Never Met a Girl Like Her | ✔️

(22)

L E O N I E

Mom rang last night, Friday night, as I was leaving to get her from the airport. She couldn't come home. Truthfully, I was fine. Like sure, it would have been great to hang out. But I was definitely not as upset as I pretended to be when I started sobbing down the phone and going on about how abandoned I felt.

I'd gone as far as to ask her if she even loved me. Did she even want a daughter now that she'd had a taste of freedom. When she broke down and started to wail, I burst out laughing.

She hung up and hadn't called again. So when my phone rang at eight on Saturday, I assumed it was her.

"Hello, orphan Leonie speaking," I mumbled, still half asleep.

"Orphan?" Jess's alarmed voice came down the line and I rolled over in bed, hot, wrapped in the sheets and sweating. "What happened to Meredith? Are you guys fighting again?"

"You can't be fighting if there's no talking," I palmed my eyes and tried not to feel that familiar dry burn of exhaustion. "Na it was just a bit of a joke. She'll get over it. What's with the wake up call? It's like eight."

"I know that you're busy with your mom today. But we're all about to go to the beach. So I thought I'd double check and ask if you wanna come?"

"I'm there," I sat up and flicked the comforter back. "Mom didn't come home for the weekend. So I'm bored as shit. Can I invite Heath?"

"Oh," she sounded surprised and I heard a muffled 'what' from Bray in the background. "Yeah that's fine. I didn't realise you guys were like, spending time together again?"

I hadn't caught her up to speed on last Sunday's movie day and Wednesday's pizza night. I was in a little bubble of denial and didn't need Jess telling me that I should get over myself and give Heath a chance.

I knew that I should. But that didn't make it any easier. It was still hard. Still full of risk as far as my brain was concerned. Whatever. So far hanging out as friends was going well. As long as my vagina didn't explode from all of the clitch spasms that were happening whenever he was near.

"Yeah we're friends," I mentioned, casually.

"Cool. Bring him along. We'll be near the apartment. So do you want a ride or are you just going to walk over?"

"I'll walk. Make sure that I can find you though. Text me where you are."

"Sure."

We hung up and I wandered into the bathroom and called Heath, putting the phone on speaker and dropping it onto the marble vanity as I stripped out of my clothes. His thick, tired voice answered after the fifth ring and it sent a surge of pleasure straight down my spine. What a voice.

"Good morning."

"Everything okay?" He murmured, sounding as if he was half asleep but on alert at the fact that I was calling him.

"Yeah. What are you doing?" I knew what he was doing. I just wanted to talk to him for as long as possible.

"I'm in bed," he sounded so damn sensual and I visualised his naked chest, his boxer briefs clinging to his muscular thighs. His sheet draped across his torso.