Spotlight on Nobody

- 29 -

~ Kentucky - Demo by Hippo Campus ~

Alice and I giggle from the backseat. Logan is squeezed in the driver's seat of Alice's Tesla, his hulking figure hunched over, making it seem like a clown car, which elicits cackles from Alice and I. Alice drank too much to drive the car herself, so Logan took the wheel. Her apartment is not even a block from our hotel, so when Logan parks to help her to her place, Leo suggests him and I walk back instead of wait. I gladly accept, my tipsy-ness making the small Tesla suddenly claustrophobic.

Leo slides his arm around my waist, his hand drifting dangerously low as we make our way down the avenue. I've held up pretty well in my heels all night, but now my feet are screaming in pain. I whimper when my heel gets stuck in a crack on the sidewalk and Leo looks at me with concern.

"What's wrong babe?" He asks, searching my eyes. Babe. I momentarily forget about the pain as I savor the way the word sounded on his lips, the way that he referred to me so endearingly. So sexily.

"My feet," I manage to say after a beat. "I hate heels," I grimace.

Leo chuckles and bends down. He undoes the buckles on both my shoes and gently helps me out of the death traps. His fingers linger on my ankle and I close my eyes, enjoying the warm feel on my cold skin. Lazily, he trails his hand up the side of my leg, over my calves, up on my knees, grazing my thighs, up, up, up. I inhale sharply as his hand reaches the hem of my very short dress and open my eyes to see his face a half an inch from my own.

"Better?" he asks huskily, and I nod, gulping audibly. With a gleam in his eye, he swoops down and suddenly I'm slung between his arms, and he's carrying me down the street like a child. Or like a newlywed.

The feminist in me wants to yell for him to put me down, that I am perfectly capable of walking on my own, but my body disagrees. The dig of his fingers in the soft flesh of my upper thigh, his other hand conveniently placed right under my breast, has me hoping that he never puts me down, ever.

I'm breathing heavily by the time we get in the elevator, even though he's the one carrying me. I stare at our reflection in the floor length mirrors as we ride up and I can't help but smile. Our cheeks are flushed, and my smile is so bright, so real. I've never considered myself beautiful, but here, in Leo's arms, I look radiant.

When we get to the room, he sits me gently on countertop in the kitchen and grabs two waters from the fridge.

"Drink," he instructs, opening the lid for me. I guzzle the water, knowing it's the only thing that will keep me from a hangover tomorrow. But right now, I'm enjoying the buzz of alcohol I feel in my fingertips, the way that it makes me feel like I can do anything, be anyone. Or maybe that's the recently discovered love I'm feeling – I'm not sure.

Regardless, one of the two take over and I blurt, "You're the best person I know." 

And I mean it. Watching him all day, he stayed so calm and collected, though I know from my limited first-hand experience that his life is anxiety-inducing. He never says anything malicious and he speaks with such conviction, as if he's weighed every word before he says it. He makes every person feel like they're important just by the way he looks at them, but I love that look he reserves just for me, the one full of desire and appreciation. He likes me even though I'm plain and normal, but he makes me feel anything but that.

He raises an eyebrow at me and comes to stand in front of me. Slowly he caps his water bottle and leans over, approaching me at a snail's pace. With each passing centimeter, the tension mounts between us. Finally, when he's close enough that I can count his individual eyelashes – and man he has a lot – he reaches over... and places his water bottle on the counter behind me. I let out a shaky laugh, not realizing how much my body was tingling with anticipation. I drop my eyes and take a deep inhale. Calm down Nell.

Gently, Leo takes my chin and tilts it up so that I'm looking into his eyes, and in them I find the same anticipation I've been feeling. The air has become thick with the sexual tension that has been building between us all day, all weekend really. I can practically feel every atom in my body vibrating, his magnetic force pulling me closer, closer, closer.

He kisses me. Softly, gently, once, twice, then pulls away.

"Ditto," he whispers, referring to my previous statement; he thinks I'm the best person he knows. It's ridiculous and definitely untrue, but my heart swells and my cheeks flush and my hands find the back of his head and I'm pulling him down into a deep kiss.

His hands wrap around my waist, then slide down, over the tops of my thighs, where he presses his hands so my legs separate, and he can stand in-between them. I can feel him against every part of me, which only makes me press myself closer to him. More more more is all I can think.

He cups my face and kisses me with a franticness that we've never shared, that I've never experienced, as if everything is riding on this one kiss. And in a way, it feels like everything is. It feels like the whole world is holding its breath, waiting to see what will happen. What choices we will make. But I don't care. All I see, all I feel, all I know is Leo.

He tilts my head back, our lips parting, then trails kisses down my jaw, stopping to nibble my ear before continuing down, skimming his lips over my neck, my collarbone. My hands find their way to the buttons on his shirt. At first, I'm patient; I fumble, trying to loop the button out of the hole. When Leo places a kiss lower, closer to the neckline of my dress, my patience slips away and I pull, hard, tearing all the buttons off of his shirt in one loud POP! I hear a throaty chuckle reverberate from Leo and he looks up at me, the places he kissed left cool and tingling.

Suddenly, his hands are gripping my ass, and he lifts me off the counter. I wrap my legs around him and feel him press against me. My body is screaming with pleasure and I thread my hands through his perfect hair, in heaven.

I feel soft silk behind me and I'm momentarily confused, until I realize that Leo must have carried me upstairs into his bedroom while I was busy kissing him. I'm laying in the middle of his bed, and he's hovering over me, kissing me with a fiery intensity that makes my head spin. My fingers have a mind of their own, trailing over his torso, reveling in his sculpted muscles.

Suddenly I'm laughing. I'm laughing so hard that I'm no longer kissing Leo, and my whole body shakes underneath him.

"Care to tell me what's so funny?" He asks sternly, but with a huge grin spread across his face.

"You're shirtless," I say between gasps of laughter.

"Great observation," he says sarcastically. "If I remember correctly, you did this to me." At that I laugh even harder and Leo shifts his body off of me, staring at me with an expression equals parts confused and amused as he lays on the bed next to me.

"I ripped... I ripped a shirt off... of you." I can barely get the words out I'm laughing so hard. "A shirt... that probably costs... more than... my college tuition."

At that he smiles goofily. "We can probably just sew the buttons back on before anyone notices," he jokes.

"Can I sell it on eBay to pay for next semesters tuition then?" I joke back.

Leo brushes the hair from my face with a serious expression in his eyes.

"I have a lot of money Nell," he says. "Too much to know what to do with."

"Well, you are one of the wealthiest 20-year-olds in the world," I point out with a smile.

"I never had anything to spend money on – I never wanted anything all this money could buy me," he says, his expression still serious. "Until you."

"So, you're planning on buying me?" I stay, still smiling. I like seeing Leo so serious – it gives me butterflies. Then again, when doesn't he give me butterflies?

He rolls his eyes. "You're the one thing I want most in this world, and all of this money doesn't do me any good." My smile fades as tears start to well in my eyes. "But I want to spend every dime on you. I will do anything to make you happy. College tuition, expensive shirts for you to rip, vacations and new guitars – anything."

"Anything?" I ask, my voice void of all humor now, replaced by a breathless whisper.

"Anything," he replies, cupping my face in my hands.

"Make love to me then," I reply softly.