Love Under Lights

This is from one of my contemporary romances. Lilly Anne Belle is a freshman in college in the theatre arts program. Her first day, she meets Calvin, a senior. He's the man of her dreams and they instantly fall for one another. Calvin's friends, Stan & Dave, make a play for Lilly, which she rejects. Stan accepts defeat, Dave doesn't. Angry after an argument with Calvin (over Lilly) Dave takes off and no one's seen him for almost two days.

Dave wasn't in set design class and didn't show up again for work call. Stan hadn't seen him and Dave hadn't returned any of his calls.

"He's totally off the grid. I went by his place and he wasn't there. Roommate hasn't seen him," Stan remarked.

"I hope he's okay." Lilly felt guilty about what had happened with Calvin's friend.

"He's fine. Probably drinking. He goes on a binge once in awhile, misses a few days, shows up again when he's had enough or runs out of drinking money."

"And y'all are friends with this guy?"

"Most of the time, Dave's okay," Calvin explained as he showed her how to drill holes to leg up a platform. "Sometimes he goes off the deep end. We all have our coping mechanisms. It isn't a good one, maybe, but it works for him."

"What's yours?"

He winked at her, running the drill through the platform and leg. "You'll find out."

She waited until he'd set the drill down and nudged him in the ribs. "Yeah, but will I like it?"

"I guarantee," he said, pulling her close. He nuzzled her neck a moment, groaned and picked up the drill. "This is so much harder than I thought," he moaned.

"Fluffy bunnies," Lilly said as she put the bolt through the platform.

"Huh?"

"Think about fluffy bunnies. My brother, Patrick, said thinking of small, furry animals helps tame your own. I think he's full of shit, but I don't have testicles."

Calvin burst out laughing. "Okay. Fluffy bunnies it is." He stopped talking, focusing on the bottom of the platform for a moment. "Nope. Not working. Course it might, if you weren't right next to me—smelling fantastic, by the way. What's that scent?"

He sniffed her neck, inhaling deeply. She smelled like cotton candy, chocolate or vanilla. He wasn't sure, but it was almost good enough to eat.

"Soap. Do your work."

"That is not. I think it's just you." He nibbled her neck, resisting the urge to lick her.

"You realize, don't you, that everyone in here can see you?" Nicki stopped by to drop that bomb.

"So?" Calvin said, looking up at her. "Why's that a problem?"

"Could you do that in private, please? Those of us without a hookup are not taking this well. I'm so hot, even Stan's starting to look good." She stared at the tall, dark haired man like he was on the menu. "Em hmm.... And I do not say that lightly. Although, he's been at the top of my to do list for awhile.... Behave!" She threatened Calvin with another drill. Fortunately, it wasn't plugged in.

Calvin watched her walk over to Stan, grab his ass and whisper in his ear. Whatever she said must have been a hell of a proposition because he dropped the bolt he was holding and didn't look like he had control of any part of his body for about 30 seconds.

"Well?" They heard Nicki say faintly.

"Okay." That was about all Stan could muster.

"Good. You know where to find me."

"Yeah. Okay." He wandered over to Calvin in a daze. "What'd you do to Nicki? She's not acting like herself."

"Not a damn thing. Why?"

"Cause I've got a command—performance." He gulped and wandered off.

"She's scared the life out of that guy. I hope he can get it up or I'm gonna hear about it."

"How's it your fault?"

"It's not, but Nicki will find a way to blame me if it goes south. I hope he performs admirably, or she'll eat him. I've thought for a long time that Nicki was the Anti-Christ. I can't prove it, of course."

Lilly couldn't hold the drill, she laughed too hard. She flopped on her ass, feet in front of her, laughing until she started to hiccup. Everyone stared at her, but she couldn't stop.