A Different Love - 18. Chapter 18

A strong pair of arms suddenly encircled my waist and Connor rested his chin on my shoulder. I could feel his hardness pushing against my back and I instantly became aroused, squirming with delight as his hand moved downwards and began intimately stroking me. I quickly ended the call to my parents and sighed with pleasure as he whispered in my ear seductively.

“Come back to bed Jason! I’m missing you already”

Alarm bells immediately began to ring inside my head as I wondered how long he’d been standing there. Had he heard me mention Connie and put two and two together?”

Unfortunately, the time had never seemed quite right to broach the subject of ‘Connie’ and I wasn’t quite sure how he’d react if he found out. When I turned around to face him, he gave me no indication that he’d heard anything at all and I relaxed slightly before following him back to the bedroom.

“So, you’re definitely staying then?” he asked me, as we lay on the bed beside each other.

“Yeah, of course! I just had to let mum and dad know where I was, that’s all”

“So what did you tell them?”

“Nothing really, just that I was staying over with a mate”

“Ah right!” There was a moment of silence and my heart began to beat slightly faster. “It’s just that I wondered who Connie is, that’s all?

He asked the question with an air of feigned innocence that immediately told me he’d already guessed the answer. So he had heard my conversation with mum after all! My heart sank and shaking my head in embarrassment, I desperately tried to think of a plausible excuse. Failing miserably, I reluctantly met his enquiring gaze and blushed deeply, giving a sigh of resignation. I realized there was no choice but to confirm what he’d already guessed and from his reaction so far, I instinctively knew that he would find it hilarious.

“Promise me you won’t laugh!”

“Ok! I won’t laugh!”

Even as he agreed, I could tell by the look on his face that he was already struggling to keep a straight face and instantly knew that it would be almost impossible for him to comply. I took a deep breath and continued in a low voice.

“Well if you must know……you’re Connie!”

He immediately burst out laughing and I hit him playfully on the shoulder, unable to stop myself from joining in. His continued laugher made me squirm with embarrassment and I quickly straddled his body, tickling his sides until he screamed for mercy. He suddenly twisted sharply to the right and I fell back onto the bed beside him, temporarily winded. A second later he propped himself up on his elbow and gently grasped my chin, turning my reddened face towards him.

“What on earth possessed you to say that?” he asked incredulously

I shrugged my shoulders despairingly, knowing it was the ultimate cop out. “I had to tell them something!” I protested weakly “It seemed like a good idea at the time”

He leant across the bed and kissed me on the lips before gazing at me in amusement “Is that what you’ve told them every time we’ve been out together?

“Yeah, why”

“What about your mum?”

“What about her?”

“You know, at the hospital!”

He raised his eyebrows and stared at me, fully expecting a look of realization to dawn as I interpreted his meaning. Instead I continued to give him a puzzled look and he sighed impatiently.

“Think about it Jason! You tell her you’re going on a date with someone called Connie and then you turn up at the hospital with a friend called Connor! Your mums never heard of him before yet he’s willing to wait about for you indefinitely”

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that Connor was right. When I’d first introduced him to mum a flicker of surprise had crossed her face and I remembered wondering then if she had made the connection. I had few friends and if Connor had been one of them, mum would almost certainly have known about it. Perhaps telling her the truth would be no great shock after all and I was worrying about nothing. On the other hand, there was still dad to think about and such a revelation would definitely come as a big shock to him.

“She never said anything”

“Well she probably wouldn’t, would she” he countered reasonably “And anyway the time wasn’t right”

“Yeah that’s true!

“Perhaps it won’t be so difficult to tell her the truth after all” he remarked, mirroring my thoughts “Looks like she might have an idea already”

“The thing is Connor, I don’t want to think about it now” I interrupted him impatiently “I want to concentrate on you, while you’re still here”

He smiled at my earnest expression and I leant across and kissed him, relishing the taste of his warm lips against mine. The passion began to rise inside me once again and I grasped his hand, wrapping it around my rapidly growing erection.

“Jason, you’re insatiable!” he laughed, gently beginning to rub his hand up and down its length.

We made love several more times that night in positions I didn’t think were even possible, before eventually falling asleep against each other, exhausted and spent.

The following morning, I stirred restlessly and slowly opened my eyes, unsure for a second or two where I was. My hand was draped loosely over Connor’s naked chest and I could feel the warmth of his body radiating towards me like the heat from a smouldering fire. I stared at his sleeping form in admiration and his eyes suddenly popped open, instinctively feeling my gaze.

“Morning lover!” I exclaimed, unable to hide the wide grin that was plastered across my face.

He smiled with equal enthusiasm before leaning across to kiss me.

”Morning gorgeous!”

“That was some night!” I remarked, with a deep sigh of satisfaction.

“You enjoyed it then?” he asked anxiously, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

“Connor, it was awesome! Thanks for making my first time so special”

His face lit up with pleasure and he gently stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “I’m really glad Jason. At least you’ll have something to remember me by”

His words once again brought home the fact that he would soon be gone and I had to fight back the sudden unexpected threat of tears. Struggling to meet his gaze, I responded in a voice choked with emotion

“As if I could ever forget you!”

He leant over to kiss me and jumped up in surprise as he noticed the clock.

“Damn! I didn’t realize it was so late”

I turned over to follow his line of vision and saw that it was just approaching 11:30. We’d obviously slept in big style, but there was little wonder, considering our antics of the previous night. I knew that his ferry left around 4:30 that afternoon and quickly understood his panic.

“Sorry Jason, I meant to take you out for breakfast before I left, but there’s no time now”

“It’s ok Connor, don’t worry. Can I do anything to help?”

“You can do a final check in all the drawers and cupboards while I get a shower if you like? Just to make sure I haven’t left anything behind”

“Yeah of course”

“Will you make it in time, Connor?”

“Oh yeah, don’t worry. I’ll still catch the ferry. It’s just that I wanted to spend a bit more time with you before I had to leave, but now I won’t be able to”

I watched his naked form as he left the room, smiling to myself as I recalled exploring every inch of it. When it came to making love, Connor was an expert and I would be forever grateful for all the things he’d taught me. He was a kind and considerate lover, whilst at the same time taking me on a wild, frenzied journey of discovery.

The only things I found were the jar of lubricant and what remained of the packet of condoms that we’d used the night before, and I vaguely wondered if Connor might have had some idea he would need them. Why else were they the only things left in the otherwise empty drawers? He probably guessed I would insist on seeing him off and was fully aware of what could happen if we came back to the flat.

The sound of running water signified he was in the shower and I wandered through to the hallway to tidy up our discarded clothing. A moment later he reappeared with a towel around his waist, furiously rubbing his hair with another. Suddenly embarrassed by my own nudity, I was grateful when he threw me a dry towel and I quickly covered myself up.

“Your turn now Jason” he said, leaning in to kiss me as he passed by to get dressed.

When I entered the lounge a short time later he was standing next to the two large suitcases he was taking with him. His voice shook slightly and he gave a nervous laugh, desperately trying to sound as upbeat as possible.

“That it’s then Jason, time to go” he said, as his voice faltered.

I moved forward to grab one of the suitcases and he pulled me back.

“Don’t I get a last hug?”

He held his arms out towards me and I gazed at him with renewed sadness. Now that the time to say goodbye had finally come, it seemed as though my feet were set in concrete, subconsciously delaying our final embrace.

“What do you think? I smiled, finally rushing to wrap my arms around him.

As I buried my face in his shoulder, the familiar smell of his warm body was overwhelmingly intoxicating, and I could have stayed there indefinitely. Instead we pulled apart and kissed each other passionately on the lips, knowing only too well it was the last one we would share together. With a final look around, we grasped a suitcase each and left the flat, carefully negotiating the stairs. Once at the bottom, Connor let go of his suitcase and turned towards me.

“There’s something I need to do first” he said “Won’t be a tick”

He walked down the hallway and tapped on a door at the far end. It opened almost straight away and the girl I’d met the previous day on the front doorstep stood there in pyjamas. Her hair was tousled and untidy as though she’d just got out of bed and as if to confirm it she opened her mouth and yawned loudly. After glancing down the hallway and giving me a scowl of disapproval, she turned towards Connor and gave him a wide smile.

“Time to go already?” she asked, wiping away a stray tear

“Yeah ‘fraid so”

“Will I see you again?”

“Not sure, but don’t worry, I’ll keep in touch”

“Yeah, I know your keeping in touch” she scoffed, leaning forwards to kiss him.

“Thanks for everything Poppy”

“No problem Connor, take care”

He kissed her again and it was obvious they were the best of friends and had already said a proper goodbye. I already knew that she’d comforted him when I’d rejected his proposal to go to Ireland, but it clearly went much deeper than that and I could see that saying goodbye was extremely hard for both of them. Nevertheless it had to be done, but when he turned back towards me, an expression of deep sadness was etched across his face. With one final wave we left the building and struggled down the front steps, wheeling the heavy suitcases along the path. His car was parked at the far side of the square and we quickly headed towards it, anxious to offload them as soon as possible. There was a sudden beep beep sound as he opened the door with his electronic key and the orange indicator lights flashed once to signify the doors had unlocked. I was glad to finally heave the heavy suitcase into the boot and quickly stood back to let Connor do the same with his.

“So now it really is time to say goodbye” he said sadly, holding out his arms for yet another final embrace.

We hugged each other for what seemed like ages and as I looked over his shoulder, Poppy’s sad face stared back at me from the downstairs window. We reluctantly pulled apart and seconds later he was sitting in the car with the engine running, ready to go. I quickly leant over and throwing caution to the wind, kissed him on the cheek through the open window.

“Take care Connor, I’m going to miss you!”

I struggled to hold back the tears and he smiled up at me and squeezed my hand as it rested on the open window frame.

“Me too Jason, I’ll never forget you! You know that!”

With a final sad smile he drove away and as I waved at his car, rapidly disappearing down the street, I’d never felt so low in all my life.

The feeling of utter dejection was incredibly hard to swallow and I turned and headed into town, not daring to look at Poppy’s face as I passed by the window.