“Ben and Trey can just meet us at the club,” she told me as security escorted us down to her car where it waited in the private parking lot.
She assured me she texted Trey about our plan, but I worry Trey didn’t pass on the message to Ben because he’s not here at the club. I look out at the crowd in the VIP area. Most of the other players have already arrived, including Eva’s boyfriend, Brent, and Trey.
Much to my relief, Trey was nothing but kind to me when he walked in and found me sitting with his wife. He gave me a friendly hug and asked me how I was doing. I haven’t talked to him much since then because we’re all sitting on a long bench that runs along the back wall of the VIP section and Leanna is the one sitting beside me, chatting my ear off about their house renovations and anything and everything having to do with Amara. I know her favorite food (peaches) and her favorite book (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom) and just how long it took her to sleep train (three weeks) and which method she used (something called graduated extinction). Though it’s slightly more detail than I need to know, I’m actually glad she’s carrying on about Amara because I’m too distracted to be much of a conversationalist at the moment.
The birthday festivities are well underway. Every ten minutes, it seems like the club produces something new to woo us with. There’s been a huge cake and sparklers, dancers, and round upon round of drinks. Now, there’s new commotion near the entrance of the VIP section, and I tilt my head to try to see around the crowd to figure out what’s going on. I recognize Anthony and roll my eyes when I see he’s arriving with a harem of women.
He has an arm slung over two of them, one on each side of him, and they cling to him with self-satisfied smiles. The others hang around as if desperate for any little piece of attention they can get.
People at the party all react with excitement, like they haven’t seen him in years. They gather to take their turns clapping his hands and tugging him in for a chest bump. He starts joking around and dancing to the pulse-pounding music, and everyone laughs. Then he shakes off the attention, grabs one of the girls, and turns to where I’m sitting with Leanna and Trey.
His smile immediately drops. He looks completely shocked to see me here in the club, and well…I’m a little shocked myself.
“No shit! Look who we have here.”
His attention draws everyone else’s, and I fidget in my seat as all eyes fall on me. I already feel like an outsider. I’ve never been to a party like this. Everyone seems to know what’s up, know each other. They’re all dressed to the nines, and meanwhile, I’m still wearing my crop top and denim cutoffs.
“Little Miss Raelynn. My hero,” Anthony says, walking over to me until I have to crane my neck to look up at him. “Did you come to our game tonight?”
I nod. “Ben invited me.”
The news shocks him. “Oh did he? So my man took my advice. Glad to hear it. You gonna put him out of his misery and marry him now?”
My eyes practically bug out of my head.
Anthony’s lopsided grin stretches wider. “I’m kidding.” He looks to the seat beside mine that was blessedly empty before now. “Mind if I…?”
Before I answer, he’s already taking a seat. The girl who was with him doesn’t stick around though. She says something about grabbing a drink then disappears back out into the crowd. It’s getting so packed in here, it’s hard to see the entrance of the VIP section. I’m worried Ben will show up and I won’t see him.
“You don’t have to worry. Your boy Ben is coming.”
I flick my gaze to him. “Is he?”
He shrugs. “Told me he was, but he had another interview after ours was finished. He always has to stay later than the rest of us. They want every piece of Ben they can get.”
I nod and look up as a waiter appears, handing Anthony a drink.
“Thanks. Could I get some water too? Raelynn, you want anything?”
I hold up my water. “I’m fine, thank you.”
He thanks the server then leans into me. “Don’t get me wrong, I love to party and drink as much as the rest of them, but not when we’re in the middle of the season like this. I drag on the court when I drink too much, and Ben chews my ass out.”
I smile, imagining it.
“Something tells me you could use a good ass-chewing.”
He grins deviously just as a few of the girls he arrived with find him.
“Anthony, what are you doin’ over here, baby? Come dance!”
He looks to me and I wave him on, knowing if he doesn’t leave with them, they’ll just keep pestering him.
He gets dragged out into the thick of the party, and I laugh watching him get swarmed. No wonder these guys have egos the size of California.
When we first arrived, the VIP area was already packed, but now I swear every minute, a new crowd of people rushes in, adding to the crush of bodies and overcrowding the small space. There were cocktail tables in the center of the room earlier, but those have been pushed to the side now. People dance and sing and accidentally bump into me, laugh, and then shout apologies over the music. When I glance over, Leanna and Trey have their heads bent together. Trey gives her a kiss on the cheek, and I slide off the bench to disappear into the crowd and give them some privacy.
I have no real plan. I just feel antsy, sitting there, waiting for Ben. Even though Anthony confirmed it, a part of me still worries he won’t come. I can’t picture him in a setting like this, drinking and partying, laughing and carefree. I slide through the dense crowd, smile politely when a guy tries to draw me into conversation, but then I keep it moving. I’m trying to make it closer to the entrance so I can see Ben when he arrives.
Suddenly, what little light there was in the club goes out altogether, replaced by a red glow that tints the room and everyone in it. I look down at my arms bathed in seductive crimson light just as a fast-paced club beat starts to blare from the speakers. The energy in the room ratchets up another notch and I feel the bass in my chest, the music pulsing through me. The crowd goes crazy and bodies crush me from all sides. I spin in a circle, searching faces, looking for a familiar set of piercing brown eyes. Another spin and the red room blurs. Ben, where are you?
Why aren’t you here?
Suddenly a hand touches my lower back, and I whip around to see an unfamiliar guy trying to get my attention.
“He’s looking for you!” he shouts over the music.
I frown then follow his gaze, and my heart lurches in my chest. Through the pulsating crowd, between bodies that seem constantly in motion, I find Ben standing in front of Leanna and Trey, staring straight at me.
The hand on my back slips away as our eyes lock.
His gaze is an intimate caress, so all-consuming it borders on inappropriate. It’s like he’s eating me up from a distance, and I flush from head to toe, grateful he’s too far away to take notice, grateful more so that the light in here already casts me in red, so what’s a little more blush?
I wanted him to show up so desperately it takes me a moment to fully register that he’s here in person again after so long. I took the other day for granted. He surprised me by showing up on campus, and I barely had my wits about me. Now, I have enough good sense to feel a trickle of fear as he starts to cut through the crowd to get to me. I resist the overwhelming urge to run, and instead, I brace myself in my spot, waiting with bated breath. My body vibrates with anticipation, as if his journey to get to me has been years in the making. There’s no smile on his face, no joy. His brown eyes barely show relief once he’s upon me, reaching out to take my hand in a tight grip as if he’s scared the crowd’s going to swallow me up at any moment.