YOU REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME

chapter.eight

Chapter Eight

"It's here!"

Chloe was squealing excitedly, brandishing the December issue of Decibel at her room mate. Beca stopped typing on her Mac and took off her headphones. By the way Chloe was dancing excitedly on the spot, Beca Mitchell was now certain that her long time friend and roommate was a certifiable lunatic.

"Budge! Make room!" the redhead ordered. Beca sighed loudly and budged over, dislodging Snowball from his perch. Chloe was deaf to Snowball's complaints as she sat down and placed the new magazine reverently on the coffee table and gently turned the pages.

"Dude, I showed you the proofs like a thousand times, " Beca said.

"It's not the same, Beca!" Chloe wailed. She immediately turned to the relevant pages and gasped excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Look at you!Quick, hand me my phone."

Beca was rolling her eyes as Chloe excitedly punched her speed dial.

"Stacie? Yes! I've seen it! It looked fantastic," Chloe was now saying. "Yes, you are a genius. She looked fabulous. Yeah, we should totally use the photos for her eHarmony profile. Totes. Couldn't hurt."

"What?" Beca said, her ears pricking up. "What eHarmony profile?"

"Yeah, I'm sending copies to her mom and dad too. You know her; she won't do it." Chloe continued talking to Stacie.

"Chloe Beale, get off the phone at once!" Beca bellowed. She grabbed the phone off her room mate "Stacie, I call you back." Once she ended the call, Beca was looking disbelievingly at her roommate. "Tell me you are kidding about the eHarmony thing."

In reply, Chloe made a very good impression of Amy. "Ummmm...ummmmm..."

"Chloe, I am not very happy with you right now," Beca threatened.

Chloe chewed the end of one of her curls before confessing. "It's an intervention, ok? We thought between us, we could find someone decent for you, Beca. We are all worried about you."

"What? What are you worried about?"

"We think you are still messed up about fuckface, Even after all this time," Chloe continued. "Come on, Becs, you went from not having sex for a whole year to being...being Jezebel!"

"Jezebel?" Beca wanted to laugh out loud but Chloe was looking really serious.

"This is not you, Becs. You are not Stacie," Chloe insisted. "Things like these used to mean something to you. It took Daniel almost six months before he got into your pants."

Beca's mouth twisted bitterly. "Yeah. And look where that got me."

Chloe shut up immediately, conscious she might be hurting her best friend. That Daniel Meade certainly had a lot to answer for. Chloe remembered the aftermath too well and if murder was not illegal, she would be the first in a long line to kill that bastard.

Beca sighed. She didn't really want to fight. She knew all her friends meant well.

"Look, I'm ok. I really am," Beca said. "I just realised I have needs. And it's pretty stupid to get so hung up about it. I know what I'm doing. It's all just for fun."

Beca didn't add it was that hot moment in the alley with Jesse that jolted her out of her rut. She didn't realised how much she missed sex. That hot heat in her belly, the feeling of a man's hands on her skin, his lips on hers. That delicious feeling of having him groaning, completely under her spell. A tingle went up her core just thinking about it and Beca's cheeks flushed. None of her recent encounters had matched up to that sizzling moment with Jesse Swanson. The couple of times with Freddie had been close but that was about it.