"This round is on me," I said as I got up from the table.
I walked through the dimly lit room, winding through dozens of drunk people before finally making it to the crowded bar.
"Pitcher of Corona, please," I told the bartender, an older man in a plastic St. Patrick's Day hat.
While I waited, my phone started to buzz in my front jeans pocket. It was Ceci.
You're home?
I hadn't been in Toronto much lately. My tour ended in December but then my focus had immediately turned to my third album. I'd been at a place called The Woodshed in Malibu, and I'd traveled to Jamaica, with hopes of creating a masterpiece. I was experimenting with a lot of different sounds and styles, which was a bit risky for me. Up until now I'd played it pretty safe.
My first single off the new album was dropping in five days, followed the next day by a second. I was especially nervous about this first song because it was going to show a side of me I'd kept private. At the same time, I was really excited to be writing music that was personal and meaningful to me and that could help others. I was out with the guys tonight to help ease my anxiety. I also wanted a little normalcy before the craziness of a song release started. There would be nonstop interviews and appearances which were pretty draining.
I typed in a reply.
Just for a few days
Coffee tomorrow?
The bartender handed me my pitcher and I gave him a twenty and told him to keep the change. He was in for a long night and it was likely that some of the drunk patrons would get nasty with him.
I set the pitcher down and Ian started to pour from it. I got settled in my seat and was startled by a pair of hands covering my eyes. The familiar perfume scent on the person's wrists gave their identity away.
"Ceci!" I exclaimed as I pulled her hands away and spun around. "What are you doing here?"
"Same thing as you. I'm here with a group of friends," she said, pointing to a table across the room. "We're drinking green beer, though."
She looked so damn hot tonight in a jeans miniskirt and a tight cropped kelly green sweater. Her hair was up in two buns and she had a headband with little shamrocks on springs that bounced up and down. Her lips were green and I wasn't sure if that was from lipstick or the green beer she'd been drinking. Based on how she slurred her words, I could tell she was slightly inebriated.
"Sit with us a while," Brian suggested, patting the chair next to him.
"I'm kinda on a date," she said without looking at me, "so I should probably get back to him and my friends."
Brian's face fell and I wondered if mine did, too, because my heart definitely sank. Ceci had never brought up another guy in front of me. I wasn't stupid enough to think she hadn't dated during her two years of college, but if she had, she'd kept it from me. I was fairly certain that prior to last April, she hadn't fucked anyone else given how adamantly she'd insisted that I should have informed her that I had. That was eleven months ago. A lot could have happened during that time.
Obviously it was very hypocritical of me to care, given that I'd had sex with a dozen different people on my last tour. Some were fans and others were fellow celebrities. It was easier to hook up with someone famous, because they were more likely to be discreet. Now that I was nineteen I was less worried about my image. I'd done an interview in New Zealand in November where I'd admitted to having lost my virginity at sixteen, though obviously I didn't give any details, and to hooking up with a twenty-five year old. At Christmas, I'd expected Ceci to bring this up, but if she'd heard it and it had bothered her, she kept that to herself.
"Have fun tonight," I said. "Don't drink too much."
She laughed. "I'll be fine, daddy."
Shit. Was she teasing me?
After she left, Brian chugged his entire pint of beer. "Fuck. Why'd we pick a bar this close to campus? I didn't need to know that she's dating."
Matt clapped him on the back. "Dude...let it go. I know in your head she's your future girlfriend, but it doesn't appear that Cecilia had gotten that memo yet."
"We should go someplace else. This place is too crowded and people keep taking pics of me," I said.
"Every bar is packed at this point. We'll never get a table," Ian reasoned.
"Then let's just go to my place. I've got plenty of alcohol."
Brian shook his head. "Let's just stay here."
"You can't just stare at Ceci and that guy all night," Matt said. "That's creepy."
"Fine, Shawn can switch seats with me."
I didn't really want to do that since she'd now be in my line of vision and I knew I'd stare, but I couldn't think of an excuse for not accommodating him.
The guy she was huddled next to looked like a douche to me. He gave off a frat boy vibe and seemed to have a smug smile plastered on his face all the time.
"I know she's your friend, but she's a big girl," Ian said quietly. "No need to be a watchdog."
"Yeah, well I can't help but be protective," I said with a fake smile.
We drank two more pitchers before calling it a night. Ceci's group was still going strong as we passed them on the way out. When we made eye contact, I knew she was reading my mind, so I quickly looked away.
The guys and I went our separate ways and soon I was back home in my condo. I considered pouring myself a glass of whiskey but thought better of it. Instead I grabbed a couple chocolate chip cookies that my sister made me and took them to the couch. I ate them while browsing social media on my phone, looking to see what pics of me had surfaced.
A knock at the door woke me from a deep sleep, and at first I didn't know where I was. Sometimes this happened since my brain was used to waking up in a different place all the time. I looked to my left and saw the CN Tower lit up in green and realized I'd fallen asleep on the couch. My phone told me it was almost three in the morning, and the first thought that came to my mind was that a fan had snuck past security. I got up and went to my door where I peered through the peephole before undoing both the deadbolt and lock to let my friend in.
"Hi," Ceci said.
"Hi. So, um, what are you doing here?" I asked, though I wasn't bothered by the unexpected visit.
"We ended up at a bar a couple blocks away and instead of going alllllll the way back to my dorm I thought maybe I could crash here and I would have texted first but my phone died an hour ago."
The way she said this as one long train of thought told me she was pretty drunk.
"How'd you get past the security guard?"
"You gave me your code last time I was here," she said before plopping down on my sectional sofa.
I sat down next to her. "Does your boyfriend know that you were coming here?"
"He's not my boyfriend. It was a date. And no, I didn't tell anyone because we're a secret, remember?" she said as she put her finger up to her lips as a shushing gesture.
"Must not have been too great a date if you are with me and not with him."
She started to giggle. "Oh my god...are you jealous?"
"No!"
"You totally are."
"Shut up," I grumbled.
"It's cute, but also totally ridiculous," she said.
She was right, of course.
"Can I borrow a t-shirt to sleep in? Oh, and do you have some Advil? I want to prevent a hangover if I can."
"How drunk are you?" I asked.
"Hmmm. Maybe a six on a scale of one to ten."
I got her what she needed and she went to my bathroom and got ready. Then she crawled into my bed.
"You can sleep here, too," she said with a yawn. "It's not like anything will happen."
I considered going to the guest room but I couldn't resist being close to her, so I stripped down to my boxers and got under the covers. By the time I was situated, she was snoring softly.
The next morning, I woke up to Ceci spooning against me. Her hair was in my face and my right arm was asleep, but I didn't mind. For awhile, I just laid there enjoying having her so close to me. When she started to move, I knew she was waking up. After a minute she rolled over so that we were facing each other.
"Good morning," she said, her voice scratchy.
"How are you feeling?"
"I feel great. Thanks," she replied with a smile that made my heart beat faster.
"You're really cute in the morning."
She scoffed. "I am not. You look adorable, though. You're eyes are all crinkly and sleepy. And wow...your cheeks are so pink. So are your lips."
Our faces were inches apart so it would have taken no effort to kiss her, but I wasn't certain she wanted that. Apparently she did. She leaned in and brushed her lips against mine as her hands wound through my messy hair. Neither of us had brushed our teeth this morning, but I didn't care. Ceci always tasted perfect to me.
She rolled over onto her back, pulling me with her, and being between her legs again felt amazing. There'd never been another woman who I was so comfortable with sexually. Even after eleven months of not sharing this intimacy, I felt immediately at home.
I started to rock my hips against her, as the erection I'd had since waking up created friction.
"Oh yesssss," she breathed and I knew I was rubbing the right spot.
The challenge was to make her come this way without getting off myself. I concentrated on her pleasure while ignoring how good the dry fucking felt, and before too long, she started bucking her hips against mine as she moaned into my mouth.
I reached over to my bedside table and grabbed a condom. After removing my boxers, I rolled it on; then I pulled off the t-shirt she was wearing and slid her very damp panties down her legs. When I was inside her, I had to stop moving for a second because the intensity of the sensation was almost too much. It was never this good with anyone else.
Slowly, I began moving in and out of her as our eyes remained locked. While I fucked her, I kept thinking the same thing over and over.
"You're mine. You're all mine."
I knew this wasn't technically true, but when we were connected like this, it felt like we belonged to each other.