L E O N I E

There is a dick behind me.

Not a dick as in a piece of shit person.

But an actual penis rubbing up on the outside of my underwear.

The material between my butt and his penis was thin. So I could feel it all. And if I'm being honest, I'm impressed.

It's a little bit embarrassing to admit that the entire penis size thought process happened before memories of last night had even surfaced. So after I was done shuffling through an assortment of amusing internal polaroids that offered a disoriented, unfocused recount of events, I realised that it was the hot newbie, Heath.

The only reason that I knew that it was him without turning around, was because of the scent of his cologne. It had hit me the first time we met and every single time afterwards. It was masculine but sweet. The sort of fragrance that could be mixed with his own musk and smell ten times more captivating. It would be a lie to claim that this was the first time that I had woken up with a stranger, therefore, I wasn't in the business of flailing about and making a fuss about the fact that I had no idea what the hell was going on. Being calm allowed me to get a sense of how the morning should proceed before I opened my eyes.

It was almost impossible to put the timeline in order. Did I take my clothes off? Why were we asleep on the couch? Who chose Teen Wolf? How did we even get home? There were a few bits and pieces of the puzzle floating around behind my closed lids. But making sense of it was more often than not, a waste of time and effort. The latter was what I was lacking if I was being honest. So I just decided that I would let it come back to me in its own time.

But the mild sting in my fist was the first thing to trigger a major flashback. That wasn't the first time to happen either. It seemed that I was rather predictable, as disappointing as that was. Pummelling the hell out of Harlin was a bit of a blur but how I felt about it was a mixed reaction. From what I could recall, she deserved it. However, I hated to be violent. It just wasn't who I was. Still, perhaps she would think twice before uttering the name Benny, ever again.

That was about the last solid memory that I had. The rest of it was too contorted to even attempt to make sense of. So I sat up, being as careful as I could not to stick an elbow into Heath's chest as I leaned up on it. One of the benefits of being a regular consumer, was that I didn't suffer from hangovers. Not in the I'm-going-to-chunder-and-spend-the-next-eighteen-hours-unable-to-move sense.

Exhaustion was as far as it went when it came to post party antics. Jade was often quick to remind me that it wouldn't last. With age comes an inability to recover she would tell me. That might have been true. Until then, I would embrace the fact that I wasn't a total zombie after a night out. Not that it seemed to matter. She knew what the consequences were and she still drank more than Homer Simpson during a crisis.

Heath stirred behind me and I peered over my shoulder to see his lashes fluttering. He had nice lashes. Thick and full. It was cruel that men managed to end up with these amazing features that woman had to spend money on if we wanted. Lash extensions, mascara or lash tinting. We had options but come on. Could we not have been born with that natural flutter. He smiled when his tired gaze found me and I was suddenly aware that I wasn't wearing a lot of clothing.

Not that it bothered me a whole lot. It was unlikely that he hadn't seen a female in her bra and underwear before. He was also in med school. There would be a lot of nude in his future. Medical or otherwise. Especially the otherwise I had to assume. He was stupid hot. Especially with that fluffed hair and deep brown stare that watched me with nothing but respect. He wasn't ogling me or finding an excuse to touch me. He was just smiling as he palmed the sleep out of his eyes, causing his bicep to flex on the arm that he used.

He was in what I called, the danger zone. Yes I considered him a friend despite the fact that we'd known each other for one week and the extent of our familiarity went as far as a few brief run ins. It was irrelevant because I considered girls that I met in the club bathrooms my nearest and dearest friends after standing beside each other while we fixed our makeup and exchanged heartfelt compliments.

So he was a friend but I couldn't friendzone him because I would one hundred percent, without a doubt, jump his bones in a heartbeat. But that was where it got complicated. He was sweet. I could tell. I had a radar for these things. If we went there, it could develop into . . . feelings. He had boyfriend material written all over him.

And that was one thing that I would not do. It was a hard limit. Along with golden showers and being blindfolded. There was something so disorientating about not being able to see while I was naked. I started to have visions of an axe murderer busting the door open and hacking me to death. A bit dramatic? Perhaps. Not to mention being blindfolded would probably be more ideal. The less you know. But still. Just couldn't do it.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Heath leaned up on an elbow. His legs brushed mine as he shimmied up into a sitting position.

"I'm great," I smiled. "I might be a bit tired this afternoon but that's normal."

He laughed and let his warm brown gaze wander around the room. "I wanted to ask, without sounding nosy, so you don't have to answer, but-"

"How can we afford this aparment in southbeach with a million dollar view of the ocean?"

He looked sheepish. "You don't have to tell me."

"Mom is a big time lawyer," I explained. "She's in London helping with some trial at the moment. She's in demand."

"Huh," he nodded. "That's impressive."

"Yeah, not quite as exciting as a mother, daughter operated drug ring. I have actually used that story before but we ended up being raided. So, never again," I shrugged a shoulder and then pointed at his legs under the comforter. "Um not that I mind, but why aren't you wearing pants? Did we do something last night?"

He chuckled and it reverberated straight through me. How could I have ever believed that he was in high school. His voice was so deep and his defined torso was obvious under his thin v neck. "No, we didn't. That would have made me a terrible person. A rapist to be exact. No. You just asked me to take them off because they were bothering you. Something about being uncomfortable and scratchy."

I nodded. "Sounds about right."

I should have done myself a favour and told him to take off his shirt as well. Colour me curious but I was sort of itching for a peek. For scientific purposes of course.

He started to get up but seemed a little confused on how to proceed. He was behind me of course, I was sitting up in front of his hips, so his only point of exit was over or behind me and he seemed intent on not touching me as he shifted around. He pulled his knees up and tried to scoot backwards. Then he tried to shuffle forwards. All the while I stared back at him with amusement.

"I don't have ebola, Heath," I laughed as he arched a puzzled brow. "You won't die if you touch me. Besides, we just spooned all night."

He chuckled but averted his nervous gaze. "I just don't want to end up wrapping my naked legs around you on accident. I'm being-"

"Respectful?" I finished his sentence for him when he seemed stuck for a word. His gaze met mine and I couldn't help but giggle. "You're a rare breed huh? But listen, I'm a pretty relaxed person. I felt your morning wood pressing up on my ass this morning and it did not bother me one bit."

He swallowed, his cheeks blushing a cute shade of soft red. Upon first glance, he appeared to be the sort of man that knew how to show a girl a good time. Confident, in charge. But he was so adorable and flustered that it made for an interesting combination.

"Stress less," I assured him as I stood up so that he could stand as well. The comforter fell away from my frame and I stood in my underwear, stretching out the ache of sleeping on the sofa in one position all night. Heath might have been cautious and careful when it came to how he behaved around women, but he was still a man and I caught the way his gaze swept over me. It was quick but it made me grin. The grin was subtle though. I didn't want to embarrass the poor guy.

He stood up and reached for his jeans that were draped across the back of the sofa. I admired his strong thighs. He had olive skin, it was a lot darker than mine and I could get quite tan if I spent a mere fifteen minutes outside.

"Coffee?" I offered, running my fingers through the nest of hair on my head.

He smiled and nodded. "That would be great."

"Cool," I grinned. "It's in the kitchen. I don't drink coffee. So I don't make it either."

He chuckled. His jeans were half way up his legs and I was about to excuse myself so that I could get dressed when I heard the front door open and close, followed by the sound of two familiar voices coming from the foyer. The conversation was something along the lines of, 'no, I don't give a shit about my horoscope, Aims. If I meet a hot rich stranger, I'll tell him that it's too late.'

Jess and Amy appeared with two paper bags and a tray of coffee and orange juice. Jess was still in last nights attire but Amy was wearing a full length dark orange dress, her hair in its usual shoulder length fluffed appearance and a necklace of wooden beads came down to the bottom of her chest. Both of them stopped mid conversation and let their curious gazes travel across the scene in front of them.

Which happened to be me in nothing but a bra and briefs and Heath buttoning up his jeans with ruffled hair and a furious blush travelling across his warm skin. Conclusions were being drawn, I could tell from the look of disapproval in Amy's expression and the rather opposite glee in Jess's smile.

"Heath, this is Jess and Amy," I pointed between the three of them. "Friends, this Heath. We did not smash last night."

"Nice to meet you properly," Jess said as she came further into the room. She set the food down and held out her hand, which I sniggered at. Her parents might not have instilled all of their customs into her, but she was well mannered at introductions. Always. "I need to go and shower. But there are fries in the bag, Lee."

"Marry me," I shouted, causing Amy to flinch with irritation.

She had also set her bag of food down and wandered over to the single arm chair that Mom used when she was working from home. She said that it was comfortable enough for a long evening but it was still a single seat with arm rests and it resembled a more professional environment which allowed her to remain in work mode. Strange logic. But whatever.

"I thought that you were out of town with Ethan at his Grandma's?" I said to Amy who was kicking off her brown leather sandals.

She glanced up at me. "We were. We got back this morning and I was in the middle of unpacking when Jess text me and said that she needed a ride and some food. She seemed concerned about you because of a fight or something. She's obviously easily distracted."

Her gaze flickered to Heath who was behind me, clothed and tapping on his phone with concentration. But then I noticed that her attention was honed in on my bandaged hand and I lifted it with amusement. "Yep," I chuckled. "Shit popped off last night. But I'm fine."

"We'll talk about it later."

I rolled my eyes at mother hen as she reached for herbal tea. She took one sip and winced with disgust. "Cold."

"Heat it up in the microwave."

She stared at me with even more disgust than she'd shown the cold tea. I should have known better. "Absolutely not."

I wasn't even going to get into it with her but when I turned around in attempt to ignore the conspiritalist, I noticed Heath slipping his phone into his pocket and watching my blonde friend with confusion. "Amy thinks that microwaves are a device that the government invented in order to give us all cancer," I explained. "So that we have to spend millions on treatment and keep the population low."

He nodded, his gaze a hint of hurt that reminded me that his sister was currently undergoing chemotherapy. I bit down on my lip and shook my head. "I'm sorry. That was insensitive."

He shook his head and waved a dismissive hand. "It's not a big deal. She's not the only person that has cancer, right? It's just the way it is. I can't avoid the topic all the time. I am in med school after all."

"So you're going to push this agenda once you're qualified?" Amy questioned with too much judgement in her tone. "Pharmaceutical cancer treatments are a scam. A money making scam. You can't-"

"You better shut the fuck up," I turned around and pointed at her.

She turned her palms face up in a challenging shrug. "I just don't see the harm in suggesting alternative medicines. Homeopathy. Medicinal marijuana. Both proven effective when it comes to treatment. Perhaps more so than chemotherapy."

That drew me up short. She was being a rude bitch but I had done reading on medicinal marijuana. The video testimonies came up on my instagram discover page quite often and it did seem effective. But still, she had the most ineffective methods for getting her point across. She sounded so judgemental rather than informative.

"We've actually been looking into medicinal marijuana," Heath nodded, the picture of calm and collected considering the fact that he was being bashed by the witch doctor from hell.

Amy nodded and I gave her a glare to warn that she needed to drop it. So she did and I turned around to smile at Heath. "Still want that coffee?"

He was either about to decline or accept when Jess appeared from the corridor with sopping wet hair. She'd pulled on a pair shorts and a tank top without giving herself a proper towel it would seem because she was covered in droplets of water. It made me wince and feel second hand discomfort.

"That was fast," Amy smiled, pleased with the water preservation.

Jess waved a hand and sat down on the couch. "Just hungry."

I gave her a suspicious glare. More like she was just keen to see if Heath was still here. Jess was and always had been invested in every aspect of my dating - or lack thereof - life. If she so much as sniffed out a male interest, she made it her mission to push us together and I could see the wheels turning in her head as she smiled at Heath. But then she glanced at me and gave me a puzzled once over.

"Are you going to put some clothes on?"

"Why should she?" Amy interrupted before I could explain that I would in a minute. "This is her home. She can walk around in the nude if she feels like it. There is no shame in our bodies. Leonie, you can take it all off. There is no judgement here."

"Alright, calm down," I shook my head with exasperation. She had a point that I did agree with though. As rare as that was. "I'm good but thanks for the offer. Heath, coffee?"

He smiled but shook his head. "I better head off. It's almost twelve and I have to get sorted for classes tomorrow."

"Shit, that late?" I winced. Mom would be home soon. "I'll walk you out."

He waved to the girls behind me as he started towards the foyer. "Nice to meet you both."

Both of them returned the gesture and I could feel them watching us as we left the room. As soon as I was alone with those vultures, they were going to pick me apart for information that didn't exist. I wondered if I should just leave with Heath and wait it out until they gave up and went home. Heath opened the front door and turned around when he stood out in the corridor.

"Thanks for looking out last night," I said, leaning on the door while I gripped the handle. "I'm sure that the more I remember, the more humiliated I'll become."

"You were fine," he assured me, palming the back of his neck as he laughed. "I've seen and dealt with Jade in far worse states."

"Yeah. It's weird that we've never met until last weekend. I spent almost the entire summer at her house."

"I didn't," he shrugged. "I picked her up a few times so that she could hide while she spun out. She has a thing about being too wasted in public."

"Ah, so that's where she was disappearing to," I nodded with realsation.

"Yeah I don't do a lot of drinking or partying. Two weekends in a row is a new record."

"Maybe it'll be more," I grinned with a small shrug. "Now that we're friends. You'll have to come and hang out with me."

"Yeah," he nodded with a small smile. "I might be able to manage that."

When I walked back into the living room, Amy was chowing down a bowl of green leaves and cherry tomatoes while Jess cradled a coffee and watched Teen Wolf which was still on the television. I had missed so many episodes while I slept last night. Not that it mattered. I had seen the entire series eighteen thousand times. Amy glanced up as I approached the coffee table, which Jess had her feet rested on and picked up the bag of fries. "I really don't know how you manage to uphold that figure. No exercise and you live on oil and fat disguised as potatoes."

"Shut up and eat your rabbit food," I mumbled through a mouthful of said fat and oil. Jess sat up straighter and grinned with enthusiasm. The interrogation was about to commence. But of course, there was nothing to tell. So before she could even ask, I changed the subject. "What happened after I left last night? With Harlin? Did you and Bray smash?"

She really was easily distracted. I stood on the other side of the coffee table, stuffing my face while she delved into her recount of events. She told us that Harlin was given a ride to the hospital with one of the college girls who was there as a sober driver for her friends. No one knew what happened from there but Lillian - the dark blonde, doe eyed roommate - ended up cleaning the blood off of the floor. She'd made some comment about the fact that Alexis would have licked it up if she was still living there. Gross.

"No, Bray and I did not sleep together," she announced at the end of it. "We did sleep in his van together. But no. We're taking it slow. And he was super drunk by the end of the night. I hadn't had as much. It would have felt weird. Ya know. I would rather we were both sober for the first time."

"Good luck with that," Amy scoffed. "You all drink more booze than water."

"So anyway," Jess gave me an exasperated smile and ignored our friend who honestly did have a point. We could probably use a weekend off. "Tell us more about Heath."

"Nothing to tell," I said and began to leave the room with the fries still in hand. "He's cool but it's not happening. So don't get any ideas. I'm going to have a shower."

"Wait-"

"Shower," I shouted over my shoulder. I was not going to hang around and admit that he was hotter than hot and my tummy felt funny whenever he was around.