Page 21 of Quarantined
“No, you don’t. You have a rotation of “groupies” coming in and out of our house. Don’t try to empathize with my situation. You don’t fit in with my weirdness.”
“I fit in with all of your weirdness. And a physical act doesn’t mean attraction or chemistry. I don’t necessarily feel the chemistry when I meet a good looking girl. I can objectively say that she is pretty. And I can have a good time hooking up with her. It doesn’t mean I have this raw, carnal attraction to her. Or that I have an unexplainable pull towards her.”
“Okay fine, you know exactly what I mean. Keep that in mind tonight, while you are not feeling chemistry with all of your “groupies” who will be throwing themselves at you.”
Reid grins ear to ear. “Before I forget, here you go. Open it later.” Reid takes out a small box from his jacket pocket and hands it to me.
I knew he got me a gift, even when we said no gifts this year.
Luckily, I never listen to him either. “And here you go.” I surprise him with a box of my own, as I take it out of my purse.
“And here we are!” Reid throws up as his hands, as the limo door opens. We put away our gifts and head inside the party. We are guided to an elevator to take us to the rooftop restaurant.
We walk into a stream of greetings, cheers and Happy Birthdays. All of our friends gather around us to welcome us.
The venue looks fantastic. I take in the vibe as I look around. Milo has gone all out this year. He rented out a section of a fabulous rooftop restaurant. There is a DJ, photo booth, arcade games, and of course, a dessert table.
My heart gives a little pang as I realize Milo did the dessert table just for me. Reid hates sweets.
This is going to be harder than I thought.
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Milo
I have been staring at the entrance, barely responding as people come by to talk to me. I am usually more polite.
Where are they? Where is she?
Raven and Reid’s high school friends are already here. Our family friends are all here. Some of my friends are here too, who have become close to Reid and Raven through our house parties. And thank fuck for that. I’d be blowing my brains out if I had to babysit a room full of teenagers.
Along with hormonal teenagers and raging college students, there is also another attendant, Mia.
Against my better judgment, Raven convinced me to let Mia attend. Mia’s curfew has been extended. And the little devil is milking every second’s worth. Mia is in one of Raven’s outfits, aTheressa Beckett Special. Instead of twelve, she looks like she is fifteen. I hate it.
Mia is overjoyed to be included in one of our parties. She wanted to play the part, so Raven dolled her up. And as a birthday gift to Raven, I am not allowed to say anything.
Leave it to Raven to use her birthday gift on one of us. Well, at least part two of her gift is only for her. I can’t wait to see her face when I give it to her.
Which brings me to,where the hell is she?The limo should have dropped them off by now. Impatience courses through me as I stand there, transfixed on the door. I turn to the bar for another drink, and suddenly I hear everyone cheer and scream outHappy Birthday.
Reid and Raven have arrived.
My eyes immediately land on her. As usual, the first thing I catch is her hair. Her dark, beautiful hair. Bouncing, flowing, and falling. As people shuffle around, I finally see her silhouette. The wind is almost knocked out of me when I see her dress. That dress might as well be painted on her body. It’s so fucking tight, hugging every single one of her curves.
My eyes are locked on her sexy as fuck legs, made even longer by her heels. I lift my eyes to her midriff, which is showing just a little bit of skin. I can’t look away.
I need to. I should not be looking at her like that.
Fucking Theressa Beckett Specials. They leave nothing to the imagination. And right now, mine is running wild.
She is too popular for her own good. She is surrounded by mindless men who are fawning over her. I can almost hear the lewd thoughts of every guy here.
Because I am having the same thoughts. I am a miserable soul, like the rest of them.
I don’t care if I can’t have her. I don’t want them to have her either.
I know. Not the most mature or selfless thoughts. I am not selfless. Everyone looks at me like I am. I wonder what they would think if they knew about the thoughts inside my head. The constant war between wanting her and having to keep my distance.
