Page 15 of Something New

I grab a smaller towel for my hair because it’s so long and thick and takes forever to dry, so it needs its own towel.

I grin again when I see the dress on the table. I can’t believe someone bought it for me. It must have been Riley. He’s great, I think he might be the one.

I might lose my virginity to him. Not that I have told him I’m a virgin, God. I just said I wanted to take things slow.

He seems like the perfect guy - sweet, polite, caring and gentle. He’s got a good job, and a plan for his life. When I talk he listens, he respects me. Also, he hasn’t ghosted me.

Still wrapped in the towel I grab my laptop and flop down onto my bed.

I email the venue where I am hosting my birthday - a club in the middle of town - a popular place I have never been to. I confirm the table I have reserved in the VIP section. Then I go through the list of people I have invited and message those who haven’t replied. People can be so rude about these things.

Most of my friends are going to be there. In fact, I think a lot of people I didn’t even invite are going to be there. In university if one person hears about a party it is assumed that everyone is invited. Especially in a club.

Partying is not my style - I look up at the black dress, glittering near the window - a new me. Time to reinvent myself. For one night Ican bethe pretty girl. The dress could be like Cinderella and magically make me confident and beautiful.

Well - I can wish.

When I am done on my laptop, I throw the towels over the back of my bed again, and pull on my sweatpants and a crop top. I braid my damp hair because I really don’t have the energy to dry it now.

I lift my blankets and climb into bed, snuggling into the warmth.

I fall asleep with a smile on my face, thinking about Riley seeing me in the dress he bought me - and wondering what shoes I should wear with it. I’ll ask Hayley. She’s a fashion queen. She’ll help me pull the whole outfit together.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Tuomo

It’s done. I roll my shoulders back trying to force the tension out of them.

I dust my hands down the sides of my pants, rubbing the dirt and soil off them. I hate the stickiness of blood, it’s fucking disgusting. Washing it off takes ages, and it gets everywhere. But I had to do, what I had to do.

I bend down to grab the shovel off the ground and toss it into the open trunk of my car.

It’s dark, and it’s a long ass drive to get back to the city. I should hurry. I came here and did what I had to do, dawdling isn’t part of the plan.

It’s done and that asshole won’t be showing up at her birthday party to tell her anything special.

No secret, special message for the girl who doesn’t belong to him. He was becoming a problem, him and his being a perfect ten.

He won’t show up anywhere ever again.

I didn’t intend to get rid of him tonight. I planned to sort this minor problem out a few days ago, but then the boy changed his plans, and I had to switch a few things around. It doesn’t matter. As long as it was sorted before her birthday party, I couldn’t have him showing up putting ideas in her head. I would do anything for her, always. I will change my entire schedule and flip my world upside down it if means I get her.

I glance at my watch and see that I have just enough time to get back home, shower, and change before I need to be at the club for Nerissa’s party. I didn’t get an invitation, but I’d already invited myself.

A surge of energy pulses through me, a zap, like lighting spiking through a pitch black, midnight sky.

I have waited so long for this night. It’s surreal that it is finally here. I have thought about it every day for six years. I have fantasized and imagined how it would go. And now it’s here. Tonight. It’s happening.

Slamming the trunk closed I climb into the driver’s seat. I have booked the car for a valet tomorrow. Just to be safe. Most of the law is in my father’s pocket, but I prefer not to take the risk, anyway. Perfect ten, rich boy might have a daddy that goes all nuts about him being missing.

Tonight, I will take another car to the club.

The drive home takes forever, not really, it’s the same distance it always is, but I am anxious. I want this to be perfect and I have so much anticipation building inside me. So much tension. It’s exhilarating, but I’m nervous.

I am going to ask her to marry me.

After waiting years, being patient and biding my time - I am about to ask the girl of my dreams to marry me. The only girl who is and will ever be meant for me.

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