by Ashlee Price
“Oh. Because someone might steal something from your collections?”
“That’s one thing,” I answer. “And also because I don’t really like being around other people, which is why I barely leave the house.”
Usually, I just find them distracting, if not annoying.
“Oh.”
I reach for the bowl of soup but quickly move my hands away as the heat seeps into my skin.
“Careful.” Dani takes the spoon and stirs the soup. “It’s still hot.”
She blows gently on the surface.
“You don’t have to do that,” I tell her. “I’m not a kid.”
“How old are you again?” she asks.
“Twenty-four,” I answer.
“Younger than me, which gives me a right to do this.” She blows again.
I frown as I sit back against the pillow. “You’re bossy. You know that?”
Dani chuckles. “Yeah. My sister tells me that sometimes.”
But somehow, I don’t really mind.
“By the way, your collections are impressive to say the least,” she says. “You practically live in a museum.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Aren’t museums boring?”
She grins. “I meant in the sense that you’ve got lots of interesting stuff.”
“Oh.”
“Melanie said that you do yoga because it helps you concentrate on your work,” she says. “What exactly do you do? Are you an artist?”
“That’s one way of putting it.” I place my hands on my lap. “I’m a writer. I write scripts mostly, but I also write books every now and then.”
“Oh. And here I thought you were a painter.”
“Painting is a hobby,” I tell her.
“Well, you paint very well. I’m no artist, but I can tell.”
My eyes widen. No one’s ever told me that before. Then again, no one’s really seen my paintings before.
I rub the back of my neck. “Thanks.”
“I’m just curious,” she goes on. “You write. You paint. I guess I understand why you have the comic books.”
My eyebrows go up. She saw those too?
“But why the costumes and props? Are they souvenirs from the movies you’ve worked on?”
“Some. Mostly, I keep them because they help me with my writing. You know, I get a better feel for the characters when I can visualize what they’re wearing, plus I can describe their clothes and things better.”
Dani nods. “I see.”
“They help me imagine different worlds.”
“Well, there’s a whole world outside your door, you know,” she tells me. “Maybe sometime, instead of just imagining, you should try experiencing it.”
I shrug. “I don’t know.”
“The world’s not all bad. Sure, some people are mean and some kids just get in your hair, but there are good people, too. Not everyone eats other people.”
In spite of myself, I let out a chuckle.
Dani looks at me. “You laughed. I didn’t know you could do that.”
Funny. I can’t remember the last time I laughed at something I didn’t write.
“Well, I think your soup’s ready.” She lifts the bowl and hands it to me. “Still a bit warm, but soup’s no good cold.”
I sit up and wrap one hand around it, holding the spoon with the other. Then I taste a spoonful. The liquid is still hot on my lips, but at least it doesn’t scorch. And as soon as it goes down my throat, it makes me feel better.
It tastes good, too. Not too salty.
“It’s good,” I say before putting the spoon back in my mouth.
“Glad you approve,” Dani says. “I’ll be sure to tell the chef.” She touches her chin. “Oh, wait. I am the chef.”
I grin.
I eat the soup for the next few moments in silence, but stop as the steam creates a mist over my glasses.
“Maybe you should take these off first.” Dani removes them before I can protest and sets them on the tray.
I blink.
“That’s better,” she says. “You’ve got nice eyes, you know.”
I doubt that. Last time I looked in the mirror, they were plain brown ones.
She gazes into them. “I can almost see another world in them.”
My heart stops, then flutters in my chest. Suddenly, I’m aware of how close Dani is to me. Her face is just inches from mine. I can feel the warmth of her breath tickling my skin and it travels throughout my body.
Too close.
I’ve never had anyone come this close before.
And yet, somehow, I’m not afraid.
Not of her.
Just like the soup, the warmth from Dani is comforting, not scorching.
It feels good.
“Thank you,” I tell her. “For everything. I feel better already.”
She smiles. “So do I.”
Chapter Eleven
Dani
I did feel better earlier while I was with Noah.
Now that I’m in the living room back at home, though, I find myself seething again. My annoyance and frustration are simmering to the surface as I retell the day’s events to Cora while I dig into a pint of Chunky Monkey and she folds the laundry.
“I can’t believe I lost my virginity to such a jerk.”
“Whoa.” Cora turns to me with eyes wide. “You had sex with this guy?”
“Last night,” I confess.
“Well, that explains why you came home so late.” She folds the next shirt on top of her pile. “So how was it?”
“Great,” I admit. “Better with each round.”
Cora’s jaw drops. “Darling, you had way too much pent up libido. And stamina. But hey, I’m happy for you.”
I stick my spoon into the ice cream. “Didn’t you hear what I said? Reilly’s a jerk. He lied to me and then he just cast me aside.”
“Honey, I have news for you. Most of us lose our virginity to jerks like that when we don’t wait until we’re married.”
I pout as I dig around with my spoon. “I really thought he was different, though. I thought we had something special. We really had this connection. It wasn’t just a spark.” I sigh. “Or so I thought. As it turns out, he’s just like the other guys.”
“Is he?” Cora asks. “I kind of get why he lied.”
“It’s not the lying that hurts the most.” I put the spoon back in my mouth.
“So it’s the fact that you feel like he used you?”
“Yes.”
“Well, one, you let him use you. Two, you used him, too.”
I bite on the spoon. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that you had fun with this Ryan.”
“Reilly,” I correct.
“And that you only saw it as something bad after,” Cora continues. “Mainly because you were disappointed. Because you expected more. You wanted it to be something more. You’re not mad about what it was. You’re mad about what it didn’t become, what you’d hoped it would become.”
My eyebrows crease as I lift the spoon. “You’re saying I shouldn’t have gotten my hopes up?”
Cora looks at me and shakes her head.
My eyebrows shoot up. “Well, I’m sorry, but I can’t have sex with someone and not have feelings for that person or hope that those feelings won’t be returned. That’s why I stayed a virgin for so long, remember?”
“You may no longer be a virgin, but you’re still a child. At least, you’re acting like one crying over spilled milk.”
“I’m not crying.” I shove another spoonful of Chunky Monkey into my mouth. “I’m eating ice cream.”
“Which means you’re sulking, which means you’re letting everything get to you.”
I place the tub of ice cream on the coffee table and drop my arms to my side. “What would you have me do?”
“Take the fun sex. Take the lesson—”
“Oh, I’ve learned my lesson,” I cut her off. “No more sleeping around.”
“Let the rest go,”
Cora continues. “Unless you want to take his offer on the friends with benefits thing, that is.”
I did consider it, but only for a moment, only in a moment of weakness.
“Nope.” I shake my head. “Not taking.”
“Then let it go.” She squeezes my thigh. “Let him go.”
I let out a deep breath.
I hate to say it, but she’s right. Cora’s always right. I should just forget about Reilly. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t finish the ice cream, though.
I pick up the tub and continue eating.
Cora’s eyebrows go up.
“What?” I ask her. “I’m hungry.”
She chuckles.
“Besides, I’m not as brave or as resilient as you. I can’t let things go so easily.”
“Fine.” Cora stands up with a pile of folded clothes in her arms. “Finish your ice cream, but remember, we’re having dinner in a bit.”
I give her a salute. “Yes, ma’am.”
She heads to the bottom of the stairs but stops when the doorbell rings.
I, too, stop, with the spoon halfway to my mouth.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Cora asks.
I shake my head.
Well, I am hoping for someone, but not expecting anyone. After all, Reilly doesn’t know where I live. None of the guys I know do.
Cora sets down the pile of clothes and walks to the door. As soon as she opens it, she mutters, “Holy shit.”
“What?”
I turn to the door and almost drop my ice cream when I see who’s standing in the doorway, waving at me.
Holy shit indeed.
I stand up. “Kaleb?”
“Mommy?” Zeke shouts from upstairs. “Who’s that?”
“No one, sweetheart!” Cora answers before turning to Kaleb. “I mean, no one he should come downstairs for, no one important.”
“What are you doing here?” I stand between my sister and Kaleb. “How do you even know I live here?”
“I have ways,” Kaleb tells me. “Just like I have ways of escaping Tom.”
“You escaped from Tom?”
“Well, I have other friends. I asked one of them to find out where you live.”
“Okay.” I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and lean on the door frame. “I’ll decide whether or not that’s creepy after I hear your reason.”
“I wanted to ask you to come to a party with me,” Kaleb says.
My eyes grow wide. “You’re asking me to go to a party with you?”
Kaleb nods.
“Why?”
He shrugs. “I didn’t have anyone else to ask.”
I’m not sure that’s a good enough reason.
“Don’t worry. It’s a private party. I mean, not that private, there will be about twenty people there, maybe more, but it’s at a friend’s house, so no one will know you’re there with me, if it’s being seen with me you’re worried about.”
Nope. That’s not what I was worried about, but it’s good to know, especially since my face is already circulating on social media.
“Well?” Kaleb asks.
I tap my fingers on my arm. “I don’t know Kaleb. It’s…”
“You should go,” Cora interrupts.
I glance back at her. I forgot she was there. I thought she’d already left. Apparently not.
I throw her a puzzled look. “Excuse me?”
“You should go,” she repeats. “A party should help you take your mind off things. And it’s better than drowning your worries in Chunky Monkey.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Um, that’s not exactly something I wanted Kaleb to know.”
“I like Chunky Monkey,” Kaleb offers. “Who knows? They might have it at the party.”
“See,” Cora says. “You won’t have to eat ice cream alone.”
I narrow my eyes at her. “You’re telling me to go to a party to eat ice cream?”
“I’m telling you to go out and have fun.”
I turn to Kaleb, holding up a finger. “One second.”
I close the door slightly, grab Cora’s arm and usher her into a corner.
“What are you doing?” I ask her.
“Helping you let go,” she answers.
“So you’re saying I should move on from one guy to the next available one.”
“That’s typically what women do.”
“Not in less than twenty-four hours. Even Taylor Swift doesn’t do that.”
Cora places her hand on my shoulder. “Honey, I’m not telling you to have sex with him. Unless you want to, of course. I’m telling you to just hang out with him and have fun. He is asking you to.”
“He’s asking me because he doesn’t have anyone else to ask,” I remind her.
“He came all this way,” she points out. “Besides, he’s Kaleb Wilson. How can you say no?”
I roll my eyes. “You’re really going to make me do this?”
“No. You’re going to do it and you’re going to have fun, and tomorrow you’ll be glad you did it.”
I sigh. “Fine.”
I guess I do need something to brighten my mood after a shitty day.
I go back to the door where Kaleb is waiting, a hopeful look on his face.
“Okay,” I tell him. “Just give me a minute to change.”
“Sure.” Kaleb nods as a wide smile spreads across his face. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”
~
Kaleb and I go to a house in a neighborhood that’s even fancier than the one he lives in.
It’s two houses, actually. The first is an old wooden one at the end of a long driveway lined with slender palm trees and trimmed rose bushes. It could pass for the setting of a horror movie if only it had vines crawling across its facade.
The other house behind it made of glass and stone, and it’s this second house that’s the venue of the party. It looks like it’s made for parties, actually, with a bar on either side of the foyer, music drifting from the large speakers positioned at every corner of the high ceiling, giant chandeliers lighting wide hallways, and twin spiral staircases leading down to a spacious ballroom currently bathed in a rainbow of laser lights and the glitter of several disco balls.
The party is already in full swing, and although it’s hard to count the silhouettes dancing to the music of the band on stage, I can tell there are more than thirty guests, probably closer to fifty.
Suddenly feeling nervous, I suck in a deep breath and take a sip of my cosmopolitan.
It’s been a while since I’ve been to a party, after all, and something tells me this one is full of celebrities. I’m a fish out of water.
Why, oh, why did I let Cora talk me into coming here? And with Kaleb Wilson, no less?
My only consolation is that it’s not one of those glamorous parties. I’m only wearing a white off-shoulder skater dress with black tights and brown suede boots, having taken my cue from Kaleb’s tobacco blazer and dark gray pants.
Speaking of celebrities, a man I recognize as the famous rapper DirQ walks towards Kaleb and me with a girl on each arm.
“Kale!” He gives Kaleb a high five, a fist pump and a pound hug. “I’m glad you came, brother.”
“Told you I’d be here.” Kaleb glances over his shoulder at me. “This is Dani.”
“Hi.” I wave.
To my surprise, DirQ takes my hand and shakes it. “Pleasure to meet you.” Then he glances at Kaleb. “Damn, Kale, you always bring the hottest girls to the party.”
“Look who’s talking,” Kaleb says.
The olive-skinned chick beside DirQ grins. “Nice to see you again, Kale.”
I raise an eyebrow. Again?
The blonde on DirQ’s other side leaves his arm to wrap hers around Kaleb’s. “Care to dance? I learned some new moves just for you.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I take another sip from my drink.
Kaleb pulls his arm away and grabs mine. “Sorry, but I’ve got company tonight.”
&nbs
p; “You mean her?” The blonde turns her nose up at me.
“Until when tonight?” The olive-skinned woman asks.
“Ladies, behave,” DirQ tells them before giving me a pat on the shoulder. “You just enjoy, hmm?”
I nod, somehow having forgotten how to speak.
It must be the shock of finding out how women behave around Kaleb. No wonder he thinks he can get into any woman’s panties.
“And you, too.” DirQ points a finger at Kaleb.
“You know I will,” Kaleb assures.
DirQ walks away with his women and Kaleb gulps down his Scotch. Then he sets his empty glass down on the nearest table and turns to me.
“Care to dance?”
I pause. There’s a part of me wanting to say yes just so I can show off to those bitches. If this question had been popped yesterday, I probably would have. But I’ve learned my lesson—dancing with a man I barely know, regardless of how famous he is and how good a dancer he probably is, can lead to dire consequences.
So I shake my head. “I’ll pass.”
Kaleb frowns.
“But please go ahead,” I tell him. “I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding someone to dance with.”
His hand goes to his chin.
“Go on,” I urge him.
For a moment, he just stands there. Then he holds a finger up. “I’ll be right back.”
He goes after DirQ, quickly disappearing into the shadows and the sea of dancers. I look around for an empty chair and sit down as I finish my drink glumly.
I know. I know. I’m the one who told Kaleb to go dancing without me.
Still, he could have said no instead of leaving me here alone like a wilted wallflower. Since he didn’t, I can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy even though I know I don’t have any right to be jealous. I feel a tinge of regret, too. Well, more than a tinge.
Maybe I shouldn’t have come to this party, after all. Especially since there doesn’t seem to be any ice cream.
After a few minutes, just when I’ve finished my drink, Kaleb comes back.
He grabs my hand. “Come on.”
I follow him with a puzzled look. “I thought you were dancing.”
“I’m not dancing unless it’s with you,” he says.
My heart skips a beat at the words, but my mind is still in a whirl.
“Um, where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
Kaleb leads me out of the house and across the garden towards the pool.