Take Me Out

by Dawn Robertson

  Photos had ended up all over Facebook of my tear stained, red face after the fallout. I tried to shake the memory out of my mind and grabbed my phone to check who was trying to get a hold of me now. New e-mail!

  From: Be.Young@BU.edu

  Subject: Secret Admirer

  Date: May 13 16:35

  To: Charlotte A. Windsor

  I hope you enjoyed your present. I know you are busy with finals but I would love to take you out for something to eat sometime -- if you’re interested, of course. Hope to hear from you soon.

  -The Hot Guy who gave you that Mystery Gift

  My heart skipped a beat, maybe even a few. Just the thought of him made my pulse race. He knows I wrote about him on my blog. He knows how I felt about Friday night. He wants to see me again. What do I do? Dammit, where is Shay when I need her?

  It was time to leave. I was done, free for the summer. An adrenaline rush of freedom hit me. I was going to make the best of the months off I had ahead of me. There would be baseball, the beach and a hell of a lot of beer!

  I grabbed Jake by the arm and we left our seats heading for the door. As we rounded the corner and headed down the hallway he looked at me with a serious look of mischief in his eyes and said, “You gonna do it?”

  “Do what?”

  “Go out to eat with him! You didn’t think I wasn’t looking over your shoulder when you read that? You should know me better than that!” He giggled like a little girl.

  I whipped my phone back out in a hurry to reply. I knew if I didn’t do it right that minute, there was no way I’d be able to get up the nerve to say yes or even reply at all. I had a feeling Bentley Young was not one to be ignored.

  From: Charlotte A. Windsor

  Subject: An Answer

  Date: May 13 16:48

  To: Be.Young@BU.edu

  Thank you for the invite, Mr. Young. I would like to take you up on your offer. Why don’t you join me this evening at my apartment? Bring your favorite take out. Surprise me. I want to be on my own turf. Fair?

  The address is 1330 Boylston Street, 13th floor – Apartment 1308

  See ya at 7?

  -Charlie

  I held my breath as I hit send. It was short notice, but tomorrow I would be with my parents all day long. I’d been holding them off long enough with the excuse of school, but I could use a home-cooked meal by Miss Emma, our family cook. That’s one of the few things I missed about living in our family house in Cambridge. It wasn’t far, but dealing with my parents involved a lot of patience and I just wasn’t up for the stress or my annoying and insanely overprotective brothers.

  Jake and I strolled towards my car, a silver BMW X5. Ever since I was in a car accident in high school in a small car, I needed to be behind the wheel of an SUV. We chatted about the blonde bimbo from the game the other night. I can’t imagine how someone who has no desire to be with a woman can bang so many of them. Apparently she was a pretty good time. “Did you at least call her back on Saturday?” All I got was a blank stare with a hint of a smile... Well, I guess that meant no. And I was taking relationship advice from him?

  Buzzzzzz.

  I couldn’t grab my phone fast enough. Another e-mail from Bentley was waiting in my inbox. I could feel the butterflies building in my stomach, a completely foreign feeling for me.

  From: Be.Young@BU.edu

  Subject: Deal

  Date May 13 16:59

  To: Charlotte A. Windsor

  Game on.

  See you at 7.

  -B

  “I guess I’ve got myself a date tonight!” I giggled like I was back in middle school again. I had a couple of hours to get home, throw together something cute to wear and shave. I hadn’t had to deal with all that since breaking up with the douche-bag from the frat.

  I knew there was no way I was going to let him get that close to me, but when you have a guy coming over, it only seems like the right thing to do.

  I pulled into the parking garage and headed up to my apartment. I jumped in the shower and grabbed my razor, daydreaming about Bentley. I couldn’t do anything but remember the way he touched me, the dancing and that amazing, life-altering kiss. It was still haunting me-- in a good way. The connection we shared was intense. I could see his bright blue eyes every time I closed my eyes. My thoughts wandered to him being right here in the shower with me. Running my hands all over his wet chest. Damn I bet he has an incredible body underneath that shirt he had on the other night.

  My typical fifteen minute shower turned into a half-hour one and finally I realized I was turning into a prune. Not really all that attractive, even if I wasn’t trying to impress this guy. Who was I fooling? I wanted to impress him all right!

  I dried off and threw on the outfit I laid out. A long black and pink stripped maxi dress I could skip a bra with and a pair of flats which would be totally appropriate around the house. I dried my hair and straightened it, leaving it flowing down to the middle of my back. I slid a long beaded necklace on, then ran the brush through my hair one last time. When I felt my ensemble was complete, I waited in the living room, flipping on NESN and opening my laptop.

  Even though I’d been the one to invite Bentley here, I had butterflies bouncing around in my stomach. I grabbed a bottle of water from the kitchen, hoping it would ease the flush I felt building in my face. I didn’t want to look like my mother during a hot flash when he showed up at my door.

  I wanted to see if I could dig anything up on my mystery man before he was enjoying dinner in my apartment. I really should have done this before I hastily agreed to the date. I opened Facebook and typed in his name. His page popped up immediately.

  Bingo! I felt like a total stalker but whatever. Isn’t that what every girl did before they went on a date with a guy?

  I didn’t bargain for what I found though. Picture after picture with hot blondes. Kissing them, groping them, all smiles and of course, drinks in their hands. The more I found the more the butterflies in my stomach turned into wasps. I felt sick. He was one of those campus sluts. I bet he thought he would come over tonight, bang me and never call again. This whole night had become a horrible idea.

  Stupid, stupid, stupid Charlotte!

  My heart broke just in time to hear a knock on the door. FUCK! He’s here! I didn’t want to see him at all after what I found online and now he was standing outside my door. Before I could compose myself, Shay let him in.

  I slammed my laptop closed, placed it down on the coffee table and turned around with a smile that was far from genuine. It was a trick I had learned from my mother over the years. When Shay saw my face, she knew something was up. She left us alone in the spacious kitchen, but stayed close enough to eavesdrop and come to my rescue if need be.

  “Hi,” I said, trying to be cordial.

  “Hey, I grabbed Chinese. I hope that’s okay,” Bentley said holding up the two huge bags. His eyes were wide as saucers looking around my apartment in shock. The high white ceilings, floor to ceiling glass on the far wall with a big screen television hanging smack dab in the middle was far from what most people expect when visiting a college student’s home. The TV was my favorite part of the living room area. There was nothing better than watching a baseball game on such a monstrous TV, except maybe being at Fenway. His reaction was the very reason I rarely entertained.

  Instead of dinner at the table, I suggested we eat in the living room for comfort.

  “What did you do, buy everything on the menu?” I laughed at him. I was grateful that my mood was beginning to lighten; no doubt because it was impossible to be mad while looking at his gorgeous face and perfect mouth smiling back at me. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the images I came across on Facebook out of my head.

  “I got one of everything I thought you might like from my favorite Chinese place.” His face started to blush as he gave a small unsure smile; almost as if he was embarrassed by going a little overboard. I picked up the bag of food, walked toward living room, while he followed cl
osely behind.

  “Come into the living room. We’ll eat and watch the game. We’re out in Toronto tonight,” I said. He looked shocked that I was enough of a fan to not only know where the Red Sox were playing, but to want to catch the game on TV.

  I’m sure baseball and Chinese food wasn’t what he’d envisioned when he asked about getting together. Food and fooling around was probably more his style, given the bimbos I’d seen in pictures with him, but he was in a whole new league whether he knew it or not.

  As the night went on, my mood continued to improve. I almost forgot about all the shit I found on the Internet. Everyone has a past; I should know that better than anyone. Most of Boston knew my wild teen years, but this man before me either didn’t know, or didn’t care. Who was I to judge him based on a few pictures on a social networking site?

  We talked about our families. I warned him about my intense overprotective brothers and my best friend. I learned he was one of three boys raised by a single mother who was no longer part of his life, but he wouldn’t elaborate on the details. I could see the pain behind his eyes when he spoke about her. I instantly felt like an asshole for bringing up family at all. He told me about how he was a pre-law student at Boston University -- yawn. He grew up in San Diego and moved to Boston permanently when he started college, to get away from the life he was living. The more he shared, the more mystery there was. Half of what he said left me with more questions than answers.

  Despite the mystery, there was a connection between us. Something I’d never felt before. It certainly had a sexual aspect to it, but it was so much more. We meshed perfectly regardless of our differences.

  The next thing I knew, it was one o’clock in the morning. The evening had flown by. Shay had gone to bed two hours ago and I seemed to be holding my own, thankfully. As long as Bentley wasn’t touching me, I had all my wits.

  “I think it’s time we say goodnight,” I said with a frown as I got up off the black leather sectional and headed towards the door with Bentley. I was a little light-headed, but I attributed that to the six pack of Sam Adams we split during the game.

  “Thank you for such a wonderful evening, Charlie. I would love to see you again if you’d like,” he said, staring at the tips of his shoes and running his fingers through his hair. He appeared worried that I would run after our deep conversation. He looked unsure of himself, self-conscious, completely unlike his usual domineering attitude.

  He held my hand on the way to the front door. At his touch, all rational thought left me. I needed him to put his lips on me. I was aching to feel more of him against more of me. What had gotten into me?

  Once we reached our destination, he leaned down and planted a single soft kiss on my lips, just like he did that night at Fenway. His lips were so soft and the electricity between us was beyond belief. It left me wanting more. When he respectfully pulled away like most modest girls would hope for, I blurted out, “That’s it?”

  It was as though my mouth just spit the words out before my mind could catch up with its actions. I looked at him, hoping he wasn’t as horrified by my outburst as I was. “I’m so sorry... I didn’t mean --” but before I could finish trying to apologize, his lips were on mine again. In an instant, my back was up against the front door and I was ensconced in his arms. As he lifted me off the ground I wrapped my legs around his waist the best I could in my long flowing dress. Bad choice of apparel for the evening! His tongue darted in and out of my mouth with urgency as I massaged it with mine. It was more than just a good kiss; it was the best kiss of my life. Our evening had just gone from a respectful first date with no touching, to heated passion with one kiss.

  If this was going to set the tone for our relationship, we were both in for some trouble.

  I was so focused on the kiss, I didn’t realize we were moving. Once I was aware of the direction in which we were traveling, I knew what he wanted from me. In this stupid dress he had easy access too. I started to pull away but he kept kissing me. Next thing I knew, we were on my bed.

  My mind became a giant jumbled mess. The internal fight with myself was overwhelming. My body was begging for his touch and my mind was telling me to get as far away from him as I could and send him packing.

  “I... I... I can’t do this,” I whispered as he looked at me utterly puzzled.

  “Do what?” he replied looking at me puzzled.

  “I can’t have sex with you.” I could only imagine that he could see the combination of embarrassment and shame on my face. I have this hot guy in my bed and I told him I can’t have sex with him. Yup embarrassing isn’t even the word for this! By the way he looked at me as the words left my lips -- the same lips that wanted him more than anything at that moment -- I knew my expression had given me away.

  “Sex? Whoa... who said anything about sex?” He said with a laugh.

  “Well, I just assumed since we’re now in my bedroom, on my bed, that you wanted a piece of ass and I simply can’t give you what you want.” My tone started to sound brazen.

  “I don’t want to have sex with you,” he stated bluntly. Even though I wasn’t ready to go there with him, his words stung. “I want to make love to you. You’re different from anyone I’ve ever known,” Bentley whispered in my ear as he gently ran his tongue down my earlobe and his fingers through my hair.

  He was good. I wondered how many other girls had gotten that same line from him. I couldn’t be much different, right?

  “I can’t do that either, Bentley. I...I... it’s just a special thing for me.” The fact was that I’d never been promiscuous, but in that moment, I hated saying the words. I winced as I spoke the words. It was extremely embarrassing to have to admit to basically being celibate as a grown woman.

  Here’s a beautiful man whispering sweet nothings into my ear and I just shut him down.

  “That’s okay, Charlotte. We don’t need to have sex or make love right now.” As soon as the words left his mouth, he kissed me again, deeper, with more passion than any of our previous kisses. Something new flowed between us, more than just the lust that had filled our recent moments. With each kiss, we were rolling all over my bed, side-to-side, all while his hands explored my breasts over my clothes, as respectfully as possible in the heated situation. I really wished I had absolutely no morals in that moment.

  The longer we made out, the more I wanted to throw my virginity out the window and let him take me right then and there.

  My mind had become a mess of thoughts and internal arguments. Should I? Shouldn’t I? Why did I feel so strongly for a stranger? What was this connection we had formed in one short night? The questions never stopped.

  Hours passed in mere minutes. I looked at my clock and looked back at Bentley, fighting to keep my eyes open. I couldn’t believe it was already four in the morning. I couldn’t remember the last time I was awake past two, let alone in bed making out for hours on end. It felt like high school all over again.

  “I’ve got to get out of here before I fall asleep,” he said with a huge yawn. I felt bad. He shouldn’t have to make his way back across town to his apartment this time of night.

  “You can stay. Just no funny business.” I made my way across the room to my dresser and stripped off my dress. It didn’t faze me to be standing in front of him in nothing but pink panties; nudity was something I had no problem with, even though most women have hang-ups about it. I slipped on an over-sized t-shirt, realizing this should be a time when there was a problem with my partial nudity.

  From the other side of the room, Bentley stared at my choice of sleepwear. “Is that a Hatebreed t-shirt?” He asked, unable to hide the shock in his voice.

  “Sure is. They’re one of my favorite bands,” I replied, a smile growing on my face.

  He took his shirt and jeans off and stood there in just his strained boxers. The look in his eyes was something between lust and hunger, making me a bit nervous. I might as well have been drooling all over the place as he stripped. The bulge of his erectio
n against his boxers looked like the thin fabric wouldn’t be able to hold it back much longer.

  My eyes lingered over the outline of his cock covered by his boxers. Stuck inside my head I didn’t even realize I had been staring.

  “No need to worry.” He said with a smirk on his face. “No funny business, remember? I promised.”

  We both slid under the covers as if we would be able to stay away from each other. He curled up tight behind me as I turned the light off and rolled over so my back was to him. I felt so safe and secure in his arms, almost like I belonged there. My mind was racing about the events of the night. I was beyond exhausted.

  Even though we should’ve both fallen asleep quickly, we continued to talk. The sexual tension was there, but we both did our best to mask it as if it didn’t exist.

  Eventually we both drifted off to sleep after a series of goodnights and lots of giggles like kids at a slumber party.

  “CHARLOTTE ANN WINDSOR, WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING?” I woke up tangled in the beautifully tattooed arms of my new obsession, startled by a booming voice filling the room. My very angry older brother, Trey, was standing at the foot of the bed glaring at me when I opened my eyes.

  Shit.

  “Trey! This isn’t what it looks like! I promise you!” I explained as he stormed to my side of the bed. I knew Bentley could crack him over his knee like a toothpick if he tried anything, but I would rather skip all that drama.

  “Then what is it I’m looking at? Because right now all I see is my baby sister half naked in bed with some asshole,” he spat, his face getting redder by the minute.

  “Tone back the tough guy act Trey, this is Bentley and he’s a friend of mine. Nothing happened, no need to alert the media. Give me a few minutes to get up and ready and then we can go.” I leaned over to give Bentley a hug, got out of bed and went towards the bathroom.