Teamwork
The conversation with Bella left me in a daze for the rest of the day. A part of me wanted to tell everyone what had happened, but a part of me didn’t see the point. It didn’t change anything about me or her. She would, I was sure, stay the same person. Nothing I said would get through to her.
And me… well, I was finally right where I wanted to be.
Laying in bed with Zac that night, I couldn’t think of anywhere else I would have wanted to be. It was cheesy, I knew, but it was true. I couldn’t resist leaning in and laying a gentle kiss on his cheek, even though he was fast asleep, his brow furrowed as though he were having a really confusing dream.
He must not have been as deeply asleep as he seemed, though. As I pulled away, his brow softened and a smile slowly began to spread across his lips. His eyes stayed closed, but he pulled me in closer.
“You’re not asleep at all, are you?” I asked.
“Not now,” Zac replied, his eyes finally fluttering open.
“Dork,” I said. Nevertheless, I leaned in and gave him another kiss, this time right on his lips.
“I don’t know about you,” Zac said in between kisses, “but I’m suddenly not feeling very sleepy anymore.”
“Yeah, I can tell,” I giggled, giving him a little nudge with my knee, which was wedged between his legs.
“Can you?” Zac asked, running a hand down my side, then around the waistband of my pajama pants. “And how about you, hmm?”
My answer came in the form of a moan when his hand slipped under my pajamas and into my panties. It took little more than his crooked smile to get me going, so by the time Zac’s hand reached its destination, my arousal was nearly as obvious as his. He slid one finger into me easily, his lips trailing kisses down my jawline and neck.
“You’re killing me here,” I mumbled.
Zac chuckled. “That wasn’t exactly my plan.”
“No?” I asked. “What did you have in mind, then?”
“Sometime more like this,” Zac replied, grasping my hip and rolling us over so that I was on top of him. He held me tightly against him and rolled his hips upwards, making his meaning perfectly clear.
“Like this?” I asked, pushing his shirt up as far as I could until he took the hint and pulled it over his head. I ran my hands up and down his chest, amusing myself at how it made him giggle. Apparently, he was still horribly ticklish, even in the midst of a sexual encounter. It amused me to no end, but clearly Zac was having none of it.
He grabbed my hands and moved them to my own shirt. Taking the hint, I pulled it over my head and tossed it behind me. It took a little more maneuvering to get my pajama pants off while still on top of Zac, but I managed. Zac got his own boxers shoved down in what had to be record time, and then his hand was back in my panties, the only thing still standing between us. While I pulled those off, he stretched an arm toward my bedside table and rummaged through the top drawer for a condom.
“Pretty good teamwork, huh?” I asked as I watched him slip the condom on.
“We’ve always made a good team, Georgie,” he replied, placing his hands on my hips and guiding me into place. “It just too us too damn long to realize it.”
I wanted to say something profound in response to that, but it was hard to think, let alone think profoundly, when I felt myself sinking down onto Zac. Although sex was no longer this weird, mystical thing to me, sex with Zac was always exciting. It wasn’t a means to an end; it was an experience. It didn’t matter that we were both a little bit clumsy, his hand slipping off my hip a few times while we both struggled to find a good rhythm to setting into together. What mattered was that it was us, together.
The cheesy, loving feelings faded to the background as we got into the swing of things, and lust took over. With a strength that always surprised me, Zac flipped us over so that he was on top, my body pinned between his and the bed. I wrapped my legs around his waist and buried a hand in his hair, losing myself in the feeling of him inside of me and the soft moans he made as he drew closer and closer to the edge.
He came with a little whimper, his forehead pressed against mine. My every nerve ending was still lit up like a Christmas tree as Zac pulled away and tossed the condom into my trashcan. I had barely even collapsed back onto the mattress when he dove onto me again, his lips latching onto my neck first before trailing kisses farther and farther south. His ultimate destination was obvious, but I still gasped when he made the first contact with the most sensitive spot on my body, his tongue sliding easily inside.
“Oh, god,” I groaned, fighting to keep my head from falling back against the pillow. It was maybe a little perverse, but I wanted to watch.
Evidently, Zac didn’t mind at all. His eyes actually twinkled as he stared up at me, not pausing in his movements at all, every tiny flick of his tongue sending waves of pleasure through my body. I thought I would scream, but I didn’t think the neighbors would appreciate that, not to mention my two roommates who lay sleeping at the other end of the apartment. Soon enough, I couldn’t even think, let alone scream. I saw nothing but stars and could manage little more than to whisper Zac’s name.
Slowly, carefully, he crawled back up my body, leaving gentle kisses in his wake. He pressed the softest, sweetest kiss to my cheek and, his breath hot against my ear, whispered, “I love you, Georgie.”
“Love you, too,” I barely managed to breathe out. “Love you so much.”
He rolled over onto his back and let out a light laugh. “Not bad for two losers like us, huh?”
“Not bad at all,” I replied. “I think You-Know-Who was right; we do deserve each other.”
Because it weighed so heavy on my mind, I had told Zac the very barest bones of the conversation. Still, he didn’t need to know everything. Maybe it was wrong to keep it from him, but I couldn’t see any outcome other than hurt if I told him that Bella had never really wanted him at all.
“Well, even a broken clock is right twice a day. She was bound to say something that wasn’t totally asinine eventually.” Zac looked like he wanted to say more, but then shook his head and reached for the pile of clothing in the floor next to the bed. Passing my own shirt and bra to me, he began to pull his own over his head. His voice a bit muffled he said, “Now I don’t know about you, but after that, I could use a little midnight snack. I think I’m wide awake now anyway.”
“You and me both,” I replied. “How about… chocolate covered popcorn?”
“Race you to it!” Zac said, tossing my pajama shorts at me so that they landed square on my head.
Moments later, with all of our pajamas in the proper places, we stood in the kitchen, waiting for our popcorn to pop. In the absence of a bar of chocolate, I had decided that chocolate syrup would have to do. It was going to be a terrible mess, but I didn’t really care. It very nearly got my mind off everything that had happened earlier in the day. Almost.
“So,” Zac said, and I nearly jumped a foot into the air, sure that he had read my thoughts about Bella.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to invite that sorority chick to move in here? I mean, she seems nice enough, but…”
“She is nice enough,” I replied. “And she’s not a sorority chick; at least, not anymore. She’s about as big of a fan of Bella as you and I are. She’s the one who talked to me about her before. You know, after the party?”
“Oh trust me, I’ll never forget that party. It had a pretty happy ending, at least.”
I felt myself blushing, and I nodded. “Yeah, yeah it did. But I mean, the stuff with Bella. Kenley tried to explain and apologize, and it seemed pretty clear then that she thought all the drama was ridiculous. I didn’t make much of it then, but I think it speaks volumes that she went out of her way to say something when she was still part of the inner circle.”
“I guess so, when you put it that way,” Zac said. Tilting his head to the side a bit, he asked, “So what did she say, anyway? I mean, what did she try to explain?”
“Just that, uh, you know Bella was…. Well, I mean, you know, she–” My rambling attempt to not tell him anything was interrupted when a door creaked open. I spun around to see who it could possibly be, and for the second time that semester, was rendered speechless by what was apparently going on behind closed doors in my own apartment.
“Well, this is awkward,” Taylor said, grinning as though he found it more amusing.
“What are you doing here?” Zac asked.
“Unless he’s hiding a vagina in there, and I think I might have noticed that, he damn sure didn’t just come out of Peyton’s room, so that just leaves one option.”
“Tay? I thought you were going to the–” Molly poked her head out of her doorway and paled at the sight of all of us standing there. “Umm… bathroom.”
“I think we’ve been caught,” Taylor replied, still grinning but a bit more sheepishly now.
“This is absolutely unbelievable,” I said, the words trailing off into laughter. After everything that had happened during the semester, I didn’t know which was more ridiculous—me sleeping with Taylor, or Molly doing the same. Wiping away a stray tear, I sighed and said, “Well, I did say that he deserved better than Bella.”
Zac raised an eyebrow at that, but I waved it over, dissolving into another fit of giggles. When the microwave dinged, I jumped in the air, suddenly aware of the smell of burning popcorn.
“What is that god awful smell?” Peyton asked, emerging from her room. She blinked at Taylor. “Oh, it must be you.”
“Funny,” he replied, then pulled Molly to his side. “Actually, Georgie was so shocked about this that she forgot how to operate a microwave.”
“We’re all comedians tonight, aren’t we?” Zac mumbled, holding the distinctly black microwave bag of popcorn at a safe distance before tossing it into the trash can. “So much for that midnight snack. Although, I suppose Taylor and Molly have already had theirs.”
“And you two were just counting sheep in there, were you?” Taylor replied. “Come on, let’s all put on pants—or not, it’s more fun without them—and go get IHOP. My treat. It’s the least I could do after, well, you know.”
“After doing both of my roommates?” Peyton offered.
Taylor smirked. “Hey, I’d do you too, if you asked nicely.”
“Let’s all just get dressed and leave before this turns into an orgy,” I said, grabbing Zac’s hand and pulling him toward my bedroom.
“Just say the word, Peyton Place!” Taylor called out.
Her reply lost to the sound of my slamming door. I figured that was just as well; no need to hear anything incriminating in case she finally snapped one day and killed him. I looked and at and shook my head in disbelief. It had definitely been a crazy semester, all right, and it just kept getting crazier.