6. Libby
LeaveHerWild: Thinking of you.
strangerDanger23: Of me? Or parts of me?
LeaveHerWild: Let”s just go with all of you, hmm?
strangerDanger23: What exactly are you thinking about that involves all of me?
LeaveHerWild: That would be very inappropriate to discuss right now.
strangerDanger23: Are you in a public place again, butterfly? We already know what you”re capable of doing in public places.
LeaveHerWild: Stop making me blush.
strangerDanger23: I”m going to do so much more than just make you blush.
strangerDanger23: Send me a picture.
He wants a picture. The conversation around the table is casual. The excitement from the auction has died down, and now my brother and his teammates are making plans to hit up the local bar—the same bar I”ve agreed to meet stranger at in exactly...I check the time... forty-five minutes!
Shit.I lost track of time.
I panic and type out a response.
LeaveHerWild:No picture. You”ll just have to wait to see me in person.
I look up from my phone just as my salmon dish gets placed in front of me.
”We should go now,” I offer to the group. They all look up at me.
”To the bar?” my brother asks.
”Yes, let”s go now.”
Kesley looks down at my plate. ”But you haven”t even touched your food.”
I look down at the perfectly cooked salmon they brought out to me and touch it as I look at her. ”There. Feel better? Let”s go.”
They don”t argue much. We”re all desperate to get away from this forced fun activity. So they gather their belongings and we all sneak out through the back of the room.
”Anybody gonna text Hicks and Landry?” Ryker asks as we walk out the main entrance to the hotel.
”Oh yeah, we should probably wait for them,” Zane agrees.
”Nope, they can meet us there,” Fergie insists. Ushering them out the door.
He seems just as desperate as I am.
”You”re acting like you”ve never been on a date before.” Kesley watches me fluff up my hair in the bathroom mirror.
”I know,” I puff out air from my cheeks. ”Honestly...it”s just been so long since I”ve had a real crush on someone. You know?” I touch-up my lipstick and pop my lips before turning to her for approval.
”Well, you look amazing as always.”
I look back into the mirror at my reflection. I want to believe it—I want to believe it with everything I have. But Kesley is my best friend. Of course, she”ll say things like that—that”s what best friends do.
What she doesn”t know is that I don”t feel amazing. The words from the photographer at the shoot earlier have lingered in my brain all day.
”You have such an exotic look, Libby. If only were ten pounds lighter...”
Ten pounds lighter. I already hardly eat as it stands. But now, anything I might even remotely enjoy just dies as a thought long before I ever put it in my mouth.
”What”s wrong?” Kesley says, putting both hands on my shoulder and looking at me in the mirror.
”How”d you know Zane was the one?” I say as a divergence.
She pauses momentarily, glaring at me suspiciously in our reflections before answering.
”Is this a trick question?”
I turn to face her. ”No, I”m genuinely curious. Because I have a really good feeling about this guy, and he”s only supposed to be a weekend hookup. But what if it becomes more? What if he”s everything I could ever hope for? What happens then? To me....to my career?”
”Libby, chill. It”s just a date. You”re not going to just marry the guy on your first date.”
”You”re one to talk,” I smirk.
”That”s different, and you know it. Just take a moment at a time, okay? And I”ll be just a glance away if he turns out to be a serial killer.”
I nod, taking in a deep breath. I say all this, but really, I just have one question on my mind: Will he like me once he sees me? Or will I just be another disappointment.
It”s two minutes before we agreed to meet up.
”I”ll be at the bar,” Kesley says, opening the door to exit the bathroom.
A ping comes through on my phone.
strangerDanger23: At the bar, I”m wearing a black tux. Don”t be intimidated.
LeaveHerWild: Do you have the minister on standby?
strangerDanger23:Are you proposing before we”ve even met?
LeaveHerWild:No. The only thing I”m proposing is drinks and a quick escape. Full disclosure: My friends are here lurking for my safety.
strangerDanger23:Full disclosure...mine too.
I drop my phone into my gold clutch and open the door to destiny. If nothing else, I”m going to let a thick, pierced schlong do unspeakable things to me until I forget that I”m not good enough for this modeling world.
The bar is filling up. Typical for a Saturday night. And more of the Heatwave players have found their way here post-charity event. It”s packed with overly dressed men in suits.
But my eyes land on the one man sitting on a barstool chatting up the bartender.
I look down at the messages on my phone.
At the bar, I”m wearing a black tux. Don”t be intimidated.
Full disclosure: My friends are here lurking for my safety.
Full disclosure...mine too.
No. No. No. No. NO. This can”t be right. strangerDanger23 can”t be...
OMG...twenty-three! That”s Fergie”s jersey number. It”s him. The man I”ve been sexting with all week is Michael-freakin-Ferguson.
I”m going to need the earth to swallow me whole right now and make me disappear. Michael looks down at his phone and looks around.
I quickly turn away from the bar and make a bee-line to the exit.
I”m deleting my account. That”s the only way out of this. If I delete my account, he can”t trace me. He”ll never know it was me he was sexting with and we can just go back to normal.
Whatever normal even is for us.
The muggy Houston air hits me as I push the door open, and a message comes through.
It”s the app.
strangerDanger23 is at your location. Would you like to share your photo?
Nooooo. Absolutely not.
How do I cancel? Dismiss? Is there a ghosting option? I feel like there should be a ghosting option.
”Lib? Is something wrong?” Kesley”s waiting by the door watching me. She must’ve seen me leave.
I can”t tell her. I can”t tell her that my mystery guy with the bionic dong is sitting at the bar right now and that it”s Fergie. Sweet, innocent, never harm a fly, Fergie.
”He...uh...had to cancel,” I say, trying hard to conceal the ridiculous amount of embarrassment I’m feeling.
”Bummer,” she says, stepping out toward me.
”Yeah. But you know...maybe it”s for the best. He would”ve been a distraction anyway.”
”Do you think he”s avoiding you?” she cocks her head.
It”s more like I”m avoiding him. ”I don”t know. But I”m just not feeling like being out right now. I”m going to catch a cab.”
”Then, I”m coming with you,” she turns abruptly to open the door. “Let me tell, Zane.”
”No, Kes. You stay. Have fun. You guys are always home with Liam. This is mommy and daddy night out. Enjoy it.”
She chews on her bottom lip as she considers it.
”I guess you”re right.”
”Good, I”ll see you soon. Take care of my brother.” I lean in to give her a hug and she squeezes me.
”I always do.” Then she turns and disappears, leaving me in a floor-length gown on a wet sidewalk all alone in downtown Houston. I didn”t even notice it had rained since getting to the bar.
I step up to the curb and watch as car after car zooms by.
It”s fine. I”ll be fine. I can just forget anything ever happened. I have an array of toys in my nightstand. I can take care of myself. I really don”t need a man.
Even as I”m thinking it, the thought of Michael being the man behind the screen creeps into my mind again.
”You leaving too?” A husky voice interrupts my dirty thoughts.
I turn, and my stomach drops into my vagina at the sight of the very man I was just thinking about.
Oh, good Lord. Why?
I quickly turn away from him and focus my attention back to the street.
”Yep, I need to rest up. Got a photoshoot.”
Michael joins me near the curb. His blue eyes are scanning my profile. ”On a Sunday?”
Shit. I can”t lie to the man. He talks to God for goodness sake. He”d know it the second I did.
”The photoshoot is next week,” I admit. “I just don”t want to look haggard for it.”
”Ah,” he says like that explains it. He looks at his phone and types something out really quick before storing it away in his back pocket.
A split second later, I feel my notifications vibrate in my hand. I don”t dare look—not with him standing right next to me. I”m a statue as a black SUV pulls up right in front of me, and Michael steps up to it opening the back door.
”Do you need a ride to your place?” he asks.
A ride. Right. I was supposed to be getting a cab. Drops of rain start pattering onto my skin.
”I”ll be okay,” I assure him. ”I”ll catch a rideshare.”
He looks at the driver of the SUV. ”That”s what this is, Libby.”
The sky opens up and starts soaking me. The trail of drops dripping down onto my face.
Michael jumps inside and pats the empty seat next to him, ”Libby, get in.”
I cross my arms. ”I”m okay.”
When I don”t move and just stay standing there like a wet idiot. He rolls his head and gets out. Now he”s getting soaked too.
Without another word he gathers me into his arms and carries me over to the SUV.
I yelp, ”What are you doing?”
”You”ll get sick,” he says, as he sets me inside and shoves in next to me before slamming the door.
Inside, away from the rain, I”m able to catch a whiff of his cologne again. And I hate that I did. Because I might not ever be able to smell that scent without thinking of how good it smells on him.
”117 King”s Court,” Michael rattles off my address to the driver like it”s his own.
The man nods and maneuvers the vehicle out of the parking spot.
”How do you know where I live?”
He looks over at me. The rain having soaked his hair to the point that it”s now dripping onto his face.
”Seriously? You”re my neighbor. Just like old times.”
Ever since Kesley and Zane got married, we all moved out of the condos where we used to live. Zane took Kesley and Liam to the O”Connor estate just outside of Houston and they”re now settling in there. They offered me a room in the giant house but I insisted they needed their space as a family.
So...I”m now staying with a model friend of mine. She”s been connecting me with opportunities and I”m paying her in company. She hates being alone. And since I”m out a best friend and a big brother....I could use the company too.
”We live in the same neighborhood. That doesn”t make us neighbors,” I point out to him.
”You”re staying with Giselle Murray, right?”
”Um...yes, for the time being.”
”Well, her house backs up to Landry”s house. You”re our neighbor.”
How did I not put this together? Now how am I supposed to get away from this guy?
I swallow, wondering if he”s watched me when I didn”t know. I wonder if he knows I”m the girl he was supposed to meet tonight.
I hold both my arms and try to warm up.
He notices and reaches forward, turning the heat up using the buttons in front of us.
”Gigi seems pretty cool,” he says. “From what Coach has said about her.”
My new roommate is something. Bubbly. Sweet. Totally charismatic. She”s also the daughter of the Heatwave”s head coach. I”m used to having a quiet, book nerd as a companion. But Gigi is anything but quiet.
”Gigi is...Gigi,” I say. He smiles and looks out the window. Clearly, out of small talk conversation starters.
I”m relieved to not have to engage.
”So about that date,” he says out of nowhere.
Ohmigawd. He knows.
Taking a deep breath to steel my nerves and confront him I turn to him. ”Michael,” I begin. ”I had no idea.”
His head swivels towards me. ”That you were bidding on me?”
Wait...what?! The auction, you idiot, he”s talking about the auction.
”No...” I catch myself. ”I had no idea...that you...liked ice skating so much.”
He chuckles to himself and looks at me with amusement in his eyes. ”You”ve known me since we were twelve. And I”ve played hockey that entire time. Of course, I like ice skating.”
Welp, that was a dumb attempt.
”Well, yeah, but skating in hockey is one thing. But just ice skating to ice skate...I mean, that”s what I do for fun.”
”So that’s why you bid on me?”
No. I bid on you because your brother is an arrogant asshole who needs to be taken down a few notches.
When I don”t say anything, he adds, ”Oh, right. Jonah.”
”What”s his deal anyway? You”d think him taking over your dad”s church would finally force him to grow up.”
He shakes his head. ”Jonah is....he”s just cut from a different cloth.”
”Is that cloth made of assholes?”
Michael holds back a grin at my remark. ”Sometimes I wonder.”
Quiet again.
There”s history between Michael and me. Yes, we grew up together. Yes, we were friends once. And yes, in high school, I ended up dating his older brother—the one we both agree can be an asshole.
But as adults, we haven”t talked much. And I have my reasons for that.
The car maneuvers through the streets leading up to our gated community. Houston is big, but being connected to the Heatwave makes it seem so small. I run into my brother’s people everywhere.
He pulls up his phone again, and I remember that I have a message from him waiting in my inbox.
He stares at the screen and then puts his phone back on his lap.
This car ride couldn”t go any slower if the driver were trying.
”So you”re just going to go to sleep then?” he asks.
I think about the texts we exchanged on the app. We both fully expected to be doing the dirty tonight.
And even though I can”t be with him. I can at least...I don”t know. Be a good friend.
The car pulls up in front of Gigi”s house.
The lights are off, and I remember she won”t be home for a few days. She has photoshoots in New York and LA this week.
”Do you...wanna come in for some hot chocolate?”
He looks at his phone one more time before he answers. ”Hot chocolate sounds great.”
He says meeting my gaze. There”s sadness on his face. And I can”t help but feel that I”m the one that”s caused it.
”Cool,” I say, reaching for my bag to pull out my card.
He places a hand over mine, ”I”ve got this.”
His warm hand on mine sends bolts of desire coursing through my veins, and I know instantly that I”ve made a mistake in inviting him in.