Chapter 10
ARIZONA
Iremembered everything about last night. Every. Goddamn. Thing.
The way his lips felt against mine, the way he looked at me at the party, the way he rendered me utterly speechless when he undressed me in the bathroom. I’d never been kissed the way he kissed me, never felt it in every vein of my being and been left yearning for more. Much more.
Still, a part of me wanted to remain in denial, so I’d done my best to keep thoughts of him at bay today.
I looked at myself in a full-length mirror, debating whether I should wear my hair up or down.
My rescheduled date with Chris was tonight and regardless of the fact that I could still feel Carter’s lips on mine, I needed to get back to reality.
The one where we were just friends and had a shared drunken moment.
My phone buzzed as I decided to go with an up-do.
Carter
Has your pussy been devoured yet?
Laughing, I pulled my hair into a bun.
Not yet … Give it a couple of hours.
A couple of hours for him to start, or a couple of hours for him to finish?
Both. I’m sure he’ll be down there a very long time. Something tells me you know nothing about giving and are all about receiving.
Something tells me that you don’t know me as well as you should.
Before I could even begin to comprehend what he meant by that, he sent me another text.
Have fun on your date tonight. Let me know how it goes later.
Thanks. I will.
He sent me a colorful picture of a skeleton lying in bed with the words, “I’ll be waiting,” and I laughed, now realizing that despite the amazing kiss we’d shared, and the outlandish sexual text he’d just sent, it didn’t mean anything to either of us. We were just friends.
Just friends. Just friends …
I put on another coat of pink lipstick, and heard a soft knock on my door. “Yes?”
“Arizona?” My roommate, Heather, knocked once more.
“Yeah?”
“You got a minute?”
“Sure, come in.” I leaned close to the mirror and plucked an errant hair from my eyebrow.
She stepped inside, smiling at me through the glass and I smiled back.
When I’d first moved off campus and into our shared house, I’d thought that she and the rest of the girls would become some of my closest friends, but that never came to be.
They were all majoring in medical studies, and since their schedules were practically the same, they tended to keep to themselves for the most part.
With the exception of our early morning conversations around the coffee maker on the weekends, we only saw each other in passing.
“Me and the girls of the house wanted to give you this,” she said, handing me a pink gift box. “It’s a farewell present, since you’re the only one who’s not staying in town after the summer.”
“But I’m not going anywhere for another two months.”
“Yeah, but everyone is always all over the place, now that we’re working our residencies, and we can never all be here at the same time, so I didn’t want to forget.” She pulled a tiny blue box from her back pocket. “This one is for Carter.”
“Why does Carter get a gift? He’s not a roommate.”
“No, but we see him just as much as we see you.” She shrugged. “My boyfriend is downstairs now. I just wanted to give you that before we start watching our movie.”
“Thank you.” I was truly flattered. “I really appreciate this.”
“You’re welcome.” She gave me a quick hug and left as quickly as she had come in.
I untied the box’s bow and started to unwrap the gift, but Chris called me as I was tearing the first flap.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Are you ready, or do you still need a little time?”
“I’m ready.”
“In that case, I’m at your door.”
“Be right down.” I grabbed my clutch and headed downstairs, checking myself in the hallway mirror one last time.
I opened the door and saw Chris standing there with a huge bouquet of yellow flowers.
“You look beautiful.” He pulled me close for a kiss, gently slipping his tongue against mine and whispering against my mouth; I only felt a small tingle. Nothing groundbreaking.
Slipping his arm around my waist, he led me to his car and held the door open—smiling, as I slipped inside.
“I never took you for a guy who likes pop music,” I said, as he turned on the radio.
“I don’t … I just remembered that you do, and that I’m supposed to do whatever’s necessary to get you to sleep with me later.”
I laughed at his dry humor and hummed along to the music as he drove. Tonight was, in fact, our third date, and even though he was joking, I knew the three-date-sex rule was playing in his mind.
We pulled up to the pier half an hour later and walked hand in hand to Emilia’s, an Italian restaurant that everyone at the beach loved. Since he’d made a reservation, we were immediately seated near the window, and the waiter came over with a complimentary house wine and asked to take our orders.
As he was writing down what I wanted, I spotted Carter sitting at a corner table. With Tina. He was dressed in a white shirt that was unbuttoned at the top with black slacks, and she was wearing a dark green dress that left little to the imagination.
Although Carter looked somewhat detached, he was holding her hand on top of the table.
I took out my phone.
You decided to try the relationship thing with Tina instead of just sex? When did that happen?
It didn’t. What would ever make you think that?
The fact that you’re holding hands at Emilia’s and she’s wearing a dress that looks like she wants to give you the ride of your life later tonight.
You really need to get better at sexting.
He tossed back a shot as he looked around the room until he found me. His lips slightly parted as his eyes met mine, and it looked like he was about to get up and walk over, but he stayed back and texted me instead.
She called and said she wanted to go out to dinner. I didn’t have anything else to do, so I agreed. And if her dress says she wants to give me the ride of her life tonight, what the hell does yours say?
It says, ‘I know you want me right here, right now.’
More like, ‘I want to be fucked right here, right now.’
I laughed and looked up to see him smiling at me.
“What’s so funny?” Chris asked.
“Nothing, just a text from a friend.” I put my phone away and gave him my attention. “Thank you for being nice enough to reschedule our date for tonight.”
“Nice enough? It wasn’t that big of a deal. I would’ve waited until next week, if you wanted.” He picked up my hand and held it. “Don’t take this the crazy way or anything, but I really like you. There’s something about you I can’t quite put my finger on, but I like you a lot.”
“Is this the part where you’re going to tell me that I complete you?”
“It is.” He laughed, letting my hand go. “How did you know?”
“Instincts.” I sipped my wine and the two of us steered the conversation toward the simple and safe things: Plans after college, the bullshit of grad school programs, and the dwindling days of summer.
When the waiter returned to refill our wine a second time, I pressed a napkin against my mouth. “Will you excuse me for a minute, Chris? I need to go to the restroom.”
“Of course.”
I stood and made my way to the back, looking over my shoulder at Carter and Tina, who seemed to be engrossed in a deep conversation.
Regardless of what he’d texted me, I knew he was going to sleep with her, and I couldn’t believe I was feeling slightly jealous; that was something I’d never felt when it came to him and whomever he dated.
Sighing, I walked into the restroom and reapplied my lipstick. I added a bit more mascara and blush, and hoped that Chris had something else up his sleeve for our date tonight, before he asked about sex.
I made sure I didn’t leave anything on the sink and stepped out into the hallway, noticing Carter heading in my direction.
“Are you following me?” I crossed my arms.
“Unless you’re coming from the men’s restroom, I don’t think so.”
An elderly couple walked between us, and he grabbed my hand—pulling me toward a set of windows.
“Is your date not going well?” he asked. “Do you need me to call your phone and fake an emergency for you?”
“What? No, I actually need for you to leave. You’re distracting me.”
“Come again?”
“You knew I was coming here on my date, Carter,” I said. “We have an unwritten rule.”
“And what unwritten rule is that?”
“That everyone who knows us, or everyone who has ever been around us, thinks we’re screwing each other, when we’re not, so the less time we spend at the same places when we’re dating other people, the better.”
“First of all, I’m not dating Tina. Second of all, she picked this restaurant. You never actually told me where your date was going to be tonight.” He raised his eyebrow, looking concerned. “What is going on with you? Did you drink too much alcohol today, too?”
“Maybe.” I sighed, silently counting the four glasses I’d just had with my dinner. “I just—I just thought you were here because…”
“Because what?”
“It’s nothing.” I took a deep breath. “I’m very sorry. I thought you were purposely showing up here to distract me.”
“And why would I ever do something like that?” He looked completely confused.
“You wouldn’t; hence, the apology I just gave you.” I started to move around him, but he stepped in front of me, gently pushing me against the wall.
“Are you sleeping with him tonight?” he asked. “Does he live up to everything on your spreadsheet?”
“I don’t have a spreadsheet anymore,” I said. “I’ll have to find the time to start a new one because after the ‘Epic’ party, someone found a way to delete it from my phone.”
“Hmmm. That’s such a shame.”