Page 1 of Sailing Free at Loch Tunnagan (Loch Tunnagan #1)

September

H er chin strained up to rest on top of the massive box she was carrying, causing her head to tilt at an awkward angle.

“Wait, you’re in the one opposite!” Paul exclaimed, a fraction of a second too late.

“Home sweet home…oh!” The words got lost somewhere as Jess frantically tried to grasp for the door handle.

The resident of the room lifted his head and Jess caught the flash of shock hit his eyes before she eventually found the handle and quickly closed the door.

She winced as she called through to him, “Oops wrong room, sorry!”

Shutting her eyes she attempted to block out the tidal wave of embarrassment washing over her but it was fruitless. The image of the guy was imprinted on her retinas forever. There he stood. Bare naked and wet, fresh from the shower.

“Urgh Paul, that was so embarrassing. I want to make a good impression. I’m going to be living with these people for the next year.”

“Awkward!” Paul chimed. Then added with a glint in his eyes, “You lucked out with your neighbour though. He was hot!”

Paul opened the door across the hall, “I believe this is home sweet home,” he said with a grin.

They had just heaved the boxes onto the bed when the door burst open.

“Oh my god Jess,” mouthed her mum. “I thought you said it was the door on the left. We just walked in on some poor guy in his boxer shorts.”

“I got mixed up,” whined Jess.

“Just be thankful he had time to get his boxers on,” remarked Paul.

Her Dad placed the last box down on the mattress, “Shall we go out for something to eat before you start unpacking?”

“Yeah, I'm starving,” replied Jess.

Paul checked his watch, he looked at Jess apologetically, “I can’t. I’ve got to get back.”

“I’m going to miss you,” gulped Jess.

“No, you’re not. Remember our agreement. I’ll be living student life vicariously through you. I’m going to be here all the time for the parties and the clubs. I just don’t fancy the studying bit.”

Jess laughed, “Okay, it's a deal.”

Paul squeezed her into a hug before heading for the door. She felt sadness tug at her as she watched her friend go.

Jess lay in her bed that evening listening to chatter and laughter emanating from the communal kitchen.

“I’ll go through in a minute,” she thought.

That statement had been repeated in her mind for the last 60 minutes and as time went on the laughter got louder and the room sounded progressively rowdier making the impending walk through more daunting.

Her nerves eventually got the better of her and she gave up pretending she was going to be sociable and went to sleep.

The next morning the need for caffeine trumped social anxiety. She wandered through to the kitchen clutching a jar of instant coffee. Her chest relaxed a little and she breathed a sigh of relief when she discovered that only one of her roommates was there.

The girl looked up from her cereal as Jess walked in, “Hey, I’m Steph.”

“Hi, I’m Jess.” She made her way to the kettle.

“You didn’t come through last night?” Steph questioned.

“No, I was kind of tired,” lied Jess.

She fumbled with the flick switch on the kettle. Nothing happened.

“You need to push it down hard. It’s a bit dodgy,” instructed Steph. “It took us ages to figure it out last night.”

Jess smiled over, “Thanks.”

“How did you get on moving everything in?” asked Steph.

“Good,” replied Jess and then because she was nervous and desperate to make a friend, “well, we had a bit of an incident.”

“Oh?” replied Steph curiously as she scooped the last of her cereal onto her spoon.

Jess relayed the story of walking in on the naked guy.

“OMG that’s hilarious,” laughed Steph.

Jess screwed the lid of her travel cup on, “I’d better go. I’ve got a business lecture.”

“I’m going to that one too!” exclaimed Steph. “Give me a minute and I’ll walk over with you.”

They settled themselves into the seats of the crowded lecture theatre. A buzz of conversation hummed through the large hall as students continued to file in.

“Oh god, it’s the naked guy,” Jess muttered to Steph out of the corner of her mouth.

She watched as ‘naked guy’ climbed the steps towards them. A pair of sunglasses were sitting on top of his head causing his blonde hair to spike out at different angles.

He scanned the area looking for a free seat and then zoned in on the only one in the area. Right next to Jess.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked.

Jess moved her notepad over and indicated for him to sit down. The seats were narrow and she was acutely aware of the light pressure against her shoulder where his arm was gently pressed against hers.

“ That’s the naked guy!” exclaimed Steph. Jess winced as Steph’s extremely loud whisper had clearly made it to the ears of everyone in the surrounding area, including the guy sitting right next to her.

Suddenly recognition dawned on his face and a blush crept over his cheeks.

Steph whispered, “That’s Ryan. He’s cool. We chatted for ages last night.”

She leaned over Jess, “Hi Ryan.”

Ryan tilted his head in a nod but before he could speak the lecturer tapped the mike to indicate the lecture was about to start and the room fell silent.

A feeling of exhilaration shot through Jess as the lecture came to an end. Her notepad was already bursting with points that she had rapidly scribbled down as the lecturer spoke. She was going to love Uni. She could feel it.

“I’m going to Marketing now,” said Steph. “What’ve you got?”

“Hospitality,” replied Jess as she shoved her notepad back in her bag.

“Same,” said Ryan.

The three of them merged into the throng of students making their way up the stairs and out into the hall. Steph waved back to them as she walked off in the opposite direction.

“Bye naked guy,” she laughed.

Ryan spread out his arms and legs and looked down at his body. The corner of his mouth twitched and he looked at Jess questioningly.

“Please tell me I’m not actually naked. Am I in one of those nightmares where you come to class naked and I just can’t see it?”

Jess let her gaze travel over him. She took in the unbuttoned chequered shirt that lay open, exposing the white T-Shirt he wore underneath. He was tall and slim and so his clothes hung loose over his frame.

“You’re not naked,” she smiled. “I am so sorry for bursting in on you in your room. I’m in the one opposite you. I got mixed up.”

“When your mum and dad opened the door, I thought you’d come back for a second look or to make fun of me or something,” he laughed.

“Definitely nothing to make fun of,” she replied and then felt colour flood her cheeks.

“Phew!” Ryan grinned over at her as they made their way along the corridor.

Jess stopped in her tracks. Amongst the hoard of posters that had been haphazardly pinned to the wall; only one stood out to her.

“You going to go?” asked Ryan.

“Yeah,” replied Jess as she snapped a photo of the details on her phone.

“Sounds good, I’ll join too.”

Jess smiled, glad that she would know someone when she went.

December

“You are coming out!” demanded Steph. She held up a finger with every point she made.

1. The whole floor is going out

2. It’s the last day of the semester

3. Paul is coming through and

4. You haven’t been out in months.

“You have no excuse.”

“Urg fine,” sighed Jess.

At the start of term, Jess had discovered quite quickly that clubbing wasn’t for her. She’d been out three or four times unlike Steph who had gone religiously each week to reap the benefits of ‘Triple shot Tuesday.’

“Go and get changed. I’m coming through in 10 minutes to do your makeup and hair,” ordered Steph.

Jess grudgingly trudged through to her room.

She opened her wardrobe door, hoping that an appropriate outfit would appear if she stared at its contents long enough.

The weather had been warmer when she had last gone to the club.

She grabbed the only three dresses she owned and laid them across her bed.

These were all light summer dresses, none were really appropriate.

Steph appeared in her doorway. She looked stunning in a sparkly silver jumpsuit. Her hair was curled and the large silver hoop earrings that hung from her ears finished the look off perfectly. She held up a dress.

“Do you want this? It’ll go great with a pair of tights and your black heels.”

“Thanks,” Jess was relieved that the decision had been made for her. She took the dress and quickly slipped it on.

“Wow, you look amazing!” exclaimed Paul as he burst into the room five minutes later.

Jess looked in the mirror. Steph’s black dress actually felt really good on. She twirled to show Paul the low cut back. The deep V was lined on either side with gold glittery sequins. The floaty material stopped mid-thigh and she liked the way her heels accentuated the length of her legs.

“Thanks,” she grinned, “so do you!”

Steph opened the door and yelled into the corridor. “Let’s go, everyone!”

The students started emerging from their rooms and the smell of different perfumes and aftershaves mingled in the air.

Ryan’s door opened at the exact moment that Jess opened hers.

His piercing blue eyes travelled appreciatively over her, sending a thrill of nerves and excitement up her spine. “You look good Jess.”

“Thanks,” she smiled.

“He was totally checking you out,” whispered Paul from behind her. “What’s going on with you two?”

Jess waited until Ryan was out of earshot.

“I don’t know," she sighed. “I really really like him Paul, but sometimes I wonder if he’s into Steph. He comes over here to hang out all the time but Steph is normally here too so it’s hard to tell.”

The club was dark and loud. Deep base notes from the DJ's set emanated from speakers a mere metre away from where Jess was standing. She could feel the vibrations pulsate through her body and her ears were now ringing.

“Drink this!” yelled Steph. Her hand was outstretched, holding a plastic cup with a luminous green drink in it.