My Ten-Year Crush by Olivia Spring

Chapter Twenty-Five

Ipacked up my notepad and pens and left the library. I’d been here since the lesson had ended a couple of hours ago to help my guilt about going out with Sophia tonight. Luckily, I was meeting her at a restaurant in Soho, so it wouldn’t take too long to get there.

I walked into the small, traditional-looking Italian restaurant. As the waiter showed me to the table towards the back, I was surprised to see that Sophia had already arrived.

‘What the…?’ I said as she stood up to give me a hug.

‘I know! I’m here before you!’

‘What happened?’

‘I told myself I wasn’t going to let anything get in the way of seeing you tonight. I couldn’t wait to hear all about what happened with you and sexy Mike. I know this is a big deal!’

Sophia arriving early was a big deal too. She often worked fifteen-hour days and had been even busier since winning her recent big pitch, so I knew that every second counted. We were already doing pretty well, meeting up twice in the past few weeks. During her really busy periods, it wasn’t unusual for us to go months without seeing each other.

‘It really is, Soph. I don’t even know where to start! Maybe we should order drinks and food first. I’ve got a lot to tell you!’

I filled her in on the full story of what had happened on our graduation night (now Mike and I were together and had cleared up what was really going through his mind when he left, it was less embarrassing).

After previously getting Mike’s permission to mention it to my closest friends, I also shared basic details about the tragedy he’d experienced, and understandably, Sophia was horrified.

I then told her about the near-miss on Saturday, how things had finally come together on Sunday, and of course our classroom escapade on Monday evening.

‘There is no way you are telling me that you let Mike fuck you on the desk at school. No way.’

‘Sssh!’ I looked around nervously, suddenly feeling self-conscious. ‘It was a lot less crude than it sounds. But it was really exciting.’

‘I bet! I’m just shocked. I mean, I’m a good girl when it comes to sex. I’m probably more vanilla than a tub of Häagen-Dazs, especially these days. But you, my dear bestie, you’re even more innocent, so hearing this is difficult to get my head around.’

‘Believe me: no one is more surprised than I am. It’s like Mike brings out something in me.’

‘Yeah! Your inner freak!’ Sophia laughed. ‘Sounds like you’ve been having some epic sex sessions. Must feel so good to be desired like that…’ Her voice trailed off.

‘Everything okay with you and Rich?’

‘Yeah… fine. Just you know, working long hours doesn’t leave much time for fun in or outside of the bedroom.’

Although Sophia said things were okay between her and her long-term boyfriend, Rich, lately I’d be sensing that all wasn’t as well as she made out. He was a lovely guy and I know he’d always been super supportive of her business, but something just seemed like it was missing.

I was also worried that Sophia was so focused on work that she’d forgotten how to live. I should know. I’d been guilty of doing the same in the past to some extent. But now I realised the joys of being less rigid, I wanted my friend to experience the benefits too.

Still, I couldn’t claim to understand the pressure she was under. Being a teacher was very different to running a company. I supposed shouldering the responsibility for the livelihoods of staff and big client budgets meant fun had to take a back seat.

‘Want to talk about it?’ I softened my voice.

‘God, no!’ Sophia shook her head. ‘We’re not here to chat about me. I want to hear more about you and what it’s like to get it on with your ten-year crush! Or are we saying it’s a thirteen-year crush, seeing as you liked him when you first started uni?’

‘Oh God! Thirteen years sounds so sad. Let’s stick with ten years. Slightly less tragic. Plus, that’s when we were both single—I started to crush on him hard and I really hoped things would have happened.’

‘Ten-year crush it is, then! Sooo…’

‘So… to answer your question, it’s kind of difficult to put into words what it’s like for us to finally be together. It still seems so surreal. Mike makes me feel so… alive. It’s as if during the ten years that we were apart, I just existed. Life was good, but now, everything just feels so much better.’

‘Multiple orgasms will do that to you!’ She grinned. ‘I’m glad he lived up to his reputation. It could have gone completely the other way.’

‘That’s true.’ In my mind I’d put him on a pedestal and built him up to be this sex god, so imagine if when it came down to it, we just hadn’t clicked? Thankfully that wasn’t a concern. ‘He definitely delivered on his rep and then some! Now I understand why those women always screamed so loudly.’ I pictured myself at uni trying to sleep with a pillow over my head, desperately trying to drown out the noises of Mike and whoever was in his bed. ‘We have this insane connection. This is it, Soph. Mike’s the one. I’ve never felt so happy!’ My heart flipped.

There was no doubt about it. Mike had blown my belief about it being impossible to find a man who was the total package out of the water. He had it all. Brains, amazing personality, good looks, chemistry and so much more.

‘Oh, darling!’ Sophia squeezed my hand. ‘I’m so happy for you. No one deserves this more. Especially after how long you’ve waited. It was fate, you two meeting again. And Mike? How does he feel about everything? Do you reckon he’s on the same page? I know in the past he’s had some commitment issues…’

‘He feels the same,’ I said quickly. ‘I can sense it. He said that’s why things didn’t happen before, because he wasn’t ready and wanted to do things properly with me.’

‘That sounds promising.’

‘I know I’ve spoken a lot about the amazing sex we’ve been having, but Mike said he wants me to remember him for more than just that, so he’s taking me on a real date tomorrow.’

‘Remember him?’ Sophia frowned.

‘Yeah.’ I waved my hands dismissively. ‘Just a turn of phrase—because of what happened to his friends. That’s why he often talks about creating memories and living life to the full, that kind of thing. That’s all he meant.’

‘Hmmm.’ Sophia rested her finger on her chin. ‘Interesting choice of words. Anyway, I suppose it’s great that he wants to take things out of the bedroom and spend quality time with you.’

‘It really is.’ I grinned. We could very easily spend every night at my place eating in and rolling around my bed. I certainly wouldn’t complain. But him wanting us to go out publicly, especially given the whole blurred tutor-trainee lines right now, showed he was taking it more seriously than the one-night-only approach he’d taken to dating whenever he and Rebecca were on one of their many breaks.

‘I love the fact that you’re throwing caution to the wind and living in the moment, but just be careful. I don’t want you getting too carried away and ending up hurt.’

The mention of something bad happening instantly made my stomach sink. I knew Sophia didn’t mean any harm, though. We were both acute overthinkers who planned and questioned almost everything, so she was only looking out for me.

‘I hear what you’re saying. I’m desperately trying to hold back and be pragmatic and sensible about it all, like I normally would, but it’s really difficult. I just want to shout from the rooftops that we’re finally together. It was so hard speaking to my mum this morning and not saying anything. She’d be over the moon. Dad, not so much, but hey.’ I shrugged my shoulders as if it didn’t bother me. Of course it did, but I didn’t want to think about that right now.

‘Oh yeah… I forgot how much they hated each other.’

‘Yep,’ I sighed. ‘On the one hand, I know I should keep calm—I mean, it’s only been a few days since we got together. But then on the other, I’ve always been so cautious about everything. So part of me says I shouldn’t overthink. I should just live in the moment and feel all of the emotions.’

The thought of letting go and being completely free made my heart beat faster. It was like a mixture of fear and excitement.

‘I’m no expert…’ Sophia took a sip of her G&T. ‘I’ve been out of the dating scene for what feels like forever. But everything you’re saying and feeling seems perfectly normal to me. It could just be a case of finding a balance. You’ve spent so long holding back your feelings from Mike and playing it safe, and that caused you to be apart for ages. So I reckon you should continue that leap of faith, enjoy your time with him, but also keep tuning into your gut to be sure he definitely is as committed as you are…’

That was the second time Sophia had mentioned Mike’s commitment. It was true. He had had commitment issues in the past. That was another reason why I’d thought that if, by some miracle, he did like me, he probably wouldn’t be looking for anything long-term, so that had ruled him firmly out of the relationship equation. I knew that I wanted a family, so the person I was with needed to want that too.

But after he’d helped that little boy at the skate park, I remembered Mike had said he did want to settle down, and the feelings he had for me seemed genuine. So even though it was very early days, my gut felt good. I was sure he was in it for the long haul. Just like me.

Sophia went to the toilet and I pulled my phone out of my bag. There was a text from Mike with the details for tomorrow evening.

Mmm, tomorrow…

It was crazy. I’d only seen Mike a few hours ago and I already had withdrawal symptoms. I really missed him. I had it bad.

I couldn’t wait to hold, kiss and make love to him again. Our date couldn’t come quickly enough.