5Dallas had never realized how many red-headed females went to his school.
He'd never been attracted to a particular hair color over another to notice before. He didn't really have a "type" – hell, "female" was his type. But suddenly, red-heads appeared to be the new "in" thing. Some shades he saw were definitely not natural; even he could work that one out. But even then, either there was something in the water or the Weasleys had moved into town and transferred all their children.
"-hear me?"
"What?"
Eyes that were an exact copy of his own rolled at him in barely contained exasperation. "Guess that's a no then. Did you hear anything I said at all?" Lucas asked him, shoving an object at his gut.
Dallas took the Chemistry textbook from his brother's hands to avoid any more damage to his stomach muscles. They were still bruised from an elbow or two during yesterday's basketball game against Clear Bay. "That depends, did you say anything after you said 'hi?"
"Seriously? You're going to make me explain Friday's Chem class again?"
"No," Dallas said fervently, shaking his head at his brother. "I'd really rather you didn't." Dallas wasn't bad at Chemistry, truth be told. It was the only reason Lucas had picked him over Mike to switch with, considering they both regarded him as the less reliable identical triplet brother. But it still didn't mean he enjoyed the subject. "Look bro, I'll work it out when I get there. There's also my exceptionally hot lab partner who can explain things."
Lucas didn't look impressed by his lascivious smile and waggling eyebrows.
"Whatever. Just please don't scare her off, she's actually good at Chemistry. Plus someone else might not fall for this as well as she has."
Dallas bit the inside of his cheek and nodded dutifully. So maybe he'd sort of chosen not to mention to Lucas that Amanda had worked out the switch on day one. It kept things interesting, and lord knew school had been deadly dull the last few months.
Until her.
"Do good Chemistry. Don't scare off Amanda. Got it," Dallas said, backing away in the direction of the classroom to put an end to their conversation.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you know the name of a girl you're not fooling around with?"
"Just doing a good job pretending to be you," Dallas replied, giving Lucas the finger.
He turned and walked around the corner before Lucas could say anything back. It wasn't far to the classroom, but his footsteps quickened a little more than they usually did for the rest of his class schedule.
On his way he passed another red-head, and spotted one more further down a branching off hallway – neither were her. Dallas shook his head. This was getting ridiculous.
It became clear why he hadn't spotted her outside the classroom when he stepped through the doorframe. She was already sitting in her seat, her incredible locks cascading over her face and effectively shutting out the rest of the world as she typed on her phone.
Dallas grinned delightedly and approached their bench, setting his bag down on the surface with a deliberate thump. This act to attract her attention garnered him the sum of one slightly raised head, a pointed look, and a smirk, before she went back to typing on her phone.
Never an easy one, Dallas thought, amused. He slid onto his stool and carelessly dropped the Chemistry book on the desk between them. When she still didn't respond, he dipped his head and refused to budge until her eyes met his.
"Can I help you, Lucas?" She spoke still somehow typing on her phone without looking at it.
What a lady. "Why yes you can actually. I, Lucas, for that is my name, would like to know what we're doing in class today. I appear to have forgotten everything we did on Friday."
"Forgotten eh, everything?" Amanda finally stopped typing on her phone and shook her hair from her face. When she did so, Dallas caught the scent of her perfume. It was all he could do to clamp down on the urge to lean into her neck and breathe it in.
"Everything," he said instead. "Poof, gone. It's like it was never there."
He was rewarded with the tinkling of her laughter. It was an odd sound, coming from her. Too delicate for someone with such an attitude.
"How about I just give you my notes to read – I assume you've 'forgotten' yours."
"How about you keep your notes, mine stay forgotten, and you tell me whether you're going to the Halloween party this Saturday?"
"Whose Halloween party?" She asked, tilting her head.
"The only one that matters."
There really was only one party that mattered. While several Halloween parties were organized around this time of year, everyone eventually converged on one party held in a mansion in the nicest part of town. Dallas didn't know who actually lived in the house, only that he and his brothers went there every year because it was fucking amazing.
Amanda shrugged. "Karen will probably rope me into it. We went last year."
Dallas almost winced, but managed to keep his face expressionless. Karen Oswald was like a stick of dynamite. No one knew quite how to handle her, and those who tried often got their hands burnt – or outright blown off. She'd made several plays for him over the years, as she had with Lucas and Mike as well. Not to mention his friends Ryan, Mark, and Craig from his basketball team. And Christian, Phil, Chad and Zeke from Lucas' football team. Actually it wasn't worth mentioning just how many guys in school she'd made a play for, there'd been so many. To be fair, most of them were pretty happy when her attentions turned their way, regardless of her reputation – and her attention span.
Dallas was more than happy to look on at her pursuits in amusement, but that was as far as his interest went. He liked drama, but not the kind she brought.
"Well," he said, making the casual tone of his voice sound deliberate, "it might interest you to know that I'll be attending said party as well."
"With Mike and… Dallas?" She said sweetly, though her eyes gleamed with mischief.
"Yes," he said, cocking his head to one side. "Mike and Dallas too."
"Good to know. It'll certainly interest Karen, I think she's pretty set on trying to seduce Mike again."
This time Dallas did wince, though more out of pity for Mike than anything. Mike was going to have to spend the party avoiding her clutches and getting into trouble. Not much fun. "You might want to interest Karen in knowing that Mike is in a relationship."
"Still?" Amanda looked faintly surprised. Then again weren't they all. Even him.
"Still. I mean his girlfriend may or may not be there, doesn't appear to be her kind of scene. But from what he tells me I'm afraid Karen doesn't stand much of a chance."
Amanda nodded slowly, looking interested. "Noted." Then she smirked, leaning towards him. He couldn't help but notice how her t-shirt strained nicely against her breasts. "I guess you'd better watch out too then, Lucas. No… Dallas. Wait, Mike?"
Dallas groaned, eliciting another tinkling laugh from her. It almost made up for the fact that this party was looking less and less appealing than he'd first thought. Apparently he was going to have to spend an inordinate amount of time trying to avoid Karen.
Funnily enough, Dallas liked it when the girls he was fooling around with could tell him and his brothers apart – something Karen had proved she could not do. There was something off-putting about a girl that didn't mind which triplet she was dating, as long as it was one of them. Sure, he'd gone through a period of time when that hadn't been all that important to him. But when the girl you'd been starting to care about suddenly threw herself at your brother because you looked so alike he "might as well be you" – to quote a particularly thoughtless ex-girlfriend – it did leave a nasty taste in your mouth.
Unlike this paragon of red-headed beauty in front of him, who'd been able to tell who he was from the moment he'd sat down beside her a few weeks ago.
"Just promise you'll protect me from her if it comes to it," Dallas needled, placing his hand on her knee – not exactly subtle way of bringing them closer together. But seriously, her skin was so soft, even on her knee.
Amanda clearly saw through the maneuver, but didn't knock his hand away, which he thought was encouraging. Even when he used his thumb to stroke back and forth in small movements.
"Depends on how boring the party is," was all she said.
Before Dallas could reply, the Chemistry professor came sailing into the room. Then one of each pair was called to the front to pick up a box of pre-sorted chemicals, and his hand fell away as she got up to retrieve theirs. He didn't even feel annoyed at having the moment ruined. She was coming to the party on Saturday. And he wasn't going to let that chance slip away.
The Halloween party was already in full swing and heaving with bodies when Dallas, Lucas and Mike turned up.
"Was it this manic last year?" asked Lucas, looking doubtfully at the front door. A crowd of people stood in the way of the entrance, seemingly uncaring of the fact other people were finding it difficult to push their way inside.
"It gets bigger every year," Mike said, tugging on his costume. "Come on, let's try the back."
They ambled round the side of the house, slapping the hands of the people they knew on the way until they reached the back yard. Some steps led up to a huge expanse of decking which wasn't quite so laden with party-goers yet. When Lucas still looked hesitant, Dallas put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him inside.
Dallas sidled up to Lucas' side. "You look like you don't want to be here," he yelled in his ear. The music, which was fairly loud outside, was many decibels higher inside. Some kind of R&B song he'd heard on the radio before.
"I'm not really in the mood," Lucas yelled back. That surprised him. Lucas was always up for a party.
"Why? Got somewhere else you'd rather be?" Lucas shook his head, looking away. But Dallas could see through his noncommittal response. Interesting. "So where else would you rather be? Has it got something to do with where you are every fourth period on a Wednesday by any chance?"
Lucas shrugged off Dallas' hand and rolled his eyes. It still wasn't a proper response. Even more interesting, Dallas thought. But if he knew anything, it was that Lucas would never admit to something he wasn't ready to tell, so he let it go.
"Would you grab us some beers? Doesn't make sense for us all to go in there," Mike said, gesturing towards the kitchen which was one of the busiest parts of the house. Even though he'd been speaking primarily to Dallas, Lucas gave the okay and headed into the mass.
"He okay?" Concern entered into Mike's expression. "He's acting weird."
"I suspect girl problems," Dallas said, eyes twinkling. "But you know Lucas."
"He won't say anything. Yeah I know."
"Oh my god! You're here! You made it!"
Turning around, they came face to face with a girl whose big eyes were lit up and staring at Mike. Behind her stood another three of four girls in various states of undress – after all, wasn't that what Halloween costumes were all about – eyeing them up. Even though Dallas' costume covered pretty much his whole body, he felt as though they were somehow seeing under all his clothes. It amazed him how girls could do that with just a look. It was flattering, and at one time he might have taken them up on the overly obvious signs that they would very much like to eat him up.
But he had a certain red-head to look for.
"I'm sorry, you are?" Mike asked politely – well, yelled politely was probably more accurate.
That was new. Mike hardly ever used a polite tone around girls. Maybe his new girl was starting to effect a change on him.
The girl in front of him threw her head back and laughed outlandishly as if Mike's question was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "Come on Dallas, I know you remember me."
Ah, Dallas thought. Was he supposed to? Mike looked over at him, eyebrows raised, and Dallas grinned and shrugged. When Lucas took that opportune moment to return, Dallas snagged one of the beer bottles from his hands and gave Mike a quick salute before dipping out of the hallway into the main lounge area. The girl thought Mike was him, therefore it was only right that she was his problem.
Dallas spent the next hour in the company of his basketball teammates. Mike entered into their conversation not long after with a glare at Dallas, but then wandered away into another part of the house – probably to find the pool table. Lucas never came into sight, and Dallas wondered briefly whether he may have gone home. Well, it wasn't his problem if he had.
All the while he looked out for a certain head of hair. But she was nowhere to be seen.
Eventually a few of the girls who'd been hovering around the group persuaded them to join the throng of dancers over by the DJ. Two girls tugged on Dallas' arms, and he let himself be pulled into the huddle. One of them was a fairly good dancer, and Dallas wrapped his arm around her pulling her to his side, making her giggle. The other was just a mess, too far gone with alcohol to care what her arms were doing, so Dallas just did his best to avoid getting hit in the face.
After a while, the heat in the room rose to an unbearable degree, particularly for Dallas. His costume had seemed like a great idea at the time, but the layers of cloth were considerably damp now from his exertions – and unpleasantly so. He managed to extricate himself from the arms of the girls who looked very unhappy to see him go. He blew them a quick kiss as he forced his way out of the crowd of people and sought the open air of the back yard. On his way he thought he caught a quick glimpse of Lucas, but he felt fairly desperate to get outside and bypassed the area without a second look.
His destination remained out of reach, however, when a tall beauty placed herself directly in his path. Unfortunately, it was not the beauty he'd been looking for.
"Mike," Karen purred. "I've been looking all over for you, where have you been hiding?"
"Sorry honey, wrong triplet," Dallas said, throwing a quick longing gaze at the patio doors just ahead of him.
Karen laughed throatily, tossing her hair out of her eyes and drawing a finger down the fabric on his arm. "Come on now, Mike. You can be honest with me. I swear I won't bite. Unless of course you like that kind of thing."
Oh Dallas did. Biting could be a lot of fun. Just not from someone has scary as her. Dallas gently removed her hand from his arm, placed both his hands around it, and looked earnestly into her eyes.
"Karen, I'm not Mike. I am definitely Dallas. Have been ever since I was born, in fact. And I am also really really into your friend Amanda. Who I am guessing is here because you're here, right?" Karen looked surprised – speechless, in fact. But she did nod her head. Score. "Do you by any chance know where she is?"
Karen shook her head slowly.
"Shame. Okay, I'm going to go outside because I am about to die in this costume. I am then going to look for your friend Amanda. I have no idea where Mike or Lucas are so I can't help you there either. I can help you by saying Mike has a girlfriend so it would be a great favor to me if you didn't go after him too hard, he really does seem to like her a lot. As for Lucas… I don't know, he's probably your best bet. He's dressed as a really shit Spiderman. And good luck." Dallas gave her a little push in the direction he'd caught a glimpse of Lucas, and rolled out the patio doors without looking back.
As it was the end of October, the air outside held a chill that provided an immediate sense of relief when he stepped out onto the decking. He pulled his tunic away from his chest and flapped it a few times, letting the cold air infiltrate his costume. Already he could see a group of girls eyeing him from the table they were stood around, but he wasn't in the mood to entertain any other females tonight. It was about time he found the one he'd come to see.
He'd only just turned to do a quick sweep of the deck when he saw her. She was sitting on her own at the edge of the deck, nursing a solo cup in her hand. It was as if the moon had appeared from behind a cloud. Suddenly he could see everything a little bit more brightly.
A voice started to speak behind him, but he barely heard it as he moved forward. Another guy had started to approach Amanda, but one look from Dallas sent him straight back to his group of friends. In only a few strides, he found himself by her side.
"My my, if it isn't my favorite lab partner."
Amanda looked to the side, then followed his legs up to his face. She took a sip from her cup.
"Hello Dallas."
He bit down on the smile that threatened to show. He loved that she could always recognize him. But she also sounded like she might be a slightly drunk, and he couldn't help himself from teasing her a little.
"It's Lucas, actually. How much have you had to drink?"
"A lot, but not nearly enough to confuse you guys," she replied, and he allowed his smirk to show.
"Well, clearly 'a lot' is too much, because I'm definitely Lucas."
"And you're definitely lying." She tipped her head back eyes closed. "Is there a point to this game?"
Dallas bent down at the knees to be able to see her at eye level. Well, if she'd had her eyes open anyway. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he took the cup held loosely in her fingers and swallowed almost half of the contents. He didn't want her any more drunk than she already was. That would ruin his plan.
Amanda's eyes snapped to his. "Hey! That's mine, get your own."
"But just knowing that we've shared a drink from the same cup makes me shiver with excitement," he said, deepening his voice. "What about you?"
"You saying creepy shit like that gives me the shivers," she replied, yanking back her cup and taking another sip. He threw his head back and laughed. Having had one too many beers himself, this threw off his balance and he ended up planting his butt on the decking with a grimace.
Amanda nodded satisfactorily. "Serves you right."
"Come on Amanda," Dallas drawled. "How can you always tell it's me? Can't take your eyes off me?"
A guy can hope.
"Mhmm, yep, that must be it. I've studied every inch of your face during Lab when you illegally impersonate your brother and know every freckle so intimately I can no longer confuse the three of you."
"I don't have freckles," he replied. The mention of freckles slightly distracted him as quite frankly he'd spent so long studying hers he could almost map them in his sleep. Even now he could see them peeping out from under her tank top, as her unbuttoned shirt gaped open in the breeze. He wished he could slide his hand over them, but he kept his hands at his sides.
"Oh that's right," Amanda said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's Lucas I can't take my eyes off, silly me."
Dallas pushed Amanda's arm slightly so that she rocked away and back again. The thought of her staring at Lucas was slightly irritating, but from what Dallas had been able to tell, she didn't harbor any more than friendly feelings for Lucas. Nor for Mike, for that matter, whom she hardly mentioned ever anyway.
And okay, it wasn't like she showed an obvious interest in him either. But she'd always responded to his flirting quite happily. She'd even looked like she enjoyed it. That was something right?
"You may not confuse us, but your friend Karen thought I was Mike just now."
"That's entirely probable. I do apologize. It must have been traumatic for you."
Her deadpan voice made him want to laugh out loud again. Instead he thought back to Karen accosting him inside only a moment ago. He grimaced. "No offence but your friend kinda freaks me out."
This evoked a real smile from her. "None taken, she always freaks me out and I'm even privy to the explanations she gives for the thing she does."
"Right." It actually amazed him to hear that Karen had any explanations at all. Most of the time she seemed to just act on impulse. He reached out and snagged the cup again from Amanda's fingers – this time without a word of protest from her – and took another sip. For homemade punch, it wasn't too bad.
"Weren't you having fun inside?"
Dallas looked up in surprise. It wasn't often that Amanda actually made conversation with him. Usually it was him attempting to elicit out a response from her. "Sure," he said, "but it's fucking hot in there. Came out to get a lungful of fresh air and stumbled upon you."
Not like I've been looking for you all evening or anything.
"What are you supposed to be anyway?" she asked just as he'd raised the cup for another drink.
He put it down slowly and stared at her. "You're kidding?"
"Really not."
"Seriously?"
"So, like, totes serious right now." She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. This would have been distracting had it not been for the fact she had just admitted she couldn't identify his costume. His costume was brilliant. For the full effect, he raised the white hood back over his head and deepened his voice to a graspy tone.
"One, stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent," he repeated from memory. "Two, hide in plain sight. Three, never compromise the Brotherhood."
Amanda frowned. "Ku Klux Klan?"
Dallas choked. "What?! No! Jesus." Who would go to a Halloween party dressed like the KKK? Actually who would go out anywhere dressed like that? "Uh… my name is Desmond Miles, and I am an Assassin."
"Desmond Miles? Who's that? Is he in a movie? Robin Hood?"
Dallas sighed. Okay she may have been the girl of his dreams, but apparently she was not a video game fan. "Ever heard of Assassin's Creed?"
"Maybe, is it a good movie?"
Dallas rolled his eyes as he lowered his hood. Well, no one was perfect. "Never mind." He turned his attention to her 'costume'. "What are you supposed to be?"
Amanda immediately reached into her pocket and drew out something that looked like it belonged in Star Wars. Or maybe it was one of those wands from Harry Potter. "You're a witch?"
The look she gave him clearly meant he was very very wrong.
"What? What kind of witch have you ever seen with a wand like this?"
"I've never seen anything with a wand like that," he said honestly. She pressed a button he hadn't noticed on the wand and a weird buzzing sound filled the air between them – only just loud enough over the thumping music inside for him to hear. Clearly this was supposed to mean something important, but he just looked at the thing speculatively.
"Oh come on, buzzing device with light?"
"Right," he nodded. She wasn't wrong, that did indeed seem to be what she was holding.
"I have red hair…"
"You always have red hair." And it's spectacular. I want to run my hands through it.
"Which makes this a more accurate costume of…" He figured there was no way he was going to get this right, so he simply stared at her expectant face with a smile. She was cute when she looked frustrated. "Amy Pond. I'm Amy Pond. From Doctor Who? Only the best sci-fi series other than Firefly? Except it was not outrageously cancelled before its prime?"
"You're freaking adorable. No idea what you're talking about," he admitted, running a hand through his hair and then discreetly wiping it on his cloak. Gross, what must he look like to her at the moment, sweating like a pig?
Amanda sighed and put her… well whatever it was back in her pocket. "Whatever. If you had any taste you'd know this is an awesome outfit."
Dallas raised an eyebrow, raking his gaze up and down her body. She looked amazing alright, she always did no matter how she dressed in his opinion, but as for a 'costume'…
"You're wearing your normal clothes waving a light up vibrator at me," he countered. "At least I'm wearing what can actually be classified as a 'costume'."
"So little imagination," she tittered.
Dallas decided to use this as an opportunity to bring their conversation back to their flirtation. If he was going to get anywhere with this girl tonight he clearly needed to up his game and stop talking about costumes.
"I think you'll find my imagination extends to other more desirable things," he said provokingly, using his feet on the post of the decking to push himself closer to her until his hip bumped hers. She didn't slide away which he took as a good sign. He wouldn't have put it past her. Wiley thing.
Amanda smirked. "If you could get out of that get up in less than thirty seconds in order to act upon one of those desirable things you are imagining then I'd probably be so impressed I'd even be inclined to join you in the activity you're dreaming of."
It took a second for him to wrap his head around that. When he did, he clamped his hand over his heart which fluttered unnaturally beneath his fingers.
"Don't give me promises like that," he said, "or I'll ravish you right here, right now, on the deck in front of all these people." And man wouldn't he enjoy it.
"Ravish me?"
Ravish? Who said ravish? Oh apparently he did, like some pathetic Mills and fucking Boon character. Christ this girl was messing with his head. "I'm in character," he said quickly.
"Really?"
Okay so she wasn't buying it.
"Shhh." He handed her the cup of punch back to distract her, but she didn't drink from it. Instead, she gave him a heart attack.
And okay, so maybe she was resting her head on his shoulder because she was drunk and not because she felt like she had to touch him in some way, the way he'd been feeling every time he'd been in her presence over the last few weeks. Still, if someone could tell that to his heart, that would be great. He just hoped she couldn't hear it.
They sat in silence for a while, which was weird for Dallas. He was so used their usual biting repartee, or even her silence and his attempts to bring her into conversation. Instead he listened to the usual party sounds that swirled around them. He could hear the music through the closed door; he quite liked the artist though he couldn't name the song. He could hear Zeke laughing with some girl in the backyard, then tried hard not to hear the sounds that came afterwards. And then every now and again a few strands of red hair would stroke his cheek and he was brought back to the girl beside him.
Was now a good time to say something? Dallas absentmindedly raised his hand to stroke her hair, folding a lock round and round his finger before letting it go and raking through the strands again. What he wouldn't give to see this fiery head of hair spread out on a pillow below him, beside him, anywhere really.
Maybe not the best train of thought to go down, he thought, his body already starting to react to the image.
"Are you trying to send me to sleep?" Her voice was slurred – from alcohol or tiredness Dallas couldn't tell. He chuckled.
"Believe me, that is not what I'm trying to do."
"Oh, so you're trying to seduce me."
Only every day. "What? Ugly thing like you? Never."
"Fair enough. Just so you know, I can only be seduced through chocolate and serenasion."
"Serenasion?"
"The act of serenading. Serenasion."
Must be drunk. "Ah, serenasion." When she didn't say anything again he wondered whether she'd actually fallen asleep. That really would mess with his plans. "You're not really going to sleep are you?"
"Keep stroking my hair and I will."
Well that decided things. Dallas drew his hand back from her silky hair and slipped out from underneath her head to stand. His legs had almost fallen asleep so he gave them a little shake before grabbing Amanda's hands. "Come on."
"Where?"
"Inside, you're going to dance with me."
For a second he thought she'd actually passed out as she drooped lifelessly, only being held up by his grip on her hands. Before he could even begin to worry, however, she said "I don't want to. Tired. It's too hot in there."
Dallas grinned. She clearly thought he wouldn't be willing or able to carry her. Little did she know. "Amanda, I can lift things a lot heavier than you. If you don't come willingly then I'll carry you inside."
"Why?"
"Because you need to dance." He tugged on her hands and laughed when she simply flopped a little on the ground. This wasn't working. "I want to get hot and heavy with you and I can't do it when there's a pleasant breeze outside. Now get up."
She giggled, amazingly, which gave him time to lift her up into a standing position, and with one hand firmly clamped on hers, he dragged her back into the party without any further protest.
If it were possible, there were even more people inside than when he'd left. Having only just begun to cool down outside, already he could feel the heat seeping into his costume – which he now admitted had been a fairly bad choice after all. But he was finally going to dance with his red-head and the hell if a furnace tried to stop that from happening.
Dallas looked back and noticed some idiot had passed Amanda another drink. I don't think so. He wanted her hands and her mind on him, not disrupted by more alcohol. He swiped the cup easily out of her hands and shoved it in the direction of a faceless party-goer. When he had managed to push through the crowd to the middle of the living room, and not without some difficulty, he turned around and grabbed her by the hips. She followed his lead as he turned her away from him and then set her back against his front. Without any further encouragement, Amanda began to sway with him and as he curled his body round her as much as he could.
Heaven. This was heaven. He could feel the soft skin of her hips beneath his fingers as they danced. Every song seemed to roll into one long steady beat as they moved together. If he wasn't getting bumped by other people's limbs with almost every move he could have pretended no one else was there in the room. Except for his cloak. His cloak kept wrapping around his neck and getting between them. Him, and his cloak, and his girl. Three was a crowd. Dallas reached up and ripped the offending item from his shoulders and threw it over the heads of the people in front. There were protests of course, but he barely noticed them over the music and her laugh, which reverberated through her back into his chest.
Amanda raised her arms above their heads, letting her fingertips rest lightly in his hair and she ground ever closer to him. He couldn't stop from smiling even though, as the songs shifted from one to another, his body began to react in ways that weren't entirely appropriate for a public dance floor.
When it became too difficult to keep thinking of kittens and sandwiches to try and find a semblance of self-control in between thoughts of her, he turned her to face him. Her hands came up to secure themselves round his neck, and as their limbs entwined, he thought they fit together better than Tetris. Dallas could see a light sheen that covered her skin and almost bit his tongue thinking about it. Unable to stop himself any longer, he lowered his lips to the skin of her neck, pressing gentle kisses and gaging her reaction to this new development. She didn't stiffen in disgust, which he took as a sign to keep laying kisses on her shoulder – one after another. His tongue dipped out with his kisses, and he felt delight when her head drooped forward to rest against his shoulder.
Unless, of course, she was about to pass out from the heat or something. But he could hear her breathing had hitched and become slightly ragged.
Her shirt and tank top and risen to reveal a sexy expanse of skin which Dallas smoothed over with his hands, tracing patterns and shapes without any real thought. Her whimper against his neck hit him in the gut, and he almost lost it when her hands drew up and buried themselves in his hair. Did she know how sexy this was? How sexy she was?
When she tugged lightly on his hair, he did finally lose it. But so did she. With simultaneous movement they drew back and came crashing together again, lips on lips.
Aaaaaah. It was sweet relief to kiss her, having dreamed of it for so long. Her tongue raked across his teeth and tongue, unwilling to fully give him control. So like her, Dallas thought headily. And he gave back as good as she gave. He wanted to lift her up and have her wrap her legs around him, but there was no room for that. Instead he pressed her ever closer, eliminating any space left between them. They weren't dancing anymore, just tugging desperately at each other. She tasted faintly of punch, and he had a moment to wonder whether she might think he tasted like punch and beer and if that was good or not before she bit down on his lip and drew it into her mouth, and all thought was lost again.
There comes a point when kissing is no longer enough, and Dallas reached it quicker than he'd been expecting. He ripped himself from her, clamping his hand down on hers, and dragged her unceremoniously through the crowd. There were probably more romantic ways to do this, but his heartbeat was pounding in his head and his nerves felt fried, and she'd never seemed into that kind of romance anyway.
He vaguely knew the layout of the house from other parties and headed towards where he remembered – and hoped – the stairs lay. They were there. They raced up it and he grabbed for the door of a room he'd used once or twice before and pulled it open.
"Hey!"
A couple in the middle of a heavy petting session broke apart and exclaimed as they stumbled into the room. Dallas recognized Christian from the football team and focused his eyes on him.
"Out," he barked, jamming his thumb over his shoulder. Whether Christian mistook him for Lucas, his quarterback and leader, or whether he simply understood the look in Dallas' eyes, Dallas didn't know, but he grabbed a hold of his girl and hauled her out of the room shutting the door behind them.
With a quick look around the room, Dallas grabbed a chair from under the desk and jammed it under the handle. This house didn't have locks on the bedroom doors, which had always proved to be a pain in the ass. But this would do.
Amanda stood between him and the bed, watching with interest as he approached her again. She looked unbelievably good as he took her back in his arms. She made the first move to kiss him and Dallas groaned beneath her lips. But there was something he wanted to make sure of.
"We don't have to if you don't want it," he said, still kissing her. It wasn't that he didn't want to give her the opportunity to think about it. More that he couldn't bear to move any further away. But she'd already grabbed onto his costume and dragged him closer to the bed. Her hands tore off his belt and they both worked on removing the rest of his outfit.
This proved to be more difficult than either of them were expecting.
"Fuck! Fuck fuck!" Dallas said, pulling away slightly, trying to find the ties and zippers that kept everything together.
Her giggle brought his head up. She stood just a little removed from him, hand near her mouth trying to contain herself, but one look from him sent her into peals of laughter. And he couldn't help but join her. His frustration seeped away as they held onto each other, unable to stand upright.
"You're costume really sucks," she said through hard breaths.
"It was an amazing idea at the time," he replied sheepishly. "Now I see the flaw."
"Flaw, singular? Try plural."
"May I remind you that I at least put some effort into this party? Yours isn't even a real costume."
She raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Mine takes a total of four seconds to take off. What's wrong with it?"
Dallas paused, raking his gaze over her from head to toe. She was right, he'd have her out of her shirt and shorts in a matter of moments. Him, on other hand… "Fuck. Get me out of this thing."
They worked together, fingers prying at knots and zippers that slowly revealed themselves. Dallas admitted to himself that he probably made it more difficult than it needed to be by capturing her lips every chance he got. Eventually they'd divested him of the most challenging aspects of his clothing choice, and the sweet relief from the overwhelming heat was incredible.
He eyed Amanda with the gaze of a predator, which she returned with gusto when he reached for her shirt and drew it off her arms. Next went her tank top and shorts. And Dallas felt like he could barely breathe as she stood before him in nothing but her lacy underwear. She wore lacy underwear, God help him.
He tore off his tank top and finally did what he'd been aching to do downstairs and lifted her up in his arms. Automatically she wrapped her legs around his waist, just as he'd wanted, and he carried her over to the bed.
As soon as he'd laid her gently down on the cool white sheets, he returned his lips to her neck, nuzzling softly. Her fingers on his shoulders smoothed over his still scorching skin, and then her short nails drug a light path past his collarbone and down to the hard straining muscles of his stomach as he held himself above her. He jerked back, breath caught in his chest. Girls had done something like that to him before, but he'd never felt such a knee-jerk reaction. Eagerly, he found her lips again and gave her long, lazy kisses.
With his eyes still closed, he found the straps of her bra and pulled them off her shoulders one at a time. Then with gentle fingers, he found the edge of the cup of her bra and slid his fingers underneath.
Holy. Shit.
He was about to come undone and all he'd done was touch her so far. He wanted to pull back, regain his focus so that this wasn't over before it had begun, but she was sucking his tongue even deeper into her mouth and he didn't know how he was supposed to resist. Her moans evoked moans of his own, and she shivered adorably beneath him.
Amanda was always moving in ways that were unexpected, so she surprised him when she pulled her lips from his and started to nip gently on his neck. Her teeth would lightly pinch his skin in a love bite, and then she'd kiss the spot she'd just bitten. He hadn't thought it was possible to be more turned on than he was, but this almost made him bite off his tongue.
"Amanda." Her name fell from his lips in a whisper.
She was everything. In this moment he could think of nothing but her. God knows what was going to happen to him afterwards. Would he ever be able to think of anything else again? He held himself rigidly above her, sliding his hand out from under her bra and down her stomach to the edge of her panties. Lace panties. Red lace panties. He'd died and gone to heaven.
An uneasy voice in his head, unbidden, returned to him suddenly. His hand stilled.
"Amanda," he said in a more normal tone, and she stilled as well beneath him. "How drunk are you right now?"
She narrowed her eyes, but then looked off to the side as if in thought. "Really not much."
He had to know for sure. "You're sure you're not going to hate me? And start screaming at me for taking advantage of you while you were in a vulnerable state? And then I'm going to have to pretend that I'm Lucas and blame it all on him?" Please say you're sure, please say you're sure.
"Dallas," she said seriously, "if you don't touch me right this second, I'm going to scream at you anyway."
That'll do. "Yes ma'am."
His hand dipped underneath her panties, and he kept his eyes on hers as her body reacted. Amanda closed her eyes and her back arched a little off the bed, pushing her pelvis closer to him. The quirk of a smile at her lips as she sighed and groaned under his hand drove him wild. Her hands twined into his hair and she drew his head down to her mouth. Seriously sexy.
His tongue darted in and out of her mouth, dancing with hers, and he swallowed her gasp when his fingers began to mimic his tongue. Dallas trailed kisses along her jaw, down her neck, across her collarbone and over the soft mounds of her breasts that heaved gently under his lips. She squirmed beneath his touch as he dragged away the fabric of her bra with his teeth. Amanda was unbelievably perfect for him, and he relished being able to bite and suck and nip his way around her chest.
"Dallas, please." His name from her lips, said in a breathy voice laden with lust, caused his heart to constrict and he had to kiss her again.
"Please what?" He said teasingly through kisses. His eyes were open so he didn't miss it when she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not talking you through this."
"But you asked me for something, I want to know what it is."
"No."
Dallas raised himself up on his elbow again so he could see her better. She was blushing prettily, just a little. "Are you… shy?"
She gave him a sardonic look. "Your hand is currently down my panties and I've been all over you since you dragged me up to this room. Shy is not the term I'd use."
He grinned. "Then tell me. Do you want me to ravish you? Rock your world? Take your body to places it's never been before?"
"Stop being a little bitch and just do me already."
He grinned and increased the pressure and rhythm of his fingers, drawing out a rough gasp from her. Her back arched back off the bed and her breasts raised achingly close to his mouth.
"Yes ma'am," he said again.
Dallas had never been the type to rush away after sex.
For one thing, it was disrespectful to the girl he'd been with. For another, it was nice to bask in the afterglow for a little while. At the right moment, after an appropriate amount of time had passed, he would insist on finding the girls clothes for her so she wouldn't have to root around in the cold, or the dark, or whatever situation they were in. Sometimes he'd help her get dressed, making her giggle by pretending not to know how her bra went back on again. He'd give her a last, lingering kiss on the lips, and walk her to the door and back out into the party. They'd usually go their separate ways then, or he'd slip away later if she was particularly clingy.
But Dallas couldn't imagine ever letting go of the girl currently lying in his arms.
The back of her hand lay against his chest and rose and fell with his breaths. One of his biceps cushioned her head and his other arm was slung over her side. Amanda was amazing, incredible, intense. It had taken a long time for his mind, heart, and breaths to calm down after they'd collapsed together. And he wanted to do it all again, which was an unusual feeling for him. Well, it wasn't like he'd only ever had sex with a girl once or anything. But usually about now he was feeling sated and ready to re-join the party. Have another few beers and have a laugh with the guys.
No, this time he wanted to tuck the girl into his body and kiss her until she felt the heat again to go another round. Only this time with even more fire.
"No offence, because that was completely awesome," he said breaking the silence to voice his thoughts. "But I think you can do better."
The punch came out of nowhere, which was the only reason it winded him. He doubled over on his side and gasped in a lungful of air. She is surprisingly strong for a small firecracker, he thought, impressed but in pain.
"How can I not take offence to that exactly?" Amanda asked him in a monotone, cold voice.
Not good. She was halfway off the bed and tugging the sheet with her when he grabbed it and held it in a death grip. She attempted to yank it from his hands, but she had no chance. He took the opportunity to take in a couple more lungful's of air to even his breathing before he grabbed her arms and held them gently but firmly.
"That came out completely wrong. I'm so sorry."
She glared at him. "I'm gonna make you even more sorry if you don't let go."
He shook his head. "Not happening. I'm killing two birds with one stone. I'm stopping you from attacking my genitals which I know are next on your list of targets-" Her eyes had flickered down to his crotch not long after he'd held onto her arms, "-and I'm stopping you from leaving which would be really really bad right now before you let me explain."
Amanda continued to stare coldly at him, which wasn't good, but she also wasn't squirming to get out of his grip either. If she'd really tried, he would have let her go and followed her until she'd listened to him. But she just stood there glaring daggers. Hesitantly, as if she was a fiery kitten that needed careful handling, Dallas slowly raised himself up onto his knees and shuffled towards at the end of the bed.
"I meant to say something along the lines of you were fucking fantastic," he said honestly, "that you were amazing, and I would like another opportunity sometimes in the near future for us to do that again. Preferably tomorrow. After I take you out for dinner. And a movie." She didn't look convinced. "And buy you a car as an apology."
"You are a complete asshole."
Dallas tried to tell if she was even slightly less angry than before, but he couldn't read her. She'd shut herself off. Damn it to hell.
"Yep, you're so right. I'm a total fucktard. And I should let you go so you can slap me. Or punch me again. Although I'd rather you didn't 'cause I still feel a bit winded. But if you think that would be best then by all means go ahead. I'm letting go now…" His hands slid down her arms. "This is me letting go, so that you may hit me…" His hands slid a little further. Would she actually hit him? He hoped not. "Unless you don't feel like it, which would be great…" He was going to have to actually let her go at some point. "Okay…"
His hands fell into his lap and he waited. She didn't move. Was that a good sign? Bad sign? He didn't know. He felt hopeful, but that died when she leaned deliberately towards him. He closed his eyes, ready for the sting.
"I want a Mitsubishi Lancer. 2006. In blue."
His heart sang. Quickly before she could do something stupid like change her mind and run away, he pulled her back into his arms and held her. When she melted back against his body, he sighed.
"Thank fuck." And now he'd promised her a car. "Although it might take me a few years to work out the money."
He hadn't ruined it. Thank god he hadn't ruined it.
Amanda turned her head and kissed the underside of his chin. "Figures."
Dallas cradled her in his arms just like that for a while longer. Any last remaining tension from his misspoken words seeped out from her body, and his relaxed now that he was certain she was staying. When he felt her shiver, he drew her onto her back on the bed and half lay on top of her, keeping his weight on his elbow. His body had always naturally been like a heater, and he passed the heat from his hand her to stomach, along her side, and along her arm.
When Amanda gave a little sigh, he leaned down for a long, lazy kiss. Her fingers teased along his jaw, and he pressed her hand to his cheek.
"So are you free?" Dallas asked.
"For what?"
"Dinner. And a movie."
She looked at him questioningly. "You were serious?"
"Yes I was serious."
"You want to go to dinner and see a movie with me?"
He looked pointedly around the empty room. "Do you see anyone else in here I might be asking?"
"Dallas, when was the last time you went to dinner and a movie with a girl?"
He didn't see how this was relevant, but he cast his mind back. "Over the summer, I think. Well we went and saw a movie."
She looked surprised. "You paid for you and a girl to see a movie? This summer?"
"No, she paid. I'd already seen the movie but she really wanted me to go with her."
"Yeah, I bet she really did."
Okay, so Dallas had known Victoria had had a crush on him for a while, she hadn't exactly hid it very well. And so maybe he'd thought they could have a little fun together so he'd gone to see the movie with her, even though he hadn't enjoyed it so much the first time around – or the second it transpired. And yeah, they had indeed had a little fun together after the movie. He'd made it clear that "fun" was all he was after, and she'd jumped at the chance.
In the end, it had been more trouble than it was worth – she'd 'accidentally' bumped into him for days afterwards, haggling for another trip to the movies or dinner at this new restaurant that had opened. After a week she just plain offered for him to come over to her house when her parents weren't there. But he'd wised up by that point. She was relationship material, and he wasn't.
Until now. He looked down at his beautiful red-head and stroked a lock of hair behind her ear. "I don't see how when I last went for dinner and a movie is relevant."
"Okay I've known you and your brothers since junior high. Well, of you. And I know for a fact that Dallas is not a dinner and movie kind of guy. Lucas maybe. Mike more recently. But not you."
Dallas wasn't sure whether he felt surprised and happy that she'd paid so much attention to him over the years, or offended that she considered him so much a manwhore that he wouldn't take a girl for dinner and movie. Well okay, yes he didn't really 'date' girls, which tended to take quite a lot of effort and they usually ended up mad at him anyway. But he very much wanted to date Amanda. He had never felt so strongly about a girl before.
He supposed she didn't know that, of course. And he wasn't about to elaborate on it before their first date. But he did need to give her something.
"Wednesday is my favorite day of the week," he said finally, "because for an hour amongst the many tedious hours we live through Monday to Friday, I get to sit beside you and distract you while you try to get good grades for you and my brother. I want more than an hour. So I would like to take you out for dinner and a movie. Tomorrow."
"I'm not paying for you."
Was that a yes? "I'll pay for both of us."
She looked at him curiously, and pushed back the hair that had fallen into his eyes. Whatever she saw, it made her smile.
"Okay. You're paying. But I choose the movie."
Dallas hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until it came out in a whoosh. It surprised Amanda enough to make her laugh.
"Anything but a rom-com," he said, smiling hard.
"I choose the movie."
"You get to choose the movie, as long as it's not a rom-com."
"I hear there's a new Katherine Heigl movie out," she replied, eyes flashing with mischief. She raised herself up on her elbows until she could reach his jaw, trailing a line of kisses to his ear.
"Maybe we'll just do dinner."
"That wasn't the deal," she said, biting his ear lobe and sucking on it gently. Holy mother of-
"Okay, Katherine Heigl movie. Can't wait."
Amanda's tinkling laugh went straight to his groin, and he turned his head to catch her mouth. Her arms came up from underneath her, one at a time, and wrapped around his neck. With the last vestiges of self-control he had left, Dallas lowered them both gently back to the bed.
And then they were both having too much fun to be gentle.
A/N: I've never written a story from a male point of view before. But recently I read a nice easy romance book on Scribd from the girl's point of view, and then found the sequel was written from the boy's (and no, it wasn't 50 Shades haha). I didn't know whether I would be able to write from a male perspective, having spent most of my life surrounded by girls to be quite honest, so I decided to pick one of my stories and write it from the guy's perspective. I figured that would be easier than writing from scratch. Hopefully I've succeeded at least a little!
Dallas is one of my favourite characters that I've created, and I felt like his perspective on the Halloween night was something I'd be interested in finding out. In getting to "know" Dallas more, I've also gotten to "know" his brothers better too… and now I'm thinking of writing some more sequels featuring their romances. Not sure if it'll be from their perspectives or not, let me know if you liked this one and I'll see if I can have a go!
Thank you for reading! Mailai ^_^