Chapter 10
ELOISE
“ C ome on, say something.” I wait for my friend to respond to everything I just told her.
“Say something? Girl, I’m still in shock.” Katelyn laughs as we climb the stairs up to my apartment. “I mean, I’m happy that you finally popped the cork, but?—”
“I know it sounds crazy, but I felt so at ease with him,” I quickly cut her off before she can give me that but .
I’m still on a high and I don’t want to come down.
“Maybe my attraction to him counteracted all my fear?” I suggest taking my keys from my purse, ready to unlock my door, that's when I notice a small, purple gift bag waiting on the floor outside my apartment.
“What the hell is that?” Katelyn asks as I reach down and pick it up, pulling out the two boxes inside.
“Is that–” Her mouth falls open
“We were a little reckless.” I feel my skin flush with shame when I think back to my own stupidity.
“You slept with a stranger without using protection?” Katelyn raises her voice, and I quickly open my door, dragging her inside before the neighbours hear her.
“That’s just it, Ren doesn’t feel like a stranger.
I feel like I’ve known him my whole life.
Yes, I’ll admit, sleeping with him without using protection was stupid, but look…
he’s fixed it.” I hold up the boxes as evidence before moving over to the refrigerator to get some water.
I know from the research I did online during my five-minute stop for lunch that the sooner you take the morning-after pill, the more effective it is.
I even contemplated heading to the pharmacy to get one myself, but the whole idea of it was too mortifying, and thankfully, I didn’t have time anyway.
Katelyn met me straight after work, and I wasn’t going to have this conversation with her in the middle of the street.
“Here, there’s a note.” Katelyn looks unimpressed as she lifts her hand out of the bag and passes it over.
As promised, Kitten
Ren x
I read it out loud and can’t help smiling to myself.
“Jesus Christ, look at you.” Katelyn shakes her head and laughs.
“What do you mean?” I stare back at her defensively.
“Well, it’s hardly poetry. You’re being such a typical female right now.”
“Again, you’re gonna have to explain.” I feel myself getting frustrated.
“You know how sex is supposed to set off this hormone inside us, that sends us all crazy, and head over heels in love? Here we have the perfect example.” She holds her hands out to me.
“Eloise, you don’t even know this guy.” She rips the note back out of my hand.
While I read the instructions on the back of the Plan B box.
“What kind of name is Ren? And Kitten… KITTEN? ” She laughs some more.
“I think it’s cute.” I pop the pill from its blister packet and knock it back with some water. Then, picking up the birth control he’s also provided me with, I read the instructions for that too.
“Eloise, are you listening to me?” Katelyn snatches them from me.
“Right now, I’m ensuring that I don’t get pregnant,” I tell her, snatching them back sarcastically.
“This isn’t you, you don’t let strangers in your home, then screw them without protection.”
“Katelyn, I don’t screw around, at all. This is all new to me, and I got swept away. But like I said, Ren has fixed it.” I rattle the pill packet at her in case she hasn’t noticed.
“Where did he even get these from anyway? For all you know, you could be taking his antipsychotics.”
“Don’t be cruel, Ren isn’t a psychopath.
He’s just…a little intense. He got these from his friend, who's a pharmacist, and he’s legit, he owns a store and everything.
I checked it out online,” I assure her, I even recognize the brand name of the ones he’s gotten for me from the research I did earlier.
“Did you also check out what pills to take for stupidity while you were doing it?” she asks with a tiny trace of a smile making its way onto her lips.
“ I’m supposed to be the reckless one in this friendship,” she points out, grabbing me and pulling me in for a hug.
“I’m sorry. I don’t want to kill your buzz.
I’m just doing my overprotective best friend duty,” she tells me, in a soft, apologetic tone that I don’t hear from her very often.
“Well, this is the last stupid thing I do. I promise. Last night, I jumped over a huge hurdle, and I’m feeling good about it,” I assure her.
“Then we should be celebrating.” Katelyn goes to the cupboard where I usually keep the tequila, and looks at me sternly when she sees that I haven’t replaced the bottle I finished off last week.
“Come on, get dressed up, we’re going out.” She slams it shut.
“On a school night?” I laugh.
“On a school night,” she confirms. “I’m borrowing that cute, denim dress you own, and I’m not taking no for an answer.
You got a man now, I need it more than you do.
” She kisses my cheek and heads for my wardrobe, while I get back to reading the instructions for the contraception pill Ren got for me.
I have to admit, I was a little wounded that he left here this morning without leaving his number or saying goodbye.
There are no contact details on the note, so I have no way of thanking him for his special delivery.
I don’t even know when the next time I’ll see him will be.
But I do know he won’t be very far away, and the thought of that doesn’t freak me out… it makes me smile.
“I fucking love this place!” Katelyn shouts over the music as she ruffles up her hair and sways her hips from side to side, while I do my usual bop of the head and keep the rest of my body rigid.
I’ve been glancing around the room ever since we got here, wondering if Ren has followed me.
I’m sure I caught a glimpse of him about half an hour ago, but I haven’t seen him since.
So maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me.
“Are you looking for your stalker friend?” Katelyn calls out, grinding her ass against the random guy who’s stepped up behind her.
“Because if you are, he’s right over there.
” She gestures with her eyes over to one of the booths that are set back under the second-floor balcony, and I try to hide my smile when I see him casually slouched back in the shadows with his arms stretched out across the back, his knee bent, and his foot up on the seat beside him.
“Give me a sec.” I look back at Katelyn, she already has her tongue stuck down the random guy's throat, so rolling my eyes, I take off toward him.
His eyes go narrower as he watches me get closer, and when I stand in the gap between his legs, he looks up at me and remains silent.
“I don’t remember inviting you along,” I tell him. I’ve had a few drinks, and that, combined with my newfound confidence, has me acting a little playful.
“You never do, and yet here I am.” He rolls his tongue around the inside of his cheek and makes my pussy dampen my panties just from the way he looks at me.
I decide to be brave, and when I reach forward to kiss him, he pulls his head back.
“You been drinking, Kitten?” He raises one of his eyebrows suspiciously.
“Just a little, me and Katelyn came out to celebrate.” I realize how pathetic that sounds. “You know, since I’m yours now, don’t you think I should have your number?” I blurt out something even more desperate. I really need to start filtering these words in my head before I release them.
“You're real cute, you know that?” He tilts his head sideways and bites his lip as he smiles. Why does every gesture this man makes have me wanting to leap on him? It’s a sensation I’m really not used to, and it’s starting to frustrate me.
“I should lock you away from all the bad in the world.” Sitting up a little straighter, his hand reaches up so his fingers can brush the hair that's fallen onto my face behind my ears. “Just ignore the fact I'm here. Go back to having a good time with your friend,” he tells me, his eyes staring deep into mine as if he’s trying to hypnotise me. I hate the rejection it makes me feel. It’s almost as bad as waking up this morning and him not being there.
“Why did you leave without saying goodbye?” I ask him, desperate to know what's going on inside this guy’s head. I know that he’s been following me. I’ve seen it for myself, and I can’t help thinking that it’s not the only part of himself that he’s keeping from me.
“I did say goodbye, you were sleeping. You looked all peaceful and pretty… I didn’t want to wake you.” He cradles my cheek with his hand, and when his thumb smudges over my bottom lip, I pull back.
Suddenly, I’m very aware of how needy and ridiculous he’s making me act. Katelyn is right, I need to be cautious, despite my instincts, for all I know, this could be one big game to him.
“What are you doing here, Ren?” I stare right back at him, probably letting him see that he has the potential to hurt me, but I don’t care. I want to know everything there is to know about him, the same way he does me.
“I’m making sure you're safe.” He creases his forehead at me.
“I don’t need you to do that, I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.” I stand a little taller and cross my arms.
“Sorry, but dem’s da rules, baby girl. Go back to having fun and just pretend I’m not here.” He smiles at me, and I feel all of that frustration pour into my stomach like lava.
“Fine.” I turn my back on him and make my way over to the dance floor without looking back.
If he wants to watch, I’ll give him something to watch.
Katelyn claps her hands when I dance my way back toward her, imitating those seductive moves she makes and lifting my hair off the back of my neck, the way she does when she’s dancing.
She always manages to look so sexy. I want to see if I can tempt Ren out of his comfort zone, the way he seems to have drawn me out of mine.