Page 35 of Enough Isn’t Everything (Everything Trilogy #1)

Chapter Twenty-Five

MIND GAMES

Leaning over the counter to get some paper towel, I felt his calloused fingertips slide around my waist. Strong hands pulled me back into an erect male body. His scent told me that it was Alfie.

My breath hitched, and I held it. My eyes fluttered closed as I indulged momentarily in his touch. My beating heart stuttered for a second and pounded rapidly in my chest, but I didn’t move.

He swept my hair to the side, exposing the nape of my neck. His fingers left a tingling, burning sensation on my skin. Familiar bumps appeared in the wake of the trail like a rash. I could feel his hot breath on my neck as he moved his head forward, bending to kiss the soft spot behind my ear.

I felt his lips curl into a smile on my neck and that felt so right. His breath became hotter and more ragged as it dispersed on my skin in short pants. White heat shot through my body, resulting in a flushed effect. I became so aroused, I had to fight with everything I had, not to turn into him.

Feeling his hands on me was so amazingly perfect. His arms wrapped around my waist, and as fast as he held me, he was gone. I had never even caught sight of him during the whole interaction.

Alfie left me standing breathless and shaken. I tried to steady myself—my legs were weak, my heart was beating so wildly I could feel it in my mouth. White fingertips clung to the countertop, as I tried to gather my thoughts.

I heard him talking in the living room again as if nothing had happened, while I stood where he left me. My heartbeat continued to pound hard with the breathless effect he’d had on me.

I must have stayed there longer than I should have, because when I managed to go back to the group, Will mouthed, “Are you okay?”

Plastering on my best smile, I mouthed back, “Sure.” I placed my glass to my lips and sipped the wine, minus the ice I’d gone to get, while trying to avoid eye contact with Alfie.

I think Will would have noticed more going on, had it not been for Saffy. She was hanging on his neck, and I think he had his own distractions with her.

Stealing a glance, Alfie was looking directly at me. “Lily, what’s been the hardest part of today for you?” I blushed at his double meaning, and as the focus was on me, I knew exactly what he was doing.

Trying to look confident and unaffected by what he’d just done to me, I replied, “Nothing really, I mean, there is nothing hard that I can’t handle. If something is perceived to be hard, I usually deal with it by breaking it down into bite-sized chunks,” I responded deadpan.

Grinning widely at my response, he held up his beer bottle saluting me, as if I’d won that round. I was instantly annoyed by how turned on I was, just by looking at his adorable, smiling face.

About to place his beer on the counter, Alfie turned his head sideways to look at me. He lifted the bottle again in a second salute before flinging his head back to take a big swig of his beer.

Alfie smiled into his bottle again, holding it to his lips, while his eyes continued to bore into mine. I could hear his breath as air escaped his nose onto the bottle neck as he breathed raggedly.

Saffy decided she wanted to be under Will, literally. He must have been in agreement, because he suddenly wanted to leave too, and ushered us both in the direction of the front door.

Alfie positioned himself in front of the door as I was walking out.

Everyone else was either in the process of leaving or standing on the sidewalk getting into cars when he placed his hand on the small of my back.

He slipped it under my T-shirt and traced the waistline of my jeans.

My breath hitched, and I tried to move away without being obvious.

His other hand slid down around to my crotch and between my legs, the seam digging into me.

My sensitive flesh became swollen and ached for him to do more. I stifled a moan.

Pretending he was scratching his nose he inhaled and leaned in. “Your arousal smells awesome,” he whispered in a low, sexy voice.

I managed to school my face because Alfie was taking liberties, but I was determined not to make a scene. I gripped his hand and pulled it away, pushing it down before anyone saw it.

Putting his mouth to my ear, Alfie’s breathing was a little ragged. To the others it would have looked like he was being friendly. “You still want me, don’t you? Say it and I’m yours… anytime,” he whispered seductively.

“Thanks again, Alfie… goodnight,” I said, firmly. I don’t remember much about getting to Will’s car, just that I’d flicked onto autopilot to get there. Once seated, I fought to keep my breath even. My senses had gone into overdrive.

Will glanced over at me. “You’re quiet tonight, Lily, everything okay?

” I sighed. “Yeah, it’s been a long day, Will, I’m just tired.

” He nodded and let me continue in silence, while he and Saffy debated whether he’d stay at our place or go home.

Once I was home, and closing my bedroom door, my cell buzzed.

SEXPERT: You felt so good in my hands tonight and you smelled so fucking amazing… I wanted nothing more than your legs wrapped around my waist.

Pink Lady: I don’t want you to touch me. If you do that again, I will scream sexual assault.

SEXPERT: Your head might not have wanted it, but your body most definitely wanted me badly… why didn’t you call me on it? If we’d been alone, I would most definitely have taken you tonight, and you would have let me.

Pink Lady: What do you want from me?

SEXPERT: I want to ride you hard until you scream my name… but I’m a realist, we’re not FB anymore, so we’ll be friends.

Pink Lady: Hmm, I don’t think so.

SEXPERT: Sure we will. See you on campus tomorrow. BTW, Will=new FB? What does he have that I don’t? I’m interested to know.

Did he really think I was that easy? I wasn’t even going to dignify that with an answer, this was the second time he’d implied something was going on between us. I was exhausted and mentally drained from his games. I slipped out of my clothes, too tired to do anything but brush my teeth.

I slid my legs between the cool sheets unable to comprehend fully what happened tonight. I felt numb, and I couldn’t even cry. Alfie had frustrated me with his behavior.

I had been doing well to control my feelings for him, but Alfie had turned up the heat again with his games, and it was leaving me feeling scared that I’d cave in to his demands again.

I was determined not to allow him to pull me back into something I wasn’t able to handle. So turning over, I curled myself up and spent my night once again lying, thinking about the one thing that I’d never have with him.

Arriving on campus the next morning, I was still mulling over what had happened last night. As usual, Will was waiting for me with a serious expression on his face. He stared up at the stormy sky. I assumed he’d had another argument with Saffy.

Saffy wanted to have more control over their relationship, but Will was standing his ground. “Hey, Will. You okay?” He gave me a small smile, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“I’m all the better for seeing your sweet face.

I had to drag my ass away from Saffy’s whining this morning.

I’m into her, but not her clingy ways.” I leaned up and rubbed his shoulder.

He bent forward, giving me an affectionate little head bump, and left it to rest there for a moment with his eyes closed.

As usual, with Will’s PDA, Alfie seemed to appear out of nowhere. I immediately felt guilty, although I didn’t know why. I thought it might be because he saw me being affectionate with Will, which backed up his insinuations of him being my new FB.

Alfie’s texts last night hadn’t helped the feelings I had about my relationship with Will. I settled for thinking that it was because I didn’t want Will to become embroiled in Alfie’s tangled mind. I wasn’t sure of the real reason, but I just felt weird.

“Hey,” he said, looking up at the sky. “We’re going to have a storm today.”

I felt my eyes narrow as I wondered what his game plan was. Alfie’s eyes flicked between us. He scowled, his eyes shifting between us darkly. “So what’s the deal, Will? You and Lily got it going on?” he said, pointing his index finger and moving it back and forth between us.

Will looked at me, then at Alfie. “Hell no, we’re the best of friends.” He looked awkwardly at me. “I’m with Saffy.” Alfie’s face showed a sudden realization to this fact and his shoulders sagged in what looked like relief.

Mandy called out to Will from across the lawn. He turned and gave me a questioning look. “You want to see what she needs, Will?” I asked, flicking my chin in her direction, encouraging him to go to her.

As soon as Will was out of earshot, Alfie rubbed his hands together, his head down looking at them, then tilted his head to look at me. “Do you remember me fucking you, Lily?” His voice was low and seductive. To onlookers we could have been talking about any mundane thing.

Standing straighter, I was a little shocked at his crude question. I shrugged, embarrassed, not wishing to rehash our encounters. Of course I remembered. Jeez, I never thought much about anything else when I saw him.

Fixing his gaze on me, Alfie sneered. “Well? What? You do… you don’t… you’re indifferent?” he hissed, his eyes darting to where Will was, and then back to me.

Swallowing hard, his nearness made me unable to think. “Yes,” I mumbled quietly.

“Which part?” His eyes searched mine with an unnerving intensity.

“How could I forget. It isn’t as if I’d done a lot of that before,” I remarked in a small voice.

Alfie smiled. “I remember as well, Lily. Although, I had… done a lot… well, you know…” He straightened and stuffed his hands into his leather jacket pockets, smirking at me.

I didn’t know where this was going until he exhaled hard. “You felt all those amazing feelings with me. I wasn’t there on my own,” he said, shaking his head at me.