Not Even Close (A New Generation)

by Elizabeth Reyes

  From the moment he first laid eyes on her tonight in that tiny dress and those fuck-me heels with her newest friend Joseph in tow he’d felt almost sick to his stomach. How and why a girl he knew so little about except the basics, her name, general age, where she was from and now confirmation that she didn’t do the boyfriend thing, could get so far under his skin, was infuriating. She’d just confirmed she was exactly what Nine had referred to from day one.

  She was a young college girl, fresh out of her parents safeguarding clutches. Clearly, she was looking to run free and experiment all of life’s adventures. And as well she should be. It’s what young adults did once they were out in the big world all on their own. So, what did Byron care? He had no business getting any ideas about a girl like this, let alone getting all bent over the fact that she was at least being honest about it. This was a chick he’d been hung up on solely on the basis of her looks and sweet laugh. Seeing what a spitfire she could be, despite the sweet innocence behind those huge brown eyes was hot as fuck. If anything, he should be all for trying to get on her just friends list. It’s all he had time for right now, anyway, right? He did keep saying he needed to get laid.

  But while the thought of having sweet, yet sexy as fuck Vannah under him was one that already had his cock twitching, his gut was screaming otherwise. Already he was acting like an entitled prick who had the nerve to question anything about her personal life and choices when it was none of his business. Who the hell was he kidding? Even if he didn’t understand why, his gut already knew getting involved with her in any way would not end well.

  Only he was curious about something that did pertain to him. So, he’d ask about that, and then drop the rest of his unjustified interrogation about her personal life.

  “How’d you know my name?”

  She sat up a little straighter, glancing out the window and cleared her throat. “I saw you last week at Starbucks. Heard them call your name when your order was ready.”

  Byron turned to her as they came to another stop. Pulling a strand of hair behind her ear, it was clear she was avoiding facing him. She stared straight ahead instead. Like she had more than once tonight, Byron could see she was blushing again. Even her neck and ears were red now.

  As intense as this night had been for him so far, it’s the only times all night he hadn’t been able to refrain from smirking. He was tempted to ask why this embarrassed her, but his tightening gut knew why. Just like she’d turned beet red after saying his name, and again when he’d brought up the subject of boyfriends earlier, Byron was reminded. He may never understand it, and he’d be an idiot to try and figure it out, but Vannah was also feeling something she shouldn’t be for someone she hardly knew. Those moments they’d had in the past several weeks, hadn’t been imagined. But having been down this road before, with this type of young girl, he’d be damned if he’d get sucked into that again.

  Without further comment and trying not to overthink the fact that she remembered the name she heard of some random guy over a week ago, Byron drove on silently as his heart sped up. Thankfully, the ride to her dorm wasn’t much further so the awkward silence didn’t go on for too much longer. The dorms weren’t like the ones he’d been expecting. While Byron didn’t stay in a dorm during his time at ESU, he’d been privy to the inside of many. Back in his day of partying in them. Most were no bigger than a small hotel room. He’d driven by these before but assumed they were apartments because of the size of them.

  It wasn’t until Byron pulled up as close as he could to the entrance of the dorms, that something dawned on him. “You’re not on the second floor, are you?”

  Vannah shook her head but then frowned when she motioned to her left. “No but there are a few stairs we’ll have to scale to get to our dorm. It’s okay though,” she added quickly. “I’ll get her up one step at a time.”

  “One step at a time?” Byron scoffed glancing back at her completely passed out friend in his backseat. “She ain’t doing any walking anytime soon. I already knew I’d be carrying her in for you. I just hadn’t given any thought to the possibility of stairs.”

  “No, you’ve done enough, Byron.” Her face tinging again nearly had him smiling, but she went on quickly. “I’m sure I can round up a few of our neighbors and friends to help me with her.”

  Shaking his head without a word, he opened his door and got out. No way would this five-foot- nothing little thing be carrying someone who outweighed her by at least thirty pounds. Even with help from her other likely equally dainty neighbors.

  Then he had another thought. A lot of these dorms were coed. What she might mean by friends could be some of the guys he’d already seen her with. Some of whom might be more than willing to help her, then hang out and chat about the night she’d had. The utter irritation over just the thought, was confusing as fuck. But it was just another reminder why he should just hurry up, get this over with, and get away from the girl. The sooner the better. Pulling the backdoor open with a purpose now, Byron leaned in and got to work.

  He’d been right on the nose about her friend being in no shape to walk anywhere anytime soon. She was out cold and absolute dead weight. Eventually, he managed to throw her over his shoulder, and they were on their way. As expected, carrying her wasn’t nearly the chore he knew Vannah was thinking, given all the wincing, and apologizing she did.

  With minimal heaving and puffing as they made it up the few stairs, they were finally at her dorm door. Vannah worked quickly to get the door open and within minutes they were in the largest dorm room he’d ever been in. It was literally about the size of his two-bedroom apartment. Full kitchen, front room and all. After getting Sochee in bed in her own room, and Vannah assuring Byron she was fine and that she could take it from there, they walked back out to the front room.

  The mounting temptation to delay his stay and possibly get to know her a little better, had Byron making a B-line to the front door. Despite how tempting it was, he had the presence of mind to remind himself what a bad idea that would be. If it were any other girl maybe. But his gut knew better, and his ridiculous reaction to just hearing her engage with another interested dude, had been further confirmation of it. She wouldn’t be just another chick he could pass the time with and not demand anything more.

  Vannah continued to thank him and apologize for her initial assumption of him. “Listen,” she said softly when he got to the door. She motioned to the stuff she’d dropped on the floor when she’d rushed through the front door. “I’m gonna get those cleaned for you.”

  Byron glanced down confused. Next to her purse and Sochee’s shoes, were his crumpled gym shorts and tank. He hadn’t even noticed she’d brought them with her from the car.

  Oh, hell no.

  “That’s okay.”

  He shook his head starting to reach for them, but she took a step forward and he froze when his hand grazed her body just an inch from her breasts. Expecting her face to flush, he was surprised it didn’t. Instead, she reached for the clothes before he could.

  “I absolutely insist. After everything you did for us tonight and the way I first treated you, getting them cleaned is the least I can do. I just need to know what the best way to get them back to you is. Should I mail them?”

  “Seriously.” He shook his head feeling panicked, as he reached out for the clothes again. “You don’t have to. They were already dirty and they’re just gym clothes. They don’t need to be cleaned.”

  Shaking her head adamantly, her brows furrowed in stubborn defiance. It was adorable as shit and he needed to get the hell out of there with his clothes so he could cut all ties with her now.

  “I know.” She picked up her purse and pulled out a phone. “What’s your number? Bad Boys—” She stopped suddenly and now her face blushed so deeply Byron couldn’t help smile. “Is uh . . . just around the corner from here. You work there right?”

  With his heart racing now, Byron swallowed hard staring into those beautiful eyes. He knew he should be makin
g a mad dash out of there only he had to ask. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

  His eyes immediately zoomed into her bottom lip because she dug her teeth into it for a moment. Motioning behind her, she lifted and dropped a dainty shoulder a bit awkwardly. “Sochee’s a communications major. So’s she’s taking some social media courses. But she’s always excelled at researching and such.”

  She cleared her throat glancing away, though Byron couldn’t look away now. He was glued to every change in expression, and hanging onto every word she was saying, because he still had no idea what to think of this. More than anything he was taking in every detail of her. The timid, yet at times, very animated eyes. The still rosy tinge of her smooth skin, and that sweet mouth he could already imagine devouring and not being able to get enough of.

  Glancing back at him, their eyes met for a silent moment that felt all too familiar. It was just like all the other times he’d been sucked into them before. Only this time, the sheer power of it felt a hundred times heavier since he was standing so much closer than all the others.

  Mercifully, she ended it when she glanced away and went on. “We thought you looked familiar when we’d seen you at Starbucks. So, when we heard your name, Sochee did a little research. She then remembered we’d also seen you at 5th Street during the signings.” She paused to laugh nervously, and even that had Byron smiling like an idiot. “Isn’t it crazy how much info you can get from just punching in a few related things into a search engine? She immediately got a hit with your full name and it brought up other things like where you work and stuff.”

  Shrugging again, as if what she’d just dropped on him wasn’t as pivotal as it was—that the girl he’d been obsessing about for weeks had just admitted to cyber stalking him—she went on. “Anyway, I figured since you work so close by, I can just text you to ask when’s the best time to drop them off?”

  Byron didn’t immediately respond. He was still too hung up on the fact that she hadn’t just remembered his name from the coffee shop—over a week ago. She’d confessed to looking far deeper into him and now here she was asking for his number. He still wasn’t sure how he should feel about this, but he was certain excited shouldn’t be it, damn it.

  She slipped her phone back in her purse as her face began tinging again. “I guess I could just drop them off at the front desk—”

  “Three, two, three . . .” Glancing up at him, she didn’t reach for her phone again, until Byron nodded with a smile. “It’s the area code.”

  He watched as she pulled her phone out a bit apprehensively and tapped the rest of his number into her phone. The whole time he couldn’t decide what to make of this entire situation. That his grown ass heart could pound like this, just because he was giving a chick his number was ridiculous. But somehow, he knew this was so much more than just giving some random girl he’d just met his number.

  His conflicting insides continued to rattle him as he stood there trying desperately to convince himself this was no big deal. Yet, his instincts knew better. He’d been home free, for fucks sake. Could’ve already been at one of his regulars getting that much needed tension relief. Instead, he was still standing there inside Vannah’s dorm room, fighting the incredibly stupid urge to lean in and kiss her.

  The buzz in his pocket broke him out of his thoughts. “That’s me,” Vannah smiled. “This way you’ll know who it is when your clothes are ready, and I text you.”

  “You really don’t have to get them clean, Vannah.” Byron pulled out his phone and clicked on the envelope.

  “So, I’ll just wash them then. I have laundry to do tomorrow anyway. Works out perfect.”

  Byron glanced at the smiley face she sent, shaking off the visuals of his shorts bouncing around in the same dryer as her panties. “Alright then.” He slipped the phone back in his pocket before he got any more visuals, or worse, gave into any temptations that might lead to even bigger regrets than the ones he was already having. “I gotta get going.”

  After thanking him a few more times, Vannah finally bid him a farewell and he was off. The entire way home as Byron drove with her lingering scent still in his car, he tried desperately to understand what it was about this girl. He tried to understand, why the possibility of getting to know her further unnerved him so much. For the life of him he couldn’t figure it out.

  Eight

  Innocent Conniving

  Vannah

  Waiting impatiently on Xochitl’s bed, Vannah practically squirmed. She’d been up way late unable to sleep just thinking about everything that happened the night before, so she’d slept in today. Byron was beyond gorgeous and the sexiest man she’d ever met. But she still had no idea what to make of his demeanor, and she was dying to talk to Xochitl about it. Only by the time Vannah woke today, Xochitl was in the shower. It felt like the longest shower in the history of the world, as Vannah waited for her to emerge from the bathroom.

  “Oh my gawd,” Xochitl moaned as she walked into her bedroom wrapped in a towel. “I’ve taken two aspirins already, stood under the cool water for so long, and my head is still pounding. What happened last night?”

  “What happened?” Vannah asked unbelievably. “You don’t remember?”

  Xochitl shook her head with a frown. “I don’t. I just remember being at the noisy party one moment talking to some guy and then I woke here.”

  “Some guy? Byron?”

  “Who?”

  “Byron. Beast’s brother from 5th Street?”

  With a blank expression Xochitl stared at Vannah shaking her head. “He was there?”

  “No!” Vannah groaned slumping her shoulders. “I’ve been waiting all this time to ask you how he approached you and what he said.”

  “Byron approached me?”

  “Yes,” Vannah said feeling incredibly disappointed. “You disappeared and I couldn’t find you. Someone said you left with a guy. A guy who was all over you, so I ran out to look for you. I saw him helping you into his car and stopped him.”

  Vannah explained about accusing him of trying to take advantage of Xochitl as her friend listened intently, jaw dropping further with every word Vannah said. She gave her Byron’s version of what really happened and that in the end she believed him because it all made sense. But she’d still been anxious to hear Xochitl’s side of it.

  “You really don’t remember any of it?”

  Staring out into nothing and suddenly looking anxious, Xochitl shook her head slowly. “I just remember talking to that guy, the one we’d been talking to earlier.”

  “The really pushy one, right?” Vannah nodded. “With the big gap in his front teeth?”

  “Yeah, and then it’s all a blur.” She closed her eyes and concentrated. “It was crowded and—” Her eyes flew open. “I threw up.”

  “Yes, you did!” Vannah said hoping that would jog any memories of Byron, since it happened in front of him. “By Byron’s car.”

  “I don’t remember where or when, all I recall is how awful it felt.”

  “Ugh!” Vannah fell back on the bed, but then sat right back up. “Anyway, you’ll be so proud of me. I even got his number.”

  “You did?”

  Filling her in as quickly as she could on how everything happened starting from the beginning, Xochitl hung on her every word, moaning in mortification at some parts and it had Vannah giggling. “You didn’t do anything stupid or to embarrass yourself. Mostly you were out of it. Then ended up passing out altogether.”

  “Uh, spewing out in front of a frat house full of partying students, and then passing out is pretty damn embarrassing, Vannah.”

  As usual Vannah was in stitches suddenly. But she attempted to compose herself, so she could tell Xochitl the rest. “But you were right about him being intense, holy shit.”

  Vannah explained about Joseph and how there was no way she was going to wait for him or an Uber to get through that traffic. “So, when I called to let him know we weren’t going to wait for him, Joseph assumed I’d called
an Uber. I just said we had because given the circumstances and me sitting right next to Byron, I didn’t want to get into the whole explanation and as soon as I hung up, he starts calling me a liar.”

  “What?”

  The expression on her usually irritable friend made Vannah laugh again, but she went on because she was eager to get to the best part. Xochitl got dressed as Vannah gave her the blow by blow of the intense conversation she’d had with him. “He was almost smug about hitting it on the nose that this is my first time away from, quote unquote, mommy and daddy, and that I don’t do the boyfriend thing.”

  “What the hell?”

  “I know, right?” Vannah winced now dreading having to tell her the next part but she did anyway. “I slipped and said his name before he even had a chance to tell me it.”

  Xochitl’s eyes went wide again, like they had so often throughout the conversation, but she smirked. “You did? What did he say?”

  “Well, this was all in the midst of him questioning why I lie, and he was more into that than wondering how I knew his name, but he did ask later. At first it was an easy explanation. I’d heard it when they called out his order at Starbucks.” Wincing again, she braced herself. “But then later I slipped again when I mentioned I knew where he worked . . .” Once again Xochitl went all goggled eyed and Vannah shut hers. “I sort of put it on you.”

  Laughing at Xochitl’s exasperated gasp, Vannah opened her eyes and went on quickly again, telling her how she did her best to explain it as if it were no big deal that they’d stalked him online. “Which was stupid because you know me, there was no shortage of blushing through it all. So, I’m sure he didn’t buy for a minute that it was just a casual, looking him up, thing.”

  Vannah felt her face heat as she relived the mortification of that moment but went on. “Anyway—” She stopped when her phone dinged, and she glanced down at the screen in her lap. “That’s Nena. I’ll text her back later. But in case you talk to her, I don’t want her knowing anything about Byron.”