A Little Bit Cupid: A Collection of Short Stories Read online

  I smile across at Leo.

  “I’m so excited for tonight. It’s going to be amazing. Did I tell you Erin is going with Thomas now not Sebastian?”

  “No? Why the change?” Leo asks as he starts the engine, checks his mirrors, and pulls away. He’s extra careful with me in the truck, and I appreciate it.

  “Apparently Sebastian wasn’t going to get her the corsage she wanted, and Thomas said she could have whatever one she liked if she went with him instead. She’s been a right bitch about it. I feel really sorry for Sebastian.”

  “No wonder he was messing up at football practice the other day. He really likes Erin…I’ve no idea why?”

  Erin used to be my friend, but after my daddy died, she went really strange and stopped talking to me. No one knows why, but I didn’t have the energy to deal with her, so I just let her have her tantrum and concentrated on the people who did support me.

  “Will you let me have a dance with Sebastian, if he’s alone?” I ask Leo. I feel guilty asking as I’m his date for the evening, but I don’t want our mutual friend to feel left out.

  “Of course.” Leo takes a hand off the steering wheel and reaches down to squeeze one of mine. “As long as it’s only one. I plan to spend as much time with you as possible tonight. I’ll be leaving here far too soon.”

  We both fall quiet.

  Neither of us likes the fact he’s going away, but we know it’s for a good reason, and his career is not just important to him but also to me.

  “How is your mamá’s packing going?” I finally break the silence.

  “Good, she’s got it sorted. The movers are coming over the weekend to take most of the stuff to their warehouse and prepare it for shipment.”

  “I still can’t believe my mamá’s going to Spain?” Leo is half Spanish. I know it was originally his mother’s home, but it seems such a big move for her to make. Around the same time my daddy died, Leo’s parents divorced. His daddy disappeared West, and I don’t think Leo’s seen him much since. It’s like his daddy wanted nothing to do with his son anymore—as though he disowned him. It’s definitely been hard on Leo, but then again, the mutual support has been there between us. It’s going to be hard to stand on our own two feet without the other being there for support.

  “I’m hoping the move will do her good. Too much has happened in a short space of time, and she’s not well as a result. Going back to her family in Spain will help—plus with me being in Europe, I can travel to see her on weekends and make sure she’s all right.”

  “You’re a good son to her.”

  “Hopefully, I’m a good boyfriend as well,” Leo teases as he pulls the truck to a stop outside the hotel. “Fancy skipping the prom and going straight upstairs? I can’t get over how pretty you look tonight.”

  “Not until we’ve shown everyone how to dance.”

  “Spoilsport.”

  I stick my tongue out at him as the valet parking opens the truck doors. Leo hands them the keys and points to my bag in the back.

  “Do you want to go upstairs and freshen up first?” he calls over to me.

  I wink back.

  “Nice try, but no.”

  The valets try to suppress a small smirk. I’m sure they’ve seen and heard it all before. Two horny teenagers heading to a prom is probably the least interesting piece of gossip they have to tell.

  “We’ll get all your belongings up to your room, sir. Go and enjoy your evening,” the valet urges as he and his colleague start to busy themselves with our luggage.

  “Miss Landry?” Leo holds his hand out for me, and I take it.

  He pulls me close, and we walk through the entrance to the hotel: an ornate chandeliered lobby with marble floors and gold leaf decorations. A member of the school staff is standing there and directs us down a corridor toward the ballroom. My breath is taken away when we enter the room. I’ve never seen anything like it before. Balloons hang everywhere, along with streamers and signs congratulating the class of 2005 on reaching the end of their high school careers.

  People are already on the dance floor, and the DJ is playing ‘Don’t Cha’—a tune by a new girl band called the Pussycat Dolls. I really like it, and my body instantly starts to sway to the rhythm. One of the things that drew me to this particular dress was the fact I could dance in it. Many of the girls have on tight dresses, but this one is more flowing—the kind a ballroom dancer would wear to allow them to move.

  Leo waves to a couple of his friends, including Sebastian. It seems our friend has been blessed to have lost Erin as his date because he’s currently surrounded by three other girls that I know from my biology and math classes.

  “What do you want to do first?” Leo shouts in my ear over the music

  “Shall we get a drink?” I reply, waving to the girls as Sebastian leads them onto the dance floor.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Erin glaring at them while her date, Thomas, mucks around on one of the two pool tables that have been placed in the room for additional amusement. She tugs on Thomas’ jacket indicating she wants to dance, but he ignores her and continues his game. I can’t help but think it serves her right, but I’m not the sort of person who’d say that to her face. I don’t really want her to hate her evening. I want everyone to enjoy their prom. It’s not always possible to get what you want, though, so for now, I’ll settle on Leo and I having the best of times.

  Leo hands me a lemonade and grabs himself a diet coke from the bar.

  “It’ll be strange for you when you’re in Europe. You’ll be able to buy alcohol in most places,” I shout at him in a brief pause between the songs.

  “I suppose so. But I think I’ll be too busy dancing to want to drink. It’ll only slow me down.”

  “Or give you a better sway, depending on how much alcohol you drink.”

  “It’ll be harder when I come back here to visit you and can’t drink what I like.”

  “I’ll just have to come to Europe all the time then.”

  “You know you’re always welcome.”

  Leo leans forward and presses a kiss to my lips.

  The opening bars of ‘Boulevard of Dreams’ by Green Day start and Leo’s eyes and mine go wide. This is the song we’ve been practicing our dance to. We both quickly deposit our drinks on the counter. They’ll be cleared away by the time we come back, not that we’d drink them after leaving them alone. This is prom, after all—they’d likely be spiked with something. There are a few bad apples in Leo’s year determined to ruin everyone’s innocent fun.

  Leo leads me onto the dance floor, and as Billie Joe Armstrong’s velvety tones start to sing about, ‘walking a lonely road’, we launch into a passionate tango. Leo has choreographed everything and spent ages making sure the steps are perfect for him as a dancer and me as a novice. It’s a fierce dance, and everyone around us stops to watch. I mess up a few times, but as Leo flings me around the dance floor and even lifts me into a couple of stunning poses, our classmates scream and shout in awe.

  Eventually the song finishes, and everyone gives us a standing ovation. Even a couple of the teachers come up to congratulate us. It was a risk doing such a provocative dance, but the song is just beautiful, and the dance fits it perfectly. Leo has the biggest smile on his face as he receives all the applause from the audience. I’m so proud of myself for giving him this moment. He’s been victimized by a few of the jocks over the years for his love of dance, but tonight he’s proved it can be cool. He even starts teaching a few of them some steps as I return to the bar and get myself another lemonade.

  “He’ll be famous someday dancing like that, sugar.” I turn around to see Erin standing beside me.

  “I hope so,” I reply.

  She has a drink of her own, so I don’t offer to get her one. I always try to be friendly toward her even if she’s horrible to me.

  “When does he leave?”

  “Not long. A week.”

  “You’re going to miss him.”

&nbs
p; “With all my heart.”

  What does she want? Why is she choosing this moment to talk to me when she’s been mean to me ever since my daddy died?

  “I’m such a fool.”

  “What?”

  “For thinking he wanted me. He was never going to be my beau. It was obvious all along you two would be the couple who stayed together.”

  “Nothing’s certain, Erin. Our lives are going to take very different paths for the next few years.”

  “You will always come back together again. Don’t worry. Fate has decreed it.”

  Erin pushes away from the bar, her lemonade straw pressed between her lips as she goes. I want to say something to her—offer her an olive branch, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Maybe it will happen one day, or maybe tonight will be the last time I ever speak to her. I don’t know which it will be, but I fear it’s the latter. Tonight is the start of something new. The progression from childhood to adulthood. Nothing will ever be the same again.

  “You ok?” Leo appears at my side and steals the straw from my drink and takes a large sip. “You looked deep in thought.”

  “I was but wasn’t at the same time.”

  “I’m not sure I understand what you mean, but I’ll go with it. What do you want to do next? More dancing?”

  I take his hand and look toward the exit to the ballroom.

  “There’s only one thing I want now, and that’s you. Let me give you a gift like no other.”

  Leo must instantly understand what I mean for he presses me up against the bar and kisses my lips. I can feel his length hardening against my thigh. We’ve touched each other everywhere—he’s gone down on me, and I on him, but full sex has always been our hard limit…not tonight, though.

  “Are you sure?” he questions.

  “Make me feel like a woman, Leo.”

  “You don’t have to ask me that twice.”

  Leo leads me from the room, his long fingers wrapped around my tiny slender ones. His hands are warm, maybe even a little clammy with nerves. Leo hasn’t specifically said, but I’m sure he’s a virgin too. Not only am I giving him a gift, but he’s giving me one as well. A couple of the teachers step forward at the door to block our path. I hold my breath wondering if they’re going to try to stop us. It’s what they’re there for, but they step aside at the last moment, and we pass through without any problem.

  “Leo?” I look at him questioningly. I can’t believe they allowed us to leave.

  “Let’s just say I think someone may have spoken to them for us. They know we have a room.”

  “Oh my god, my teachers are going to know I’m having sex on prom night.” The words come out a bit too loud, and a couple of the girls standing just outside the entrance to the ballroom giggle. Leo glares at them and drags me through the corridor a bit quicker this time. Even he’s laughing now. “I can’t believe I just said that.”

  “I can’t believe you just said that either, but yeah, probably the whole school is going to know that you had sex on prom night by the time you go back.”

  “Oh god, I’m such an idiot.”

  “Yeah, but you’re my idiot. Come on let’s go up to the room.”

  I can feel my cheeks are heated, but as Leo strides confidently through the foyer with me behind him gripping tight to his hand, I no longer feel embarrassed. What we are about to do is natural. I love him, and he’s told me enough times he loves me as well.

  “Leo?”

  He stops and stares down at me as we reach the doors to the elevator.

  “Yes?”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  It doesn’t take us long to reach our room. It’s nothing special—it’s definitely not the penthouse, but it’s all we need: a bed, some soft lighting, rose petals on the sheets, and most importantly condoms…lots of them.

  “Do you want a drink of anything? I know we’re not supposed to have alcohol, but I’ve managed to sneak some in.”

  Leo pulls a bottle of white wine from his travel bag. I get the sense he checked in and came to the room earlier this afternoon to make sure everything was all right with it. His jeans and t-shirt are already folded neatly over a chair.

  “No, I want to remember every moment of this.”

  “No pressure on me then.” Leo gulps.

  I shut my eyes and take a deep breath. My nerves are manifesting themselves as butterflies in my stomach.

  “Why don’t we watch that TV dance show you like and relax for a while.”

  I pick up my bag knowing I have a nightie inside. My mama helped me shop for it. I’m very much a comfort girl and would rather be in pajamas, but I thought Leo would prefer me to look a little prettier for him tonight, and it’s something I wanted to do. No man will ever force me to do anything I don’t want to. I’m a strong, independent young woman…who’s about to have sex for the first time.

  I’m inwardly screaming like the schoolgirl I am as I slip into the bathroom. Leo turns the TV on when I’m gone, and I hear the distinctive sound of the host of his favorite show. It’s a dance competition where celebrities are partnered with professional dancers and compete to win a trophy. This is it’s first season but it’s already incredibly popular. I can definitely see Leo being one of the professional dancers on the show in the future. Who knows, if I become a famous actress, maybe we can dance together with me as his celebrity.

  I shimmy out of my dress but leave my hair and make-up intact. Giving my pits and bits down there a quick wash, I pull the silky material of the nightie over my head. The last thing I do is brush my teeth before emerging from the bathroom trying my best to look sexy. Leo is standing up in the middle of the room. He’s lost his suit jacket and tie and has rolled his shirt sleeves up to his elbows. He’s copying the moves the dancers are doing on the show, but when he spins around and sees me, he stops dead.

  “Fuck me!” he exclaims with pure, unadulterated lust filling his eyes. “This is the second time you’ve stopped me dead tonight. You really are beautiful, Elise.”

  “I could say the same about you.”

  I sashay over to him, and he pulls me into his arms, his hands coming to rest on the curve of my hips. Reaching up, I grip the first pearl button of his shirt and undo it. Leo watches me while I repeat the process with the other ones until his shirt falls open, and I run my hands down his chest. Leo is muscular, but just like many other men of his age, he hasn’t properly filled into his frame yet. I adore his physique and lean forward to press a kiss to his bare chest.

  Leo places his hand under my chin just as a slow song starts to play on the TV—an instrumental version of ‘You Raise Me Up’. He tilts my face up to his, and I stare into his dark-brown eyes.

  “I don’t know what the future holds, Elise. But you’ll always be in my heart.”

  “I know, and you’ll always be in mine.”

  We join our lips together in a passionate kiss, our bodies pressed firmly together as we back up toward the bed. I can barely breathe with the anticipation of what is about to happen. I want Leo more than I’ve wanted anything in my life. I want to feel him. I want to be joined with him.

  Leo pushes me onto the bed, and I shuffle over so he can join me. He drops his shirt to the floor and lowers himself beside me, pulling me flush against his body as we resume our searching kisses. He trails his warm lips over my cheek and down my jaw. I rest my head back against the pillow while he pulls the strap of my nightie aside and wraps his tongue around the already pebbled tip of my nipple.

  “Mmm,” I moan wantonly, arching my back in response to his kisses. His hands join his lips and massage tenderly at my breasts, igniting the sensitive flesh there and sending pleasure cascading through the rest of my body. I can feel the wet heat flow from my core and coat my inner thighs ready for Leo to take my virginity. A burning need for his intimate touch between my thighs overwhelms me with its fever, and I squirm to try to create friction there.

  “I’m guessing you d
on’t want to take this slow then.” Leo moves one of his hands from my breast and places it between my thighs. He strokes the length of my sex before teasing a finger inside me.

  “No, I want it all. Everything. Now.”

  “You have to wait a little bit, my beautiful princess. I need to make sure you’re ready for me. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  “You won’t,” I assure him.

  “I could.” The words hang ominously for a second before Leo pushes another finger inside me and flicks his thumb over my clit. I ignite in an unexpected but perfect orgasm. My body is completely erotically wired to Leo’s touch. I writhe underneath him and bathe him in my desire as I purr like a sex kitten. I’m his, always.

  When I finally come down from my high, Leo gently pulls his fingers from my body and licks them of my essence.

  “Mine,” he growls around his fingers before sliding from the bed and lowering his suit pants. I sit up and pull the nightie over my head as I watch him. His thighs are muscular from all the dancing, and his proud cock bobs toward me, hard and angry looking with its urgency to be inside me. Leaning forward, I press a kiss to the tip, tasting the saltiness of Leo’s desire mixed with his distinctly musky man smell.

  “Are you a virgin?” I don’t know why I ask. I don’t really mind if he’s been with someone else. We’ve known each other all our lives and been best friends for years, but we’ve only been dating for a short while. Leo wouldn’t touch me until I turned eighteen. He’s a true gentleman.

  “If any of my friends ask, then no, I’m not. However, the truth is I’ve saved myself for this moment...for you. It does mean I might not last long when I’m finally inside you, but we’ve got all night to explore.”

  “Even if you only last one second, it’ll be magical for me because it’s you.” I press another kiss to Leo’s cock and then slide back onto the bed while he sheathes it in a condom. Always safety first.