Chapter 23
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Scott
On the taxi ride home, Trina looks like she’s about to fall asleep. She’s resting her head on my shoulder, her eyes closed.
“We’re here,” I say as the driver stops in front of the building.
“Okay,” Trina says, sounding groggy. She sits up and opens the door.
I follow her out of the car, taking her hand because I’ve been doing it all night and now it feels strange if I don’t. But this is it. The end of our fake date. After this, we go back to being neighbors. Landlord and tenant. Boss and employee.
“I’ll walk you to your door,” I say as we pass by my apartment.
“You’re not going to invite me over?”
I stop and look at her. “You want to come over?”
“It’s not that late, and I’m not ready to go home.”
This is a bad idea. If we go to my apartment, who knows what will happen? I’ve been a total gentleman all night. I held her hand, but that was it. I resisted the urge to kiss her, even though I’ve thought about it all night.
“Do you not want me to?” she asks, since I haven’t said anything. “Because I guess I could just try to go to sleep.”
“You can come over.”
We walk back to my apartment and go inside. I shouldn’t have agreed to this, but I couldn’t tell her no. She practically begged me to invite her over, which makes me wonder why. Is she just lonely, or is she here for a different reason?
“Can I get you something?” I ask, going to the kitchen.
“No, I’m good.” She joins me in the kitchen. “Do you cook?”
“Sometimes.” I take a water from the fridge. “Why do you ask?”
“I was wondering if I could use your stove sometime. I get tired of always eating microwaved meals.”
“You can use my stove. I don’t mind.”
“I’d share. Whatever I make, you could take half. Or maybe we could have dinner together.”
What’s going on with her? She invites herself over? Invites me to have dinner with her? Is she wanting this fake date to turn into something more? But she knows I don’t want that. Maybe I’m reading too much into it.
“So how do you feel after our fake date?” I ask. “Do you think you’re ready to get out there again?”
“No.” She laughs a little. “If I’d been out with someone else tonight, I would’ve been really nervous and stumbling on my words.”
“You should give yourself more credit. I think you’d do great.”
“Maybe. I’d probably do okay at dinner, but then the end of the date would come and I’d get really nervous.”
“Why?”
“Because I haven’t kissed a guy in over four years. Well, a guy who wasn’t Asher.”
I set my water down. “There’s nothing to be nervous about. It’s just a kiss.”
“Yeah, but it’s different with someone new. You have to worry if you’re doing it right, or what they’re thinking and where it’s going to lead.”
“Or you could just relax and focus on how it feels.”
She walks up to me, gazing at me with those big brown eyes. “You know, if this was a date, we’d probably kiss.”
We’d do a lot more than kiss, but I’m trying not to think about that.
“We would,” I say as she steps closer. “But tonight wasn’t real.”
“You don’t think we should pretend that it is?” She puts her hand on my chest, her face tilted up, her beautiful lips right there, waiting for me.
I want to do it, but I shouldn’t. Not when I’m this worked up after being with her all night, seeing her in that dress.
What if we can’t stop at just a kiss? What if it leads to her dress coming off? And us going to the bedroom?
“Scott,” she says, gazing up at me. “This has been such a great night. Better than I ever expected. I know the date part wasn’t real, but could we maybe pretend that it is? Just for a little longer?”
She’s asking—begging—me to do this, and I can’t tell her no. I’m a strong guy, but every guy has a weakness, and Trina is mine. But we’re stopping after the kiss.
I wrap my arms around her tiny waist and tug her closer. Her lips part just slightly as her eyes soften, then gently close. I lean down and kiss her, my lips barely brushing hers. I feel her warm breath. I hear it speeding up. I kiss her again, a real kiss this time, my tongue slipping past her lips. She grabs the front of my shirt, gripping it in her hand like she has no intention of letting go.
So much for a simple kiss. I knew we couldn’t do it. We’ve been wanting to do this all night. There’s no way we were stopping after one kiss.
My hand goes to her shoulder, feeling those tiny straps on her dress, wanting to yank them loose. But instead, my hand slides down the silky fabric, stopping when I reach her breast. Her body stiffens at first, then relaxes as I touch her.
I slow down the kiss, my tongue moving lazily over hers as I cup her breast, my thumb circling over her nipple. Her knees weaken and I tighten my hold on her waist. My hand wanders lower, over the curve of her hip, then her backside. She sinks into me, her body molded against mine. I’m sure she can feel my cock—rock hard and pressing against her—but I don’t care. She shouldn’t be surprised. She saw how I looked at her tonight. I didn’t hide the fact that I was checking her out.
I reach the slit in her dress and slip my hand under it, sliding it up and down the outside of her thigh, then inward, until my hand is between her legs, stroking over the fabric of her panties. She breaks from the kiss, gasping for breath.
“Oh, God,” she whispers. “So good.”
Why did she have to say that? It only encourages me. And I should not be encouraged to keep doing this, knowing where it could lead.
Just a few more minutes. A few more, and then I’ll put an end to this. I’m not having sex with her. I don’t want her thinking that’s what tonight was about. She thinks I’m a guy who sleeps around, and while that might be somewhat true, I never intended to end this night with her in my bed. I wasn’t even going to kiss her.
“What are you doing?” she asks as I bunch her dress up to her waist.
“I don’t want to rip it.”
She smiles. “Why don’t I just take it off?”
“It’s better if you leave it on.”
Because if she doesn’t, we will definitely end up in my bed. I’m doing my best here to control myself, but I have a limit, and we’re dangerously close to that limit.
“Hold this,” I say, waiting for her to take the bunched up fabric from me. When she does, I hook my fingers around her silky black panties and slide them down her legs.
She gasps. “What are you—”
“Finishing what I started,” I say, tossing her panties aside. I lift her up on the counter.
“I can’t,” she says, glancing at the counter. “It’s going to get dirty.”
I smile. “Damn right it’s going to get dirty.”
“I meant the counter,” she says.
“I’ve got cleaner,” I tell her, finding it humorous that she’s thinking about that.
I’m always learning something new about this girl. Like right now, I’ve learned she likes it when I shove her legs apart with my hands and rub her inner thighs while I put my mouth on her. She’s panting and moaning, her head tipped back as I work my magic. I don’t like to brag, but when it comes to this, I’m a master. I’ve perfected my technique over the years and had plenty of practice.
“Oh God,” Trina says, her legs trembling as my tongue moves faster while my fingers push deep inside her. She grips the edge of the counter and her back arches.
I look up and watch her as she comes. It almost makes me come myself, but I don’t. I’ll save this image for later, when I’m alone.
I take my hand from her and slowly stand up. “Need some help getting down?”
She doesn’t answer me, but her eyes flutter open and she gives me a crooked smile. She looks drunk.
I laugh a little. “You okay?”
“That was…” She takes a breath. “I don’t know how you did that.”
“It’s a talent of mine.”
“Yeah, you’re definitely talented when it comes to that.” She sits up, but then falls back on her hands. “I might need a minute.”
“Take all the time you need.” I go over to the bottle of water I had on the counter. I pick it up and take a drink.
“Tonight is now officially the best night I’ve ever had,” Trina says. “And definitely the best date.”
“Fake date,” I remind her as I walk back to her.
“It felt real.” She leans forward and puts her arms around my neck. “And it doesn’t have to end.” She smiles. “Let’s go to your room.”
“No.” I back away and her arms fall down to her sides. “We’re not doing that.”
“Why? Don’t you want to—”
“No. I don’t. Not with you.”
She jumps off the counter. “Not with me?” She shoves her dress down. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means what I said. I’m not doing that with you.”
“Why?” She huffs. “Is there something wrong with me?”
“You just broke up with the guy you were going to marry. You’re not thinking straight. I’m not letting you do something you’re going to regret later.”
“I’m not going to regret it,” she snaps, her anger rising. “And this has nothing to do with Asher. You know I like you, and I thought you liked me… unless I was wrong.”
“Trina, you know I like you.”
“Then what’s the problem? Why are you telling me no? We had such a great night and now—”
“And now it’s over.” I take both her hands in mine. “I agree we had a great night. So let’s just leave it at that.”
“Can you at least tell me why?”
“I just can’t do it. I’m sorry.”
She yanks her hands from mine. “I don’t understand you.” She races to get her panties from the floor. “You’ve slept with probably a hundred girls, but for some reason I’m not good enough?”
“Trina, I never said that.”
“Don’t talk to me.” She runs to the door, then stops and turns back. “My first impression of you was right. You’re a jerk!”
She leaves, slamming the door behind her. Moments later, I hear her own door slam shut.
She doesn’t get it. She doesn’t get that I said no because I care about her more than I should. Sex wouldn’t just be sex with her, and that’s a problem. I wouldn’t be able to keep it casual like I do with other girls. I’d want more. And I don’t do more. I can’t get involved with a girl. I can’t develop feelings for her.
Unfortunately, I already have feelings for Trina. By the time I realized that, it was too late. But it’s not too late to stop this before it turns into something more. That’s why I turned her down.