A First Time For Everything

 

Chapter Fifteen

Sam’s house looked strangely forlorn without the multitude of cars in the yard and the swarm of people all over the place. She opened the door before I even got to it with a big smile on her face, and I leaned down and gave her a kiss as I walked in the door, handing her the gift bag and mentally crossing my fingers, hoping she didn’t already own the movie.

“Oh, thanks…” Sam said, opening the bag. She pulled out the movie and gasped, then grinned from ear to ear and threw her arms around me tightly. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou! How did you know? Have you seen it? Isn’t it awesome?” she rattled off, her face buried in my chest. I smiled, relieved, and hugged her back.

“Brooke helped me with it. Oh, and here’s a sundae�"happy birthday,” I said, pulling the sundae out of the paper bag for her. She smiled and put it in the freezer for later, her eyes still glued to the DVD in her hands.

“Have you seen it?” she asked again, barely containing another grin. I shook my head and she grabbed my hand, pulling me deeper into the house. “We have to watch it!” she said. She pulled me into her bedroom and her eyes sparkled mischievously. “Mom gave me a glass of this really great wine, and ended up giving me a birthday bottle�"let’s drink it,” she said.

I glanced at her, unsure I heard right. “Your mom gave you wine for a birthday present?” I asked slowly. She shrugged, her eyes on the floor.

“Mom’s not exactly the world’s greatest role model when it comes to drinking,” Sam answered. “She snuck it behind her parents’ backs when she was younger, so she figures just handing it to me will keep me from sneaking around.”

I frowned slightly. “I’ll try it, but I’ve only had wine once and it was nasty,” I told her slowly, feeling apprehensive. “Plus, I really don’t feel like having a hangover again.”

Sam snickered. “Baby,” she teased, disappearing into the house.

I sat down on her bed and looked around the room while she was gone, noting the deep royal colors and almost Gothic style of the decorations�"her posters were of metal bands and punk-like fairies decked in Hot Topic-like clothes. It was kind of weird to think of Sam dressing completely Goth, but I couldn’t deny one thing�"she’d look really hot in it.

She came back with a bottle of wine and two fancy’looking wine glasses, laughing at my automatic grimace. “Just try it,” she implored, sinking onto the bed next to me and picking up a remote I hadn’t noticed. “I’ve got plenty of bottled water in the fridge�"you just got sick because you became so dehydrated. In fact, I’ll go ahead and get us water now�"get the movie started?” Sam walked out of the room again, so I opened the case and put the DVD into her player across the room, skipping the previews to get to the main menu.

She came back a few minutes later with a big bowl of popcorn and two bottles of water tucked under her arm. She set everything down on the floor, sitting with her back against the bed, so I moved to sit next to her as she pushed play on the remote.

“How could Jess forget to call me?” she complained as a ship blew up a few minutes in. “I know Matt’s not good at remembering s**t, but Jess always remembered. Even with dumbassed Ethan told her to forget about me last year, she called�"what made this year different?” She cast her eyes down angrily, then struggled to smooth her face into an unruffled expression. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

“I’m sorry, Sam,” I said, wrapping an arm around her hunched shoulders. She leaned into the embrace as the cops on the screen yelled at a lineup of scruffy-looking men, setting the atmosphere completely at odds with the movie.

“It’s fine… Let’s try the wine, okay?” she said, an impish look suddenly back in her eye. She opened the bottle easily, setting the cork on her nearby nightstand and poured two generous glasses. She took a sip of hers, licking her lips appreciatively, and handed me a glass.

With a slight sense of foreboding, I sipped at the wine. My eyes widened slightly in surpise�"this was actually pretty good! It wasn’t nearly as dry as the red wine Mom let me taste, and it had a fruity taste that reminded me of Kool-Aid, in a sense. She smirked a little at my expression and raised her glass.

“Cheers!” she said. We touched our glasses together, laughing when they clinked, and took a drink. I opened my bottle of water and took a sip as Sam dug her cigarettes and a lighter out of her pocket, setting them out where she could reach. She placed the bottle of wine and bowl of popcorn between us, and we turned our attention to the movie again.

I didn’t notice how often Sam refilled my glass for me. I also didn’t notice the bottle was empty until I noticed I’d finished my glass and went to refill it, just as the movie ended with a shocking twist I never saw coming.

I also didn’t notice how drunk I was until I tried to walk over to the DVD player and stumbled. Sam giggled, her eyes bright.

“Whoa!” I exclaimed, reaching a hand out to steady myself. Sam laughed again, putting the bottle and wineglasses into the popcorn bowl and tried to stand up, leaning heavily on her bed. She sank onto it instead, pushing the bowl away with her foot.

“Come here,” Sam beckoned, patting the spot next to her. I stumbled across and we started laughing again. Sam even snorted once as I flopped onto the bed and pushed my hair out of my eyes.

“Damn good movie,” I said as she smile, putting her head on my shoulder. “Glad we watched it.”

“Mmm,” she agreed, wrapping her lithe arms around my waist. She took a deep breath, burying her face in my shirt. “You smell good,” she sighed. I started laughing at the randomness of her declaration, and pretty soon she joined in.

“You’re… funny,” I slured, tearing my eyes away from her full lips. I put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed lightly, fully content with the world at that moment.

“Look at me,” she commanded suddenly. I turned and looked down at her, staring into her eyes. I felt strangely dizzy�"that feeling of vertigo you get when looking at the ground from a tall building�"but I couldn’t look away. There was something so arresting about her clear blue gaze at that moment that made me feel like looking away was a crime of the worst kind. “I love your eyes,” she confessed breathily. My eyes wandered down to her lips again and suddenly I fell backward onto the bed as Sam lunged, our lips crashing together but somehow not hurting a bit.

My stomach flipped as I realized she was still kissing me, her arms wrapped around my neck and her legs intertwined with mine. After a stunned moment, I kissed her back, feeling bolder than I ever had before. Her hair fell over our face like a honey-colored curtain, and my arms wrapped around her tightly, not wanting to let go. With a small grunt she wriggled into a more comfortable poisition, and I shifted so that I could reach her better without feeling like I was crushing her.

I pulled back to gasp for air, propping myself up on one arm as she laid next to me, her cheeks flushed and pink lips slightly swollen. “You’re beautiful,” I blurted out, stroking her cheek with the back of my fingers.

“And you’re f****n’ sexy,” she growled, pulling me back down by my shirt with a devious smirk.

She kissed me insistently, and I was only too happy to oblige, cupping her face with my hand as we kissed. Her fingers snaked through my hair, gripping it lightly and I clenched my hands into fists, trying to keep them from wandering and ruining the moment as she pulled me onto her, pressing herself against me tightly and making my mind whirl with a million incoherent thoughts. Her hands traveled everywhere, trailing down my back and up to run her fingers through my hair again. I moved her hair away from her face, letting my fingers trail lightly down her cheek and neck, smiling as she shivered in response.

She swung a hand out suddenly, grasping at air until she found the handle to the top drawer of her nightstand. She forced it open awkwardly, still kissing me, and I heard her rummage around inside the drawer and force it shut again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a square-shaped thing in her hand, making my heart race. “Gotta be safe,” she said throatily, scrabbling at the buttons of my shirt.

I looked at the small package again and glimped “Durex” stamped on it, and my stomach flipped. I looked at Sam questioningly, and she only smiled seductively and kissed me again.

There was a first time for everything.