A Story to Tell Your Friends

Eleven.

“Clara, come on, you’re going to be late for work.”
“No, please, just five more minutes,” I pleaded, pulling the covers over my head and shutting my eyes. I definitely hadn’t slept enough over the last few days.
“If I give you five minutes, you’ll get fired and I’ll never be able to stalk you at work again.”
“You can always stalk me at home when I become a bum. You know where I live now.” I heard Jack laugh softly at me from beside me in my bed and I pulled the covers down a little, opening one eye to look at the grin on his face. Yesterday’s binge on cheesy films had somehow ended in Jack staying over and I couldn’t help but admit it felt nice waking up to him again this morning, only without yesterday’s drama. Tammy knew he’d stayed and hadn’t argued, though she had spent every second Jack had been out of the room gushing about how cute we were. I don’t know how safe it was to say that she was over her concerns, but we seemed to be well on the way.
“I like it better when I can stalk you at work, now get up.” The covers I’d pulled down a little were now ripped from my grasp and I curled into a ball when the sudden chill hit me.
“I like it better when you stalk me at home,” I told him, realising he was sat on the edge of my bed in just his boxers.
“Now who’s the perv?” He asked, laughing at me as I looked over at him.
“Yeah, I’m the perv. You’re the one sat in my bedroom in your underwear, acting like you wouldn’t be freaking out if I was in your bedroom in just my underwear.”
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I’m in your bedroom; why would I care if you were in mine?” Jack feigned innocence, ignoring my implication. I stretched out a little, noting from my clock that I still had another forty-five minutes before I needed to leave, turning around so I was facing Jack, who had now lain himself back down on my bed.
“So, what are your plans for the day?” I asked, snuggling into my pillow and looking up at him. I still wasn’t mentally prepared to leave my bed, and I knew I could get away with throwing my hair up and throwing on some trousers and semi-professional shirt, which would take a maximum of ten minutes. I had plenty of time to just lay here with Jack and forget I had a tonne of other places to be and things to do.
“Well, I’ve got a few bits to work out at the bar, I need to drop by the label to finalise some things and I was hoping to take a pretty girl to lunch at some point today too.” I tried not to smile.
“Oh? Anyone I know?”
“I think you know her very well,” Jack laughed, leaning in and kissing me. I put my hands on his face, pushing myself into him a little more. He paused for a moment before reacting, putting his hands on my waist and pulling me as close as he could muster, his fingertips sliding under the bottom of my top. I ignored the ringing in my head, reminding me of the time and just how inappropriate I was being in even starting anything with Jack when I knew I couldn’t finish it, instead choosing to run my hands down his sides and deepen the kiss. Jack smirked against my lips, though I ignored the implication, choosing instead to only think of the moment. My hands made their way to his hair, fingers tangling themselves in the strands. I tugged slightly at his hair and heard him gasp a little, making me smirk at him instead. “You’re a fucking tease,” he muttered to me, though his lips pressed themselves back to mine almost instantly.
“Oh, I’m sorry, can you not handle a little harmless making out?” I laughed quietly. I was trying to keep my voice down, knowing Tammy would be up and getting herself ready.
“I can handle plenty of making out, but you’re almost as naked as I am and it’s first thing on a morning. Your timing doesn’t lend itself well to my composure.” I hadn’t untangled myself from Jack, though I had moved my lips from his and was slowly making my way down his jaw line as he spoke to me. It left me perfectly open to continue a conversation.
“Poor baby, do you want the nasty lady to stop?” I asked, my lips reaching the crook in his neck. I heard a slight moan when my lips met his neck again and smirked once again. I was going to remember that for another time.
“I didn’t say anything about want, but I’m already going to need a cold shower without you fucking doing that.” Jack flipped us around, hovering over me and straddling my hips.
“You’re such a spoil sport,” I pouted.
“No, I just know if you carry on the way you’re going, neither of us will be going anywhere today, never mind in the twenty minutes you’ve got left,” he growled. I bit my lip, trying to suppress the giggle trying to make its way up my throat. I will admit, I was being the biggest tease, but I just enjoyed the way my actions had had such an effect on him. I put my hands around his neck, pulling him back down on to my lips, though I pushed him off a lot quicker than I wanted to.
“Okay, fine, but only because I don’t want Tammy eavesdropping.” Jack laughed at me, rolling himself back to the other side of the bed.
“I think I do need that cold shower.” I didn’t need to look at him, instead I chose simply to laugh.
“Boohoo, get out of my bed and stop being a baby.”
“That’s not what you were saying a minute ago.”
“I changed my mind, you’re no Geralt.” Jack snorted at me, sitting up again and fishing his jeans from the floor. I told him where the towels were so he could have a shower and sighed as he left the room. I had to remind myself that I’d only known Jack a week, despite how much it felt like I’d known him forever. He understood my lame jokes and comforted me when I was acting like a moron, but he was still essentially a stranger. I understood Tammy’s wariness, though I had completely gotten myself lost in him this past week, the way he smiled at me was intoxicating and I couldn’t help but turn into a clingy loser around him. I couldn’t bear for him to be out of my reach and I already knew that this was bordering on dangerous. I had always been an independent person when it came to relationships. Yeah, I was invested, and I was emotionally attached to every one of them in some way, but I’d never spent an entire weekend in someone’s company and longed for them to stay with me some more. Usually I was bored by the end of the night and glad to see the back of them so I could do something I wanted to do. Jack took me somewhere I enjoyed, listened when I told him useless crap and made a conscious effort with my friends, but even if he hadn’t, I couldn’t imagine feeling any differently. There was something in the way he looked at me, the way he pulled me into his side as often as he could, that just made me feel so safe, like everything was perfect.
I would never admit this out loud, after all, I had given Tammy and our friends so many lectures over the years about how they didn’t know a person, so how could they possibly be so infatuated that they needed to spend every second of their day with them? And yet that was exactly the way I was feeling. I felt nothing less than obsessed with keeping this man to myself all day every day, with being the only thing on his mind, the way he was becoming the only thing on my mind. The only feeling I could relate this to was the feeling of being thirteen and having your first crush on the kid who sat in front of you in math class. I barely knew him, but something in my gut told me that I wanted to be with him more than life itself.
I finally crawled out of bed, shaking my head free of all of my thoughts, and started to get ready for the day ahead.