Much as I wanted to I could not stop thinking about Laurel...

In fact, I was thinking about her, obsessing about her when the door shook from the force of her knock...

I jumped up, suddenly looking around my shagging house, realizing how dingy the place looked, and grabbed my coat. Opening the door I found Laurel standing there with some girl, well, girl didn't really do her justice, some woman, some very beautiful woman I didn't recognize...

Laurel threw her hands in the air, "There he is! Link!" and then she dove into my arms for an enormous hug...

My arms wrapped around her instinctively as she giggled and bubbled, her infectious laugh spilling out, making me laugh too. I looked at her friend awkwardly as she smiled, twirling her caramel blonde locks between her forefinger and thumb. Friend smiled back at me, coyly tilting her head to the side, showing me perfectly, straight white teeth hiding a drop dead sexy smile...

Laurel's friend was a drop dead gorgeous girl...

She was wearing a heavy, grey wool overcoat that cut off at midthigh over a form-fitting black dress that left very little to the imagination...

Very little...

Her body, simply put, was gorgeous. Long, slender legs, wide hips that slimmed down into a narrow waist, large, full breasts, slender, graceful neck, and an absolutely beautiful face...

She was, in many ways the polar opposite of Laurel...

Please, dear god in heaven... be Isha... I will be a good boy for the entire rest of my life if this is Isha... I desperately prayed.

Letting Laurel loose I let her bounce back to her friend's side. I looked at her head to toe, feeling my jaw drop, as I compared her to her friend. She wore the same grey coat, but over the top of a white dress. Her dress was much looser a fit than her friends, but I still felt my breath catch in my throat...

Her hair was pinned up, her raven tresses held by some weird gold and silver comb thing, revealing her high cheekbones and beautiful face. She still wore her trademark black-rimmed glasses, which I thought made her extra attractive...

She wasn't as fit as her friend, not as classically beautiful, her breasts not as big, her form not as curvy, her face not as attractive, but for some reason, she blew her friend completely out of the water... there was no contest as to who was the more beautiful woman was...

Laurel, by a mile...

I managed to shake myself out of the daze, smiling at Laurel's friend... "Isha, I presume?"

Laurel burst out laughing, her musical laughter singsongingly out into the night, "You wish!" her hand entwined with other woman's, and I suddenly got it...

I covered my mouth in embarrassment, laughing at my own mistake, "Rachel. I'm sorry..."

Rachel smiled at me, her eyes turning dusky, she turned her face giving me a three-quarter's profile that somehow both turned me on and made me feel like prey all at the same time. Her teeth nipped at her bottom lip and I felt the sudden urge to just push her back and shove my tongue down her fucking throat...

I blinked stupidly, Goddamn... Laurel must be right... maybe I do need to get laid...

"So, this is the Link I've heard so much about..." Rachel's voice was a seductive purr...

Goddamn! I want to make love to Laurel... but I wanted to fuck the shit out of Rachel... I shook my head, trying to get that thought right the fuck out of my mind... Okay... Laurel is right... I need to get laid...

Rachel stepped into me, her pinching my shirt between her first two fingers, "I like this shirt..."

I actually gulped...

I was wearing a blue and black striped, collared shirt, the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, and black khaki pants, pretty much my nicest clothes...

"Uh... thanks..." I managed to stumble out.

Laurel grabbed her girlfriend's coat and, thankfully, pulled Rachel a step back away from me... "Down, girl. He's the sensitive type, he can't handle you teasing him..."

Rachel reached one long-nailed finger out, lightly scratching it against the stubble I had allowed on my chin, "Real shame that..." She purred.

Laurel once again filled my porch with her musical laughter, grabbing her girlfriend by the hand and pulling her back, where she wrapped her arms around her. "Stop flirting with him! Come on, it's cold out here!"

I realized then that it was fucking freezing... I'm talking about real cold. The type that makes your breath freeze in your lungs...

Only then, did I realize that the ladies I had trapped on my porch were both wearing evening dresses, and cold as I was, they had to be freezing...

Locking my door, I pulled my windbreaker on, my only really nice jacket. It was too light for this weather, but my only other option was my leather overcoat, and the while I loved that coat, it did not go with the more formal clothes that I had picked out for the evening...

Watching as the ladies moved down the stairs I was thankful that I had chosen more of a formal outfit for the evening, rather than my standard jeans and a t-shirt...

Only when the ladies made it to the bottom of the stairs, turning towards the street in front of my house did I realize the car sitting, idling in front of my house...

It was a charcoal grey, BMW 7 Series...

"Shit. Rachel... nice car." I managed to stumble out...

Rachel turned back to me, a smile on her lips, "Not mine."

Laurel turned back, her beautiful smile plastered across her face, "It's mine."

My eyebrows went up in surprise... "I'm sorry... I just assumed..."

I just assumed a college kid did not have a car that costs nearly a hundred grand...

Shit. She must have rich parents or something... I thought in wonder... Must be nice...

Rachel moved to the passenger door while Laurel ran around the front of the car to the driver's side. I, for my part, stood there in dumb shock...

Laurel stopped at her door, "Well come on silly! Don't just stand there like an idiot! Come on! You have to sit behind me though, on this side, we have a bunch of stuff in the seat on that side!"

I ducked into a jog, hearing my shoe crunch across the semi-frozen grass as I ran through the thin strip between the sidewalk and the street. Opening the back door and jumping in the back I dropped into beautifully comfortable leather...

Holy fuck... this thing is loaded... I realized, bumping the mental price tag in my head up to well over a hundred grand...

Rachel put her hand on the driver's seat, turning back to me with a smile... "Better put your seatbelt on... Laurel just got this thing, and she's a little crazy with it..."

The way she was sitting, and the low cut of her dress gave me a spectacular view of her breasts, and as much as I'm ashamed to admit it... I looked...

In a panic, I threw my eyes back up to her face... feeling a stirring in my pants...

She totally busted me...

She gave me a quick wink, a seductive smile slipping across her features...

Okay... I get why Laurel is gay now... I thought. Fuck me...

Rachel gave me this weird look, like a growl that sends a shiver up her nose, her red lips parting and sending a shiver up my spine...

I gulped again. Thinking, That woman would chew you up and spit you out...

Laurel adjusted her mirror, moving it so I could see her beautiful brown eyes. I could sense the smile on her face just by looking at the laugh lines around her eyes, "Everyone all buckled up and ready?"

I felt myself start to fall into those eyes all over, even through the mirror, as I grabbed my seatbelt and pulled it on, "All set."

I gulped again, looking back into Laurel's eyes once again as she shifted the car into gear...

Once again, I felt that twisting in my chest, something painful, like an iceberg shifting and breaking away from an ice shelf...

Forcing my eyes back to Rachel I watched her as her eyes crawled up and down me, a mischievous smile playing across her lips as if I had passed some hidden test...

The feeling in my chest, that painful twisting sensation lessened as I looked from Laurel to Rachel. It was then that I realized I was in real trouble... I mean serious, real, deep down trouble... and all I could do about it was look out the window and hope that it went away...

Rachel's sultry laugh filled the cabin of the car as I turned to look out the window...

Had she seen? Did she realize? I thought to myself in panic...

I was starting to realize something very quickly... Rachel was a dangerous person. She was the type of person that not much slipped by, and I had a feeling that she had quickly seen straight through me. Yes, she was raw sexuality given form, but beneath that exterior lay a sharp, analytical mind.

In a panic, I looked back at her, grateful to see she had taken that gaze and finally pulled it off of me.

"Do you mind if I turn up the music?" Laurel's voice startled me out of my thoughts, making me look up at her too beautiful eyes in the mirror again...

Shaking my head, "It's your car, have at it."

I kind of expected to see her fiddle with something on the dash but instead, the volume of the music simply went up in the car and I realized that, of course, the car had controls integrated into the steering wheel. The music was heavy, with a weird mix of dance and metal...

"Who is this?" I asked, looking for her perfect eyes in the mirror once again.

The volume went down quickly as she glanced up at me, "Palisades."

And like that the volume went back up and her eyes returned to the road...

Rachel turned back to me, half turning in her seat, that fucking seductive smile back on her face. This time there was something predatory in her eyes, something that caused me to narrow my eyes at her...

"Do you like them?" She purred.

Something, a mix of lust and anger poured through me...

This time I let my eyes very deliberately fall to her breasts, giving them a very thorough look. Part of me wanted to feel like a sleaze... wanted to feel like I was objectifying her... the truth was I didn't. I very much enjoyed looking at her tits...

My eyes slid up to hers and I saw a shiver run up her spine, something feral that caused the stirring in my groin to get that much stronger.

"Yeah..." I muttered... my gaze slipping back down her body... "They're nice."

I caught it, a clenching of the jaw, a deepening of breath...

She smiled as we pulled up to a red light, licking her lips as she leaned over and said something into Laurel's ear, her eyes sliding up and down me the entire time.

Whatever the fuck she said, it got Laurel's attention fast. Her head snapped around as her hand shot up and grabbed Rachel's face, pulling her gaze away from me, and forcing Rachel to meet her eyes, "No. Do you understand? No."

I assumed, considering the controlled anger of Laurel's tone that Rachel would be taken aback.

She was not.

Her smile got wider, though her eyes now crawled over Laurel's face the way it had been crawling over me seconds before.

Laurel's hand tightened on Rachel's face and something feral came into Rachel's eyes...

"No." Laurel's voice was lower, more controlled, but still seemed... angry?

Rachel's voice was still every bit as much a sultry whisper as ever, "Okay."

Those perfect teeth flashed again as the car behind us honked, telling Laurel the light was green.

Laurel's eyes caught mine in the mirror again as she aggressively accelerated into the green light, pushing me back into the seat. Something there caught my attention, a narrowing of her eyes that at first seemed to be angry, but with a sense of protectiveness, and something like... possessiveness?

I felt a smile slide onto my face as I felt eyes once again on me. My head turned, once again bringing my gaze to Rachel. Her smile was less playful minx and a hell of a lot more happiness. It was a smile filled with humor, showing off, once again, her sharp incisors.