I’m just happy to know how old he is without having to ask.
Not long after, Madden pays the bill and we both stand up to leave. He takes my hand in his to lead me out of the restaurant, and this time, I don’t try to pull it back. As we wait for the valet to bring his car around, we stand in comfortable silence, still hand-in-hand.
After helping me into the car, he climbs in the driver’s seat and shifts the transmission into drive. On the drive back to my car that’s parked outside my office, we make small talk about the cooler-than-normal temperatures and over-abundance of rain in the past month. I want to tell him he has no idea what cold is when he tells me he’s lived in southern California his entire life, but I don’t want to discuss my upbringing any more than I have to.
As he pulls into the near-empty lot, I point out my car for him to drive over to it. Nervous energy begins to build inside me, not knowing what to expect when we say goodbye. I know Jae’s going to be disappointed tomorrow, but there’s no way in hell I’m sleeping with this guy, no matter how good of a time I’ve had.
Shifting the car into park, he gets out to open my door for me. He guides me by the hand over to the driver’s side of my car. I peer up at him, ready to thank him once again, and to assure him I’ll do a great job on the project, but he speaks before I get a chance to.
“Do you trust me, Blake?”
My first thought is to teasingly reply about him making good selections, but I stop myself. The seriousness in his voice and intensity in his gaze alert me he’s no longer joking.
“No,” I whisper breathlessly.
“Thank you for not lying to me,” he replies with a genuine smile. Leaning down, he places a tender kiss on the top of my head and murmurs into my hair, “You will. Slow and steady, sweet girl.”
Stupefied by his gentleness and choice of words, I slide into my car without a response. He waits for me to pull away before retreating to his own car. Driving in a haze down the highway, my thoughts a jumbled mess, I’m surprised I even find my way home, but thankfully, I do. Minutes after I let myself into my apartment, I receive a text from him.
Let me know when you’re home.
And suddenly I can’t breathe.
S OMETHING SHOULD ’ VE ALERTED me when Ish showed up at my high school to pick me up the Monday after I met him, when I’d given him no information other than my first name. Somehow, in a city of a couple million people, he’d found me with no problem, but instead of getting freaked out when the well-dressed, good-looking older guy I’d met at the club on Friday pulled up in a brand new Lexus and called out to me, I was awestruck and enchanted. If I hadn’t had dance practice after school, I’d have undoubtedly left with him right then. I explained to him I had mandatory practice all week and my mom would be picking me up, and he smiled and told me ‘no worries’, that he’d see me soon. Then, he kissed me in front of everyone, declaring I was his before he pulled away with the bass in his car thumping loudly. I was in a delusional fog for the rest of the afternoon, and when I received a text from an unknown number about an hour later that read “I want to know when you’re home,” I thought his caveman-like actions were charming. I never bothered to ask how he got my phone number or any other information; I was too caught up in wanting to be wanted. And Ish wanted me.
By the next weekend, I belonged to him, no question. He swept me off of my feet in the blink of an eye—visiting me at school every day, buying me extravagant gifts, calling me his Princesa Americana, and making me feel like I’d won the boyfriend lottery. Within two weeks, I’d gifted him my virginity, and began skipping school to be with him. My mom and younger brother were both leery of him, but he was always polite, and as long as I was happy, they went along with what I wanted.
Whenever I asked about what he did or
Not long after, Madden pays the bill and we both stand up to leave. He takes my hand in his to lead me out of the restaurant, and this time, I don’t try to pull it back. As we wait for the valet to bring his car around, we stand in comfortable silence, still hand-in-hand.
After helping me into the car, he climbs in the driver’s seat and shifts the transmission into drive. On the drive back to my car that’s parked outside my office, we make small talk about the cooler-than-normal temperatures and over-abundance of rain in the past month. I want to tell him he has no idea what cold is when he tells me he’s lived in southern California his entire life, but I don’t want to discuss my upbringing any more than I have to.
As he pulls into the near-empty lot, I point out my car for him to drive over to it. Nervous energy begins to build inside me, not knowing what to expect when we say goodbye. I know Jae’s going to be disappointed tomorrow, but there’s no way in hell I’m sleeping with this guy, no matter how good of a time I’ve had.
Shifting the car into park, he gets out to open my door for me. He guides me by the hand over to the driver’s side of my car. I peer up at him, ready to thank him once again, and to assure him I’ll do a great job on the project, but he speaks before I get a chance to.
“Do you trust me, Blake?”
My first thought is to teasingly reply about him making good selections, but I stop myself. The seriousness in his voice and intensity in his gaze alert me he’s no longer joking.
“No,” I whisper breathlessly.
“Thank you for not lying to me,” he replies with a genuine smile. Leaning down, he places a tender kiss on the top of my head and murmurs into my hair, “You will. Slow and steady, sweet girl.”
Stupefied by his gentleness and choice of words, I slide into my car without a response. He waits for me to pull away before retreating to his own car. Driving in a haze down the highway, my thoughts a jumbled mess, I’m surprised I even find my way home, but thankfully, I do. Minutes after I let myself into my apartment, I receive a text from him.
Let me know when you’re home.
And suddenly I can’t breathe.
S OMETHING SHOULD ’ VE ALERTED me when Ish showed up at my high school to pick me up the Monday after I met him, when I’d given him no information other than my first name. Somehow, in a city of a couple million people, he’d found me with no problem, but instead of getting freaked out when the well-dressed, good-looking older guy I’d met at the club on Friday pulled up in a brand new Lexus and called out to me, I was awestruck and enchanted. If I hadn’t had dance practice after school, I’d have undoubtedly left with him right then. I explained to him I had mandatory practice all week and my mom would be picking me up, and he smiled and told me ‘no worries’, that he’d see me soon. Then, he kissed me in front of everyone, declaring I was his before he pulled away with the bass in his car thumping loudly. I was in a delusional fog for the rest of the afternoon, and when I received a text from an unknown number about an hour later that read “I want to know when you’re home,” I thought his caveman-like actions were charming. I never bothered to ask how he got my phone number or any other information; I was too caught up in wanting to be wanted. And Ish wanted me.
By the next weekend, I belonged to him, no question. He swept me off of my feet in the blink of an eye—visiting me at school every day, buying me extravagant gifts, calling me his Princesa Americana, and making me feel like I’d won the boyfriend lottery. Within two weeks, I’d gifted him my virginity, and began skipping school to be with him. My mom and younger brother were both leery of him, but he was always polite, and as long as I was happy, they went along with what I wanted.
Whenever I asked about what he did or
Similar Books
