by Kylie Keene
Brad shuts the car door and meets me on the sidewalk. “Morgan, what’s wrong? You look like you might get sick. Was it the food?”
I shake my head. “No. I just can’t—”
He’s staring at me, waiting for me to explain. But I don’t tell him what’s wrong because I don’t want him, or anyone else, knowing I have this irrational fear of big, fluffy snowflakes. The thing is, other type of snow doesn’t bother me as much. I only have this reaction to a particular type of snow. The type that happens to be falling right now.
Brad sees me watching the flakes fall to the ground and says, “The snow.”
I slowly nod, surprised that he figured that out. For all he knew, I could’ve been thinking about anything, but he knew I was thinking about the accident.
He pulls me into a hug. “Morgan, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you still—”
“It just gets to me sometimes.” I whisper it.
He keeps hold of me. And being wrapped in his big, warm arms relaxes me enough that I’m able to breathe normally again.
“Brad, you can go. I’ll call a cab when it stops.”
He pulls back a little, wiping the wet snowflakes off my face. “Morgan, I’m not leaving you here. Let’s go see if there’s a coffee shop around here where we can wait it out.”
“Okay.” I smile at him, happy that he’s being so nice about this.
He takes my hand and we walk down the cobblestone street, but there aren’t any coffee shops. Just some restaurants and shops that are now closed.
“I guess nothing’s open,” he says. “Are you okay if we just wait in the car? I won’t drive anywhere. We’ll just sit there.”
“Yeah, that’s fine.”
We’re at the end of the street so we turn around and begin walking back.
The snow is letting up a little and the flakes aren’t as big. We’re still a block away from the car when I stop and tug on Brad’s jacket. “Brad?”
He stops and turns to face me. “Yeah?”
“I’m really sorry about this.”
“Why? It’s good to walk after dinner. Helps the digestion.”
I smile. “That’s right. It does.” I back up a few steps so that I’m under one of the awnings jutting out from the building.
Brad steps forward until he’s under it as well. Our gazes meet and he takes another step so that he’s right in front of me.
“So did you have a good time tonight?” He puts his hand on the side of my face, his thumb wiping the wet snowflakes from my cheek.
“Yeah. Really good.” I keep my eyes on him as he leans in closer.
“I did, too.” I feel his warm breath over my lips and my heart starts beating faster. Then he kisses me. It’s a soft, gentle kiss and it’s only lips, no tongue, just like when Grant kissed me. And yet it doesn’t feel the same. When Grant kissed me, I liked it, but it didn’t really cause much of reaction in me.
But Brad’s lips, just barely kissing mine, are all it takes to make my insides all warm and tingly. To make my heart beat so fast I almost feel out of breath. I’ve never had a kiss like this. I didn’t know a simple kiss could make my whole body react.
He slowly pulls away and looks at me. I think I’m smiling but I’m not really sure. I’m too mesmerized by that kiss.
He reaches down and takes my hand. “You ready to go?”
“Do you think maybe you could do that again?” I can’t believe I asked him that. I try to come up with a reason for it. “It’s just that it’s cold out and the kiss kind of warmed me up.”
He smiles just a little and slips his hand under my hair and behind my neck. He tilts my head up as he slowly lowers his lips to mine. My heart is pounding in anticipation and when he finally kisses me, my insides heat up again. He’s still not using his tongue. Just his soft lips moving over mine, alternating the pressure and causing the tingly feeling again.
He backs away and I already miss his lips. He holds my hand and smiles. “Should we go?”
I’d rather stay here and kiss, but it’s getting too cold to stand outside so I agree to walk back. By the time we reach the car, the snow has stopped but the wind is fierce. Brad opens the car door for me, then goes to the driver’s side and starts the engine, turning the heat up to high.
“You stay warm. I need to scrape this ice.” He takes the ice scraper from the back seat and goes back outside, scraping the front and back windows. As I sit in the car, I think about what a great night I just had. I’m still not sure if it was a date, but if it was, it’s the best date I’ve ever been on. And it ended with the best kiss I’ve ever had.
When we get back to the hotel, Brad stops at my room. “Thanks for having dinner with me.”
“Thanks for inviting me.”
“Well, goodnight.” He starts to leave.
So that’s it? We’re just done? I’m not ready for him to go. I don’t want this to be the end. Tomorrow is the last day of the conference, which means I may never see him again.
“Wait. What about tomorrow?” I blurt it out and realize how desperate I sound, like I’m begging him to take me out again. “I mean, tomorrow is the last day of the conference so um, what are your plans? For dinner? Or lunch, or whatever?” I sound even more desperate. I’ve now asked him to be with me in any possible capacity.
“I have that second interview tomorrow during dinner. I don’t know how long it will last. It might go on for a while.”
“Oh, okay.” I get this panicked feeling, knowing this is our final goodbye. I have to see him one last time. I’m not even sure why. This is so confusing. Why am I acting like this? I barely know him.
“If you want, I could call you after dinner,” he says. “We could go have a drink in the bar downstairs.”
I feel myself smiling like a junior high girl being asked to her first dance. “Yeah. Let’s do that. Call my room whenever you’re done.”
“Okay, I will.” He heads back to his room. No goodnight hug. No kiss. Nothing.
Despite the romantic dinner we just had, and the kiss, I guess we’re just friends. It’s too bad, because I think I really like this guy.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
11
I didn’t get to bed until midnight and my lack of sleep causes me to doze off during half of the morning sessions. At the noon break, I grab a salad from the deli across the street and bring it back to my room so I can catch up on emails.
As I’m eating lunch my phone rings. When I answer it I hear, “Morgan, it’s us.”
“Hi, Kayla. Is Paige there, too?”
“Yeah, she came back to work but she’s still sick.” I hear the phone click as she puts me on speaker.
“Hi, Morgan.” Paige’s voice sounds hoarse. “How’s the conference? I’m sorry you had to go at the last minute like that. But at least you’re in Boston. Are you having any fun?”
“The conference isn’t that great, but I’ve met some people and I’ve been going out at night.”
“You’ve been going out?” Kayla sounds offended. “Miss Never-Goes-Out is now going out with strangers? You never go out with me.”
“I go out with you sometimes, just not every night. And not all of these people were strangers. This guy from my high school is here.”
“So you’re hanging out with a guy every night, huh?” A man’s voice says it in a kidding tone.
“Grant’s here, too,” Kayla says.
Good thing she told me. I was just about to tell them about Brad.
“Morgan, I haven’t heard from you,” Grant says, still in that kidding tone. “I had all these work emergencies and my mentor wouldn’t answer her phone.”
I laugh. “Sorry about that. I’ve been really busy at the conference.”
“I have to get back upstairs but I just wanted to say hi. I’ll see you soon. Let’s have dinner when you get back.”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
He leaves and Kayla takes the phone off speaker and lowers her voice. “Grant is totally into you, Morgan.
He stops by here every day asking Paige and me if we’ve heard from you. Why haven’t you called him?”
“Wait, I want to hear this.” Paige seems to be trying to listen in.
“Paige, don’t get so close. I don’t want your illness.” Kayla puts me on speaker again.
“I can’t talk to you guys about Grant when you’re in the office. Someone might overhear. You’ll have to wait until I get back.”
“We’re in the conference room. Paige is closing the door. Okay, go ahead.”
“I didn’t call him because I didn’t have anything to say.”
“What do you mean you didn’t have anything to say?” Paige asks. “Just talk to the guy.”
“It’s not that simple. He makes me nervous and I tend to say the wrong things when I’m nervous. I don’t want to screw up again. I already lied to him at dinner that night.”
“So who’s this guy you’re hanging out with?” Kayla asks. “Did you say you dated him in high school?”
“We didn’t date. We grew up in the same neighborhood. But I didn’t know him that well. We went to school together but he was two years ahead of me. In high school he played football and was really popular. He had practically every girl in my high school after him. The rumor was he slept with half of them.”
“That doesn’t sound like your type of guy.” Paige coughs. “Why are you hanging out with him?”
“He’s not like that anymore. He’s grown up a lot. He interns for a food company now. He’s been interviewing for jobs. Anyway, we went to dinner last night and had a great time. We were at the restaurant so late they practically had to kick us out. And we took a walk and it was, I don’t know, nice. Really nice.”
There’s silence on the phone and I check to make sure we’re still connected. “Are you guys still there?”
“Yeah. We’re just surprised,” Paige says. “You sound like you really like this guy. You were giddy just now when you talked about him.”
“Giddy? What are you 90, Paige?” I hear Kayla move closer to the phone. “Morgan, you did sound way more enthusiastic than normal.” She pauses. “Oh my God! Did you sleep with him? Yes! That’s gotta be it! You’ve got the sex glow. It’s radiating through the phone. Congratulations!”
“What? No! I didn’t sleep with him.” I don’t want to tell Paige and Kayla about the kiss. They’ll make too big a deal out of it.
“You said this guy was a male slut in high school. So what’s the deal?” Kayla’s words are garbled like she’s got a lollipop in her mouth. She eats like 10 of them a day. “Is he married or something?”
“No, he’s not married.”
“Then why didn’t you make out with him?”
“For one, I’m dating Grant, or at least I might be in the very near future. And two, I’m just friends with this guy. That’s it. We’re just friends who went out for a nice dinner.”
“Is he hot?” Kayla asks.
“Extremely hot. He’s tall, blue eyes, athletic.”
“What the hell? Sleep with this guy!” Kayla practically yells it. “You’ll finally get it over with. This is perfect! It sounds like he has more than enough experience, which means he can teach you things. You already know him, so it’s not like you’re doing it with a stranger. And when the conference ends you’ll never have to see him again. You have to do this, Morgan.”
“We haven’t even kissed,” I lie. Just thinking about that kiss makes me smile a little. Okay, maybe a lot.
I must be a horrible liar because Paige says, “You totally kissed him. I can tell.”
“Fine, I kissed him. But it was just one kiss and it was very innocent. More like a friend kiss. He’s not interested in being anything more than that.”
Paige sneezes again.
“Paige, go sit on the other side of the room,” Kayla orders. “I am NOT getting sick. Anyway, Morgan, listen. Maybe this guy thinks you’re still the goody-goody he knew in high school. Just heat things up a little. Come on to him. Trust me. If a guy’s offered sex, he’s not going to turn you down.”
“I don’t know. I don’t want him to think I’m a slut. We’re from the same town. I might run into him again someday.”
“You worry way too much. Just get a few drinks in him. Loosen him up a little. Then take him back to your room.”
I hear Paige blowing her nose in the background.
“What do you think, Paige?” I ask her.
“It’s not the worst idea Kayla’s had. It is kind of good that you know him already. And you seem to really like him. So I guess I would say go for it.”
“Really?” I pause to consider it. I like Brad and he’s super hot and he does have a lot of experience in this area. “Maybe you guys are right. This is a good opportunity. And when I get back home, it’ll be done and it won’t be so awkward if I end up doing it with Grant.”
“Finally,” Kayla says.
“So how do I do this? Just try to seduce him into coming back to my room?”
Kayla laughs. “You don’t need to seduce him. Just invite him in. He’ll know what it means.”
“Make sure to use condoms,” Paige says in a mom tone. “If he’s been with tons of women he could have all kinds of diseases.”
“Like she really wants to hear that, Paige.” I can practically hear Kayla rolling her eyes. “Morgan, did you bring your good underwear?”
“I didn’t exactly plan on this, Kayla.”
“You always have to plan on this. Is there a store nearby? You can’t let him see those granny panties.”
“They’re not granny panties. They’re hi-cut briefs and I don’t think he’s the type who would care.”
“Just go commando. He’ll like that better than those things you call underwear.”
I hear Paige rustling some papers. “You sure you want to do this, Morgan?”
“I’ll think about it some more, but you might’ve just talked me into it.”
“You have to tell us all about it when you get back,” Kayla says. “We have to go. We’ll talk to you later.”
They hang up and I finish my lunch and think about this plan for having sex with Brad. It does sound appealing. And he does know what he’s doing. But maybe he won’t want to do it with me. Last night, he could’ve invited me to his room, but he didn’t. So maybe he really does just see me as a friend and that’s it.
After we have drinks tonight, I’ll just casually ask him if he’d like to hang out in my room, then see where things lead. But what if they lead to sex? Kayla’s right. What guy’s going to turn down sex? He’ll definitely want to do it. But am I ready for that?
Now I’m getting nervous. Tonight I might finally lose my virginity. And it’ll be to the last person I would’ve ever imagined it would be.
CHAPTER TWELVE
12
I go over to my suitcase to see if I have anything even remotely sexy to wear. I don’t. All I have are boring business clothes; some button-up shirts, a few sweaters, a couple pairs of pants, a skirt, and the dress I wore last night. And I don’t have anything that even comes close to being considered lingerie. My undergarments are limited to my hi-cut briefs and my beige, wire-free, made-for-comfort-not-sex bras.
I decide to go with jeans and my red sweater. I read somewhere that the color red attracts men. But maybe that’s a myth, because I wore a red dress last night and sat in a room full of red and only got that one innocent kiss.
What else do I need for tonight? I hear Paige’s voice in my head reminding me to get condoms. Where do I get condoms? The gift shop. People at a hotel must need condoms all the time. They have to sell them.
I head down to the gift shop, hoping and praying it’s not full of people. Luckily, it’s empty because the lunch session is still going on in the main ballroom.
I search the shop for condoms but can’t find them anywhere. They have everything else; toothbrushes, combs, aspirin, shower caps, tampons, toothpaste.
The young woman working the cash register sees me searchin
g the store like I’m on some type of scavenger hunt.
“Can I help you?” she asks.
The woman is in her twenties and has reddish-blond hair that hangs in loose waves several inches past her shoulders. She has huge breasts and is wearing a short black dress that shows off her long legs. I’m just guessing here, but I would say she’s probably not a virgin. Which means she’s likely found herself in need of condoms before and wouldn’t judge me for buying them at a hotel.
I go up to her and speak softly. “Do you sell condoms here?”
She looks surprised. I’m suddenly offended. Do I look like someone who would never need condoms? I’m no beauty queen but I’m not exactly ugly.
“We keep them back here.” She reaches under the register and opens a drawer. “How many do you need?”
How many do I need? How many does she think I need?
“Um, just one.”
She gives me a strange look. “They come in packs of three or more.”
“Oh, okay. Three is good.”
“Do you want ribbed, flavored, sensitive, extra sensitive, for her pleasure, glow in the dark?”
I had no idea there were so many different types of condoms. I’ve never actually shopped for condoms.
She continues. “For flavored we have cherry, citrus, grape—”
“No. Just plain. No flavors. No glow in the dark. No ribbing.”
“So do you want sensitive? Extra sensitive? For her—”
I hear people starting to leave the ballroom, coming out into the lobby.
“I don’t know. Just give me whatever. It doesn’t matter.”
“For her pleasure.” She holds the package up and smiles. “Why should guys have all the fun, right?” She punches something in the register. “Should I charge it to your room?”
I imagine myself giving the accounting department at work a copy of my hotel receipt with a charge for condoms on it. I’m sure it would just say ‘gift shop’ but with my luck, you never know.
“I’ll just pay with cash. How much is it?”