Going Long (9 page)

I took the elevator down,
nervous about walking in these shoes and running into Gavin on my way. I pulled
my phone out briefly and thought about sending Reed a text but decided I would
just talk to him in the morning. I knew he didn’t really like Gavin, but I
thought the fact that I was out with a group might assuage his concern a
little.

“Daaaaaaamn, girl!” Steven said
as I rounded the corner by the front desk and met up with him and Cory. “Your
man know you’re going out looking like that?”

I blushed a little at the
attention. As much as I thought Steven and Cory were idiots, I also had to
acknowledge their attractiveness. They were both in the same fraternity and
spent far more hours in the gym and by the pool than in class. Brown hair, dark
skin, tall and lean—they were made for recruitment posters and college
calendars. They also got around the sororities quite a bit. I had yet to see
them with the same girls twice and was pretty sure they shared their women
often, too. As much as I wanted to experience a little taste of college
freedom, I was confident I never wanted to be
that
wild.

“Gav, hurry up man, let’s get
goin’!” Cory shouted over my shoulder. I turned to see Gavin walking toward me,
his eyes intent on my face. As he got closer, he shoved his hands in his
pockets and looked down, almost embarrassed that I’d caught him staring.

“Sorry, had to find a clean
shirt,” he looked up again, chewing the inside of his cheek and winking at me.
He held out his elbow for me to take, and I hesitated. Not wanting to offend
him, I reached through his arm and let him walk me through the door and along
the walkway outside. When the twins were far enough in front of us, he leaned
in and whispered in my ear.

“You look…really nice,” I heard
his gulp.

I let go of his arm after that
and wiped my sweaty palms on the sides of my jeans. I needed to be careful. I
didn’t want to give Gavin the wrong impression, and I didn’t want to forget
what mattered to me, either.

Gavin was right. We got into the
club without any trouble. The crowds were still filtering in slowly, and the
band hadn’t started to play yet. To kill time, Gavin ordered a pitcher of beer
and challenged me to a few rounds of pool. The twins were sitting along the bar
working on a group of freshmen girls who looked star struck by them. I just
rolled my eyes, embarrassed by my gender.

“Okay, how about we play some
nine-ball? Do you want me to teach you how to play?” Gavin asked, assuming. I
was going to play along with this, and it would be fun.

“Sounds fun. Okay,” I said,
grabbing a stick from the wall and standing at the head of the table while he
racked the balls.

The dingle twins and their
female fans had moved over to the stools by the poolroom and were watching now.
It was funny to see the girls react to their new eye candy. While the dingles
were good-looking boys, Gavin was downright sexy. He was wearing a tight black
shirt that accentuated his toned chest and abs and the scrolling artwork on
each of his arms. He paired it with his usual faded jeans and black Converse
shoes. He also wasn’t wearing his usual black-rimmed glasses, which made the
blue of his eyes stand out even more than normal.

“Okay, I’ll break and show you
how it’s done,” he said, moving me to the side to watch. I bit my tongue a
little to force down the giggle of superiority that was dying to escape me. I’d
been playing pool since I was 4; my grandpa was what you’d call a
shark
,
and he had taught me well. When I was little, he would set me up on a chair so
I could reach the center of the table, and after 16 years of play on his
professional table at home, I was pretty threatening with a cue.

Gavin broke well and explained
the basics of the game to me while we circled the table. Nine-ball isn’t hard.
It’s just a game of counting, really. You shoot the balls in numerical order.
The trick is planning out your shots in advance so you’re never left in a
corner. I watched as Gavin took his next shot and knew he wasn’t going to be
much competition. To make things interesting, I decided to play up my novice
skills for a little longer, missing my first several shots and sighing in
frustration.

“You’re doing great; it’s okay,
you’ll get it. I’ve been playing for a while, so that’s why I’m so good,” he
said, his eyes crinkling with his confident smile. I almost felt bad.
Almost
.
I was still going in for the kill.

“I think I just need a goal. I’m
good with goals,” I said as I pulled the balls from our practice game out of
the pockets, and rolled them in the center to rack them.

“Okay,” Gavin said, scrunching
his brow and not really following me.

“Sorry, I’m not making much
sense. I’m just a competitive person by nature, so I’m thinking if there’s
something I can win, maybe I’ll play harder,” I squinted my eyes and looked
around the room a bit, pretending, as I knew full well what I was about to
propose. “Ah, how about this. If I can win
just one game
…but only
one
,”
I was playing up my desperation some, “you and the dingles here have to wear my
red lipstick out on the dance floor.”

“Haaaaaaaaa,” Cory laughed,
completely taken by my acting skills. “That’s funny. You’re so on. There’s no
way you’re winning.”

Gavin leaned into the bar and
had a pensive look, not as convinced by my performance. He was chewing on his
bottom lip for a few seconds, considering, and finally spoke up. “Okay, but
what if I shut you out?” He wasn’t as trusting as the dingles,
smart man.

We stood there in a staring
contest for a few seconds, considering each other’s bluffs. I was starting to
think that maybe Gavin had been holding back a little, too, when he chimed in
with his idea.

“If I shut you out, you have to
kiss each of us on the cheek, with the red lipstick, leaving your mark
behind—so that way everyone here tonight will know you lost a bet,” he
said. He smiled with tight lips, laying down all his cards. He was definitely
holding back. But I was still pretty sure I could surprise him. My grandpa had
won thousands at the tables and had trophies named for him in Vegas. I’d been
taught by the best, and I was about to put all of my faith in those skills.

I reached out my hand to shake
Gavin’s, and the bet was sealed. “You’re on,” I said, sliding the balls into
the rack with flair, just to show the boys a hint of my skills.

“Fuuuuuck,” I heard Steven
whisper to Cory. It made me giggle.

I leaned my weight to one side
and posted my cue on the floor, grabbing my glass of beer with my free hand and
taking a big chug just for effect. I was getting better at holding my liquor.
“You wanna break first or do you just want me to run the table right now and
win the bet,” I smiled and winked, just as Gavin had done minutes before.

He just laughed at my boldness
and waved me through. “By all means. Show me what you’ve got,” he said, sliding
into one of the stools by the dingle twins and their harem.

It had been a few months since
I’d played, but I wasn’t very rusty. I broke and sunk the one ball right away.
Two, three, four and five went soon after. I strutted around the table with a
cocky swagger just to show off my new confidence, and then polished off the
rest of the balls in a matter of minutes. Just to be a bit of an asshole, I
tilted my stick sideways when I was done and blew the chalk off the tip. Gavin
just nodded, smiled and looked down before reaching out to shake my hand again.

“Well played,” he said. “I knew
you were holding back. I didn’t think you’d be
that
good, but I knew you
were playing me.”

“Why’d you take the bet then?” I
asked, feeling a little guilty for flaying him in front of everyone now.

He just turned to look at the
stunned dingle twins and then looked back at me. “Wearing lipstick for the next
30 minutes out there on that floor is worth every ounce of embarrassment
knowing these jack-offs have to, too,” he laughed.

I smiled and took another drink
of my beer. I was having an amazing time. I felt freedom I hadn’t felt in
weeks, and the weight of my secret was temporarily lifted. “Play again?” I
asked.

“Damn straight,” he said,
racking the balls. I let him break this time, and as I had suspected, he was
better than he’d let on. I was still the stronger player, but he was good. And
we competed for the next 30 minutes until the band started playing and we all
headed to the dance floor.

The boys were all good sports,
proudly wearing their red lips until the shiny makeup wore from their faces.
The dingle twins were able to wear theirs off quickly by making out with a few
various women at the club. Gavin’s took a little longer, and after 30 minutes,
I felt guilty and handed him a napkin to wipe the remaining color away.

I wasn’t sure how many beers I
had drunk, but I was working on a nice buzz when the main band started playing
and the floor became crowded with moving and gyrating bodies. The band was
amazing, somewhere between hard rock and alternative pop. They played a few
cover songs that I loved and a few songs of their own that surprised me.

I was in my own world, dancing
with my arms over my head and my hips swaying, when a strange guy reached
around my stomach and pulled me into him. I turned to face him and put my hands
up against his chest to push him away, get some distance. But he quickly pulled
me close again. I was starting to panic a little when I saw Gavin’s tattooed
arm reach in between us, and heard him say, “Sorry, man. She’s taken.”

I smiled with relief as I turned
to dance with Gavin now. “You okay there?” he asked, his hand on my shoulder. I
just nodded and raised my eyebrows a bit. “Sorry, some guys are assholes,” he
said a little loudly so that my groper would hear.

“Thanks,” I relaxed a little.
Gavin still had his hand on my shoulder, and we were both swaying back and
forth some. I was aware of his touch, but decided to pocket it as innocent, and
kept enjoying myself. We danced like that for another two or three songs, until
the band decided to slow things down. I was about to head to the seats when
Gavin grabbed my hand to stop me.

“One dance?” he asked, giving me
puppy-dog eyes. “I did wear lipstick for you.”

I laughed a little and gave in.
“Okay, one dance. You were a good sport,” I said.

Gavin held my wrists and moved
my hands behind his head to lay them along his neck. He slid his hands slowly
down the undersides of my arms, and then they came to rest along my hips,
pulling me close. The song was slow and erotic, and the couples left on the
floor were all very into it. Not sure where to look, I laid my cheek flat on
Gavin’s chest. My heart was kicking up some as my brain swirled from the buzz
of the alcohol and the dangerously inviting smell of Gavin’s cologne. I felt
his chin at the top of my head and tilted my face up to look at him. He was
biting his bottom lip and looking at me with unmistakably hungry eyes. I felt
his hands slowly work their way along my rib cage and slide barely under the
edge of my bra as he moved them to my back again and then low along my hips
once more, his fingers flexing and digging into my skin with a touch that was
full of want.

This was definitely one of
life’s defining moments. So I ran.

I pushed back from him and told
him I had to go outside to get some air. I walked quickly to the table, grabbed
my purse and headed out the back doors to the alleyway where I knew I could get
a moment alone. But I hadn’t counted on Gavin following me.

“Nolan, I’m sorry. I got a
little carried away,” he was right on my heels.

“No, don’t. It’s okay, we both
were drinking, and it was just a weird night,” I said, turning to face him and
stopping so my back was against the opposite wall.

Gavin stood across from me with
his hands in his pockets, almost like he was locking them up to keep him from
doing something stupid. I couldn’t seem to find any words to help the
situation, so instead I just stood there staring at him, blinking. My heart was
racing, and my palms were sweaty. And I was pretty sure I was going to be sick
later from the alcohol. I shut my eyes for a few brief seconds, trying to reset
my thoughts and get myself back to normal. I pushed my hands through my hair
and opened my eyes again to see Gavin staring into me.

“Oh, hell,” Gavin said, lunging
for me and grabbing my face between his hands, kissing me hard and stepping
into my body so we were pressed against one another. Instead of stopping him, I
kissed back. I grabbed his wrists at first, a false protest, almost so I could
tell myself I’d tried to stop. But I didn’t. Not really. I reached behind his
head and pulled him closer, fisting his hair and clawing my fingers up under
his shirt. We kissed like this for several seconds before reality hit me, and I
pushed into his chest. Hard.

“Gavin, I can’t,” I said,
panting as I stumbled a few steps away from him. “Oh my god. Oh my god.”

I started crying, the tears
fast. I was walking away backward. He stood there, just as shocked as I was. I
wiped my mouth along my arm, trying to erase what had just happened. “I’m so
sorry. That was wrong. I can’t…Oh my god.”