A thousand thanks to my friend christamariaalaly for the awesome cover! 😍
Four
☢☢☢
Jay drove me back to my dorm. Midnight had come and gone by then. I got down from his bike and looked at him, unsure where to keep my hands, unsure whether to smile or try to be that cool girl.
"Thanks," I said.
He nodded, keeping his hypnotic blue eyes trained on me. I felt my heart speed up inside, my cheeks heat up, and I failed terribly trying not to blush.
"I should. . . I should get inside. It's pretty late now." I managed - despite the hidden urge within me to stay a while with him - raising my wrist to look at my watch. Only that I had to suffer the embarrassment of finding my wrist bare.
You don't wear a watch, Lola!
Jay swallowed a smile and got off the bike.
"Yeah, it's late now. I'm thinking I should sleep over. I'm tired."
I felt my eyes grow wide. "Sleepover? Where?"
"Your room, of course. Your bed. With you. Why? We could have some fun together."
"Aha!" I chuckled nervously, hardly able to stand at the idea, a bunch of butterflies in my stomach. "Nice joke."
I can't breathe!
"I'm not joking," he said, coming closer to me. "We could."
My mouth felt wide apart and I started to stutter, "What. . . are you crazy?! We just met! You should leave."
God, am I worried or a little excited? I can't tell!
"I don't think so," he persistent, observing me carefully. As he approached me, his hands found their way around my waist, teasing my skin and stealing heartbeat after heartbeat from me.
God.
"Don't you think we'll be so much better under the covers together than having to sleep alone?" He asked lowly against my ear while the musky scent of his cologne filled my nose, drugging my mind. I panted slightly at his touch. My eyes struggled to stay open.
"I think it would." He continued. "No commitment. Just fun."
His breath fell against my neck and I lost it. My eyes slowly fluttered shut and my shaky palms fisted over his chest.
"Lola?"
"Yeah?" I breathed heavily.
"You're sleepy. Maybe another time."
Wait. What?
WHAT?!
My eyes shot open and I was mortified to see him fighting back a smile. Suddenly embarrassed and irritated, I pushed him away from me. "Jerk."
"I'm just saying you should get proper sleep!" He chuckled as he went back and straddled his bike.
"Sure, I will. You asshole!" I spat and stomped inside, pissed at him to the point I could hit him on his head with something hard.
I heard him reignite his engine but I didn't look back. Then the next moment, I heard him drive away.
"Was that Jay Ryder? Did he drop you off?" One of the girls, coming inside after me, asked me on the way.
"No."
I went inside my room and slammed the door after me, unaware of Vanessa lying on her bed. She sat up on the bed startled. "Whoa!"
"Sorry. I didn't know you were here. When did you reach?"
"Just now. Did Jay drop you?"
"Yeah. He did."
"That's nice." She grinned at me widely.
"He's such a jerk," I sighed as I removed my jacket and threw it on my chair.
With a smile, Vanessa fell back on her bed, throwing the cover over her. When I finally lay my head down on the pillow and got under the covers to sleep, I thought of Jay again. It had been one wild night for me, for someone who had never done something like this before. It was great and terrifying at the same time. I couldn't help but feel stupid too. Did I really have to get on his bike?
Why did you, Lola?
Although he'd pissed me off at the end of the day, I still fell asleep with a smile on my lips at the thoughts of him. If anything, I felt excited for more.
★
I met Drew the next day during lunch. Vanessa texted me while I was at the Cafeteria with him and Jarvis. "Are you going out tonight?"
I wanted to say yes, but I also wanted to say no. So, I replied, "I guess not."
"Carli and I might be going out again today, so I was wondering if you'd like to come out again."
"I don't think so. No."
"Come on. I'm sure it wasn't that bad last night."
"It wasn't but maybe another time."
"Kay. See ya."
I thought for a while. If I go, I knew I'd be seeing Jay again. Of course, deep down it wasn't a secret that I wanted to see him again. But I decided I wasn't going to talk to him. I was going to, you know, act like I don't even care if he's around, like I'm that cool ass girl, and that he's not at all important to me, not at all. . . yeah, that was what I was going to do.
But the only problem was, what else would I do then? Talk to other people that I don't know like I know them? That would have clearly been an option only if I had a knack of starting conversations and breaking the ice. However, that wasn't the case either, so going out was out of the question. I belonged in my bed. That was where I was most comfortable. Even Vanessa and Carli had other people to meet, places to go, and they weren't my babysitters.
So, that night, I didn't go out. When Vanessa returned to our room late at night, I was already half-asleep.
"Vanessa?" I looked up from my pillow, eyes groggy and watching her tiptoe inside, trying to make less sound.
"Hey! Jay asked about you."
That sent a jolt of electric to my heart and I was immediately awake again.
"He did?"
"Yeah. You should come out again."
"I'll think about it," I replied, closing my eyes again to sleep, slowly smiling under my covers.
He asked about me.
★
I saw him again the next day in the evening, crowding the area in front of the cafe with his friends. He had left his beanie and I noticed his long, messy hair with faded sides brushed back, a strand or two toppled over his eyes. The leather jacket looked good on him. Hot, actually.
I was with Drew then. We were on our way back from the ghetto. We decided to go back and buy those necklaces we left the last time from that woman. She told us her name is Camila and she was pretty much impressed to see us back to her again.
Jay saw us approaching them from a distance. A moment later, he got onto his bike and came straight for us, head on, much like a suicide attempt.
"What the fuck is he doing?" Drew frowned.
Drew hit the brake hard just in time for Jay to pull over too, halting just about an inch away from the hood of our car.
"What's your problem?!" Drew shouted at him through the window.
Ignoring him, Jay came towards me on my side.
"I didn't see you yesterday," he said, leaning on the window frame with his arms and slightly ducking his head to look at my face, his heavily ringed fingers hanging lazily over the frame.
"Yes. I know."
"Well, someone looks pissed off today," he teased, pausing briefly to lean into me and add rather clandestine, "Or she's just sexually frustrated."
My fist flew out through the window the next instant, aiming for his face. He moved back, laughing in surprise.
"Fuck you!" I cursed at him.
"Yeah, you'd like it."
Drew started the car and steered its way around his bike.
"I'll see you tomorrow," Jay said after me.
I looked out the window and yelled back at him, "In your dream!"
"You know that guy?" Drew frowned at me from his end.
"Sort of."
"How'd you even know him?"
"I met him the night I went out with Vanessa and Carli."
"With those guys?!" Drew's frown furrowed deeper in.
"Yeah." I heard guilt in my voice.
That caused him to splutter in his words. It took him a moment to actually form a coherent sentence. "Why would you go out with those lot? They're not your people. You know that!"
"Well, I just followed Vanessa and Carli. I didn't know we were meeting those guys. . ."
"Yeah. Now you have one of those guys on your tail."
"I can handle it."
"You do know who those guys are, right?"
"Yeah. I know!" I dropped a little frustrated.
Drew shook his head and I took a breath. He was a great guy, my best friend, but sometimes, his protectiveness could go a bit overboard, almost like he was my dad, and I'd get pissed off very often. But at the end of the day, we'd still love each other.
He sighed, "I'm sorry. I just want you to be safe."
"I know. I'm sorry too."
The following day while I was going through my lessons in my room after dinner, I heard a knock on my door. Carli and Vanessa had left for another party and I had opted to stay back again. I answered it and found one of the girls in my dorm breathless with a flushed face and nearly passing out as if she'd just spoken to her celebrity crush.
She grasped my hands, started at me trance-like as if she'd seen Mother Mary in me, and gasped, "Lola! Oh my God. Jay Ryder is waiting for you outside."
"Well, I'm not coming out."
"Sure. I'll let him know right away." She grinned at me with all her teeth like she was over the moon to go see him again.
After two minutes, the girl came back to me. "He said he would wait until you come out."
"Well, let him wait then."
"So, should I go tell him that too? I could totally!"
"No. That's fine. You have a good night."
"Okay. Good night! Oh my God!"
Five minutes later, there was another knock on my door. I answered it to find another girl telling me Jay was waiting outside. I ignored that too. Then, three more girls came one after the other telling me the same thing.
Jay, oh my God!
By the fifth knock on my door, I decided to go down myself and tell him I truly had no intention of going out tonight. When I answered it, I had expected another girl but I found myself flinching back when I came face to face with Jay's piercing blue eyes, looking at me dead in the eyes.
"You made me come up here," he said as he came shuffling in and closed the door behind him.
"I don't remember asking you to come here. And it doesn't seem to get through your thick head that I'm not going out tonight, and especially not with you."
"Well, you've left me no choice."
With that, he bent down and hoisted me up on his shoulder, my ass high up in the air like a poster, my strawberry red hair falling across his back.
"Put me down!" I hit him on his back and thrashed my feet.
Without a word, Jay opened the door and walked me out in the corridor in just my tank top and shorts. The rest of the girls who weren't out in town came out of their own rooms to watch the show.
"Jay! I command you to put me down!"
He laughed, "I could take you outside this way or you could wear something and walk with your own legs. Your choice."
"I'll walk! I'll walk! Put me down, you jerk!"
He finally did, smiling at me like he'd won a great challenge. Glowering, I punched him on his stomach and strode back to my room. Eyes light with amusement, he followed me to my door.
"Wait here!" I stopped him, pressing a finger on his chest when he was about to follow me inside my room again.
He rolled his eyes and said, "I've seen better."
With one dead look into his eyes, I stomped inside.
☢☢☢
Hope this chapter have been fun!
Next chapter on Inkitt.
How is quarantine going all for y'all? I've found a new hobby in beating dough 😄
Love, Hermyne