by Sarah Nego
He was totally wrong. I wasn’t jumping into anything. And I’d almost convinced myself that was true.
Twenty-Two
Luci
Saturday
Morning conditioning
Laundry
Review Spanish vocab
Calculus problems chapter 8
Date with Ryan
“This is impossible.” I tossed yet another shirt onto my bed and marched back to my closet. “How in the world am I supposed to pick out an outfit when I don’t have any idea where we’re going or what we’ll be doing?”
Erin glanced up from her magazine with an infuriating smile on her face. “I could guess what you’ll be doing, but I’m not sure there’s a dress code for steamy make-out sessions.”
I grabbed one of the glossy mags from her nightstand, rolled it up, and slapped her legs. “Not funny. You’re supposed to be helping me.”
Erin grabbed the magazine away and flattened it back out. “Hey, careful with the research materials.” Somehow my roommate had convinced herself that a key part of her future journalism career involved keeping up with whatever America’s favorite starlets were doing.
“Come on, Erin.” I flopped onto her bed and lay out in a pose matching the dramatic actress on the cover of the magazine Erin was reading. “You know I suck at this.”
“That’s true.” Erin tossed her magazine aside and got up, marching straight to my closet. She pulled out a few shirts and then put them back.
“The key to dressing for a mystery event is to strike a fine balance between casual and formal. That way you’re perfect for anything.” She moved several hangers to the side and grabbed a pair of capri jeans I’d forgotten were in there.
“Okay,” I said, taking the hanger from her. “These can work.”
“Of course they can. They are casual enough that you won’t be overdressed, but with the right shoes, you can dress them up.”
I gave her a stern look and pursed my lips. “I’m not wearing any more heels.”
Erin waved her hand as if batting my words away. “No, heels are too much. But sneakers are too casual. You need a nice pair of flats.” She walked to her own closet and pulled out a pair of leopard print slip-ons.
“Are you kidding me?”
She winked and handed them to me. “They’re perfect. A little animal print is always sexy. A perfect look for your make-out session.”
I rolled my eyes and slid out of my sweatpants so I could put on the capris she’d picked out. “No one said anything about a make-out session.”
“And yet, two out of three times you’ve spent time alone with Ryan have ended in the two of you lip locking.” She flipped through my shirts and winked at me over her shoulder. “I’m curious, what color do you use on your calendar to schedule making out with your hot new boyfriend?”
I threw my sweatpants at her. “Why do I put up with you?”
“Because you love me.” She turned around, a pale green shirt in her hands. “And I’m amazing at finding the perfect date outfit. Put this on.”
I slid the silky shirt on and stepped into the borrowed flats. Standing in front of the mirror on the back of our door, I had to admit she was right. I never would have put this outfit together, but it looked good. I could see it working for all kinds of scenarios.
Erin dusted her hands together. “My work here is done. A little lip gloss to keep you pucker ready and you’re good to go.”
I rolled my eyes at her, but little butterflies wriggled around in my belly at her words. Erin was only teasing me about Ryan being my boyfriend, but I didn’t hate the sound of it. And I was definitely hoping for more kissing tonight.
And maybe that was the scariest part. Because a few weeks ago I’d sworn I wouldn’t get involved with Ryan or anyone else. Mystery dates and late-night texting were not on my schedule. I’d woken up groggy every morning the past week after staying up way too late texting with Ryan about everything and anything. And with classes in full swing, my workload had almost doubled, and I was trying to stay on top of assignments and study for tests. I didn’t have time for any of this.
But here I was. Because maybe I’d been unrealistic before. It wasn’t like I was failing my classes. The opposite really since Ryan and I got a one hundred percent on our Spanish project. And soccer was busy, but the season was only three months. After that, I’d only have conditioning a few days a week, and that meant way more flexibility in my schedule.
“Hello, Earth to Luci.” Erin stood next to her closet, her mouth quirked into an amused grin.
“What?” I asked, turning away from the mirror.
“You’ve been standing there ignoring me for the past two minutes.” She kicked her slippers into her closet and pulled out a shiny pair of sandals. “I asked if you knew where the Remoy building is.”
I closed my eyes and thought of the map I’d memorized weeks early. “Yeah, it’s behind the performing arts center on the other side of the chemistry building. Why?”
“The multi-cultural affairs club is having a mixer there tonight.”
I grabbed my brush and worked a few knots out of my straight brown hair. “That’s like the third club you’ve been to this week. How many are you planning to join?”
Erin waved her hand at me as if I was crazy. “I’m not planning to join any of them. This isn’t like high school when I was padding my college applications. This is about experiencing everything college has to offer. I figured if I go to at least two new clubs each week I should be able to get to all of them before I graduate.”
“You’re crazy.” I pointed my brush at her like an accusation.
“Not at all.” Erin shrugged and grabbed the brush to take care of her own hair. “If I want to tell the world’s stories, first I have to know what they are. Plus, when the editor asks if anyone has any connections to any of the organizations on campus, I can be the first to raise my hand.”
I laughed. “Are you asking members all the really hard questions so you can get to the heart of their dreams and disappointments?”
“Not yet,” she said, tapping the corner of her mouth with one finger. Then, she held the brush up to my mouth like a microphone. “I should practice with you. What percentage of tonight’s date do you plan to dedicate to making out with Ryan?”
A knock at the door saved me from having to answer, and I gave Erin a look I hoped conveyed her need to be on her best behavior. My stomach fluttered more as I walked to open the door.
Ryan flashed me a dazzling smile as soon as he saw me. Erin standing behind me was the only reason I didn’t lean in and kiss him right then. Instead, I stood back so he could come in. I let out a sigh of relief to see he was wearing jeans and a plain black t-shirt.
He wrapped a single arm around my waist and leaned in toward my ear. “You look nice,” he whispered, his hot breath heating the side of my face.
My mouth dried up, making any kind of response impossible.
“Hi,” Erin chirped from the other side of the room. “So what do you crazy kids have planned for the night?”
Ryan laughed, his head falling back and exposing his throat. I fought back the urge to lick it. “Nice try.”
Erin tipped her head to the side and shrugged. “Can’t fault a girl for trying.”
“Are you ready to go?” he asked, smiling down at me and reigniting my nerves.
“Sure,” I said lightly, a swarm of bees taking over my stomach.
Erin let out a little cough behind us, and when I turned around, she was holding up my purse, a wide grin on her face.
“Thanks.” I walked over and took the purse from her.
She grabbed my arm before I could turn away. “I threw some lip gloss in your purse. Go get ‘em, tiger.”
I laughed and threw my arms around Erin’s neck for a quick hug before joining Ryan at the door. His hand was on my back again within seconds, and shivers of anticipation rolled down my arms. Wherever Ryan was taking us, I was ready to go.
Twenty-Three
Ryan
Saturday
Luci stood poised over the counter, and I could practically see her brain calculating her options as she stared down at the prize selection.
“Okay,” she said to the teenager behind the counter who looked like she’d rather be anywhere than the arcade handing out erasers and little green army men. “We need two of the corded friendship bracelets, two ring pops, and one stuffed soccer ball.”
Luci set her hard-earned tickets on the counter and grinned at me over her shoulder. “Sorry, we don’t have enough tickets for two of the balls, and prizes are for winners.”
God, this girl was too much. I’d behaved myself for most of the night, but my willpower was drained, and all I wanted to do was touch her. I moved to stand directly behind her and let my hands rest on her hips. “I won at air hockey.”
Luci leaned back and closed the gap between us. “True, but I kicked your butt at the shooting game, skee ball, and whack-a-mole. Three out of four makes me the obvious winner.”
I leaned down and nuzzled her neck with my nose. “I’m not feeling like a loser right now.”
Luci sucked in a quick breath before letting out a tiny moan that only I could hear. That girl needed to hurry up with those prizes before I bent Luci back against the counter and devoured her.
Glancing around at the giant space filled with screaming kids and loud blipping machines, I knew I never could have brought Vanessa to a place like this. She would have complained about everything from sub-par food and sticky tables to the juvenile games and dealing with people she would see as below her. Dates with her almost always included some fancy restaurant I could barely afford and a snooty concert or ballet. None of which I ever enjoyed.
But with Luci, this place had been perfect. She’d loved the make-your-own-pizza station and the games let her burn off some of that competitive streak she hadn’t been able to use in the goalie box. We hadn’t stopped laughing since we walked in the door. Plus, this place was a good hour from campus, so there was no chance anyone would recognize us and go blabbing to Vanessa.
It was a pain having to drive so far for a date, but I’d drive across the whole state of Texas if it got me more time alone with Luci.
The girl came back with Luci’s prizes, and she took them with a little squeal. It sent a jolt to my gut to see her so excited about something so simple. Luci would never scoff at a gift. I couldn’t even imagine her acting ungrateful for anything. She was everything Vanessa wasn’t, and I finally realized exactly how wrong we’d been together.
Luci turned in my arms and smiled up at me. “Hold out your arm,” she ordered.
I did as she said, and she slid a brown corded bracelet on my wrist. She pursed her lips and then nodded. “Yeah, I think brown is definitely your color.”
I stared into her brown eyes and couldn’t agree with her more.
She slid a matching blue bracelet on her own wrist.
“Do you want cherry or watermelon?” She held the little packages of candy up and waved them a bit so the foil wrappers crinkled.
I let my hands drop to her waist, a move that felt completely natural with her. “Whichever one you don’t want.”
“Cherry.” She held it out to me. “A perfect choice.”
I stuck the candy in my pocket and steered us away from the prize counter. “Are you ready to get out of here?”
She grinned up at me. “I think I’ve decimated your ego enough for one night.”
Laughing, I guided us through the crowded room toward the door. “I’m a little bruised after that epic beat down. But I can think of at least one way you can help me feel better.”
We pushed out into the darkened parking lot and walked to where I’d parked the GTO by itself.
As we got to the passenger door, Luci stepped in closer to me and looked up through fluttering lashes. “What did you have in mind?”
I didn’t wait before leaning in and claiming her mouth. Her lips were satiny soft, and she was right there matching my intensity. My hands pulled at her hips, tugging her closer to me. I could kiss Luci Ryder all night long.
Luci wrapped her hands around my neck, the soft fleece of the stuffed soccer ball rubbing at my skin where her fingers weren’t touching. My feet stumbled forward, and I pushed Luci up against the side of the sleek car. Kissing girls in darkened parking lots was why God made muscle cars.
I teased Luci’s mouth open, and she groaned as I deepened the kiss, dragging her body as close to me as we could get, not caring that we were standing in the parking lot, the putt-putt course less than a dozen yards away. With Luci, nothing else seemed to matter. Not Vanessa and her stupid rules or the business degree I was getting that I didn’t really want. Kissing Luci was like a soothing balm for everything wrong in my life.
Pulling back slightly, I dropped my mouth to Luci’s neck, and she laid her head on the roof of the car to give me better access. I wanted to kiss every inch of her.
“I want to take you somewhere,” I mumbled against the tender skin of her throat.
“Do I get to know where this time?” Her words were breathy, and I swelled inside knowing I was the one doing that to her.
“If I said no, would you come with me anyway?”
Luci sighed. “Yes.”
“Then I’m not telling you.” I pulled us both away from the GTO and opened the door.
The drive back to Pearson was quiet, but it wasn’t awkward. I held Luci’s hand, my thumb drawing little circles against her soft skin, and spent the time thinking about how I could fall for a girl like her without even trying.
I’d never fallen for Vanessa. One day we’d fallen into bed, and then she never left. I was the hot-shit freshman who had somehow figured out how to get a long-legged sophomore into my bed, and I never stopped to ask if I really wanted her there. By the time I figured out I didn’t, we’d already settled around each other.
Luci was different. She was going to make me work for every inch and then plead for another. And I’d do it, too. I’d get down on my knees and beg for the scraps of her attention and be grateful for every one she gave me.
I drove to campus and pulled the GTO into the back parking lot behind the fine arts building. Just like every Saturday night when I snagged time in the darkroom, mine was the only car there.
Luci didn’t say a word as I got out, opened her door, and led us to the back door where I punched in my code for the lock.
Once the door closed behind us, Luci let out a soft breath and her shoulders relaxed. I should have realized she would have been nervous about someone seeing us.
“Trust me.” I squeezed her hand and tugged her down the dimly lit hallway. “No one ever comes in here on Saturday nights.”
“Except us.” Her voice was tight, but she gave my hand a squeeze. “So where exactly are we going?”
I stopped beside another locked door and keyed in my student code. “Here.”
The door buzzed with the release of the lock, and I pulled her inside, flipping on the light.
Her eyes went wide as she took in the small room of shelves filled with development supplies. “Is this the—”
“In here.” I pulled her through a door at the side of the room into the place on campus I felt the most like myself outside of the soccer field. The switch on the wall turned on a shaded yellow bulb that hung from the center of the ceiling. There was another switch that would turn on a set of overhead lights, but I left those off.
I wanted her to experience the darkroom the way I did. Wrapped in shadows and possibilities.
“So this is where you make your magic?” She turned around slowly, taking in the crowded tables in the small, square room. Every surface was packed with equipment and supplies, but everything was in its rightful place. It was a big deal to leave the darkroom a mess.
Some photographers thought it was sacrilege to bring a non-photographer in, but it didn’t feel that way with Luci. She told me she didn’t know any
thing about photography, but somehow she fit in this space. Maybe because she was in the art program with graphic design, or maybe because she was the first person to make me feel like I belonged there too.
When I decided to bring Luci to the darkroom, I really had only wanted to show her what I normally did on a Saturday night. But there was something magical about having Luci there in the space that meant so much to me. How many times had I asked Vanessa to come with me so she could see what I did? And how many times had she refused, calling it a dark hole of time suckage? Luci glanced around the dimly lit room with her eyes wide, gently touching the equipment like it was something sacred. Like it mattered. My motives weren’t innocent anymore.
I caught Luci’s hip in the dim light and backed her against a table pushed against the wall. Luci’s hands flew to my chest, gripping at the fabric of my t-shirt, and her body softened as I pressed my hips flush to hers.
“Ryan.” She whispered my name on a warm breath that tickled my cheek as I leaned closer to her.
“Say it again,” I groaned, my erection rubbing against her.
Luci hissed in a breath, her hips surging against mine. “Ryan.”
She undid me.
So many times I’d heard my name and the word dripped with demands, derision, and frustration. I’d never heard it whispered like a plea until Luci. The way she said it made me want to give her everything and anything she asked for.
Except Luci wasn’t the kind of girl to sit back and make demands. She went after what she wanted and so could I.
My mouth crushed down on hers, and it wasn’t a soft gentle kiss. This was a command and Luci obeyed, tilting her head and meeting my lips with a desire of her own. My entire body was pushed flush against hers, but it wasn’t enough. I needed to feel her.
I reached between us, flicking open the button of her jeans and shoving them down toward her knees. My hands flew to her ass and slid under the thin cotton underwear to the tight muscles I’d only gotten a tease of during our first kiss.