Full Circle

With her arms securely folded across her chest, Samantha nervously walked along the Vegas strip to meet Corey at a coffee shop. Corey slept in their hotel room last night, despite everything that happened. He didn’t have a choice. Where else would he sleep? And since they didn’t talk last night, he left Sam a note on the bedside table, telling her to meet him at a coffee shop. Samantha walked into the shop, feeling immediate relief from the Nevada heat. She spotted Corey sitting at a table towards the back; perfect for the privacy they needed.

“Hey,” she said, sliding into the cool leather booth, across from him.

Corey, who’d been focused on his steaming cup of coffee, looked up at the sound of her voice.

“Hey,” he replied with less enthusiasm.

She studied him as he looked back down to his cup of coffee. She taped her fingers lightly on the table, hoping to bring him out of his thoughts. His eyes unfocused from his cup and fixated on her tapping fingers; he pushed his coffee aside and folded his hands on the table.

“Where do you want to start?” he inquired, finally making eye contact.

“Guess I could explain the situation again, but that won’t change anything,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. She knew he was going to end things between them. So why make this harder than it should be?

“Matt and I kissed on Christmas Eve, which you already know. But, I didn’t let it go further than that. I know that doesn’t matter much now but I just want you to know that I had no intentions of sleeping with him.”

He nodded. He didn’t have anything to say in regards to the kiss. There was a bigger reason why he was ending things with her.

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” she answered, rubbing her hands together nervously.

Corey nodded, again and sighed. He figured that. He just hoped that it was more platonic than romantic but now he knew it was the latter.

“You belong with him, Samantha. What we had will never be as strong as what you and Matt have. And I’ll be honest, when I first met you, I didn’t plan on pursuing a relationship with you.”

Sam furrowed her eyebrows at his confession, ready to lash out at him, but he continued, “However, I soon found out that you’re not like typical girls in Huntington Beach. You have an amazing personality, with beauty and brains to go along with it. You made it difficult for me to get into your pants and I respected your wishes because I was happy just being with you.”

The anger that Sam felt a few seconds ago simmered. He may not have had the best intentions in the beginning but he became fond of her personality. And that doesn’t happen very often for Samantha. Guys usually look at her curves first and don’t stick around long enough to see her personality. She reached across the table and took his hand, intertwining her fingers with his.

“Thank You, Corey for seeing what most guys overlook. It hurts me to end things with you and we could’ve been great together. However, there were a few things you kept from me and this was bound to happen, especially with Matt and Anna involved.”

She stopped and squeezed his hand, gathering her thoughts.

“I want you to find a girl that you can truly love. Someone you’ll fall for when you first meet. I’m not that girl, Cor. My heart is tied to one person and it’s stubborn. My heart attached itself to Matt a very long time ago, when we were kids. You deserve someone who only loves you, and no one else.”

With that being said, she let go of his hand. She was caught off guard when he got up from the booth and gestured for her to stand up. When she did, he pulled her into a sincere hug. That’s when she knew he had forgiven her and they were ready to go their separate ways.

The rest of the day went agonizingly slow for Samantha. She had ample time to think about everything that had recently happened and her thoughts, as always, weren’t very quiet. After hours of sitting and thinking, she couldn’t take it anymore. So, she made a trip to the liquor store to get something to numb her thoughts. She returned to her room around 5pm, changed into comfortable clothing and sat on the edge of her bed, nursing a bottle of Malibu Rum. By the time 8pm rolled around, the bottle was close to being empty. The room spun around her, making her regret drinking so much of the coconut-flavored intoxicant. It’s been a month since the last time she got drunk. However, compared to how she was feeling right now, she can’t consider that night at the bar a drunk night. She couldn’t walk straight even if she tried---the bed was her safe haven. She felt like Matt did when he was drunk a week ago, but not as severe. Matt. I wonder what he’s doing right now, Sam thought. Just as she grabbed her phone to text him, there was a knock at the door.

“Shit!” she cursed, not wanting to get up.

She sat up and groaned, feeling her head spin with the room. Using the wall for support, she walked over to the door.

“It’s not unlocking,” she whined.

Finally she figured it out and swung the door open, rather harshly.

“Hey, Sammy!” Matt greeted, holding a pizza box and a liter of soda pop.

“Hi, Matty,” she slurred, yanking him inside. “I was just about to text you. I drank way to much and I need help.”

He sat the pizza and soda down on the table by the door.

“You don’t have to tell me. I can see you are clearly shitfaced,” he said, guiding her back over to the bed.

He had been drinking himself but his tolerance for alcohol was higher than hers, making him much more functional.

“Yeah, I drank t-to much of this yummy stuff,” she said, holding up the almost empty bottle.

Matt’s eyes grew wide when he saw how much she drank. Something has to be wrong for her to drink that much.

“What’s wrong with you?”

She giggled and the grabbed the bottle, “Other than feeling like an astronaut in space, I’m fine. Broke-up with Corey earlier, came back here and my mind wouldn’t shut the fuck up. So I went out and got some Malibu.”

Matt let out a throaty laugh.

“You got hammered from Malibu?”

She socked him in the thigh, “Shut up, asswipe! You know I have a low tolerance.”

She held the bottle up to her lips to take another drink but Matt snatched the bottle back.

“No! You've had enough.”

Instead, he tipped the bottle back and drank the rest of liquor, groaning in satisfaction at the sweet taste.

“Hey! That was mine,” Sam pouted, folding her arms over her chest.

Matt laughed and stoked her cheek with his thumb, “Oh well, it’s gone now, baby.”

“You’re being a big meanie, Matthew. You should be taking care of me.”

Her eyes looked childlike---innocent but reliant. Matt found it adorable that she needed him. He also found it quite amusing seeing her like this.

“I gotcha, baby girl. I brought you pizza,” he said. “This will help sober you up a bit.”

They spent the next hour or so eating pizza and joking around. Aside from laughing at her drunken state, Matt has been taking good care of Sam. She sobered up a bit and wasn’t feeling as frail and demented, even though Matt claimed she was still out of her mind. Sam liked the feeling of him taking care of her, for once. It’s usually the other way around. She felt butterflies invade her stomach from his comforting caresses. Even the way he looked at her made her feel warm inside and she didn’t know if it was because of the alcohol or not. Every part of him seemed so much more distinctive to her and she had no idea why.

“So, how exactly did Corey breakup with you? He wasn’t super aggressive was he?” asked Matt, setting the empty pizza box on the table.

“No, he was pretty calm. We ended things on a good note.”

Matt gave her a skeptical glance as he climbed in beside her on the bed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Samantha scoffed.

“We didn’t do anything---if that’s what you’re implying. We simply talked things out and decided not to hold any grudges.”

Matt let out a breath of relief, “Oh. That’s good, I suppose.”

She nodded and laid her head on his shoulder.

“You seemed worried. Almost . . . jealous,” she said.

He looked down at the accusatory smirk that crossed her face and laughed.

“Me? Jealous? Never!”

Samantha lifted her head from his shoulder, “Oh yeah? So if I decided to hook up with another guy, you’d be ok with it?”

He shot her a glare. But then he noticed something and his glare vanished. She was glowing. Her eyes seemed brighter, as did her face. He noticed her eyes roam down to his lips and become dilated. He has seen this look before---when they were dating. She wanted him to make a move. Finally! He swiftly tugged her down so that she was lying beneath him. Her lips parted in shock but soon contorted into a smile when he gently ran his big hands down her sides, lightly gripping her hips.

“You want me, don't you?” he asked in a gruff voice. Sam simply nodded, not being able to speak as she gazed up at his intense hazel orbs. Much like the last time she was in this position with Matt, her thoughts were nonexistent, even more this time with the alcohol in her system. She shivered from the feeling of his fingertips caressing her inner thigh.

“Ah,” she whimpered as he ran his hands up her body, stopping to palm her chest.

“You like that?” he asked, leaning closer.

She could smell the sweet scent of alcohol on his breath as he inched closer to her face. Her eyes closed when he finally brushed his soft lips against hers, slow and sweet. She reconnected their lips for a more passionate kiss, running her fingers through his hair and down to his neck. He groaned from the sensual contact and slid his lips down to her neck.

“Matt?” she breathed out. “You’re one hundred percent single right?”

Her thoughts pick the worst moments to intrude. He looked down at her flushed face and swollen lips, her eyes questioning as she waited for his answer.

“Yes, baby. I’m all yours.”

She smiled and sat up, using her knees for support.

“Good,” she said, pressing closer to his warm body.

She kissed him with hunger, sliding her tongue into his mouth. Their tongues fought for dominance while his hands worked on her shirt and bra. She unlocked her lips from his, breathing erratic as her hands roamed to his lower half.

“Fuck,” he groaned, feeling her palm his arousal.

“Make me yours, again,” she whispered into his ear.

“Are you sure? You’re drunk. What if you regret it later?” he asked, intertwining his fingers with hers.

“Please, Matt. I promise I won’t regret it. I need you.”

He could see the love in those beautiful brown eyes. That’s when he decided he was going to show her how much he loved and cherished her. He just hoped like hell that she wouldn’t regret his decision.