I love that girl’s sense of humour!
As I took my plate and cutlery over to the sink and started to wash up, she came over and stood behind me, dabbing something cold that stung on the dozens of little scratches and grazes I’d picked up from my night communing with nature as well as the bumper collection I’d got as a going-away present from my dog- cock father.
Where it hadn’t hurt that much before, by the time she’d finished it would be fair to say I’d been better off not knowing all those little cuts were there; that stuff stung like buggery, and my back and shoulders were now on fire, making me twitch involuntarily every time she touched a raw spot.
Ashley finally grabbed my ear and hauled me down to her level.
“Nick, if you don’t stand still I’m gonna rub alcohol on your balls; that’ll really give you something to twitch about, now stay still! Jeez, you’re like a three-year old girl, quit squirming!”
Once she’d finished torturing me (sorry, ‘tending to my wounds’), she pinched my arse and grinned.
“OK He-Man, all done, grab a coffee; we have things to discuss… and some apologies as well, so chop-chop!”
I followed her into the living room, hypnotized by her spectacular arse twitching as she walked, the fact that she was wearing nothing except a brief apron playing trills and arpeggio’s on my libido; I was sporting a more than respectable hard-on within 10 paces, and I had to resort to shuffling to avoid tangling my balls in the material of my suddenly too tight jeans.
Ashley looked back at me over her shoulder, and the combination of that look, her smile, and the sudden extra bouncy twitch her cheeks developed had me mentally stripping down and listing an Alfa Romeo SZ gearbox before I went off like a Roman candle…
By the time we reached the living room, I was in agony; whatever she had in mind had better be quick, I had something of my own I wanted to get in the open, and certain pressing matters I wanted to press against her! She led me to the couch and climbed onto it, tucking her legs under and wrapping the apron demurely around herself. I sat down, and waited for her to start.
“Nicky, about last night, I just wanted to tell you I was so wrong to leave you alone like that. Judy was right; you could have been killed, and it didn’t even occur to me, I just drove off in a rage. I got a couple of miles down the road and I realised what I’d done, and how wrong I was to leave you stranded like that.”
“I came back for you, but you were gone, and I called out for you, I screamed out for you, but you must have been out of earshot; I was so scared at what I’d done, I thought you were lost, and it made me feel like I was in free-fall, like stepping off a cliff, and I felt and scared, and alone. I guess I never really thought about how much you meant to me until I thought I’d lost you; I was just happy to float along being in love with you, without understanding what that actually meant, then when I thought I’d lost you, all I wanted was you, nothing else, forever.”
“Judy warned me she’d make me pay for what I did, but nothing she could do compares to what I felt when I found you gone. I love you Nick Davis, and I want you, forever, no games, no secrets, no holding back, just the two of us. You tried to shelter me yesterday, and I appreciate that, but from now on, no more secrets. There’s nothing so bad, so god-awful that you can’t tell me, I know that now; yesterday grew me up, and I realized the one good thing I have is the only thing I’ll ever need.”
She dimpled at me and took my hand.
“I know you asked me once already, but this year’s a Leap Year, so right now I’m exercising my prerogative as spinster of the parish; Nicky Davis, the love of my life, will you marry me?”
I gaped at her, then grabbed her hands and held them tightly.
“Christ, yes, yes, a million times, yes!” I whispered in her ear, my heart almost bursting with delight after almost losing her forever just a few hours before
She grinned up at me and leaned in to kiss me, one of those kisses that completely wipes your mind and leaves you slack-jawed and drooling.
“I’m never leaving you anywhere, ever again, I promise!” she laughed, a clear, bell-like chiming that made me ache for her long legs and smooth thighs just an arm’s reach away under a flimsy apron, and my groin tightened almost unbearably.
There’s only so much a mortal man can take, and I pulled her to me, sliding her astride my lap as I squeezed her perfect cheeks, the feel of those smooth, firm globes nearly tipping me over the edge.
“No, Nick, down boy, down!” she giggled, “You haven’t got time, Judy’s on her way over. Your new boss called, he needs you to sign some paperwork, Judy said she’ll take you, so go get washed up, now! Mom won’t be home until seven, so we’ll have plenty of time to play when you get back!”
I was intrigued as to what I was going to sign, but Ashley just replied that he didn’t say. I asked why her Judy had to take me, and she actually blushed shamefacedly.
“I’d like to take you, but… I’m grounded; at my age! Can you believe it?”
I had to laugh, it was just too funny; Ashley looked indignant, but eventually she started to see the funny side too.
+++
Judy was quiet and subdued as we drove into town, saying nothing, and flicking the occasional glance at me, until at last the silence got to me.
“Judy, pull over, please!” I asked her, and she did so without a word. Once she’d parked-up, she sat with her hands on the wheel, looking straight ahead.
I broke the strained silence.
“OK Judy, what’s going on? You haven’t said a word since we set out, you won’t even look me in the eye, what’s up?”
She turned and looked at me, and there were tears in her eyes.
“Nick, last night, I thought we’d lost you, and it scared me; Ashley’s my best friend; she’s like my sister, and I thought she’d abandoned you, and that made me feel sick and really fucking angry, I thought I’d lost you as well!”
She wiped her eyes with the heels of her hands, and stared at me with an almost aggressive expression.
I was getting a funny feeling about this conversation; why was Judy so cut-up over Ashley and I falling out, however briefly?
I had to say something, just to break the thickening silence building up in the car.
“Jude, why would you feel like that about me… ah!”
She grinned at me, a lopsided, ‘at last he gets it’ kind of grin.
“Yeah Nick, that’s right, God help me, and I know it’s wrong, but I think I’m in love with my best friend’s guy! And you know the real pisser about that? I know he’ll only ever have eyes for her, but it still doesn’t change the way I feel. If there was no Ashley I’d be all over you, but as it is, I know I’ll never have a chance with you, nor would I ever make a move; I wouldn’t ever hurt her like that; you’re her happiness, not mine. So there we are; now you know!”
I tried to be as gentle as I could; I could see how much pain she was in.
“Judy, I…”I began, but she cut me off.
“It’s OK Nick, I know I can’t have you, and I accept that. But I had to tell you, just once, just so I didn’t explode, and now we can go on with our lives. Just do one thing for me? Hug me, please, just once, let me pretend for a few seconds that you’re with me.”
I couldn’t refuse such a gracious request, and I pulled her to me, hugging her as warmly as I could, letting her have her fantasy, heartbreaking as it must have been.
One thing I knew for certain, though; despite my promise to Ashley, this was one conversation I would keep secret and take to the grave; if Judy ever felt like telling Ashley, well, that was her right; it was her secret. I would never tell.
After a while she patted my shoulder and let me go, sliding back into her seat and swiping her forearm across her eyes. When she looked back at me, her pixie grin was back, then she looked over her shoulder and pulled away from the kerb.
By the time we reached our destination, she was almost her old self again, making outrageous and sharply observed comments about every subject we touched on as we chatted.
While I filled-in various employment forms and applications, Judy wandered around looking at the glamorous sports cars scattered around the service bays. I kept one eye on her as I filled-in forms in triplicate and made various declarations; she was a pretty girl in a tiny skirt in a workshop full of horny mechanics, so I felt a little extra vigilance was called for. Judy, however, seemed quite un-fazed by some of the remarks made to her, and some of her retorts would have blistered paint.
At one point I saw her leaning against a stunning black Lister Storm that hadn’t been there before, smiling, and chatting animatedly with the young technician. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes of her, and she seemed to be making a lot of eye contact, so maybe she’d made a conquest; I hoped so. I did love Judy, but only as my girl’s best friend and I wished her nothing but the best.
When I was making ready to leave, Mark grinned as he nodded toward Judy.
“When she was seven, she bit my hand so hard it drew blood. I put her over my knee and spanked her good! She’s quite something! Are you and she…?
I grinned back. “Oh no, Judy’s my fiancee’s best friend. Ashley couldn’t bring me so Judy got the short straw.”
Mark smiled at me and held out his hand.
“We’re all caught up here, so I’ll look forward to seeing you a week from Monday!”
As I left the office, I saw Judy write something on a piece of paper and slip it into the young technician’s pocket, and I grinned. Apparently she’d gotten over me…
On the way back, certain things I’d been chewing over in my mind solidified into a plan, so I asked Judy if there was a men’s outfitter’s anywhere near. She decided to take me to the one her father uses; I wanted to buy some leather gloves, I thought I was going to need them.