Page 22 of Girl Like Me

“Yes, actually I am.” Mercer laughs. I miss the husky tone he has, it does things to me I never thought a voice would. They all crowd around the bed telling me how much they missed me.

“Guys, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll find a way to see you, but I need to finish school and get my memories back. My therapist says if I can figure out why I locked my mind in the first place then maybe I can unlock it.”

“We can come up with a plan in the morning, for now we need to sleep.” Levi says, always the responsible one. I stand and step into his arms, burying my head into his chest and breathing in his Levi scent, like rain on a hot day.

“I missed you.” I whisper, not knowing if he heard me or not.

“I missed you too.” He holds my arms and moves me back so he can look at me. “I really love that dress.”

“It reminds me of my present.” Rocky adds.

“That’s why I wore it, to try and feel close to you all.”

“How about I go and get that huge foam thingy your mum bought when we were learning to do flips in the yard and set it up downstairs.” Mercer says to Rory.

“What, the one time she actually gave a shit about me, maybe she didn’t want blood in her precious house.”

“Sounds about right, come help me carry it inside.” Mercer and Rory leave to go downstairs. Levi still has his arms on me, his eyes are intense and raw.

“You know...” he says, walking backwards with me. “I know what would look better on you.”

“Hmm what’s that?” I say when my back hits the wall.

“My shirt.”

He spins me so fast, I’m slightly dizzy. My hands shoot out quickly, bracing myself so I don’t smack my face against the wall, as his hand slides up my leg. I’m acutely aware of Rocky now standing to my left. My whole body instantly feels like it has been turned to liquid.

“Or me.” Rocky whispers in my other ear.

I hear the zip on my dress, click by click, each little spoke, one by one slowly undoing. My core throbs, my nipples go hard. When the agonising wait is over, I let the dress fall to the floor. Levi bends down and I step out of it, turning to face forwards. Both him and Rocky standing in front of me, taking in the sight.

“Perfection.” My body goes rigid, I didn’t forget Maximus was in the room, just slightly side-tracked by hormones. Levi steps aside and whispers in Rocky’s ear, he nods. They don’t say anything, but they leave the room. My eyes haven’t left Maximus. I see the internal fight he is having. He is a teenage boy after all.

“Do you like what you see?” His dark brown eyes take in my appearance. I walk slowly towards him, he doesn’t speak, but he watches me curiously as I approach. He is sitting on a desk chair, arms hanging limply at his sides, his legs slightly parted. I straddle his lap, feeling his length against my barely there underwear. His hands go to my waist, he isn’t like the others who jump straight in, he holds back afraid of his own actions. He hasn’t told me about his past, but I have pieced together that he was sexually assaulted, a war in his own mind about it being okay to like certain aspects of sexual contact.

I moan at the feeling of his hands running up my waist, slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. I try to sit still and allow him to explore. When he reaches my collar bone, he looks at me for permission. Lust flares in my eyes and that’s all the confirmation he needs. His hand slides to my neck and he applies a small amount of pressure, not enough to cut off my air supply. I love that he is trying to find a balance within himself. When his grip tightens a bit more, I move my hips causing some friction in the right place. I’m so on edge that I need to orgasm and the way he is looking at me would almost be enough.

With a muffled noise I see his eyes, they go from curious to sad. His hands drop and he stands with me still wrapped around him and walks us both to Rory’s bed.

Placing me down slowly, he follows, his body is covering mine. His breathing is erratic, I’m sensing he may be on the verge of a panic attack.

“Banana.” He whispers, sliding back and jumping to his feet, his eyes watering. He backs away putting some space between us. I don’t want him to feel alone at this moment, as he drops to the floor, I want to run to him but I need to cover myself. I hop off the bed and go to Rory’s closet and pull out one of his black and white Metal Mulisha shirts and slip it on.

Maximus is still on the floor, his legs crossed and his head resting in his hands. I make my way to him; he doesn’t look up at me. I kneel down in front of him and move his hands from his face.

“Hey, it’s okay. You didn’t hurt me, I trust you.” He nods his head, going back to being silent. I want him to trust what I’m saying. “How about we head downstairs and see what the guys are doing.” I stand and help him up.

“I’m not going anywhere, you have all the time you need with me, I don’t care if it takes years, the others can just deal. I know every time you talk to me or touch me it takes a lot from you. How about when all this drama with my family is over the two of us speak to your therapist? I don’t need him to bring up your past, I’m sure he is smart enough to help us figure out how to move forward.” He nods and smiles, liking the idea of going just the two of us.

We hear bickering as we head downstairs. Levi and Mercer are facing off against Rocky and Rory.

“You can’t just do that without consulting us first.” Levi snaps, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I can do whatever I like, no one is forcing you to do anything.” Rory replies.

“We need to decide what we are all doing next year, not all of us have money to fall back on.” Mercer argues. Maximus and I stay silent, watching the exchange from the door, no one realising we are standing there.

“If money is all you’re worried about I have told you a million times, I have plenty of it and you know what? I would give it all to you if that’s what it takes. I would be happy to live in a shack. Money makes people miserable.”

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