Page 27 of Pretend I’m Yours
“Sorry. I was tired from the week that I’d had,” I said. “I’ll go out with you girls again soon, okay?”
“You say that, but then it takes you forever and a day to actually do it,” Teisha teased.
“Well, I’m in school. I don’t just get to forget about my day when I punch out at five in the afternoon on a Friday,” I argued. She gave me a look and I sighed. “Sorry. I’m a bit stressed with the finals that are coming up. I’m not getting nearly as much studying done as I need to, and work has been demanding, and I’m just not sure what I’m going to do.”
“Why not take the time off work and get through school, then you can get back to work when you’re done?” Teisha asked. “If you graduate, you’re going to be able to go into the profession that you want, remember?”
“But then I’m going to have to figure out how to make ends meet while I’m taking the time off,” I argued.
Teisha gave me another look. “I know you have that trust fund. You can break into that and you’ll be fine.”
“No!” I said a little too harshly. “You know how I feel about them paying my way through school or taking care of me at all for that matter. It’s bad enough that I have to live in their apartment.”
“At least you don’t have to live with them. I know some students who have to live with their parents through school,” Teisha said with a shrug.
“Oh God, someone would die,” I said with a shudder. “No, thank you!”
She laughed as I started to open my sandwich. I was glad she didn’t press the matter when I told her it was my job that was the problem. I knew it wasn’t my job at all. I didn’t work there long enough during the week for it to have any real effect on my studying.
I was devoting several hours a day besides classes and work to study. It was the fact that when I had my books open in front of me, I couldn’t concentrate on the words. I kept thinking about Drake. It was either wondering what he was doing, thinking about what he thought or felt about me, or, worst of all, thinking about the fact that we’d had sex.
We still hadn’t talked about it, and I had a feeling we should. Perhaps it wasn’t the best way to handle things by running into my room when I knew he was going to be passing through the living room again, but there was no way I could face him right after the fact.
Having him inside me had made me feel things that I’d never felt before, and I didn’t know what to do with those feelings. I was already worried that I was catching feelings for the man. Having sex with him was probably the worst idea I could have possibly had.
Not only did he send shockwaves of pleasure throughout my entire body, but there was an emotional connection that I felt and couldn’t deny. And part of me wanted to believe that he was feeling it, too. He had made eye contact with me several times throughout the act, and though I could only see him through the pale light of the tv, I could make out enough to see there was more than just lust in his eyes.
“Earth to Hannah! Come in, Hannah!” Teisha was waving her hand in front of my face, and I suddenly snapped back to the present moment. “You were a million miles away there, what’s on your mind?”
“Nothing,” I lied. She set her sandwich down and looked at me with her famous Mom look. We all teased her about it, but we also knew when she got that look on her face, we were going to have to come clean about what was bothering us, or she was going to continue to hound us until we did.
“What?” I asked innocently.
“Alright,” she said. I gave her a questioning look when she suddenly snatched the book off the table from beside our food.
“Hey!” I exclaimed. “Give it back!”
“Not until you tell me what’s bothering you,” she retorted. “You think you can lie to me? Come on, I’ve known you since we were kids. I know when there’s something on your mind.”
I sighed and sat back on the bench, folding my arms in front of me and leaning my elbows on the table. I was surprised she didn’t tell me to move them. But she was more interested in hearing what I was thinking about then telling me proper table manners.
“It’s Drake,” I said.
“Oh?” she asked. “You find yourself another loser and now can’t get rid of him? Kick him out, it’s that simple. Or, ask me to come over and I’ll do it.”
