I walked out of the front door and looked over at his building with a sigh. Was I doing the right thing? I walked to the right and across the road to him, seeing someone out on the front steps. When I got closer that figure walked down and greeted someone as I smiled weakly. I kept walking and made my way around a group of bushes and saw Sterling leaning against the building and looking up at the sky. I glanced up, seeing some dim stars as I pressed my lips together.
“Hi,” I heard him say, and I glanced in the direction of his voice. Sterling was dressed to the nines tonight, and I looked him over as he approached me.
“You look great,” I told him as he spun around slowly, making me laugh.
“I could say the same to you. You look beautiful tonight.” He kept walking towards me and I looked into his face.
“Thank you,” I replied as we started to walk to his car. He opened the door for me and I slid inside, seeing flashes of the old Sterling from when I was younger. He got in and started the engine, giving it a moment to warm up. This felt different, and I was terrified to think of the reasons, staying quiet as I looked at him. We backed out of the lot and he headed to the restaurant, looking confident and sexy as he drove. Little Sterling was a sweet boy who watched out for me and defended me from bullies. Big Sterling was a man now, and he was sexy. He was magnetic for me. He was kind, and the man knew what to do in bed. If someone told me back when we were younger that we’d be sleeping together, I would have laughed at them. Sure, I had a little crush, but I never thought much past that.
I could count on two hand the amount of times I’d felt him inside of me. I felt his fingers, tongue, and lips all over me and it was everything that people described in books and movie. I didn’t think that I’d find that a lot in life.
We pulled into a parking lot and I blinked, coming back to reality. We were here. Sterling parked and smiled over at me as I pulled my jacket around my body. He turned off the engine and walked around to my door to open it, smiling as I slipped past him. I’d been here many times before due to the cheap Italian food and cheap wine. Every student came here but tonight felt different. It didn’t seem too crowded tonight but there was a big party going on. Every student probably wanted to drink themselves blind and forget all about tests and classes.
The owner greeted us and signaled for Sterling to pick a table from what was affordable. He nodded and walked to his favorite corner booth as I followed and glanced around at the tables that were filled. Even older women stopped what they were doing to take a long look at Sterling. He was gorgeous, and he lit up every room that he walked through. I didn’t even send out a spark, and I shook my head as I slipped across the booth from him.
We ordered wine and decided to split a plate of lasagna with a big salad. We chatted about school and what was going to happen after school.
“You’re going to stay here, aren’t you?” Sterling asked me as I gazed at him.
“I don’t think Mom would let me leave. I’ll probably end up working for Dad even with this art degree. Why do you ask? You’re going on to law school, Sterling.” I told him as he shrugged.
“Maybe. I’m so used to Seattle now that it seems weird to leave. Maybe I’ll look into going to California. It’s not too far,” he smiled at me and I held in the thought that was even too far for me. I would never say that to him, so I reached for my wine again.
“You’re out of the family business, then? Must be nice.” I still didn’t hear the end of that and I was graduating soon.
“They’re always going to try, Rosie. It’s up to us to break the pattern.” Sterling sounded so confident as he looked warmly at me. I knew that we both kept to our own families because it was what everyone wanted. Who was breaking any pattern doing that?
“I guess. It’s hard to run from family business and money, Sterling. They know that they have the last word.” I was feeling the pressure of that more than ever right now. I was graduating with an art history degree and I could move to any city and work at a gallery or assisting for shows. The world was my oyster, but I still heard my father telling me to help my brothers with the business.