Her Teen Dream (15 page)

Lesley sipped her drink. “Consider yourself
lucky. At least they’re both still around to make your life
miserable at times. For me it’s just my Mom who stays on my case.
I’d give anything to have my Dad back.”

“I know.” Karin said sadly and touched her
arm. “But you don’t just have Shelly. You’ve got me, too...and
Marcus.”

Lesley smiled. “Thank goodness for that.
Guess I do have a lot to be thankful for, huh?”

“Guess you do.” Karin grinned, knowing the
same was true for her.

“So now that we’ve solved our problems for
today, let’s get outta here,” Lesley said, standing up.

“All right.”

They went window shopping, and then bought
some underwear and shoes. All the while, Karin pondered her next
get-together with Reese. What will he be expecting from her? Could
she resist his advances and her growing desire to be with him?

* * *

Karin stood in the crowded sunken living room
of Jayne Hathaway’s house. Dance music blasted from the stereo
making it hard to think, much less carry on a conversation without
screaming. Karin was sure her parents would kill her if she ever
gave such a party while they were out of town. She was holding a
plastic cup of beer—sipping it only for effect—which she and Lesley
had gotten from the keg in the kitchen.

That was when Lesley spotted Marcus and left
her to be with him. Karin wondered if it had been a good idea to
come to a party where she felt like an outcast, especially when
Reese hadn’t shown up yet. For all she knew, he might not show at
all, leaving her stuck there by herself.

She watched Jayne moving around fluidly
between her guests, clearly enjoying playing host. When Jayne
spotted Karin, she walked up to her.

“I see you made it.” Jayne licked her glossed
lips.

“Yeah.” Karin tasted the beer. “It’s
cool.”

Jayne smiled. “Where’s Lesley?”

“I think I saw her and Marcus go that way,”
she pointed down a hallway filled with other teens.

“And Reese?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.”

Jayne scratched her cheek. “Well there are
lots of cute guys here. Take your pick. Maybe that’ll show Reese
he’s not the only one for you.”

Karin flinched. The problem was, she wanted
him to be the
only
one for her. And vice versa.

“I’ll do that,” she lied. Coming onto guys
was not something she was comfortable with, even under the best of
circumstances. And certainly not at a party where everyone was
drinking and signals could easily be misconstrued.

“Cool. If you need anything let me know.”

Jayne strutted off and walked right into the
arms of Harold Franklin. She practically had to jump up to kiss
him, but seemed to have perfected the technique.

Karin decided to at least change locations so
as not to appear too much like she didn’t belong. She weaved her
way through the crowd and ended up in the family room. It was just
as loud and hectic. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to
find Marilyn Chamberlain standing there.

“Hi,” she shouted, holding a bottle of malt
liquor.

“Hey, Marilyn.”

Please don’t bring up the track thing
,
Karin thought.

“Heard that Coach Cleaver talked to you about
trying out for the track team,” Marilyn said.

“Yeah, we talked.” Karin resisted the urge to
go elsewhere.

“So are you going to do it?”

“Don’t know.”

Marilyn’s thick brows knotted. “You should,
but time’s running out before the team is set. I made it. My
brother was thrilled!”

“I’m happy for you, Marilyn,” Karin said
genuinely.

“I’ll be happier if I have someone on the
team I can hang out with.”

She just won’t quit, Karin mused, but smiled
nevertheless. “We’ll have to see about that.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise that I’ll really think it
through,” she clarified.

Marilyn seemed satisfied for the moment.
Someone else she knew came up to her and they began to talk, as if
Karin wasn’t even there.

She walked away and nearly bumped into
Cheryl. Her latest beau was not beside her.

Cheryl flashed a full smile. “Jayne told me
she’d invited you and Lesley. I’m glad she did.”

Karin was not sure she believed her, but it
didn’t really matter. She wasn’t there to get Reese’s
ex-girlfriend’s approval.

“So...have you and Reese done the nasty yet?”
Cheryl asked, peering at her. “Or have you managed to keep him at
arm’s length for now?”

Karin sensed that Cheryl was more than a
little curious, as though she still had a vested interest. Did
she?

Before Karin could come up with a response,
she heard a male voice over her shoulder. “I thought you’d changed
your mind about coming.”

She turned around and saw Reese. He grinned
at her and she nearly melted, till reality set in.

“Actually, I’ve been here...waiting for you,”
she told him peevishly, forgetting for a moment that Cheryl was
listening intently to every word.

“I was here, too,” he insisted and met her
gaze with innocent eyes. “We must have missed each other with all
the people hanging around.”

Karin chose to believe him, for she had no
reason not to. She smiled waveringly. “Yeah, I guess we must
have.”

Reese looked beyond her. “Hey, Cheryl. What’s
up?”

She batted her curly lashes flirtatiously.
“Oh you know me, baby. I’m just trying to have a good time.”

“Yeah.” He left it at that.

“Well, I’ll leave you two alone—if you can
call this alone—and go find Jeffrey.”

“Bye bye,” Reese said tersely.

Cheryl whipped her braids over her shoulder
petulantly and strutted away. Karin resisted giggling, till she
looked up at Reese and saw that he seemed to get pleasure out of
giving his ex the brush off.

“You look nice,” he uttered, giving her the
once over.

Karin wore only a tiny bit of makeup and
considered her clothing only so-so, but would gladly take any
compliment he chose to toss her way.

“So do you,” she said, and meant it, which
wasn’t very difficult considering that he was always looking good
and knew it.

“Hey, can we go somewhere where it’s not so
loud?” Reese asked smoothly.

Karin felt her knees buckle, reading into his
words. This meant they would likely once again be in a compromising
situation. But she couldn’t say no, especially when she welcomed
the opportunity for some alone time with him.

“Okay.”

He smiled and took her hand. Karin
immediately felt the warmth of his touch, even if she was less
comfortable with what could come next.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Reese and Karin moved through the throng of
partygoers and went up a curving staircase. Karin wasn’t sure where
they were headed and what for, but she wasn’t born yesterday. She
knew what went on at teen parties behind closed doors, especially
when drinking was involved. It seemed almost inevitable if you
truly cared for someone.

They were in a hallway with doors leading to
three rooms. All of the doors were closed. Reese clutched one
doorknob and, without pause, opened it.

Karin was shocked to see Lesley and Marcus on
the bed making out like they were caught up in their own world. Too
preoccupied, neither seemed aware they were being spied upon. Karin
flushed and Reese quickly closed the door as if the room held
secrets better left to the occupants.

“Looks like they’re having fun,” he
remarked.

“Yeah,” Karin agreed.
Maybe too much fun.
I hope Lesley knows what she’s doing.

Reese led her toward another room and Karin
wondered just how familiar he was with the house. Had he seduced
Cheryl in one of these rooms? And possibly other girls, too?

The room was empty. From a cursory scan of
its size and antique furnishings, Karin decided that this must be
the master bedroom—Jayne’s parents’ room. She tried to imagine
being with Reese in her parents’ room. It was unimaginable.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be in here, Reese,” she
said tentatively.

“It’s okay,” he said confidently. “We won’t
mess up anything.”

She didn’t protest as he led her to the
king-sized bed. They started to kiss while standing. Karin could
feel the contours of his hard body against hers and knew it was
Reese’s desire to be with her tonight in every way.

They sank to the bed, their mouths never
parting. Karin loved kissing Reese, which seemed to do things to
her as much as him. But she knew there would be no turning back
once they took the next step. Was she ready and willing to go
there? In this house? In this bed?

“I love you, baby,” Reese murmured into her
mouth.

“I love you, too,” she said back softly,
giddy in hearing the words come from his lips.

They kissed some more and Karin could feel
her resistance fading fast. She squeezed her eyes shut like she was
afraid to open them to the reality of what was about to happen.
When Reese began to slide his hand along her thigh, she did not try
to stop him. She wasn’t exactly sure what to do, when and where,
but wanted to make him happy. He put his hand beneath her top and
moved it upward, while still tickling her thigh with his other
hand.

The door suddenly burst open and Karin’s eyes
opened wide. Looking over Reese’s shoulder, she saw Cheryl and
Jeffrey standing there.

“Oops, sorry,” Cheryl said unconvincingly.
“Wrong room. Don’t let us stop you from doing your thing.” She
closed the door.

Karin studied Reese’s reaction. It looked
like he resented that they had been interrupted. She was less than
thrilled, too, while at the same time grateful.

It was at that moment when something clicked
and told Karin this was a mistake. She had nearly done something
she was sure she would have lived to regret. She didn’t want to
look back on it and wish she had been stronger and stood her
ground.

When Reese shook off his annoyance and tried
to kiss her again, Karin turned her face away.

“What’s wrong?” His brows knitted.

“This is, Reese,” she said, trembling.

He bristled. “But you said you loved me—”

“I do,” she affirmed, hating to disappoint
him and make him think otherwise.

“Then let’s not let them stop us from being
together. There won’t be any mistakes, I promise.”

He tried to kiss her again, and once more she
wouldn’t let him. “No. The mistake would be going through with this
in the bedroom of Jayne’s parents.”

“So we’ll go somewhere else.”

“I’m not ready to have sex with you, Reese!”
There I said it.
Karin wondered if this would cost her the
boy she loved. “If you love me, you’ll wait.”

Reese ran a hand across his smooth head. “Why
are you making this so hard?”

“Why are you?” Karin shot him a narrow-eyed
look.

He sighed. “Look, why don’t we just start
over.”

She thought about it briefly, but knew she
wasn’t ready to have sex.

“I want to go home.” Karin sat up on the bed
and then stood.

Reese glared at her. “Now you’re being
ridiculous!”

“No, you are! I thought you wanted me for me
and not for what you did with other girls.”

“I do, baby,” he insisted.

“But only on
your
terms—not mine,
right?”

When he didn’t respond and just stared at her
as if in a trance, Karin took that as a yes.

“I’m going home,” she told him.

“You don’t have to do that, Karin.” He stood
and moved gingerly toward her, reaching out to touch her face.

“I think I do.” She ignored the warmth of his
hand on her cheek, knowing she couldn’t allow herself to succumb
when she knew in her heart and soul it was too soon. “If Lesley
doesn’t want to leave now, I’ll walk.”

“I’ll take you,” Reese said with
resignation.

“No, stay and be with your friends,” she said
stubbornly, tears staining her cheeks. “I’m sure you won’t have any
problem finding some other girl to give it up for you.”

Karin ran from the room. After she’d first
thought about getting Lesley to leave with her, she decided there
was no reason to ruin her night, too.

Karin found the stairs and dashed down,
half-expecting Reese to be trailing after her. She glanced up and
saw no sign of him, as if he’d already decided to turn his
attention elsewhere. The party was still going strong. She felt
slightly dizzy and wondered if it was from the beer. Or was it a
reaction to the wall that suddenly seemed to be building between
her and Reese?

Karin was nearly out the door when she heard
someone say, “Not leaving already, are you?”

Turning, she saw Jayne standing there with a
curious look on her face.

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too good.” That was an
understatement.

Jayne wrinkled her brow. “Too bad. Do you
want me to find Reese?”

“I don’t think so. I’m not sure he cares too
much anymore how I feel, if he ever did.”

Jayne lifted a brow in surprise. “How about
Lesley?”

“She’s busy with Marcus. No, I’m just going
to go.” Karin felt like crying, but didn’t want to in front of
Cheryl’s best friend.

Jayne looked on helplessly. “Well, I’d better
get back to the party. Sorry you can’t stay. Maybe whatever issues
you and Reese have can still be worked out.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” muttered Karin. She wasn’t
very optimistic about that, especially when she could imagine that
Reese had already sweet-talked some other girl into that bedroom
and had forgotten all about her.

* * *

She walked the three blocks home. Every time
a car passed, Karin looked to see if it was Reese, hoping he might
want to go somewhere and just talk about things. But he didn’t seem
to care enough about her to step up to the plate. Or was she being
unreasonable? After all, he had offered to drive her home and she
had declined.