The Body

by Arabella Abbing

  My hand was hovering over the doorknob when I turned back and said, “I’m just going to take a short drive. I’ll be back soon.”

  I got a distracted nod in response, but nothing else. I clenched my jaw and stepped outside, hoping she at least heard enough to know that she wouldn’t have enough time to invite Kyle over.

  Because I was pretty sure that if I saw that motherfucker around my mom again—I would kill him.

  Once I was in the car, I let out a long, frustrated groan and knocked my forehead against the steering wheel multiple times. I desperately needed to find something—or someone—to distract me for the next week.

  Otherwise, I was going to end up getting myself into a really fucked up position.

  Chapter Four

  Brianna

  “Doesn’t this seem a little unnecessary to you?” I asked with a wince as Stacy harshly tugged at a knot in my hair. “I mean—I know I’m trying to impress people tonight, but I feel a little weird about going all-out for this thing.”

  “Trust me, Bri. You aren’t going to regret this when you see how everyone looks at you tonight.”

  “I-Oww. Take it easy,” I chided when she yanked the knot again. “That sounds good and all, but can I at least see what you’re doing to me?”

  Stacy clucked her tongue and shook her head. “No way. The reveal of the finished product will be far more dramatic. Now hold still or I’ll burn the shit out of your scalp.”

  “Is that a threat?” I asked with a mock gasp as I watched her reach for the curling iron.

  “More like a promise,” she said lowly before the cheer returned to her voice as she demanded, “Now sit up straight and let me work my magic.”

  Stacy ‘working her magic’ ended up taking over an hour. She refused to give me a drink at any point—stating that she couldn’t risk letting me pee and seeing myself in the mirror before the transformation was complete.

  So when she finally stepped back and claimed that I was her masterpiece, I was ready to jump for joy. My bladder was screaming.

  I bolted out of the chair and made a beeline for the bathroom, ignoring Stacy’s outraged cry as she chased after me. I didn’t even get the door closed before she was pushing her way into the room, but when I flipped the light switch and turned to yell at her—I froze.

  The briefest glimpse of my reflection rendered me speechless. Stacy smiled smugly as she insisted that she went light on the makeup so I wouldn’t be too uncomfortable, but she had still managed to go above and beyond with everything else.

  The natural makeup look was wonderful, but I was transfixed by my hair. I never bothered to blow it out unless the circumstances were really special, but I could never have achieved what Stacy had done. She took my flat, straight hair and gave it body along with loose curls that made my natural brown hair look less lifeless than it normally did.

  Looking at my reflection now, I felt like a model. It was surreal.

  “You really outdid yourself, Stace,” I said breathlessly, reaching up to touch a curl. “Thank you so much.”

  “It’s like you just stepped off the cover of a magazine, right? All you need now is the final touch—the dress.”

  “First, I really need to pee,” I said, even though I was still focused on my reflection. “Jeez, I can’t stop looking at myself. Does that make me vain?”

  “Nah. And in—” she hummed and pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time before she said, “Less than two hours—you won’t be the only one who can’t stop looking at you. After you pee and get the dress on, come to my room and get the shoes I picked out for you. I’m going to start getting ready.”

  I nodded absent-mindedly and waited until she left before I shut the door and relieved my bladder. I smiled at myself in the mirror while I washed my hands, trying to calm the nervous pitter-patter of my heart as I wondered what Adam would think about my little makeover.

  “You ready for this?” Stacy asked as the cab pulled up to my high school and rolled to a stop.

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” I said with a sigh as I handed the driver a twenty and slid out of the seat, smoothing down any wrinkles that might have appeared during the car ride. “Are you on the prowl tonight?”

  “Girl, when am I not on the prowl?” Stacy asked with a laugh. “I’ll text you if I meet someone. You cool with going home alone if I do?”

  I raised my clutch into the air and nodded. “I got my phone and cab fare. I’m good.”

  We started walking towards the entrance of my high school and Stacy took the opportunity to remind me that the offer was good both ways.

  “Even if I don’t meet someone, let me know if you need the apartment. I can crash with Lexie if you need me to.”

  I nodded while internally rolling my eyes. It was sweet of her to make the offer, but it was the exact same offer she always made when we went out together. One I had never taken her up on. Why she thought tonight would be any different, I had no idea.

  At least until we stepped inside and two men lingering by the check-in table did a double-take when they saw me.

  Right. I had already forgotten about my makeover.

  “Name?”

  “Brianna Larson,” I said, letting out a huff when Stacy elbowed me. “Brianna Larson and guest?”

  The girl handed me the sticker with my name on it and a plus-one tag to Stacy, who frowned as she considered where to put it on her dress. I slapped mine on my chest and took another look at the girl behind the table, quickly realizing that she must have still been a student at the school and not someone from my graduating class. I politely thanked her and started making my way towards the gym, stopping when Stacy put a hand on my shoulder and spun me around.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” she quickly said before reaching down and yanking the sticker off my dress. “At least not anymore. This?” She held up the sticker. “Does not go with all that.”

  I laughed as she gestured down at my outfit before tossing both of our stickers into the garbage can.

  “Now come on, love,” she said, holding out her elbow and making me laugh even harder. “Let’s go in there and show some people what they’ve been missing out on.”

  Her subtle reminder of Adam made my gut clench with nervousness, but I managed to keep my face neutral as I linked our arms together and said, “Let’s do it.”

  “And hey—if something goes wrong, at least there’s an open bar.”

  “Silver lining.”

  We pushed open the double doors of the gymnasium, the low lights and loud music immediately reminding me of the epic failure that prom night was.

  As Stacy immediately began to drag me towards the bar, I shoved away the old memories and started scanning the crowd, looking for the only person in the room that I really cared about impressing tonight.

  Chapter Five

  Adam

  “You look so handsome.”

  I turned at the sound of my mother’s voice, noting with relief that her eyes were clear, a sign that she was sober. She stepped into the room as I finished knotting my tie and buttoned up the suit jacket over top.

  “You’ve grown up so fast,” she said with a sad sigh as she got to my side and put her arms around me for a hug.

  I didn’t immediately hug her back, mainly because I was too focused on fighting back the urge to snap at her. I had grown up fast—way too fast—and the blame there was entirely on her.

  Well, her and my father. Which definitely wasn’t something I wanted to think about.

  “What have you got planned for tonight?” I asked as I gently pulled away, ignoring the pained look in her eyes.

  “Just watching my shows or maybe do a little reading,” she said, hesitating for a moment before she worked up the nerve to ask, “Should I wait up for you?”

  I looked up at the mirror and met her eyes—already seeing what would happen if I said no. She’d wait a while to make sure I wasn’t coming back before she either called Kyle ove
r or hit whatever stash she had hidden in the house.

  But if I said yes, she would hit the stash anyways. If she didn’t have any drugs in the house, I damn well knew the kitchen was loaded with booze. I’d return home to find her either passed out—or worse—awake and wanting to have a serious heart-to-heart.

  Both options sucked.

  “Probably not.”

  She solemnly nodded and met my eyes again, confirming what I already knew. I swallowed hard and gave her a tight smile, forcing away the thoughts of Kyle and Dale and my mother.

  I was hell-bent on having a good time, even if it meant I ended up getting loaded just to forget all the family drama for a night.

  “Have fun and stay safe.”

  She left the room and I finished toying with the cuffs of my white shirt as I muttered, “I always do.”

  Arriving at my high school in a suit was an interesting feeling. Perhaps it was because I had every intention of doing it for prom—I’d even been dressed for it—when the shit hit the fan at home and I ended up at the police station that night instead.

  So... yeah. It felt really fucking weird.

  The girl at the check-in table handed me my sticker before I could even say my name, looking up at me with a high school girl’s attempt at sultry eyes. I chuckled to myself and motioned like I was going to put the sticker on as I bypassed the table before tossing it into the garbage can instead.

  Everybody here knew who I was. I was notorious in these halls for various reasons, none of which included my current profession.

  “Oh, shit! It’s The Body!”

  I stopped and turned to the guy who had said it, watching as he grinned widely and stepped forward with his hand raised for a high-five. I scanned his nametag while I indulged him, then raised an eyebrow at his buddy as he joined us.

  “Damn, man. I bet you’re pulling even more tail now that you’re a big football star than you did when we were in school.”

  Actually, I pulled a lot less of it now that I had a room to sleep in that didn’t have the risk of being invaded by drug addicts in the middle of the night.

  But Johnny here didn’t need to know that, so I just smirked and let him take that however he chose to. When he glanced at his friend and they slowly began to nod and grin, it was obvious how they took it.

  “Niiice,” Johnny drawled.

  I gestured to the drink in his hand and asked, “Open bar?”

  “Oh, hell yeah. Go on in, man. We’ll catch up with you later.”

  “Sounds good,” I muttered before I took my leave. I was hoping that by the time they came looking for me, I would have already found my bed for the night and be otherwise engaged.

  Then we could avoid the awkward scenario when they realized that I didn’t remember either of them.

  Stepping into the gym again was just as strange as walking up to the school had been. It was decorated in a way similar to what prom had looked like, judging by the photographs I had seen from that night. The lights were low and a vast majority of our graduating class was standing around chatting amicably, only a few making use of the small area that had been reserved for dancing.

  I quickly swept my gaze over the crowd, already seeing that I had captured the attention of a lot of former classmates, but my vision was firmly focused on finding the bar. I dodged a number of people in favor of heading straight there, sliding up to the last empty stool and snapping my fingers to grab the bartender’s attention.

  “Whiskey—neat—and a beer. I don’t particularly care what kind.”

  He gave me a nod of acknowledgment before turning away to get my drinks and I took the opportunity to look over the others who were gathered around the bar.

  Some of them I didn’t recognize at all—likely the guests of my classmates—and others were so familiar that for a moment, it felt like I really was back in high school again. My gaze collided with Susan Harris’s where she was perched on a stool giving me bedroom eyes, but the moment the light caught on the rather impressive diamond resting on her left hand, I looked away.

  She obviously remembered me just as fondly as I remembered her—but I wasn’t the type of guy to move in on another man’s territory. Not my scene.

  When the whiskey was placed on the bar in front of me, I muttered my thanks and brought it up to my lips as I resumed my search for someone to go home with.

  Just as the glass touched my bottom lip, a finger gently tapped me on the shoulder. I frowned and spun around—shocked to my very core when my eyes landed on the finger’s owner.

  A slow smile spread across my lips as I fondly said, “Hello, Brianna.”

  Chapter Six

  Brianna

  I opened my mouth to say hello, but he had already beaten me to it. My jaw snapped closed and I blinked numerous times, glancing down to make sure I wasn’t still wearing my name tag before looking back up at him and racking my brain for an intelligent response.

  “You know my name?”

  Yeah, that really wasn’t what I had been going for.

  Adam’s smile widened and he tipped his head to the side as he studied my face.

  “We shared classes for, what—eight years? Of course I know your name.”

  “You—” I started, cutting myself off as my brows knit together even more tightly. “But we’ve never spoken.”

  “That doesn’t mean that I don’t know your name,” he responded with a shrug. “I remember your valedictorian speech from graduation. I liked it.”

  “You were staring at your phone,” I dryly remarked, cursing my stupidity when I saw his brows raise with surprise and a smirk settle on his lips.

  “Were you watching me during your speech?” he asked, the amusement evident in his voice.

  “N-No. I just—I looked at everyone,” I stuttered out, shaking my head as if to clear it. This conversation was not going like I had intended it to. “Let me start over. Hi, I’m Brianna.”

  Adam looked from my face down to my outstretched hand a few times before he finally decided to play along. He slid our palms together and I swallowed hard when I realized how huge his hand felt in comparison to mine.

  He seemed to notice as well and kept his grip loose as he curled his fingers gently around my hand. He smiled as he softly said, “Adam Reed. Nice to meet you, Brianna.”

  “N-Nice to meet you, too?” I said back, clearing my throat after the words came out high-pitched at the end, making it sound more like a question than a statement. I slammed my eyes closed and muttered, “God, I’m really screwing this up.”

  “Screwing what up? Talking?”

  When I opened my eye, I noticed that Adam was still smiling at me and despite me being awkward as all hell, he looked almost... endeared by my odd behavior. So I did my best to ignore the mortification I felt and shrugged in response to his question.

  “I think you’re doing fine,” he said with a shrug of his own before he reluctantly released my hand. “Can I buy you a drink?”

  “They’re free.”

  “I can order it for you and we can pretend that I bought it.”

  Between the joke and the serious expression on his face as he said it, I couldn’t help but laugh. His lips curved into an easy smile as he slid off the stool and offered it to me.

  “It’s fine, I can stand,” I said, waving my hand for him to sit back down.

  “That wouldn’t be very gentlemanly of me. Besides,” he trailed off, moistening his lips as his eyes slowly traveled down my body and lingered on my legs. “Those shoes can’t be very comfortable.”

  “You’re not wrong,” I agreed, trying not to physically react as his gaze remained on my bare legs. I eased myself onto the stool and demurely crossed them, shivering a little when he licked his lips once again.

  He wanted me.

  I didn’t know if it was the shoes or the dress or Stacy’s makeover—but it was incredibly clear that Adam fucking Reed wanted me.

  “What’ll you have?” he asked softly, leaning far enough in
to give me a clear smell of his cologne.

  “Anything with vodka in it,” I said distractedly after his eyes flew back up to lock with mine.

  Was this how he got so many women? With some kind of trance-like maneuver? Because I certainly felt like I was completely trapped in his thrall.

  “Do you like coffee?”

  “Who doesn’t?” I asked with a scoff and a look of sheer disbelief.

  Adam turned to the bartender and asked, “Can you make a Black Russian?”

  “Sure can,” he replied, spinning around and grabbing a glass before he began to search for the liquor required to make the drink.

  I had tried a White Russian before and liked it, but I never had a Black Russian. For a moment, I was worried that it was going to taste disgusting or be way too strong for me.

  Then I remembered drinking vodka straight out of the bottle not even two weeks ago, right after I saw Adam on the cover of the newspaper and promptly freaked out.

  Now here we were, him ordering me a drink like we actually knew each other instead of being the complete strangers that we technically were. Funny how that worked.

  “How have you been doing since college?”

  I held back the snort that automatically wanted to slip out, instead side-eyeing him as I said, “Probably not as good as you’ve been.”

  “You might be surprised,” Adam said with a shrug. “There are plenty of advantages playing for the pro league, but it’s a hell of a lot of work. Doesn’t leave much time for anything else.”

  This time, the snort escaped before I could stop it and an eye roll right along with it. Adam frowned at me as I gave the bartender my thanks for the drink and took a small sip. When I decided I liked it, I knocked back half the glass.

  And he was still frowning at me, a silent question in his eyes.

  “What?”

  “What do you mean what? What was with the eye roll?”