It was after 6:00PM. Claire was pushing a cart through the library and getting asked stupid questions by college boys who needed an excuse to talk to her or were dared by their friends. She would give them the shortest possible answer she could. Her cart was almost empty and she was looking in a book containing satellite pictures of the world when she noticed she was being approached from the side out of the corner of her eye. She didn’t move and the figure just stood near her.
When she eventually looked up she saw the figure was Hollis. He was in a Harrison Auto shirt with his name patch sewn above the shirt pocket. He had oil and grease smudged on his arms, shirt, pants, on his face and under his fingernails. He was grinning at her. Claire grinned back and greeted him. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he returned. He had left work at 5:30 and walked to the campus, found the library and scoured every isle on every floor to find her. It took him 45 minutes but then he saw her in a deserted aisle in the back looking in a large book. She was wearing a big, worn Slayer shirt with faded paint and some tight blue jeans.
She closed the book and placed it on its shelf. “What are you doing here?” She asked in her library voice.
“Looking for you. I was hoping I’d find you here. I don’t really have any other way to find you since-“
“Since you don’t have my phone number,” she finished for him.
Hollis smiled. “Exactly.”
Claire picked up a small slip of paper from her cart, the kind you’d find all over the library to write down the location of books. She plucked a pen from Hollis’ shirt pocket and wrote down the number to the phone in her dorm room. She returned the pen to his pocket and stuffed the slip in as well.
“I have to put away the rest of these books, and then I can leave,” she told him.
“Ah,” he said.
“Do you want to tag along? I’ve only got nine books here.”
“Sure,” Hollis grinned. He followed her around corners and down aisles. She seemed to know exactly where each book went. Once or twice she picked out an amusing titled book to show him. People who saw them together walking around only wondered what such a dirty guy was doing in the library following the pretty girl with his hands clasped together behind his back. At one point they were in the far corner and Claire had to reach up and put away a book and a fat student tried to sneak past them but he ended up smashing them against the shelving. He was grunting while he walked, had sweat stains on his shirt and pimples on his face. Claire’s arm was still raised and Hollis’ head was very close to it. He glanced down and saw Claire’s face. She was looking down towards the student passing them. Their bodies were close but he didn’t want to get her dirty so he was keeping a distance. The student passed and the two of them relaxed away from them shelves, grinning at each other, amused. Claire turned around and put away her last two books. She got her empty book cart and motioned to Hollis to follow her.
“I just need to get my stuff and I’m out of here,” she told him. He only nodded so she said, “If you want to hang out.”
He smiled at her and said, “Of course. Nothing would be better.” He followed her to the front counter where he stopped and hovered around some display tables while she put the cart away and went behind the counter.
“Mrs. Burns?” Claire asked an aging woman in an office who was typing at a computer. “Is it okay if I leave a few minutes early? I put away all the books.”
The librarian turned to her, looked at her watch and said, “Sure. You’ve only got a few minutes left anyway.”
“Thanks,” Claire said. “See you tomorrow.”
“Goodnight, Claire,” Mrs. Burns said, turning back to her desk.
Claire emerged from behind the counter with her sweater on and her purse strapped around her torso. Hollis was thumbing through a book which he immediately put down when he saw her approaching. He turned and followed her out of the library.
As they walked down the library steps Claire asked, “So what do you want to do?”
“Well, I’d like to go home and wash the work off my body,” he said. He looked at her. “Do you wanna come over?
“Sure. I can help you wash,” she said, smirking.
Hollis smirked back at her. He wished she would help. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” he said to her.
Claire turned to look in front of her and said, “I don’t.” As they got closer to the campus entrance she asked, “Where is your truck?
“It’s still at work,” Hollis told her. “It’s two blocks this way.” He led her to his truck where he unlocked and opened the door for her, then got in himself.
“Where do you live?” Claire asked.
“On
L Street, by the supermarket there,” he said.
“Oh, I know where that is,” Claire said. She watched as he drove a couple of miles. She’s never been a driver and he shifted gears like he was part of a well-oiled machine. He turned on the street next to the supermarket she’d go to steal liquor sometimes if she didn’t have anyone over 21 to buy it for her. He drove a block and a half up the street and parked at an opening next to the sidewalk.
Hollis turned to her. He decided to give her fair warning. He didn’t want anything to happen to this girl. “I’m not going to lie to you, Claire.” She raised an eyebrow in question. “My friends are going to hit on you.”
Claire brought a hand to her mouth in mock surprise. “Oh dear me, what ever should I do? That’s never happened to me before.”
He couldn’t tell if she was being a serious smart ass until she grinned at him, climbed up on her seat bending her face over his and kissed him gently. He kissed her back and her hands went around his head. He hesitated before wrapping his dirty arms around her body. They broke apart and Claire sat back down. She could taste his salt on her lips. “I can handle some boys,” she assured him.
Hollis smiled and exhaled. “I’m sure you can.” He wanted to lean over and kiss her again but he knew they would never leave the truck if he did, and he wanted to shower before he touched her. “Shall we?” He asked. She nodded to him and they both got out of the truck and locked and closed their doors. She followed him to a two-story white stucco covered house that had stairs running up the house along side a crowded driveway to a large balcony. They went around the house through a tall gate that outlined a small backyard and into a back door that led into a dark hallway painted red. He turned to the first door on the left, opened it and let her go in first. He followed her and shut the door behind them.
She was in his room. The walls were painted a dark, bold turquoise color. He had one long window with a gray sheet tacked over it. Below the window sat a dresser with a few books lined up on it, a small table lamp and a couple of different car magazines. He went to his dresser and emptied the contents of his pockets, including her phone number.
To the left of his dresser was a TV on a black TV stand holding a videogame console, a few video games and a few DVDs. In front on her on the wooden floor was a dark blue rug, covering half the room. On the rug next to the wall were a couple of sets of free weights. Claire turned to her right and saw his bed sitting next to his closed closet doors. His bed was wide and low because it was not sitting on a frame against the wall. It was covered with a plaid blue comforter and matching pillow cases on the pillows. He had a small table in between his bed and door with another small table lamp which he turned on and more car magazines. She saw his clothes from the night before lying on his bed.
“I’m going to take a quick shower,” Hollis said, grabbing her attention. She saw he had taken off his shoes and socks, his belt, and untucked his shirt. He was taking off his shirt and threw it in a pile of dirty clothes in his closet. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Are you okay in here?” Claire nodded yes. She was looking at his naked torso. “If you want anything to drink you can have whatever from the fridge.” She nodded again. He smiled and left her alone in his room.
She was a little thirsty but she didn’t feel right about going through his refrigerator. She walked over to the free weights and picked one up. It was 35lbs and heavy. She used two hands to curl it. She set it down exactly where she found it. He also had 20lbs weights and 30 lbs weights. She turned around and sat on the corner of his bed looking at his posters. He had a poster of a local venue of punk bands, a picture of a car with a woman in a bikini the same color as the car on it and M.C. Escher’s black and white sketch of the Hand with the Reflecting Sphere.
After fifteen minutes the door opened and Hollis came back and saw her straddling the corner of his bed. She turned to look at him. He was naked except for a white towel around his waist. He had taken a longer shower than normal because he wanted to make sure he was extra clean. She watched him walk to his dresser and pull out some boxer shorts which he slipped on under his towel then took his towel off and walked back to the bathroom, coming right back with his dirty clothes instead of the towel. He threw his clothes into the pile in his closet. He put on his jeans from the bed and put the black shirt from last night on his hanger in his closet, exchanging it for a black t-shirt he put on.
He sat down next to Claire. She had taken her purse and sweater off and they sat behind her in the middle of the bed. He put his hand on top of hers and squeezed it, smiling at her. She smiled back. He leaned his face down towards her and kissed her. All day he couldn’t think of anything except kissing her. She kissed him back eagerly, swinging her arms around his neck. He pulled her legs up over his and leaned over her, still kissing her. He sealed their kiss and ran the tip of his nose along her neck. If there was anything in this world that he wanted, she was it. After a while they broke apart. They laughed together lightly and Claire leaned her forehead on his. He kissed her cheek quickly. He loved her taste.
“Are you thirsty?” He asked. Claire shrugged. “Let’s go see what we’ve got.” Hollis stood up and took Claire’s hand and they went into the kitchen. He let go of her hand in the kitchen where he opened the refrigerator. Claire stood behind him, kind of in the dark hallway. Hollis pulled out a couple of beers and opened them, handing one to Claire. She looked at the label. It was Hovercraft Brew Pale Ale.
The TV was on in the living room and they heard steps approaching them.
Tyler entered the room from the other side of the kitchen and the first thing he saw was Claire.
As he took another step into the kitchen he saw Hollis in front of the refrigerator.
“Hey, what’s up man? You just get in?” He greeted Hollis, glancing slightly at Claire. His voice was low and raspy. He was around Hollis’ height and had very long, dark, dreaded hair. He wore black jeans and a black hooded pullover sweatshirt boasting a band. His neck, hidden behind his hair was thick, covered in tattoos and his jaw was pointed.
“Hey man.
Yeah, we just got here a little bit ago,” Hollis said.
“Uh, this is Claire,” he said pointing to her.
Hollis turned to Claire and pointed at
Tyler and said, “This is my roommate, Tyler.”
“Actually I think we already know each other…”
Tyler said.
Claire smirked.
“You do?” Hollis asked, looking at Claire.
“Yeah… you went out with my roommate Mina last semester, right?” Claire asked.
“Yeah.
Do you still talk to her?
She never returned my calls,”
Tyler said.
Hollis laughed and drank some beer.
Tyler turned to Hollis.
“You remember her right?
My little Hawaiian surfer girl.”
Claire laughed into her beer bottle and drank from it.
Mina had come home after her few dates with
Tyler and had told her how smooth he tried to be and how his skills in bed were lacking.
She remembered meeting
Tyler on a couple of occasions.
She didn’t say anything about his roommates, though.
Claire wondered if Mina had met Hollis.
Hollis moved away from in front of the refrigerator and leaned on the door frame behind Claire’s head.
Tyler bent down and took a beer out from the refrigerator.
He stood back up and opened the beer with an opener he picked up from the counter.
Hollis said, “Yeah, I remember her.”
He looked at Claire, “that was your roommate?”
Hollis didn’t remember
Tyler saying anything about the Hawaiian girl’s roommate.
“Yep,” Claire said.
“I’ll tell her you said ‘hi,’
Tyler.”
“Yeah, tell her to give me a call, if she feels up to it.”
“I will.” Claire looked around the kitchen. There were two openings, one she was standing by going to the hallway, and the other was a larger door frame going to the living room. It had tile counters littered with empty bottles and dirty dishes. The stainless steel sink was empty and there were clean dishes in the rack. The refrigerator was covered magnets and pictures of parties and naked girls, among other things.
“Well, we ordered some pizzas, there’s some left if you guys want it,”
Tyler told them.
“How many pizzas did you order?” Hollis asked.
“Three.”
“Cool.” Hollis glanced around the corner of the kitchen, trying to see the living room. “Who else is here?”
“Just Will.”
Hollis nodded and looked down at Claire.
At the same time
Tyler was checking out Claire so he wouldn’t get caught by his friend.
He remembered her.
He wanted to get in a three-way with her and her roommate but her friend never called him back.
“You want some pizza?” Hollis asked.
Claire shrugged, looking at him. “Sure.”
“When’s the last time you ate?” Hollis asked.
“Around noon, I guess.”
“Damn,” Hollis said, “let’s get some food in you.”
“Yeah, help yourself,”
Tyler said.
“Okay, thanks,” Claire said, smiling a little at
Tyler.
Hollis threw his arm around Claire’s shoulder and led her into the living room past
Tyler.
Tyler tilted his head towards them as they left, staring at Claire’s ass and mouthing the word “Damn.”
The living room was painted red like the hallway with dark yellow-gold trim. On the wall was a large, long aerial photo of the bay area. Over the windows on the far wall surrounding the front door were closed white venetian blinds. They had one of those low, big corner couches bending around a rectangular coffee table in front of a big TV on a low, long wooden TV stand. To the right of the furniture was a pool table.
Sitting on the couch was Will. He was watching a show on cable TV on the comedy channel. He looked up and seemed surprised to see Hollis. He didn’t know Hollis was home. He stuck out his palm in greeting which Hollis slapped with his own. Then Will saw the girl standing behind Hollis and truly was surprised. He froze for a second. She smiled at him out of politeness. He was sitting on the couch eyeing her. She thought he tried too hard to look tough. His hair was a light color with a short, flat mohawk running along the center of his skull. He sat with no shirt on, his arms covered will full sleeves of tattoos that connected each other over his shoulders, back and chest. He was skinny but his muscles had a lot of definition.
“This is Claire,” Hollis said to Will. Then he turned to Claire. “This is Will, my other roommate.” He waited to see if she knew him as well. He would have felt odd if she had known both of his roommates and never met him before this week.
“Hi,” Claire said to Will.
“How are you?” Will asked, standing up and holding out his hand to shake hers.
“I’m fine,” Claire said, shaking his hand. He was slightly taller than she was.
“Do you guys want some pizza?” Will asked.
“Yes,” Hollis said.
Will sat back on the couch where he was sitting before. Hollis sat next to him in front of the pizzas. Claire sat on the other side of Hollis who was opening all the pizzas, finding pepperoni, sausage and onion, and meat lovers’, all half-eaten. He motioned for Claire to take some. She took a slice of sausage and onions. It was still warm.
They sat eating pizza and drinking beer.
Tyler came back into the room, looking at Claire out of the corner of his eye and sitting on the other side of the couch.
Claire was drinking more beer than eating pizza.
The boys made small talk about some people they know and things they heard and did that day.
Claire ate one slice of pizza and drank all her beer.
Hollis ate four slices of pizza and drank his beer slowly.
Tyler reached behind the couch and pulled up a bong.
It was long and had red arms of color reaching up from the base.
He packed it from a small mason jar and leaned over to hand it to Claire.
“Ladies first,” he said.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling at him and taking the bong.
She lit the greens, hitting it.
Tyler watched her intensely until she looked up and passed the bong to Hollis.
Tyler wasn’t the only one watching her; all the boys were.
The smoke came out of her mouth in thick rolls and
Tyler felt himself getting excited.
Any of the other girls they knew would be talking like a chicken, not smoking like a chimney or wearing a baggy, faded Slayer shirt.
Tyler thought she looked like a rockstar, a badass.
The other girls they knew looked like whores with their look-at-me titties hanging out all the time and layers of make-up.
Tyler liked the tits, but he wasn’t so into the make-up.
Not to mention the constant gibbering.
The bong was handed to him, so
Tyler’s mind focused on something else for a moment.
When he got up to lean to pass the bong back to Claire he caught Hollis’ eye on the way down, like Hollis knew what he was thinking.
Hollis wasn’t a fool, and he knew what
Tyler was thinking.
The bong made a round once more.
The four of them sat silently for a minute before Hollis finished his beer.
Claire was slowly tapping her knee with her empty bottle.
It was almost 8PM.
She didn’t really want to watch TV with his friends.
That’s not what she went there for.
She glanced up and saw
Tyler looking at her.
He looked away quickly.
She looked up at Hollis and his good looks were intensified by comparison to his friends.
She wanted him.
Hollis returned her glance and grinned at her, giving her a wink and noticing her empty bottle. “Do you want another beer?” He asked her, “Or maybe something else?” He stood up, taking her empty.
“What have you got?” She asked. He motioned with his arm to follow him and she got up. She followed him out of the room into the kitchen. She glanced back and saw his roommates looking at her. She was glad she was wearing a big shirt. She smirked.
In the kitchen Hollis threw away their empty bottles. He opened the refrigerator and freezer, calling out different drinks and liquors they had. “But I think your favorite is bourbon?” He asked while opening cabinets.
Claire shrugged. “I drink everything.”
Hollis chuckled and picked up a nearly empty cigarette pack from the counter. He pulled one out and offered the pack to Claire. She took out her own and he offered her a light. He watched her face as she lit her cigarette and blow out the first puff. Then he lit his own. He noticed she was more quiet and inanimate than before, when it was just the two of them.
She watched him as he pulled a bottle of bourbon down from a cabinet with his cigarette sticking out from his lips. He poured it into two stout bourbon glasses from a different cabinet and handed one to Claire. She accepted it with a smile through a cloud of smoke.
“How long have you lived here for?” Claire asked.
“Uh, over a year I think,” Hollis said. “You want to head back to my room?”
Claire said “Yes” without any hesitation. Together they turned out of the kitchen and walked back to Hollis’ room with the door shut behind them. There Hollis turned on his TV and played some music downloaded on his video game console. Claire sat on the same spot of the bed, straddling the corner and sipping her bourbon. Hollis sat down at the head of his bed, leaning up against the wall. Claire turned on the bed, looking at him. She stood up, downed the rest of her glass in two gulps and set the glass on his dresser with a thud and a grunt.
Hollis chuckled, impressed. “Where did you learn to drink like that?”
Claire sat back on the bed and leaned over on her elbow. “When I was 15 and my brother found out his girlfriend was pregnant. He needed someone to get hammered with and we were drunk for, maybe, 3 days.”
“How old was your brother?” Hollis asked.
“19.”
Hollis drank from his glass. “So he’s got a four year old, huh?”
“Yeah. He’s a cute kid.” Claire kicked off her shoes and pushed her sweater and purse on the floor with her foot.
Hollis thought about having a baby at his age and the thought itself made him want to get hammered. He gulped at his bourbon. Claire was looking up at him and he set his not quite empty glass on his bedside table. He looked back over at Claire and his hand fell on her forearm.
“What are you doing over there?” He inquired.
Claire pushed herself up and slowly crawled up to Hollis and settled next to him, with one arm leaning on his torso. She trailed a finger along his chest.
Hollis ran a finger up her arm and asked, “Where did you come from?”
“Nowhere,” Claire said,
He looked directly into her face. “Will you marry me, Claire?” He asked.
Claire laughed and said, “What?”
“Yeah,” he said. He didn’t know why he asked her. He was a little drunk. “Why not?”
Claire gave him a sly look. “I think I have to get to know you a little better first.”
“Okay,” Hollis said acceptingly. He reached over for his bourbon glass and finished it off. He felt her hand creeping up under his shirt, feeling his hard stomach and chest. He set down his bourbon glass, looked over at her and asked, “Can I help you?” He put an arm around her back.
“You are,” she replied. One of her legs went over his. She wanted to feel him touch her. She had the urge.
Hollis wasn’t sitting at a good angle to kiss her so he sat up more and rolled over her. Her hand was pressed flat against this chest and her leg was between his. Their faces were inches apart and they kept still, looking at each other. Hollis leaned in and touched his lips to hers. They started to kiss, softly at first and then heavily. Claire’s hand under his shirt moved up his chest and stopped at his collar bone.
They pulled apart and Hollis looked at Claire’s face below his. She was smirking at him. She pulled him toward her and they started to kiss again. He felt the hard pressure of her hands on his chest and abdomen. Suddenly her hands glided down into his pants and he felt her hand running down his leg. She was feeling his whole torso, and she was teasingly close to his erection. Under her shirt Hollis found she wasn’t wearing a bra, but a satin and lace shirt fitted to hold up her body. He felt his erection pulse and strain against his pants. For being a virgin, this girl was good.
They continued kissing and touching each other and the eventually lost their outer layers of clothing. Hollis pulled her undershirt down off of her breasts and as his mouth travelled over them Claire enjoyed it too much and felt like this event would go too far if she didn’t do something quick.
When Hollis eventually let go of her breasts she pulled away and rolled on top of him. She sat directly on his erection and liked the feeling. She kissed his neck, his shoulder, his chest. She felt the enormous organ pulsing under her. She slid down his leg, pulling his boxer shorts along with her. He watched her intently with his lips parted. His erection bounced out from under the elastic waistband and she pulled the boxers halfway down his legs. It was large and two different shades of skin. She touched his erection and felt how smooth it was. She started to lick and kiss it and to his pleasurable surprise she began to go down on him. He didn’t know what she was doing but he’d never had a blow job that felt this good before. It didn’t take him long to come and he couldn’t hold it back. He came into her mouth with his balls in her hand. When he finished his heart was racing and he was breathing fast. She tapered off her actions and slowly looked up at his face. She had to do it to him or else she would have fucked him. She’s held onto her virginity for so long that she couldn’t just give it up right away. Though she felt like she could. She felt like Hollis was special.
Hollis sat up and pulled her to him. He rolled over her and, pressing their bodies together he kissed and touched her. His erection hadn’t shrunk at all yet.
“Where did you learn to do that?” He whispered into her neck,
“Here and there,” she replied, whispering back.
He kissed her chest and with his head between her breasts he said, “Claire, I want to see more of you.”
“You will,” she said without a pause. He looked up at her and kissed her lips. A hand squeezed her breast. “I take it you enjoyed yourself?” She had to ask.
“Yes, I certainly did.” He kissed her again. “Is there anything I can do for you?” His hand moved down to her panties.
“We can save that for another time.”
“Are you sure?” He asked, rubbing her stomach. She nodded to him. It was her way of promising more time together. She also didn’t want to excite his boner up too much more. They kissed and held each other until they got too tired. Hollis turned off the lights and TV and kissed her until they fell asleep.
