The terrace could be seen from the interior of the living room but there was nothing like actually walking out there and seeing it up close. It spanned the length of the left side of the apartment and wrapped all the way around to where the living-area stopped. On one side it was decorated with two single chairs, a long weather-proof couch with throw pillows, and more candles; then the other side was like an entertaining area with four small tables with umbrellas and chairs. The view from out there was beyond amazing. Kristen squelched her feelings of uneasiness and nausea and walked to the wall of the terrace, looking over.
"Careful," Roman warned.
She looked over her shoulder at him and smiled and he gave her that strange look again. She ignored it and looked back towards the city. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up when Roman walked over to her and stood beside her. It never ceased to amaze her the heightened sense of awareness her body had whenever he was around.
He told her his complex had an amazing view of the Charles River. He asked if she'd ever heard of it and she said no. When he pointed it out to her she was literally rendered speechless. With the view of downtown and the river, she imagined it was quite beautiful at night. Especially with all the city lights.
"You should've had the winners stay here," she said as she looked over at him.
Roman slightly shrugged. "I thought of that."
"Really?"
She thought she saw him finally smile but it looked more like a grimace. She wished he'd smile at least once. "I'm kidding," he said. "That would've been too much of an invasion."
"Your apartment is very beautiful. How long have you lived here?"
Roman took another swallow of water. "Three years."
His phone started ringing again. He took it out of his pocket, looked at it, and replaced it. It kept ringing in the same manner it had in the car and again Kristen wondered why he wouldn't just answer it. Her instincts told her it was a girl calling him. She wanted to be wrong but she knew she wasn't.
"You say you graduated this month?" he asked her, frowning down at the ringing phone in his pocket.
"Yes."
"So, what are your plans? Are you going to college?"
"No. Joy is but-"
"Joy?"
"The other winner."
He nodded. "Oh."
"I always wanted to be a writer. I've been writing since I was a young girl. I also enjoy acting. I'm really into theater and I'd love to be on Broadway one day."
"Well, that's attainable. If you work hard enough. You never wanted to go to school for that?"
"No. I want to do it the organic way. Just wing it. Outside of those things, I really don't have anything else I want to do."
"You want to stay in Charlotte or are you thinking of relocating somewhere else?"
"I honestly don't know Roman. I know it sounds bad but I haven't really thought about it."
"It doesn't sound bad. Sometimes it takes people a while to figure out what they want."
His penetrating eyes held hers.
I've wanted you since I was 13. Do you count?
"You have any other plans for your birthday?" she inquired. "Besides the party, I mean."
"No. I'll probably just chill out around here. Maybe watch Netflix or something."
"You don't have anything going on all weekend?" He shook his head no. "If you don't mind me saying, don't isolate yourself. I don't think you should be alone."
He quietly looked at her.
"Mind if I say something else?"
"Have at it."
"I don't know what's going on with you but from what I've gathered it's pretty bad. I know it's none of my business but your family and the guys really care about you, and I can tell they want what's best for you. You're going through whatever and they're being really patient and loving with you because they feel that's the best way to handle it. I think you should cut them some slack. Make more of an effort to be gracious and patient with them in return. You have a network of people around you that love you so much they are willing to suffer relentlessly so you can suffer less. Don't take that for granted. It's not easy to find and so many people don't have that."
Roman continued to stare at her, seemingly untouched by her unwarranted advice.
"I'm sorry if I spoke out of turn."
"You didn't."
He didn't say anything else so she dropped it and turned back to the gorgeous city view.
"You want something to drink or something?"
The wind blew Kristen's hair in her face and she pushed it away with the back of her hand, glancing back over at him. "No, I'm fine." Her insides vibrated at how he was looking at her. His eyes seemed to follow the movement of her hand, all the way over to her hair. His eyes slightly narrowed as they caressed the top of her head to her lower back where her hair lay.
And that's when the phone started ringing again.
Roman irritably sighed and yanked the phone out of his pocket, scowling as he looked at it. "I'm sorry. I need to get this. Can you excuse me for a moment?"
"Sure."
"I won't be long. If you want something to drink, just help yourself."
Without another word he turned and went back inside the house, his phone pressed to his ear as he whispered sharply. Kristen's eyes stayed on him until he rounded the corner by the dining room and disappeared. She remained outside for a bit then went back in, walking around. Making her way over to the keyboard, she ran her fingers over the keys; then turned it on and played a few notes. Her ears strained in the direction Roman had gone but she couldn't hear anything.
She ruefully sighed and continued tinkering with the keyboard, pushing different buttons to play an array of sounds and instruments. Soon, her phone started ringing as well. She walked over to the couch where she had laid her purse earlier and pulled it out. She gratefully sighed when she saw Joy's name popping up on the screen. She promptly answered.
"Joy, it's about damn time. Where the hell you been?"
"Bitch, I haven't heard from you all afternoon either. Did you forget you had a best friend or something?"
"I didn't want to bother you. I figured you were still being a slut, having fun with the two Foster men."
"Well, I'm only with one of them now."
Kristen took her earring out of her ear and placed it in her purse. She walked back over to the keyboard and resumed tinkering. "Which one?"
"Damian. But I'm supposed to see Beau later."
Kristen stopped and put a hand on her hip. "What?"
"It's a long story girl. I'll have to tell you about it."
"So what are you guys doing?"
"We grabbed a bite to eat and went down to CarsonBeach. We didn't get in the water or anything; we just sat on the sand and talked. It was really nice."
Kristen walked around to the dining area looking for Roman. "Where are you guys now?"
"On the way back to the Deans' house. Damian had to stop by his mom's for a moment. I'm in the car."
"You didn't want to go inside and meet her?"
"You know I don't do good with boys and their moms girl."
Not seeing Roman, Kristen sighed again and went back to the keyboard. "You like him?"
"Yes. Even more, I like him, like him."
"That's good."
"But I also like his brother."
Kristen rolled her eyes skyward and sighed. "Why do you have to make your life so difficult?"
"Me? Weren't you whining about Nick, Diego, and Alex at the Deans' house? You have me beat in the whore department honey. Mom would be proud. Speaking of which, which one of them are you with now?"
"Neither."
"Where are you?"
Kristen paused for effect and rubbed her short, pert nose. "Roman's house."
Kristen imagined Joy's long, wild curls standing straight up on top of her head. "Shut the fuck up!"
"I'm serious I am."
"When the hell did that happen?"
"It's a long story too."
"So he came back?"
"With much pressure from his family yes. It was crazy for a minute but-"
"Crazy how?"
"He's been kinda weird and moody."
"Well, I hear he's going through a lot."
"Yeah that's what I got too. You hear what happened?"
Joy paused. "No."
Kristen had a feeling Joy was lying but didn't press her on it. She figured she could ask her about it later when they were alone.
"So," Joy excitedly began, "you're at his house. How is it?"
"Gorgeous. Ritzy. But classy."
"All alone with Roman Dean like you've been dreaming about for years. Are you going to fuck him?"
"Joy!" Kristen screeched.
"I know you want to."
"Trust me that is nowhere near on our radar. You're worse than your mother."
"My mother didn't raise me with-"
"Morals, I know," Kristen deadpanned, shaking her head.
"Look Damian is coming back to the car. We're on our way back so I'll see you at the house. I want all the details when I see you too girl. Are you guys going to be there on time?"
"I'm assuming so yeah."
"Can't wait! See you!"
"Bye."
Kristen hung up the phone, feeling lonely. She couldn't wait to see her best friend. She had so much to tell her. She definitely couldn't wait to see what kind of trouble her adventurous friend had gotten herself into by trying to hook up with two brothers.
Kristen looked up at the mirror above the keyboard and checked her hair, happy to see it was still flawless and in place in spite of the wind. She grabbed her purse from the couch and went back to the mirror. Taking her compact out, she reapplied her makeup and bright red lipstick. She also popped a mint in her mouth to ensure her breath stayed fresh. Placing her purse back in on the couch, she glanced over at the CD player on the wall unit and walked over to it, eager to peruse Roman's music collection. There was a CD that said "Untitled" sitting on top of the player and she curiously picked it up and looked at it. Under the "Untitled" was the initial R. She wondered if it was something new of Roman's.
Pressing the open button on the player, Kristen took out the CD that was in it and replaced it with the "Untitled" one. She pushed play. A slow, seductive tempo filled the room. It was instrumental and it was beautiful. Kristen stood in front of the wall unit, listening to it with her eyes closed. The music filled her soul and caressed every orbit of her body. She found herself being swept away by the melody and began sexily swaying to the beat.
"Do you like it?"