As soon as I hear the front door close I kick off my shorts, tug my dress the rest of the way down my hips and run into the living room.
"Kelsey! Call Paul. Tell him we're going to a club tonight, Dean should be back at the house in five minutes to get ready, and that he's driving. Oh! And it's upscale, so no sneakers." The crazed look in my eyes must motivate her to take me seriously because she immediately pulls out her phone and taps the screen a few times before bringing it to her ear.
"Hey babe, change of plans for tonight. Yeah, we're going to a club, dress nice, and you're bringing Dean here to pick me and Jessie up. Yes, that means you're driving. Because he drove last time! Don't worry, I'll find an outfit that'll make it worth the trouble. See you soon, love you too. Bye." With that, Kelsey disconnects the call and then turns her eyes back to me.
"So, now that I've got that all taken care of, spill!"
"You take forever to get ready, go start and I'll tell you while you're primping."
I follow her into her bedroom and sit on the bed while she digs through the closet. "Ok so you know how you told me to make him suffer a little?"
"Yes, and what do you think of this dress?" She holds up a red, one-shoulder number and I nod in approval.
"Well I started talking about how you wanted us to go to Elevate tonight, and I decided to basically strip in front of him as I was getting ready for the club—I was facing the closet so he didn't actually see anything. Totally backfired though, because not only did he not kiss me, but he agreed to the club. So now we really have to go."
I follow her to the bathroom and sit on the closed toilet lid while she hops in the shower.
"Wait, so nothing? He didn't do a thing?! What is he, dead?" She shouts over the water.
"I mean, not nothing. I definitely know I got to him…" I bite my lip thinking about him pressing into my back.
The shower curtain flies back and Kelsey gapes at me, "How would you know that exactly?"
"Kels come on…"
"Oh my god, you hoe!"
"Kelsey!" My eyes are wide as dinner plates at her exclamation.
"So how big—"
"You are NOT asking me that question!" I cut her off.
"You're no fun at all. At least you know he's dying for it as much as you are, so that's something. Besides, I have been wanting to check out this club, I just needed an excuse to drag your butt out there since you hate clubbing. What brought that on anyway?"
"Truthfully, I have no clue. I guess I just spotted the dress in my closet and it's definitely something I would only wear to a club, so I ran with it."
I leave Kelsey to finish getting ready, and I get to work flat ironing my hair. I don't do it often but this place is sure to be filled with a ton of silicone, collagen, and $500.00 hair extensions. I just want to do what I can to not stand out like a sore thumb.
I go smokey with my eye makeup and decide on a dark shimmery pink for my lips. By the time I hear the knock on the door I'm just fastening the large silver and rhinestone hoops at my ears and sliding into my shoes.
"Coming!" I yell as I click down the hall and across the living room.
I pull open the door and my breath catches in my chest. Dean looks absolutely, positively mouth watering. His hair is swept up and back but parted slightly on the side. He's wearing a black button down shirt with the sleeves cuffed to the elbows, dark gray distressed jeans that hug him in all the right places, and nice black dress shoes. The wide, silver watch at his wrist emphasizes his slightly fading tan. Add all of that to his signature scent, fresh and clean mixed with something woodsy, and I am actually having to press my lips together to keep from drooling.
"Hey Jessie," Paul says from beside Dean and I blink before realizing I didn't even notice he was there.
"Hi Paul, Kelsey's still in her room, she should be ready in a few minutes." I back up to make room for them to enter.
"I need to talk to you," Dean says, taking my hand and pulling me towards my bedroom.
He closes the door and before I can ask what's wrong he pushes me up against it and brings his mouth within an inch of my own. "What the hell are you trying to do to me Jess? I didn't know you were serious with that dress earlier. Jesus, how do expect me to function in public when you look like that?"
"I could say the same." My breath is coming in short pants at this point and I want nothing more than to tear his shirt open and lick him from waist to throat. God, he smells so unbelievably good.
"You're making it extremely difficult for me to maintain the small sliver of self-control that I've got left where you're concerned." He leans his forehead against mine and closes his eyes.
"Well, you could always just kiss me and be done with it."
"You'd love that wouldn't you?"
"Um, do you really have to ask that question?" I look up at him, incredulous.
"I don't suppose there's any point in asking you to change that dress?"
"You'd be correct in that assumption."
He pulls back and scrubs his hand over his face. "Fine, let's go then. This should be an interesting night."
We step off the elevator and into the windowed room on the 21st floor that is Elevate Lounge. It's still a little early so we're able to grab some seats on one of the plush couches situated behind low tables that are lining the room. The view is amazing, you can see all the shining lights out on the strip and beyond to the hills of Los Angeles.
We order a bottle of Grey Goose and immediately Kelsey and Paul get up to go dance.
"Do you want to?" Dean gestures to the narrow dance floor.
"Uh, not just yet. Do you mind? I'm a little uncomfortable dancing in front of other people and I'd rather wait until there's more of a crowd." I worry my bottom lip with my teeth.
"Sure, no pressure. I'm enjoying just being here with you so, dancing or no dancing, I'm happy."
I blush at his words and take a sip of the drink I just finished mixing. It's a little on the strong side but I think I'll need it tonight.
We talk a bit about what's coming up in the last two days of classes this week, which just reminds me that my deadline for making my decision is rapidly approaching. I'm all but decided at this point, I just have to muster up the courage to say so. I down the rest of my second drink and take Dean's hand, leading him onto the dance floor. Now that it has filled up, I feel more at ease crammed into the middle of the crowd. The buzz from the vodka helps too.
I sway to the rhythm of the music with my arms around Dean's neck. Damn, he is just so good-looking. It's no wonder I'm considering handing over my virginity to him on a silver platter. No, that's not right. It's not just the way he looks. He's the first person I've met at UCLA, aside from Kelsey, who has taken the time to actually get to know me. He makes me feel important, like I really matter to him. He's constantly planning things that he thinks I'll enjoy, trying to break me out of my bulletproof casing. The way he looks at me sometimes, it scares me because I see something in his eyes that reflects something else inside of me that I'm not quite ready to explore. Despite that, I find myself thinking about him all the time. When I'm not with him, I want to be with him. I don't know why I've been fighting it, why I'm playing this stupid game with this silly bet. It was originally meant to be a stall tactic, but I'm done stalling.
Dean's arm is wrapped around me, his hand resting on my lower back as he moves to the beat with me. He looks at me and smiles. "You're pretty far gone right now aren't ya?"
"Nope. I'm right here. With you. No where else I wanna be." I smile and run my fingers over the short hair just above his collar.
"Oh yeah? Well the feeling is most definitely mutual." He lowers his head so that he can place a brief kiss on my cheek. Just that small contact makes me want so much more.
"I decided what I want if I win the bet." I tell him.
"What's that?"
"You. I want to go away with you. If I win, we go to Carmel. But there better be two beds. I don't want you thinking I'm easy or something." I smile up at him.
"But wait, I thought that's what I got if I won?" he asks, confused.
"Yeah, but if I win, you're also driving the whole way."
I can see his demeanor change before me. His face lights up with the sheen of victory. He can't wipe the goofy grin from his face.
"So let me get this straight, if we don't mess around between now and Tuesday, you go to Carmel with me. If we do mess around, you go to Carmel with me but I have to drive. Do I have that right?"
"Yup, sounds about right to me!" I shout over the new uptempo song.
"Okay, just checking. Jessie?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I really, really love to drive." Before I can blink he's tugging me closer and sliding his lips over mine. Soft at first and then slowly increasing in pressure. I wrap my arms around his neck and sigh into the kiss. Finally. This is what I've been missing.
His right hand skims up my back to my neck, fisting in my waterfall of hair. His left hand slides down over the curve of my backside, squeezing slightly and igniting a fire deep in my belly that no amount of kissing will extinguish. His tongue slips past my lips and tangles with mine. I moan loudly, but no one but Dean can hear me over the thumping bass.
I pull my mouth away from his and move close to his ear, "Take me home."
"What? Why?" He looks taken aback, clearly misunderstanding my request.
"Because I don't want to do this here, and I'm not ready to stop yet." Our eyes meet and I know he understands my meaning now.
"Let's go." He places his hand on my lower back and guides me off the dance floor and back to our table where Kelsey and Paul are waiting.
"Hey guys, wanna head back?" Dean asks.
"Yeah, I think I'm over clubbing tonight," Kelsey says, grabbing her clutch and handing me mine.
We ride down in a crowded elevator car and make it back to Paul's Jeep in record time. Paul and Kelsey obviously have ulterior motives for leaving early too because Paul finds a parking space when we arrive at the apartment and comes up with us.
Jamie is lounging on the couch when we come back and insists on making small talk, for which I would love to throttle him. All I want is to drag Dean to my room and make up for lost time. Finally, when I can no longer take it, I turn to Dean and say, "Oh, I have those notes for Creative Writing that you wanted to borrow. You might as well look them over, see if you can understand my chicken scratch."
He looks at me blankly but recovers quickly. "Yeah, let me take a look."
I pull him off the recliner and haul him towards the bedroom, pushing him through the doorway ahead of me. Jamie probably knows there are no notes to look over, but at this point I could not care less.
I close and lock the door behind me and move over to the bed where Dean is now sitting. Without saying a word I climb up to straddle him, my knees on either side of his hips, and I take his mouth with so much force I nearly knock him back onto the bed. His hands grip my thighs and inch my dress up higher and higher until my backside is nearly exposed. I crush my body against his, unable to get close enough for my satisfaction. I do push him down onto the bed this time and my hair curtains us as I lean down to kiss his jaw, his neck, and down to his throat.
I remember my earlier desire to tear open his shirt and that's exactly what I do. A couple of buttons pop and skitter across my floor. When his golden, sun kissed skin is finally exposed I skate my hands across his chest and place open mouth kisses anywhere I can reach. As I begin to move down his chiseled abdomen he takes me by the arms and rolls us over so that I'm now beneath him. My dress is now completely hiked up to my waist, uncovering my black lace panties. Dean leans back long enough to toss his shirt aside before he brings his mouth down on my neck. He laves the sensitive point just below my ear with his tongue and I whimper, arching up and grinding against him. He moves his hand up my thigh, skimming over my hip and tracing the thin strip of lace before continuing up over the satiny material of my dress. I know he's aware that there is nothing under the rest of the dress but me, since he watched me undress and put it on. He drags his hand north at a painstakingly slow pace. When he reaches my breast he brings his lips back to mine before allowing his thumb to slide over the taught peak. He swallows my cries as I thrust my chest harder into his hand in a plea to continue.
I can feel his rock hard length straining against my most sensitive area. Tempting us further, I raise my hips and increase the friction between us. It's at this point that Dean breaks away, panting into my neck.
"Christ Jessie, give me a minute, I just, I need a minute," he huffs as he removes his hands from my body.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, breathing heavily, aching with desire.
"What in the world could you possibly be sorry for?" He props himself up on his forearms and looks down at me, brushing my hair to the side.
"I don't know, it just, seems like an appropriate response to…" I twitch my hips slightly to indicate what I'm referring to.
"Trust me, that's nothing to be sorry for. I just don't want to push this too far and if we keep going I'm afraid that's what will happen." He trails his fingertips from my forehead to my jaw, and I lean to the side to rest my cheek against the palm of his hand before closing my eyes.
This is the type of man I've been waiting for. I know he wants me, that much is abundantly clear. Yet he stops himself when others would keep pushing, hoping my resolve would weaken. He hesitates where others persist. It's not due to lack of skill or confidence, it's because he truly does care about me. That simple fact sends my heart into a fluttering frenzy and my breath catches for a whole new reason.
"Stay." I whisper to him before I open my eyes and gaze deep into his.
"Jess…"
"No, I mean just stay here with me. I don't want you to leave, and you're right. If we keep this up it's going to go further than I'm ready for right now, considering I've got almost half a bottle of Grey Goose in my system. But I'm not ready to let you go. So just stay with me."
He lowers his mouth to mine and I can feel my heart stutter at the tenderness in his kiss. "I'll stay," he says against my lips. "I'll stay for as long as you want me."