Back to You

“Hmm. Oh, I know. Let’s talk about how hopelessly in love you are with Del.”

Lauren whipped her head toward her friend. “What? What the hell are you talking about?”

Je

She turned away from Je

“Would I?” Je

“I still don’t know what you see in him,” Je

A silence filled the space between them, and Lauren chewed on the corner of her lip.

“How?” she asked softly.

“I knew it!” Je

“Yes, you’re a genius,” Lauren deadpa

“Help you, of course,” Je

Lauren rolled onto her side, facing her friend. “I think you’re going to have your work cut out for you. I mean, we’ve been friends for almost a year. He hasn’t made a move at all.”

Je

“No!”

“Have you even flirted with him?”

Lauren sighed. “I don’t know. I mean, we laugh a lot. We always have fun. But I don’t know that I’ve intentionally flirted. Besides,” Lauren said, rolling onto her back and staring up at the ceiling, “he’s not the kind of guy who holds back his feelings. If he liked me, I kind of think I’d know it by now. I’m like a sister to him.”

“No,” Je

“He calls me Red.”

“So?”

“So that’s like the equivalent of guys calling each other by their last names,” Lauren said. “Guys don’t call a girl they’re interested in by her last name.”

“It’s not your last name. It’s a pet name. It’s adorable.”

Lauren rolled her head to the side to face Je

“Oh, he is. He totally is. But you’re, like, his kryptonite.” Lauren laughed, and Je

“Charming, Je

“But,” Je

Lauren rolled back on to her side to face her friend, totally on Je

“You have to hook up with someone else.”

Lauren laughed, but Je

“That junior Travis what’s-his-name is having a party tonight. His parents are out of town, and there will be drinking there. No adults plus booze equals Del. So tonight, he’ll go. We’ll go. And you’ll find a cute guy, and you’ll hook up with him,” Je

Lauren threw her hands up in the air. “How in the hell would that be productive?”

“Because you’re just so as she rested her head on his shoulder.g le…pure. Which is a great thing,” Je

Lauren bit her bottom lip, blinking up at the ceiling. In a twisted way, there was some logic behind what Je

“I don’t know,” Lauren said, but even she could hear the lack of conviction in her voice.

“Trust me, Laur,” Je

Lauren inhaled deeply, wringing her hands together. Maybe she should take Je

And after all, she had just been deemed a Badass Bombshell by one of the most popular women’s magazines.

She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands. “I can’t believe I’m going to do this,” she said, and she felt the bed bounce as Je

“That’s my girl!” Je

Okay, this is kind of nice, Lauren thought to herself as she felt Mark’s lips find hers again in the darkness. They were in the den on the first floor of the party, and through the closed door, Lauren could still hear the muted sounds of everyone outside.

Je

So they had mingled a little bit as Lauren slowly sipped a beer, allowing her inhibitions to become slightly fuzzy, until eventually Je

At one point, Je

And as soon as Lauren asked him, he smiled and nodded as he took her hand and walked her to the den.

She had to admit, Je

They had sat on the couch with the door slightly ajar, talking for another few minutes, and then Mark leaned in and kissed her. As soon as he realized she was willing to kiss him back, he had gotten up and locked the door.

And now they were lying on their sides, facing each other on a wide, comfortable couch in the darkness as he continued to kiss her.

She liked the way he kissed, how soft his lips seemed. He was playful, alternating as she rested her head on his shoulder.g le between kissing her gently and kissing her passionately. It only took a few minutes of that before Lauren felt herself growing breathless.

But then they started to move past kissing. It wasn’t that it was unpleasant; it was just…weird. Maybe it wouldn’t have been if she hadn’t been so nervous.

His hands on her breasts were kind of nice, but when his hand ended up between her legs, it was awkward and a little uncomfortable.

And when she put her hand on him, she tried to do what she thought would feel good, but it was the first time she’d ever touched a boy like that. Her movements were kind of clumsy, and he ended up putting his hand around hers and guiding her until it was over.

And then he got up, turned on the lamp, cleaned himself up, and asked if she was ready to go back to the party.

As soon as they opened the door, Lauren found herself squinting against the brightness of the light in the house. She reached up and ran her hand through her hair, realizing it was a tangled mess, and she began combing through it with her fingers.

She looked up at Mark, and he winked down at her before he turned and walked back toward the party.