by Erin Noelle
“We were talking about Scarlett here, and the fact that she’s lived an extremely sheltered life. Her parents were a tiny bit obsessive and controlling, so they sent her to an all-girl private school since kindergarten and never allowed her to go out—no parties and especially no dates. So tonight will be her very first party. Ever,” Jess explained to him as they stood in front of us, and she handed Evie and me each a beer. Once again, she spoke as if I wasn’t capable or I wasn’t there at all. I wanted nothing more than to sink into the cushions on the couch and escape the embarrassment of the conversation.
Ash didn’t respond to Jess but instead held his hand out to Evie. When she shook his hand, he said, “Evie, I presume? I’m Ashton Walker, or Ash, if you prefer. It is so nice to finally meet you.” Then I saw him smile.
Oh. My. God. The deep dimples that appeared on both sides of his face turned my insides to mush. I always knew I had a weakness for dimples. I mean, didn’t every female? There was just something about them that screamed youth and playfulness and innocent mischief, and when placed on a handsome face accompanied by hard, masculine features, they were undeniably sexy and downright irresistible.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Ash,” Evie replied with a smile.
He then turned to me, picked my free hand up off my leg, and held it in his. I was frozen.
“Scarlett, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well. I can see why your parents were hesitant about letting you out of their sight,” he said. “If I had a daughter as stunning as you, I wouldn’t let her leave the house either.”
I blushed furiously. Then, without breaking eye contact, he pulled my hand to his mouth. But instead of kissing the top of my hand in a gentlemanly manner as I anticipated, he lightly pressed his lips against the inside of my wrist, where the pounding of my heartbeat was about to break through the thin skin.
Well, if he is a vampire, it’s about to be over for me.
Instead of taking a bite out of my fragile skin, he then reached his other hand to my mouth and pulled my lip free of my bite. I was done for. His touch ignited a fire inside me that rolled throughout my body, spreading a liquid warmth from my head to my toes, with the hottest embers settling directly between my thighs. My joke from the day before about spontaneously combusting suddenly did not seem too far out of the realm of possibilities. Who was this guy?
“Down, boy!” Jess joked as she playfully slapped Ash on the shoulder and broke our gaze at one another.
He released my hand and lip and took a step back from the couch. I wanted to argue that he didn’t need to get down; in fact, he was perfect exactly where he was. But instead, I just sat there in a haze and continued to stare at him. Evie nudged my leg, breaking me from my trance, and I realized I had not yet said a word to him.
“Nice to meet you too,” I managed to squeak out. I was suddenly extremely thirsty and took a large gulp of the beer Jess handed me. The taste was awful, worse than I imagined it would be, but I reluctantly swallowed it, not wanting to make more of a spectacle of myself than I already had.
“Now, Ash, I expect you to be on your best behavior around Evie and Scarlett, at least for tonight while they get used to you. And they are both off-limits to your dirty paws and overused dick. Do you understand me?” Jess prompted somewhat teasingly, but the stern warning in her voice was evident. She turned toward Evie and me. “Ash here has mastered the art of charming the birds out of the trees and girls right out of their panties. He’s our resident playboy, so pay no attention to him if there’s a different bimbo on his arm every time you see him.” She wrapped her arm around his waist and smirked. “It’s a good thing I’ve known him since second grade and know he truly is a decent human being or I wouldn’t be able to stand his usual arrogant ass.”
The scowl that left his face as quickly as it appeared at Jess’s words didn’t go unnoticed by me, and he turned to face her. “Don’t be jealous because I haven’t shared any of this pleasure-inducing body with you, Jess,” he taunted.
“You are disgusting. You know that, right? I know where that body’s been.” Jess sneered at him.
Meg, who remained quiet up until this point, said from across the room while she stood up, “If you two are finished bickering, can we please go to Jacob and Nicholas’s now? I didn’t get dressed up to sit in this room all night. I’ve got a hot little cheerleader waiting for me there.”
I was completely confused, and as usual, I did a poor job of hiding the emotions on my face, because Jess looked at me and said, “Meg’s a lesbian. She’s been trying to corrupt this poor girl since last semester, and I think she may have finally slithered her way in somehow.”
Meg’s lips curled up in a mischievous grin and she seductively licked her lips. “Oh, I plan to slither myself in several places of hers if she’ll let me. Now, let’s go!”
With all of us laughing at Meg’s last comment and exaggerated facial expressions, we headed out the door. Thankful for the opportunity to get some fresh air as we walked, I knew I needed to gather my thoughts and regain my composure after the intense introduction to Ash. I wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, if anything at all, but I needed to get my hormones in check quickly. I couldn’t allow my brain or my body to overreact like that every time I was introduced to a good-looking guy or I was going to be in big trouble.
Meg and Ash walked a few feet in front of us, lost in their own conversation, while Jess gave Evie and me the quick rundown on a few of the people who would be at the party.
“The party is at Jacob and Nicholas’s house. Ash met them last year in some soccer class. We all went out for drinks one night. Jacob and I hit it off and started dating, and shortly after, the five of us just ended up hanging out all the time,” she explained. “All of us are about to start our third year at UST.”
“Vicki, Nicholas’s sister, is a year behind us, and she is the cheerleader Meg’s been lusting after. You’ll recognize her immediately, because she looks like a twelve-year-old, female version of Nicholas,” Jess said loud enough for Meg to hear.
“No, she doesn’t,” Meg argued without even turning around. “She’s just petite. She’s hot and you know it.”
Jess didn’t respond directly to Meg but instead turned to me and said mockingly, “Not only is Meg a lesbian, but she may also be a pedophile. You are at least eighteen right, Scarlett?”
I couldn’t help but let a giggle escape as I nodded.
“Good, then you should be safe from any unwanted advances from my roommates,” she teased.
Without breaking stride, Meg turned around and looked at me. “Being of age isn’t going to save you from me, sweet thing. Not only do you have an angelic face and a hot-ass body, but you’ve got a pussy that has never been tainted by a man’s cock, and oh how I’d love to know what that innocence tastes like.” She winked at me and turned back around. “Isn’t that right, Ash? Can you imagine how sweet she tastes?”
My face burned with mortification, and I wasn’t sure how I should respond to Meg’s comments, so I didn’t. I knew part of what she said had been for dramatic effect, to get Jess to shut up about Vicki. However, for a brief moment, I found myself wondering if she really was attracted to me… and why my stomach fluttered when I thought about kissing her. What was wrong with me? Did Evie slip me some women’s Viagra tonight or something?
Before I could contemplate the thought any further, Ash turned around and gave me an awkward, uncomfortable half smile. And then it all made sense.
I was sure the only reason Ash had acted the way he did toward me was because I was a virgin—the conquest of all conquests for guys, right? Jess had just told him about my not dating and strict parents.
I was such an idiot to act like a silly young girl. Jess had made it clear that he was basically a manwhore, and he never denied it. She even went as far as telling him to leave me alone, because she knew exactly what he would do. He was probably just toying with me, knowing I would easily fall under his spell of compliments and flirtat
ious gestures, trying to see how quickly he could get in my pants.
I was so pissed at myself for thinking there was some kind of spark between us. But he was just a master manipulator, an experienced player, and I immediately knew it would serve my best interests to stay as far away from Ash as possible. I had completely overreacted to the first guy I had been introduced to in the evening and made a fool of myself.
The remainder of the walk, Jess continued to ramble on about other people we would meet, who was dating who, who had dated who, who to stay away from, etcetera. I tuned her out and instead spent the time silently brooding over my own naïveté and gullibility. When we turned off the sidewalk to walk up to the house where the party was, Evie grabbed my arm and pulled me back away from the others.
“Are you okay? What the hell happened back at the house?” she asked with genuine concern.
“I’m fine. I don’t know what you’re talking about. Nothing happened. Everything is just great—couldn’t be better,” I lied with forced enthusiasm.
She gave me the I-don’t-believe-a-word-you-are-saying look but didn’t press me. “Okay, but at any time you’re ready to leave, just let me know.”
I nodded in response. I didn’t want to talk about it, not then, not ever.
“Now, come on, let’s have some fun. We have some boys to meet! Oh, and don’t forget. Tonight is preppy college boy night, not hot surfer playboy night. You have to stick to the rules or it doesn’t count,” she said lightheartedly as she grabbed my hand and led me up to the front porch.
Three
“There y’all are! I turned around to introduce you to someone and you were gone,” Jess exclaimed as we found her waiting for us outside the front door.
“Sorry, we had to make a quick stop, but we’re good now,” Evie responded, not giving her any additional details of our conversation. “Lead the way, cuz.”
We followed Jess into the house, and the scene that greeted me was very much what I expected it to be. The furniture in the living room had all been pushed up against the walls, leaving an open space for dancing in the middle. There were a handful of people moving their bodies in harmony to a song by The Killers that blared from the iPod player in the corner, but most people were either lounging on the couches or standing around, drinking and talking. Meg and Ash were nowhere in sight.
We followed Jess closely as we wove in between other partygoers and entered the kitchen. Her eyes immediately lit up as she saw a dark-haired cutie, who I assumed was Jacob, standing by the island. She snuck up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He jumped at the contact, but when he spun around to see her, a huge smile spread across his face, and an unexpected twinge of jealousy ran through me.
After we each took a shot of tequila to “get the blood flowing,” as Jess recommended, we grabbed a beer and the introductions began. Jess pulled Evie and me from one group of people to the next. I was overwhelmed by all the new faces and names, knowing I would never remember any of them. I smiled, shook hands, and even got a few hugs from some guys who were obviously trying to press themselves against my breasts. I didn’t mind though. I enjoyed the attention and even contemplated a couple of them for my “nightly prey,” as Evie had so eloquently put it.
I tried to keep myself from looking for Ash’s whereabouts but failed miserably. However, when the back door opened and several people shuffled in from the back porch, I realized that when Ash was in the same room with me, I would never need to look for him. I could feel his presence.
I turned around to see him flanked by two beautiful blondes. He guided the one in front of him into the kitchen with his hand at the small of her back, while the one behind him tagged along, her fingers threaded through his belt loops. The three of them walked over to the island, and he grabbed three beers from the cooler. I didn’t want to stare at them, but for the life of me, I just couldn’t stop myself.
“I warned you, didn’t I?” Jess’s voice interrupted my trance, but I continued to watch him. “That’s just Ash; he’s always been that way. I’m not sure he’ll ever find a girl who will make him settle down. I just don’t think he’s wired that way, ya know? It’s not in his blood.” Without waiting for a response, she bounced off to say hi to some other people, leaving me alone with my unanswered questions.
Almost as if he could sense me thinking about him from across the room, he looked up at me and our eyes locked. Again, I felt something pass between us. Maybe I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t sure what it was, or if I was just imagining it on my end, but Ash definitely made my body feel things I wasn’t quite prepared for. Then he cocked his head to the side and gave me that panty-dropping, dimple-showing smile. I knew he was only interested in me for one thing, and I’d be damned if I was going to give it to him. I scowled and broke the stare.
I turned my attention to each of the two girls who still stood on either side of him. They were both looking up at him with admiration and adoration, as if he was some sort of sex god. I laughed at the pathetic sight they were and then looked back at Ash. As if he knew exactly what I thought about him and his entourage, he dropped the smile and then what I thought was a look of guilt washed across his face. I wasn’t sure what his deal was, but I didn’t need to spend any more time thinking about Ash or his dubious expressions and intentions. I rolled my eyes and turned to go find Evie.
As I walked toward the back door, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud as Taylor Swift sang about knowing trouble when it walked in the room. The timing could not have been more appropriate. Unable to resist the temptation to sneak one last glance at him, I turned around and ran straight into a hard chest and stumbled backward.
“Oh, excuse me, I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I tried to catch my balance. “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
The guy I nearly ran over held me by both shoulders to steady me, and I looked up into his face to see if he was someone I’d been introduced to earlier in the night but immediately knew I hadn’t. I would never forget a face like that. He was… wow.
“No worries, little lady. Are you okay?” he asked, not letting go of my arms.
I nodded, embarrassed by my clumsiness. I wasn’t sure who this guy was, but he could definitely give Ash a run for his money in the appearance department. What was up with all of the drop-dead gorgeous guys around here? Were they producing them in some factory nearby? His blond hair was styled in a messy, spiky kind of do. His eyes were a dark-chocolate-brown, and his perfectly straight teeth were on display when he smiled. Dressed in a striped polo, khaki shorts, and tan deck shoes, he was the image you would find in the dictionary under “All-American male,” and he was the perfect preppy college boy to help me win tonight’s contest and forget all about Ash Walker.
“You’re new around here. I’ve never seen you before. Are you going to be a freshman at St. Thomas?” he asked in a deep voice with a hint of a Southern drawl.
“No… I mean, yes. I mean…” I stammered, feeling my face flush as I continued to embarrass myself. Taking a deep breath, I tried again to answer his questions. “What I meant to say was yes, I’m new around here, and yes, I’m going to be a freshman, but not at St. Thomas. I’m a student at Rice. I’m just here with my roommate’s cousin, Jess.”
“Do you have a name, or should I just call you ‘Jess’s cousin’s roommate’ for the rest of the night?” he teased.
“I’m Scarlett.” I smiled as I held my hand out toward him. I could feel Ash staring, and a rush of confidence flooded through me, so I flirted back, “So, do you have a name, or should I just call you ‘guy who likes to flirt with all the new girls’ for the rest of the night?”
“Touché, Miss Scarlett. You’re not only beautiful but witty,” he said while still holding onto my hand. “I’m Dylan, and it truly is a pleasure to meet you. Would you like to come with me outside for some fresh air?”
His smile made my knees weak and my heart rate increase. I wanted to learn more about this Dylan, like what it would be like
to kiss that perfect mouth and how his hands felt on my body. Just as I was about to agree, I felt someone walk up behind me and place their hand on my shoulder.
“There you are, Scarlett,” I heard Ash’s voice behind me. “I’m going to play here in a bit, and I know you said you didn’t want to miss it, so don’t go far, okay?”
Knowing exactly what he was trying to do, I didn’t even turn around to respond. “You appear to have your hands full tonight, so instead, I think I’ll grab some fresh air with Dylan. Enjoy playing.” And with that, I grabbed Dylan’s hand and marched out the back door.
Once we found a secluded area on the porch to sit and talk, Dylan asked, “Do I even want to know what that was all about?”
“I’m not really sure,” I admitted. “I met Ash over at their house right before we came here tonight. I don’t know; he just rubs me the wrong way and I think it pisses him off that I’m not falling all over myself trying to hook up with him.” Okay, so that was partially true.
“You just met him tonight? And he’s acting like that?” he questioned.
“Yeah, just a couple hours ago or so. Why? Should I be worried about something?”
“No, nothing to be concerned with. It’s just not like Ash to get all territorial like that.” Dylan had a puzzled look on his face, almost as if he didn’t believe me.
I shrugged, brushing it off as if it were no big deal. “I would really rather not talk about him and learn a little bit more about you.” He gave me that dazzling smile and all things Ash were temporarily forgotten.
Dylan and I spent the next hour talking and flirting with one another. We found we had quite a bit in common. We enjoyed similar music, we both loved watching old Saturday Night Live reruns, and we wanted to travel to many of the same places. He was an English major and wanted to go into editing, which of course with my love of all things books interested me greatly. We had a wonderful time; Dylan was funny and made me feel relaxed and comfortable.