“Really?”
She nods, smug as hell with her confidence. “Definitely. So while I’m sure it would be amazing between us, and I’d probably rock your world, we can never go there. You wouldn’t be able to walk away from me.”
Now it’s my turn to laugh. “You really think so?”
“Oh, I know so. I can see it in your big brown eyes, which are very beautiful, I might add. Everything that makes up your face is worthy of a magazine cover. Or a romance book cover. Do you read romances, Tony?”
“Fuck no,” I immediately say.
“You sh
ould. You might learn a thing or two. Anyway, what was I saying? Oh, I know. You’re a good guy, and you’re attracted to me, and I can admit I’m attracted to you, but it would never work, because we share the same views when it comes to relationships, and it’s that relationships suck. So we’re just going to have to be friends. That’s it. End of story.” She looks toward the view one more time, her hands going to the fabric belt at the front of her dress, redoing it so the fabric covers her breasts once more. “You weren’t even tempted when I had my tits out.”
I was so fucking tempted. But I don’t say so. Instead, I shove my hand into my pants’ pocket, stashing her panties there. I’m keeping them. Maybe that makes me a perv, but I don’t give a shit.
“I’m more of a leg man,” I tell her, which is the truth.
Her lips curve. “Should we get out of here?”
“How are we getting home?”
“Uber, duh.” She whips her phone out of the pocket of her dress and starts tapping. “They’ll be here in ten minutes. Wanna make a bet it’s the same car that dropped us off?”
Before I can say anything, she’s gone, sliding down the slide, hands clutching her skirt since she got rid of her panties, screaming as she goes. I watch her, fascinated with the way she dances across the grass, skipping and turning as she opens the little gate of the playground and turns to look at me, waving her hand.
“Let’s go, Sorrento!”
I go down the slide as well, making my way toward her. She runs ahead of me, her skirt swaying, her laughter infectious. I can’t help but smile, despite the feeling that I lost something tonight.
Pretty sure I lost my chance at her.
She turns, walking backwards, pointing at me. “Swear we’ll find each other on campus.”
“I swear.” I hold my hand up, wishing I had a stack of Bibles.
“You won’t blow me off because I wouldn’t blow you?” A giggle escapes her, and I wonder if she’s drunk.
But she told me she didn’t drink tonight so…
“I won’t. Promise.” And I don’t promise shit to anyone.
“See? One of the good ones. You can keep my panties as a souvenir, Sorrento, so you won’t ever forget this night.”
Even without the lacy souvenir, I know I won’t forget this night.
Ever.
Six
Hayden
I wake up slowly, like the sun rising. Little fingers of light. A tease of color, a splash of dawn. The sky grows brighter, brighter, until finally, there is a giant ball of blinding white shining in your eyes and it hurts to look at it.
That’s me. My eyes crack open into tiny slits. I can’t see anything. Slowly they open, until my teenage room comes into full view, and the sun shines through the filmy curtains, casting the room in too much brightness.
My head aches and I blindly reach for my phone where it rests on my bedside table. I check the time. 11:47 a.m.
Shit.