The Boy I Once Loved Page 7

  “Don’t worry, Mrs H.” Dylan smiles. “We’ll look after her.”

  Leila and Christian stand as my mum leaves and they say they need to make tracks too. Leila pulls me into a hug. “It is really good having you back,” she tells me. “Nice to see my brother looking happy again.”

  I nod and I look over at Dylan. Was he not happy before? She ruffles her brother’s hair as she passes him and winks. “No sharing baths tonight, you two.”

  “Bye sis,” he says flatly. “Don’t hurry back.”

  She blows him a kiss at the door as she leaves, which has me chuckling. I always loved their relationship. It reminds me of the one I had with my brother. He would always tease me and try to wind me up at every opportunity.

  “Okay. I am going to get this one in bathed and in bed. Ella, you can have the spare room.”

  I nod. “Thanks for letting me stay, Stacey.”

  She bats away my thanks. “Nonsense. You are always welcome here. In fact, your mum and I were talking, and she is on the night shift until Wednesday so we thought it might be best you stay here.”

  I have only been back two nights, and my mum is already wanting to be rid of me. I manage to pull a smile together. "That's great thanks."

  "Come on," Dylan says as he comes over to me and places his hands on my waist. "Let's get you to bed." I gulp at his words as I wrap my hands around his neck, and he places his hands on my thighs and he lifts me. I wrap my legs around him and he carries me up the stairs. Our bodies are touching everywhere, and it is heaven and hell all at the same time. My heart hammers so loud that I am surprised he can't hear it in my chest.

  "I don't have any change of clothing for bed," I tell him. I finally dare to look him in the eyes. His blue eyes stare back at me, making my heart beat faster. He pushes the door open with his foot.

  “You can wear one of my t-shirts.”

  I look around me and frown. “This isn’t the spare room.”

  He grins as he gently puts me down on his bed. “It’s early. I thought we could watch some Netflix or something. There’s a new series on.”

  I groan as I release my hands from around his neck. “It better not be a murder one.”

  He chuckles as he grabs the bottom of his t-shirt and pulls it over his head, making me forget what the hell we were just talking about. “It’s a supernatural one. Right up your street.”

  “Oh, okay. What are you doing?” I say panicked when he unzips his flies and lowers his jeans.

  He pauses, jeans around his ankles, and he looks at me like I’m stupid. “I’m getting ready for bed.”

  I point at his Calvin boxers which hug him in all the right places, Jesus wept. “You need to put clothes on.”

  He bends and throws his jeans into his open wardrobe before turning to me, hands on his hips. “What’s the matter El? Am I distracting you with my hotness?”

  “Pfft!” I reply, pretending that it is the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. “I’m afraid your hotness has no effect on me. I am not sitting next to you in just your boxers.”

  Dylan laughs and shakes his head before he opens a drawer and pulls out a pair of grey joggers. He pulls them on and they sit low on his hips, teasing my damn dirty brain with all sorts of thoughts I should not be having about him. He pulls a t-shirt out of his drawer and he comes and stands in front of me. “Arms up.”

  I look up at him with a dead-pan expression on my face, but I decide not to argue and lift my arms in the air. He tugs his hoodie up over my head and then grabs my t-shirt and he lifts it off me, leaving me in just my bra. Frowning, he drops his t-shirt over my head. Trying to compose myself, I reach under the t-shirt and attempt to pull down my joggers. Laughing at my poor effort, he stands over me and offers out his hands. With a roll of my eyes, I place mine in his and I allow him to pull me to my feet. I steady myself on his shoulders as his hands skirt over my arse and he pulls my joggers down. He gently places me back sitting on the bed and then pulls the joggers off my legs and throws them on the floor.

  “All done,” he says, clearing his throat. “I’ll be huh, back in a sec.” He disappears off into the ensuite, leaving me sitting on his bed in his top. As soon as the door closes behind him, I release the breath I have been holding and fling myself back onto his bed. Goosebumps cover my arms and the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. His touch set my emotions on fire. I cannot stay here for three nights; it will kill me. I’ll either end up jumping on him and dry humping him or hitting the shit out of my pillows in frustration and pent-up want. I can deny it all I want, but I want Dylan James like I have never wanted anyone before.

  A couple of minutes later he emerges from his ensuite and I lean up on my elbows. Grinning, he throws the tv remote at me and then he sits himself beside me on the bed. I flick the tv on and I find the show he was telling me about and we settle in against the pillows and relax.

  The night air is chilly and the wind whips through the window of the car that I am driving. Rain pelts heavy against the windscreen, making it hard to see in front of me as I hit the sharp bend in the road. The back wheels spin out and I know I am losing control and the car spins off the road and down the embankment. I scream out as the car tumbles over and bounces down the rocky hill before it comes to a crumpled mess at the bottom. Suddenly, I am no longer in the car but standing in front of it. I scream when I see my brother in the driver's seat, his head flopped back against the headrest with blood running from his head, down over his face. I scream his name as I scramble to the driver's side and try to wrench open the mangled door. "Help me! Someone help me, please." I scream into the dark and silent night.

  “El, El, you’re okay. Wake up. I’ve got you.”

  My eyes fly open, and my sobs are all I can hear as I realise it is a dream. Dylan leans over me, stroking my cheek, his face is etched in concern. "I've got you El."

  Tears streak down my face and he leans in and catches one with his finger. “I’m sorry.” I sob.

  He smiles softly at me. “Hey don’t apologise. I’ll always be here.” My heart steadies as he softly strokes my face. “I hate it when you cry. It guts me.”

  My chest shudders from the aftereffects of my sobbing. I realise he is lying on top of me, resting all his weight on his elbows. “You want to talk about it?”

  I shake my head. “No.” I blow out a breath to steady my breathing. “Could you..., hold me, until I go back to sleep.”

  He smiles and nods. “You know I will.” He holds his hand at my waist and rolls us, and he ends up lay on his back against the mattress with me tucked into his side. He keeps his hand at my waist and with his other hand and takes mine and holds it against his chest. “Sleep El. I’ve got you, you’re safe with me.”

  Chapter Five

  I stir and yawn as I wake. I slept through with no more nightmares and I know it is because he is here. The last two nights I have slept better. He makes me feel safe. I watch his chest rise and fall as I lie with my cheek against where his heart beats. I can’t help but imagine what it would feel like to wake up like this most mornings, but it’s just a dream. Dylan is my friend, and he was there for me last night as my friend and nothing more. He will never see me as anything more than the girl he grew up with, and I can’t ever risk him knowing how I feel as it could destroy our friendship.

  “You okay?” He asks me, his voice is husky from just waking up. I nod, not wanting to speak and ruin this moment of pretending. His hand strokes my head gently. “You sleep okay?”

  “Yeah.” His other hand on my back trails up and down, creating goosebumps along my skin.

  “The nightmare. Was it about ...?”

  I nod my head again against his chest. I can’t raise my head and look at him and let him see all the emotions I am feeling being here with him, like this.

  “You get them a lot?”

  “Every night. More than once.”

  He sighs deeply. “Jeez, El. You slept okay though, with me here?”

  “I feel safe w
hen I’m with you. I can sleep.”

  “Then I’ll sleep with you every night.”

  I chuckle and I finally lift my head and look at him. His hair is all ruffled, and he looks rested and too fucking good. “I don’t think my mum would agree with that plan.”

  He grins. “What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. I’ll sneak in through your bedroom window.”

  “You’d do that? For me?”

  He sits up and pulls me up with him, keeping his arm around my waist. “You even have to ask? I told you. I won’t let you down ever again.”

  “Don’t make promises you can’t keep Dylan,” I say, chewing on my lip.

  He wraps his little finger around mine. “I pinkie swear I will always be here for you.”

  I smile as I look at our two fingers intertwined. “Until a girl comes along and steals your heart and then I’ll be forgotten about.”

  He grins as he takes our linked pinkies and raises them to his lips, and he kisses them. “No girl will steal my heart if it’s not there to steal.”

  I frown. Is he saying he doesn’t have a heart? “One day Dylan James, you will fall in love and I will be there to remind you of all the times you said it would never happen.”

  He smiles as if enjoying a secret joke. “Oh, you’ll be there all right.” He clears his throat. “We need to shower. Separately, of course,” he adds, smirking.

  "Too right. I'm not sharing hot water with you, James."

  He gestures to the en-suite door. “You going to need help?”

  Chewing on my lip, I nod. "If you could just help me in, I should be fine."

  He clears his throat and he nods, sliding out of bed. He turns and holds out his hands. “Come on up.”

  He lifts me and he carries me into his en-suite and sits me down on the toilet. He walks over to the shower and turns it on, and I try to steady my breath. I could have asked his mum to help, but deep down I know I wanted the excuse to be here, close to him, to have him touch me. He grabs his t-shirt and pulls it over my head, leaving me sat there in my bra and knickers. He offers me a towel.

  “Wrap this around you and then we can get you naked.” He waggles his eyebrows and smirks.

  I roll my eyes at him as I wrap the towel around my chest. I then pull my arm out of one side of my bra and then the other and somehow lift it over my head whilst keeping the towel around me.

  "Okay, up you get." He pulls me up and I lean my hands on his shoulders as his hands snake under the bottom of the towel and finds the elastic of my panties. He pulls them down my thighs until they fall down to my ankles, I step out of them and kick them to the side. Dylan takes my boot off and then holding my arms at my elbows, he helps me over to the shower and slides the glass door open. He leans over me and turns the shower dial.

  "I'll err, be out there. Just shout if you need me."

  When I hear him leave and close the door, I grab on to the glass door and drop the towel on the floor. I hop forward and steady myself and wash my body. As I turn the shower off, I realise my predicament, having discarded the towel on the floor just outside, I realise I can’t reach it without likely falling.

  “Dyl. I need you to go get your Mum,” I shout.

  “Why?” I can hear the teasing tone in his voice.

  “Look, I’m naked okay and I can’t reach my towel.”

  He chuckles and I glare through the door to where I know he is standing. “I promise I won’t look anywhere below your eyes, El.”

  I groan and I lean my head against the wet tiles. “This is embarrassing. You look nowhere but at my face, okay?”

  “Promise.” He appears around the doorway and I immediately cover my boobs with one hand and my private bits with the other. He meets my eyes as he walks in and keeps them trained there. He closes them briefly as he leans down for my towel, and then he holds it out in front of him. “Put your hands on my shoulders and step out and then I can wrap it around you.” I do as he instructs, and he wraps the warm towel around my back and secures it tight. “See? Easy.”

  “Dylan, have you seen Ella, she’s not...” Dylan’s mum comes to a still at his bathroom door. She looks from me to Dylan, and I can imagine how bad this looks. I’m standing in just a towel with my arms on Dylan’s shoulders whilst he has his around my back from where he just tied the towel. “Oh.”

  I flush a deep shade of red. “This isn’t what it looks like, Stacey,” I tell her hurriedly. I follow her eyes to where my bra and panties lie on the bathroom floor.

  “I hope you two are being careful.”

  I don’t think I could blush any deeper, but I do. “No, no!” I protest.

  Her head whips from my discarded underwear to me. “Oh, my god. You aren’t using protection?!”

  “Shit, no that’s not what I meant.” Fuck, I am making a mess of this. I slap Dylan on the arm. “Help me out here.”

  “Mum, it’s Ella,” Dylan chuckles. “I’ll always be safe with her.”

  His mum gives him a warm smile. “Well good, and this well...,” she points between the two of us. “I always knew you would be together one day.” With a quick smile, she dashes from the room.

  I stare open-mouthed at the door and I pinch Dylan’s arm hard. “What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell her it isn’t what she thinks?!”

  Dylan grins. “Well, it kind of was. I did strip you naked and get you in my shower.”

  I scowl. “Dylan! This is not funny. Your mum thinks we are having sex!”

  “And?”

  I slap his arm again. “What do you mean and? She thinks we were in here..., you know..”

  “Having sex, in my shower. Yeah, I know.” The bastard chuckles again.

  “But we weren’t,” I screech. “Why didn’t you set her straight?”

  He shrugs his shoulders as he releases me and he pulls his joggers off.

  “Why are you taking your clothes off again??”

  He holds his hands up. “Because I am having a shower. So, unless you plan to watch, you might want to leave.” He grabs the top of his boxers and pulls them down.

  “Fuck.” I screech as I cover my eyes with my hand and hop forward. “You can’t just get your dick out in front of me, Dyl.”

  He chuckles in amusement. “It’s just a dick, El. Well, actually it’s my dick, and it is pretty awesome.”

  “Just get me out of here and if I feel that thing touch me, I will kill you.” I hiss as I hop as quick as I can out of there. With my eyes still closed, he hands me my crutches. I hear the bathroom door close and I peek hesitantly out of my right eye.

  “Thank Christ.” I hobble over to the bed and sit myself down. I dry myself as quick as I can whilst I am on my own and then secure the towel again around me. I grimace as I realise my underwear is still on his bathroom floor. “I hate you, Dylan,” I hiss quietly to myself. With nothing to do but wait, I sit on his bed and listen to the sound of the shower. He is in there now. Wet and naked and rubbing that perfect body with soap. Lucky flipping soap! I groan and I bang my forehead with the back of my hand. “Stop having dirty thoughts, Ella!”

  A few minutes later the bathroom door opens, and he strolls out, towel wrapped around his waist, looking like a chiselled Adonis. I fold my arms and I glare at him, but he ignores me and walks over to his drawers and pulls out some boxers. He comes over to me and bends down and grabs my good ankle. “What are you doing?” I demand.

  He pauses and looks up at me. “Putting these on you. Unless you want to go to school commando.”

  “I can’t wear your boxers,” I protest.

  “Why not? You have no clean underwear here, just have a pair of mine. No big deal.”

  I continue to scowl at him, but I realise he is right and with a quick nod I allow him to put my feet in and I stand and lean on him whilst he pulls them up under the towel. He pinches my arse just before I let go, making me yelp. “That’s payback for nipping my arm. Twice.”

  He walks away from me, back into the ensuite and he comes out with my
bra in his hand, and he passes it to me. “Need my help?”

  “No,” I growl. “Turn around.”

  Sighing and grinning, he gives me his back. “They’re just tits El. I have seen tits before? you know.”

  I quickly whip down the towel and put my bra on. "Yeah, well, these are my tits, and you haven't seen these and they are pretty awesome," I tell him, throwing his own words from earlier back at him.

  “I don’t doubt that.” I think I hear him say.

  “Sorry what?” I ask, unsure if I heard him right.

  “I said I doubt that.” I push the back of his leg with my good leg, and he stumbles forward laughing. “Can I look now? Miss prude.”

  "Yes," I tell him. "And I am not a prude. Can you get me, my joggers?"

  Nodding, he scoops them off the floor and he brings them to me. Without asking, he pulls each leg over my feet and pulls them up for me. He looks around his room. “Where did you fling your top last night?”

  “I didn’t fling it anywhere, you did.” He hands me his deodorant and I give under my arms a quick spray.

  He winks at me, grinning. “Oh yeah, In my rush to get you naked and in my bed.” He stalks around his room, looking behind the armchair and in his wardrobe. “I can’t see it anywhere. You’ll have to wear one of mine.” He rummages through his drawers and pulls out a navy football training top. “This will do. It’s last year’s, it should fit you a bit better.”

  He walks over and hands it to me and I pull it over my head. “It’s too big.”

  "Come here." He pulls me to standing and grabs the front of the top and ties it into a knot. "There. That looks fine. Let's get your shoe on and then we can go eat. I'm starving."

  Five minutes later we enter the kitchen, with me riding piggyback. His mum looks up at us from her bowl of cereal. “I made you both some toast and eggs. They’re in the warming draw.”

  Dylan drops me in a chair opposite his mum and then grabs both our plates and brings them over. "Thanks, Mum, I'm famished."

  I look up from my food to find his mum watching us. “Look you two, if you are going to be having sex under my roof, I need to know you are being safe, so here.” She plonks a box of ribbed condoms on the table, and I splutter my food out all over the table.