I Need You. Jane Lark

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      “Billy,” she hissed at me, but she said it with another smile, before looking away.

      I grinned. I was sure she had.

      I turned onto my back. “Put some sun screen on my chest.”

      She looked back and didn’t move for a moment, but then sat up, and now I could see her body better. Her breasts swayed in the halter-neck bikini top and her nipples had come up in peaks under the cloth. There was nothing about her that turned me off.

      She squirted the cold cream on my belly. “Ah” My body jolted and I laughed.

      “You could do this yourself, you know.”

      “I know, but it’s so much more fun when you do it.”

      There was a twisted smile on her lips, that she hid by looking down to watch her hands move over my skin.

      “How many hours do you work out?”

      “Why?”

      “Cause you are one big ball of muscle, Billy.”

      “I’m a personal trainer. I spend all day working out, Lind.” I watched her face, hidden beneath a curtain of blonde hair, as her fingers ran down to my belly, exploring my abs.

      “And this little cut above your hips, how do you get that?”

      I laughed. “A guy’s secret.”

      Her fingers ran right up and over my shoulders then down my arms, like I’d done to her. “Your biceps are huge.”

      I shut my eyes and chuckled, just reveling in her touch. “Nice to know you’re impressed with my guns.”

      “Only a little.” Her hands left me, and the sun-screen tube hit my belly.

      I laughed, turning to my side as she lay on her back next to me.

      My gaze skimmed down her body. “Well, if you measure that by how I feel about your belly, you can shut up complaining about being overweight.”

      She thumped my shoulder, but she was smiling and laughing, a little.

       Lindy

      Billy’s long black eyelashes framed the gleam in his eyes. Emotion gripped in my chest as my gaze caught the dark blue.

      He’d always been good at making me laugh. Always.

      I smiled at him, shaking my head, then rolled on to my belly and rested my head on my folded arms. He settled in the same position beside me, looking toward me as I Iooked at him.

      “So what have you been doing in the weeks we’ve not been talking? Have you been looking for a new job?” He changed the subject.

      “A bit…” I took a breath. Images of home spun around in my head; the emotion piling in too. Sadness hung-out in every corner in that house… I’d escaped it for a while, but I couldn’t escape it forever and it was strangling me. Pain pierced through my heart …

      “But Mom’s at home––and I’ve just not been in the mood for job-hunting. I should go into Portland, but I don’t want to be that far away from home.”

      “It’s not that far. Most of my clients are in Portland. It doesn’t take that long to do the drive––”

      “I know… but it’s too far for me!”

      His eyes looked his questions. If I’d have snapped like that at Jason, he would’ve just shut up and turned away, but Billy never accepted anything at face value, he always questioned why. His eyebrows lifted.

      I couldn’t answer why…

      He didn’t ask it, though. Perhaps he realized my soul was too sore.

      “So, did you?” That question was spoken in a deep husky whisper, followed by a smile.

      I smiled, too, I couldn’t help it. He’d said it to break the ice that had settled over me. I shook my head at him, then turned the other way. But he had me grinning again and wanting to laugh, even though a moment ago I’d felt like the world ripped me apart.

      It had felt awkward when he’d said it earlier, but now the glint of amusement in his eyes just made it a joke. That look in his eyes hovered in my head as I shut mine, listening to him chuckle.

      “What music have you been listening to lately?” Another sudden change of subject.

      I didn’t look back at him, just talked with my eyes shut, feeling the sunshine warm my back, now he’d blocked out the wind.

      It felt like the two of us were in a cocoon, the world beyond our den didn’t exist. We talked about everything and nothing. TV shows, films, Vine and YouTube clips, it went everywhere, and we were talking for ages. I was so relaxed. I felt normal, when I hadn’t felt normal for months––years.

      Then all of a sudden he got up. “I’m going into the ocean for a bit. You coming?”

      “Our stuff?”

      “I left my wallet and cell in my room, did you bring yours?”

      “No, but people don’t know that, they’ll take my backpack.”

      “Worry wart. There’s a woman over there with four kids, she’ll mind it; she looks trust- worthy.”

      “Billy! My clothes!” How could he see everything so black and white?

      “Put them back on. It’s freezing down there.” He bent down and grabbed up his tee and top and pulled them on while I got dressed too. Then he leaned down and picked up my backpack.

      He climbed over a blanket to get out, and when I stood up he was walking back up the beach toward this woman.

      The woman blushed as he approached her.

      When I climbed out, pulling on my sleeveless tee and my sweater, it felt scary. That was stupid. But I’d been safe in our little cocoon, and now the world could get at me.

      “Sorted,” he said, as he came back, grinning at me. A grin that said “victory”.

      My arms gripped over my chest as insecurity crowded in. “I bet she thinks you’re really cheeky.”

      “Nah, she’s just thinking she wished her husband still looked as hot as me.” His smile split his face. “Come on.” His eyes glowed reassurance.

      Billy. My heart said his name in an odd way.

      When we’d shared the apartment at college, Billy had always been easy company. Whenever Jason had gone into one of his quiet, thoughtful moods, Billy had always been there to shout at, with, to debate with, and laugh with…

      I started walking beside him, my arms still gripped over my chest.

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