“Okay.” The thought of doing this kind of makes me want to throw up from anxiety, but her confidence helps. “Before you go, Joey Lancaster?”
She shrugs, “He was good in high school, and he’s hotter now. I’m thinking I’ll see if he’s learned any new moves.”
I laugh and roll my eyes. “Go get ‘em tiger.”
Adam turns and makes his way back to me, and nerves punch me in the gut. I clench my hands into fists and release them to try to relieve some of the shaking.
“Here you go.” Adam passes me my drink, and he has one of his own.
I take a big sip, and it helps a little. “I have something to ask you, and I’m nervous.”
“Okay, I promise I’m not that scary.”
“It’s just that the last time I did this it didn’t go well.”
Adam looks confused. “Okay.”
“I was wondering if you wanted to come back to my apartment.” My stomach rolls with nerves and maybe the alcohol was a bad idea because now I feel kind of light-headed. I can’t remember when I ate last. My palms are sweaty and I’m hanging on Adam’s expression figuring out if I’m going to need to go bury myself in a hole in Central Park.
His face turns from confusion to a perfect, beautiful smile. He throws back his drink in one go, and puts it down on the table. “Ready to go when you are.”
Sweet, pure, relief floods my system, and I copy him by finishing my drink in one long sip. “Okay, I’m ready.”
9
Adam
I take Olivia by the hand and walk through the ballroom as quickly as I can without drawing attention or making Ollie think that the only reason I said yes was for sex. I mean, I fucking hope there’s sex because my dick has been as hard as a rock since I kissed her, and every time I look at her in that dress, I think I lose a little more blood flow to my brain.
But it’s more than that. I want to be with her, in her space, in her bed. I want to talk to her and find out all the things I didn’t when I first had the chance. I want to find out what kind of things she likes to read and do, and then I want to do all those things with her. I want to know how her family is and what her life has been like these last ten years. I didn’t lie to her when I said that I’d thought about her. I have thought about her a lot in the last ten years, but I never thought that this would happen.
If I were in her position, I honestly don’t know if I would have forgiven me. I should have done so much more to help her. Telling her what really happened would have been a good fucking start.
I really should have asked her if I could kiss her first, but I didn’t see another way to show her my real reaction. And god, kissing Ollie is like…
I don’t have words for it. Never in my life have I had a kiss like that. Who knows if it’s ten years of pent-up emotions or the fact that she looks stunning tonight, but I’d be stupid if I gave up this opportunity, sex or no.
She was so nervous asking me to come over, it makes me wonder why. It’s something I want to ask, but this isn’t the time or place to ask it. I let go of her for a second so I can pull out a tip for the doorman, and he flags down a cab for us. I hold the door open for her and she slides in first. As soon as I’m inside, I pull her close. I don’t want her to think that there’s any hesitation on my part. At all. I don’t know if I can express how much I actually want this, and this is an easy way to help with that.
Besides, it’s not exactly a hardship to have Ollie this close to me. I can feel the shape of her so clearly through her dress, and yet it still feels like there’s so much hidden.
She gives her address to the driver and off we go, speeding towards the 59th Street Bridge. She looks at me, and her expression is puzzled in the passing streetlights. “This is so weird.”
“What?”
“You’re here with me. We’re going to my apartment.”
I lean down close so that the cab driver doesn’t hear me. “Want to be a cliché and make out in the cab?”
“I’m pretty much always down for being a cliché,” she says.
I kiss her, and the way her lips open under mine has my cock harder than it’s ever been and need tugging in my gut to have more of her. I pull her toward me until she’s practically in my lap and I can stroke my hand down across her hip, savor her curves. She tastes like the cranberry in the drink that she just had, and I can smell whatever perfume she has on, light lavender and vanilla and I love it.
When I decided to go to the reunion, I thought I would be there for an hour and then go home; never to see anyone again. This is way, way better. The way she’s leaning into me, kissing me back, I wish we’d had this when we were eighteen. But then again, maybe it’s better that we’re trying this now. Later. After having time to let the rest of that go.
It seems like only minutes before the cab pulls to a stop in front of an apartment building in Queens. One of the older ones, easily pre-war. We disentangle long enough for me to pay the cab driver and then I help her out of the cab. The lobby of her building has been updated, a nice glass door and crystal chandelier decorate the marble foyer. There’s a code lock on the door too.
She lets us in the first door to the foyer, and the second door to the stairs. “It’s a walk-up,” she says. “Sorry.”
I saw the building from outside—it’s only a three-story building, and that’s how many floors we go up. Stopping in front of a door that has panes of frosted glass, she turns to me. “Would you mind waiting outside for a couple of minutes?”
“Why? You have someone else inside?” I tease.
She blushes, and it’s the perfect shade of pink. I want to see if I can make her blush other places, in other ways. “No, it’s just I wasn’t exactly expecting company. I want to clean a couple of things up.”
I laugh. “I don’t care about that.”
“You say that now, but you might.”
“I won’t. You haven’t seen a mess until you’ve seen the residents’ locker room.”
Ollie bites her lip, and it’s adorable. “Still, I could just pick a couple of things up.”
“What if I promise to keep my eyes closed until you’re happy.”
“Promise?”
I won’t lie, I’m curious to see what exactly she thinks is messy. “I promise I’ll give you at least a minute.”
“That’s all I need.” She gets a key from under the mat and unlocks the door. “My key is still with my stuff at Bergdorf’s. Lorraine is having it messengered over tomorrow. Now close your eyes.”
I do, and she takes my hand and leads me inside. In my head I start counting to sixty, and I hear the sounds of Ollie kicking off her shoes, hurried footsteps and the clink of some glasses. Her footsteps disappear deeper into the apartment and I hear shuffling and a few more sounds like dishware clinking. “Can I open my eyes?” I ask, even though I’ve only counted to forty-five.
“Not yet! Just one more minute.”
There’s a few thumps, and her footsteps running quickly past me. More clinking. “Okay, I guess that’s as good as I can do.”