Page 10 of Night Fever
“Are you glad youdid?”
“I mean,” she replies, “Ididrun away from you. So how happy could I havebeen?”
The hard truth of her words punches me in thegut.
She didn’t want to ever see me again. She made the conscious choice to run out of the bar last night, and the conscious choice to run away from me just momentsago.
All she wanted was a quick fuck. And now that I’ve given it to her, I’m nothing toher.
“Your father is concerned about you,” I say, sitting down next to her. I look over to see her staring at her hands in her lap, a glossy sheen of sweat at her temples from the running and theheat.
“What else is new,” she laughs bittersweetly, her eyes findingmine.
“Hey,” I say, knocking my shoulder into hers, “I won’t tell your dad about us, if that’s what you’re worried about. Admittedly, you may have to explain to him why you ran out of there like a bat out of hell, but whatever you want to tell him, I’m entirely on board. Make up a story. Concoct something. I’m right there with you, whatever you come upwith.”
She shifts softly next to me and looks over again, tucking a lock of the loose hair behind herear.
“Okay,” she exhales, her eyes searching mine deeply. Then a little mischievous smile plays against her soft, plump lips. “So let’s say we already know each other because you tried to robme.”
“Ouch,” I say, stretching my legs out in front of me, hooking one ankle across the other, leaning into her slightly. “So you ran away because I’m athief?”
“No,” she says, “I ran away because I felt so guilty for punching you in thenose.”
“So let me get this straight,” I say, crooking an eyebrow at her, “I tried to rob you and you punchedme?”
“Yes,” she replies. “And then, like I said, I felt guilty. So I took you to the hospital because you had a bloody nose. And the nurse who was helping you put a tampon up yournose.”
“That’s actually a good idea,” I say. “So you ran away because a man with a tampon up his nose is a turnoff foryou.”
“Yes, that’s part of it,” she says. “But it gets worse. After they discharged you, you had no money and no way to gethome.”
“Well of course I had no money,” I say, “why do you think I was trying to rob you to beginwith?”
“Right,” she replies, turning toward me and tucking one foot under her, “so I end up giving you all of the money in my wallet, like fiftybucks.”
“If you’d just given me the money when I asked for it in the first place,” I say, shrugging, “none of this would havehappened.”
“You didn’t ask for it,” she laughs, putting her finger into my chest, “you tried to stealit!”
“Next time I’ll ask nicely,” Isay.
I feel her expression soften and watch as she bites down on her bottom lip, her eyes meeting mine and then pulling away again. A few morning birds chirp in the big white oak trees in thegarden.
“Okay,” she says, standing up. “The next time you want to steal from me, you better asknicely.”
I watch her ass in those tight yoga pants as she starts walking away from me through the courtyard and toward the door to the staircase. She is stunning, but a little bit damninfuriating.
She turns around, her hair pulled up into that perfect bun, and all I want to do right now is undoher.
“Hey,” she says back to me, putting her arms across her chest, “you wanna go back upthere?”
“Yeah,” I reply, “but what are we really going to tell your dad? You think the story about the bloody nose is really gonnafly?”
“Don’t worry about it,” she replies, the spark behind her eyes flickering out softly, “I’ve got it undercontrol.”
Taylor
I placemy hand softly on the barre against the mirror in front of the studio and enter fifth position, placing my other arm down at my side. I keep it relaxed but steady, and without looking down at it, I curl my fingers very slightly to keep the correct positioning when I enter a deepplie.
