Blindside

Breaking Me Down

Osiris

I had her and she knew it. What started out as simple fun had turned into an all out war. Anything and everything that wasn’t breakable and could either be thrown at me or in my path, was. But now, now I had her. 

“Osiris, noooo! I said I was f**king KIDDING!” She pleaded.

“Hey Cleo, what the hell-“ we heard from the door as Cairo poked his head in. “Okaaaaay, never mind, carry on” He added, backing out of the doorway with his hands up and leaving us to our antics.

“Cairo! Get back here you s**t!” She yelled at his retreat.

“Hahaha! Nobody to help you now Cleo” I said mischievously.

“AH! f**k!” At that, she threw the pillow that she was using as a shield to try and distract me. As she made way to duck and dash around me, I caught her around the waist and picked her up.

“Got ya!!” I said in triumph as she wiggled and squirmed, trying to get out of my grip as I made way to the couch. As gently as I could manage, I deposited her little form, letting her slide down the front of my body, sending tingles all over and proceeded to lean in for the kill.

“No no no, don’t do it! Please, I’ll do anything, just don’t f**king tickle me!”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything, I swear!”

“Hmmm... I know just the thing” I said with a glint in my eye. “To add to the ‘fake girlfriend’ deal, which I know we haven’t ironed out the details for yet, you can make me lunch every day for the next week” I added.

“Pfft, that’s easy. Deal and no take-backs” she answered without hesitation. “Now, while you’ve mentioned it, how long is this ‘fake girlfriend’ nonsense going to last?” She asked.

“I was thinking a month would do”

“WHAT!?” She exclaimed incredulously. “ Please tell me I didn’t just hear you say a month” She added, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah, a month, and before you get too angry, let me explain” 

Giving me a look from under her lashes, she replied “Mhmm, I can’t wait to hear this”

“Okay, so here’s the deal. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t actually had a girlfriend before. s**t, this is going to sound bad, so I’ve ‘dated’ girls, or more like I would see a girl for a week or two before moving on. I swear I’m not a player though”

“Jesus, and you got mad at my comment from earlier. Sure you’re not stupid, but you seem to be filling into the ‘jackass joke’ category pretty well” she said, clearly displeased with what I said.

“Let me finish. It’s not like I was leading any of them on, it was never back to back, and not every one of them got passed the ‘kissing & cuddling phase’ or whatever. They didn’t last because I wasn’t feeling it, so I would cut it off, which is way better than stringing someone along” I explained, then continued “ So now to why this needs to last a month. Since no girl has lasted very long, Amber knows this as fact, insert why she’s been acting this way. She’s trying to make herself seem like ‘the one who got me’. Why she’s being so persistent, I’m not sure. In order for this to work, for her to believe it and get her off my ass, we need to pretend for a month, otherwise she’ll know it’s a sham”

“F**k, fine” she said with a huff. “Like I said, you better be a damn good tutor, and I’m talking ‘me walking out with a solid A’ type of good. Got it?”

“Got it, thank you” I replied with a huge smile on my face. “Seriously, you don’t know how long I’ve been dealing with her s**t. I’m talking every barbecue, pool day, beach day, house party that we were both at, she’d try to cling to me worse than a stage 5 clinger” I added with a shudder.

“Bleh, that’s messed up. How did this happen in the first place?” She questioned.

“Honestly? By being nice. As a person, she was going through some family s**t last year. It was some big thing that her dad was cheating on her mom, so her mom filed for divorce. Me, trying to be a decent human being, sat with her after finding her bawling her eyes out at a year end party. The next time I saw her, she went all crazy and started calling me her boyfriend, following me around, blowing up my phone, just pure crazy. I’ve been trying to be nice and kindly tell her that she is clearly mistaken, but she is bat s**t crazy, I’m telling you”

“HA! You’ve got to be kidding! So what, you didn’t say anything that could have lead her to believe that you’re into her?” She asked.

“To be completely honest? I don’t know. I don’t think that I did, at least not with the intention of creating this. Straight up, I just wanted her to stop crying. I’ve never liked her much, but it doesn’t mean I wanted to see her cry. So I asked her what was wrong, she told me, I said the classic ‘you’ll be okay, you’re strong, blah blah blah’ and then left her be. I didn’t even hug her” I whined. 

“Well, it sounds like you actually have a stage 5” She laughed. “Okay, well how are we going to work this?”

“I don’t think it will take much really. Now that she saw that little display earlier, I figured I would keep doing some of the same things like walking you to classes and such, then just add in sitting next to each other more often, I could like.. hold you hand sometimes, drive you to school. Nothing crazy” I replied, looking to her for approval.

Please tell me that’s not too much.

“Okay, I can handle that, nothing crazy” she answered easily.

Letting out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, I replied “Okay great, and if there’s a cause to make changes, we can just talk about it?”

“Yeah, that sounds fair”

“Awesome. Thank you” I said, giving her a big smile and leaned in for a hug, to which she didn’t reject.

I wont lie, I may have held the hug a moment longer than I should have, but thankfully she didn’t comment on it as I let go. Just as I was about to day something, my phone went off. Checking my messages, I saw one from Oliver.

Oliver: Hey man, when are we going to review those tapes?

“s**t, sorry, I forgot that Oliver wanted to watch some game film. I’m going to map out some new strategies I think will help you and we can maybe meet up again Sunday?”

For a split second, I could have sworn she looked disappointed. Interesting. 

“Oh s**t, yeah, go. We can definitely finish up Sunday” she replied

I packed up my things and we headed back downstairs. Just before I walked out the door, I faced her and pulled her in for another hug.

F**k she smells amazing. Is that her shampoo or some lotion that girls love?

“Thanks again for this Cleo, I appreciate it” I said as I let her go.

“It’s no problem, I think I have the easier job anyway, so if anything I would be taking advantage of you” she replied with a giggle. “Now get going before. Oliver gets his panties in a wad”

“Haha, goodbye Cleo. Talk later”

“Bye” she said waving, and with that I turned a headed for my truck. 

As I hopped inside the truck, I took a moment to take a few calming deep breaths. She has no idea what those last few words did to me; she may just be the one I could let take advantage of me. What I couldn’t figure out was why. Just remembering the feel of her wiggling and the slide down my body, the way she smelled, it was all getting to me and stirring my d**k to life.

Before I let my thoughts start getting out of control, I readjusted myself, took another deep breath and sent Oliver a text letting him know I was on my way, then hit the road.

Damn this girl is breaking me down like no other 

~~~~

Cleo

WHAT. THE. F**K

Holy s**t, my body was humming, and for what? Just from a couple of hugs? What in god’s name is wrong with me? 

With my back leaning up against the door, I took a few breaths to calm myself before heading back up stairs. Sitting down on the couch, I started to collect my things from the table and put them away in my bag. Once that was all sorted, I decided to really think about this.

Could I actually handle this whole ‘fake girlfriend’ thing?

I really didn’t know, because the more time I spent with Osiris, the more attractive he became. I had to thank the higher powers for Olivers text, I swear I was moments away from either saying something stupid, awkwardly staring, or quite possibly drooling. Osiris was huge, and if what I felt while sliding down his body when he dumped me on the couch was any indication, he was packing below the belt. The thought of that alone had me clenching my legs together, and that’s not even all of it. He is actually a genuinely nice guy, despite the fact that there was something lurking in those eyes, something that he keeps under lock and key.

Call me crazy, but it’s just my intuition and my gut is telling me to tread lightly at what lies there. I can see myself getting closer to him, but I’m worried about him and what secrets he has. Would I be able to handle them? Help him with what it is that holds him back? For his sake I hoped so, because even if we were never more than we are, I know in my bones that Osiris is someone that I want to keep in my life any way that I can.

Next thing I knew, my phone started to ring, disrupting me from my thoughts.

Hallelujah for that! Back to reality!

Without looking, I answered.

“b***h! I am coming over and you are going to tell me why the hell Osiris was at your house. I am exactly two minutes away” Izzy said and then hung up before I could even try to answer. 

With a sigh, I got up and went down to the kitchen to grab something for us to eat, knowing Izzy she’ll be hungry when she gets here. Just as I spoon out some salsa, I hear her come in.

“Cleo!”

“In the kitchen!” I yell back, hearing her stomping footsteps coming my way.

“Spill it” she demanded.

“You’re a crazy person, you know that?”

“Oh shut up and tell me what’s going on”

“First, calm down. Second, he came over to help me with my calculus” I answered, which earned me a look and raise of her eyebrow.

“Hey, don’t be a dirty b***h. Nothing happened, and he was seriously only here to help me with calculus. I failed my quiz and I flipped out, so he offered to help me” I said, trying to set the record straight.

“Mhm. Okay. Now explain why I heard a rumour that you two are dating” she questioned.

“Holy Mack, what the f**k? This literally just happened at the end of the day. I may or may not have agreed to pretend to be Osiris’ girlfriend as repayment for the tutoring so that he can get Amber off his back”

“HOLY s**t!” She yelled.

“What!?”

“This is going to be amazing. That crazy b***h has been following him around like a stalker, it’s about time the cut off the cling-on wrap” she answered with a laugh.

“Yep, I heard about it. So that’s really all there is; he’s my tutor and I’m his fake girlfriend” I stated simply.

“Huh, interesting though”

“What makes you say that?” I questioned.

“Nothing. Well I mean, it’s just that I’m sure he could have asked anyone else other than you. I’m not saying it to be a b***h, it’s just that simple, plus you two seem to be cozy” she said in way of explanation.

“Honestly, I think it just came down to me ‘being in the right place at the wrong time’ type of deal. I wouldn’t read into it. There’s nothing going on” I answered.

Yeah, for now. Don’t kid yourself, that boy starts up your engine.

“Okay, just be careful. Osiris is really a good guy at the end of the day, but with girls, nobody sticks. I know you’re pretending, but pretending can get sticky if you start getting your feelings involved”

“I won’t, and even if I did, I’m a big girl. I’m not going to stress over something that hasn’t or might not even happen” I replied.

“Fair. So you’re coming to the homecoming game then yeah?” She asked.

“Yeah, Cairo is dressing for the game now, so I was planning on going”

“Oh no way! Good for him, the big lug! That wasn’t what I meant though” She said, giving me a look. “You know you have to go regardless, you’re Osiris’ ‘girlfriend’ and he’s one of the teams golden boys. You can’t not go, and you have to attend the after party for sure” she added with glee.

“F**k, I didn’t even think about that. How am I getting roped into these parties?” I said with a whine.

“Get used to it girl, this is going to be a thing for a bit now” she answered simply

Fingers crossed this doesn’t get too complicated. 

The pretending, or the boy?