“Yeah,” Reese said, scratching his chin as he smiled at me, a charming smile that had won me over time and time again. He was smooth, that was for sure. “Just you and me, if you know what I mean.”
“You and me,” I muttered.
I only had a second to decide what to do. I could turn him down, sure, which was the right thing to do. Given the fact he was nothing but trouble and I was on my way to medical school, I knew there was no way anything could work out between us. He was a baller – into drugs and basketball and hanging out on the streets. And I was a good girl. Totally opposite worlds.
Good girls didn't hang out with guys like him – especially when those guys don't even look twice at them until they were in a short skirt and showing off some cleavage. There was only one thing Reese wanted from me – I was inexperienced but not naive. I knew exactly what would happen if we got together.
“Sure,” I said, feeling a smile on my own face. “That sounds nice.”
“Yeah, that sounds real nice,” he said, stepping in just a little bit closer, close enough that I could feel his breath against my face and see those brown eyes boring into mine. “Meet me here at closing. We can head over to my place.”
“Alright,” I said, feeling like my heart might explode in my chest. I was doing this. I was going over to Reese's house to hook up. After all that time spent mooning over him – not to mention touching myself thinking about him – this was really happening. “See you then.”
As I turned to walk away, I felt his gaze upon me, staring at my ass as I walked. I swished it, just a bit extra for him. Giving him a little show. Of course, I nearly fell in my high heels, so I had to grab onto the nearest bar stool for support and pray he didn't see it.
I told my friends I'd met someone – an old friend. He was and old friend – sort of. If you really stretched the definition of friendship, anyway. I told them I was going to hang out with him for a while and that they should just go on back to the house without me.
Allie was shit-faced and had no idea what was happening. Lauren couldn't care less. She waved at me as they climbed into their Uber, but that was it. That was the last I saw of them before I headed back inside. The place was emptying out as security tried to usher the remaining people from the premises. There were a few drunk couples still getting handsy with one
another and a few drunk guys that tried to get me to dance with them, but I was on a mission.
I walked over to the DJ booth as Reese was packing up. It was late and I was tired, but there I was, walking up to Reese as we'd discussed.
“You ready, beautiful?” he said.
“Yeah, just one thing – ”
Reese raised an eyebrow, but waited for my response.
“Don't tell my brother you saw me.”
“Ah hell no,” Reese said with a laugh. “No way would I tell your brother anything. As far as he knows, I've never seen you outside the times we've been at your house together. And this Maya – this sexier version I never knew existed – will remain a secret too.”
I smiled. “Good. My family doesn't need to know about this.”
“Your secret is safe with me, baby,” he said.
His voice was as smooth as chocolate and it dripped with sensuality. It was as if he knew he held me rapt in some magic spell. He probably did – or at least knew how to seduce a woman and was very good at it. There was no way I was his first.
Reese leaned in and kissed me, as he ran his hands through my long hair. He held my face and kissed me the way I'd always wanted him to kiss me. Then his hands moved down, over my body and for a moment, I feared we might not make it back to his place.
But Reese pulled away, leaving my mouth and my body yearning for more. I whimpered as he pulled away, my eyes wide as I stared at him, wanting him with every inch of my body.
“We should get going,” he said.
He took my hand in his, and together, we walked out of the club – which was pretty much empty, except for a few employees cleaning up the mess that had been left behind. No one even noticed as the two of us walked out of the club together. I was probably not the first woman Reese escorted out of the club after work. And hell, I probably wouldn't be the last. But it didn't matter. I was getting my wish. My one desire.
Reese lived down the street from the club, right in the heart of downtown Chicago. The part of town my parents told me to avoid, of course. But what did they know? I was a big girl now. Besides, what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them in the least.
We walked into his building – which was situated above a liquor store, tucked away upstairs.
“Sorry, no elevator. Old building,” he said as we started up the stairs, “But I'm only on the 2nd floor.”
“That's fine,” I said, cursing my heels and wishing I had worn more suitable shoes. After a long night at the club, my feet were begging for sweet relief.
We reached his apartment door on the second floor and Reese unlocked it. Apartment 207. For some reason, I'd always wondered where he lived and had sometimes imagined what it would look like. I knew he didn't live like my family did – in a nice, two story house in the suburbs – but I always wondered what his life might be like. Part of my interest in Reese was that he was so different than me. I'd never met someone like him before. All of the guys I went to school with were preppy and well-off, living in houses that resembled my own. We were all very much the same, living the same cookie cutter existences – but Reese was different.
I think that's what caught Luke's attention too. My brother so badly wanted to be someone else, to not be the loser in a family of winners. Reese offered him that, but little did Luke know, Reese was still the better person. Because in the end, Reese could hold down a job and lived relatively well for someone on his own in the city. Unlike my brother, Reese wasn't relying on somebody else to buy his toilet paper for him.