Consumed by Matt Shaw Read Free Book Online Page B

again,” Joel continued, ignoring Michael’s attempt at humour.
     
    “Saw you two talking in the van and thought I’d leave you to it. What’s the story with you guys anyway?”
     
    “I’m not sure. I think I still love her?”
     
    “You think?”
     
    “I do.”
     
    “You dumped her, man,” Michael reminded him.
     
    “Yeah, I know. Regretted it ever since.”
     
    “You never said anything. Not to me or the other women you fucked since leaving Lara...”
     
    “Yeah well that’ll be our secret. She doesn’t need to know about them. They didn’t mean anything,” Joel whispered. “Besides - what good would it have done talking about it? I only went with the other girls to try and get Lara out of my mind.”
     
    “And how’d that work for you?”
     
    “Whilst I fucked the other girls...It’s Lara’s face I was picturing,” said Joel.
     
    Michael looked at him, unsure whether or not he was being serious. “Really? Because...The blonde you shacked up with on the first weekend of being single...She was hot. If I’d known you were going to waste her like that by picturing your ex...I’d have never let you go off with her.”
     
    Joel laughed, “You let me?”
     
    “Sure. I was toying with the idea of having her for myself but figured you could do with the pick me up.”
     
    “Too generous.”
     
    “What are friends for? Man, I can’t believe you were thinking about your ex the whole time. What a waste of that girl’s good looks.”
     
    “Me and Lara - we had a connection,” said Joel. His eyes were fixed firmly on Lara, still in the van. She was looking out of the van so Joel only had a view of the back of her head but he didn’t care. He hoped she’d turn around and catch him looking. He hoped.
     
    “You had a connection so you dumped her?” asked Michael.
     
    “Well I didn’t know about the connection until after I didn’t have her.”
     
    “So you should have called her.”
     
    “And said what? She just said the same thing but what the fuck was I going to say to her? Sorry I dumped you via text but I’m a twat, fancy going back out again?”
     
    “She said the same thing? You told her how you’re feeling?” asked Michael.
     
    “That’s what we were talking about.”
     
    “And how’d she take it?”
     
    “Really well. We made up. Had a kiss. She rubbed my cock and told me she can’t wait to be alone with me as there’s a lot of angry make-up sex to be had.”
     
    “Dude, score!” Michael offered up his hand for a childish ‘high-five’ moment.
     
    “Mate, I’m taking the piss. How do you think she took it?”
     
    “Not good then?”
     
    “I’m sitting on a damp grass verge with you...”
     
    “Point taken. So what did she say?”
     
    “She needs to think?”
     
    “Ooh,” Michael scrunched his face up - not a good sign.
     
    “Ooh?”
     
    “If a woman says she needs time to think or asks for space...It’s because she wants...Well...” Michael tried to explain.
     
    “Time to think or some space?”
     
    “Or cock. More precisely...The cocks of other men....”
     
    “Lara isn’t like that.”
     
    “Push comes to shove all women are like that.”
     
    “Even Charlotte?”
     
    Michael didn’t say anything. He liked to believe Charlotte was different from the other women and, in his mind, she was; something about her that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. In the early days of their friendship, he thought she gave off a different vibe because she was a lesbian. As time went on, he realised this wasn’t the case.
     
    “I just think,” Joel continued, “she needs space because I let her down so badly. That won’t be hard to forget. Or forgive. And I don’t expect her to make it easy for me but...Hopefully, in time, we can get back to what we had.”
     
    Michael didn’t say anything. He took another drag on his cigarette. As he exhaled the smoke, he threw the butt across the road.
     
    “Nothing to say?” asked