One Night Read online

  "Still doesn't give her the right to make you do whatever she says."

  "I don't mind the letters. In fact, I kind of like writing them."

  "So what do you write?"

  "Like I'm really going to tell you?" I shake my head.

  "What'd she write in her letter?"

  "Again, I'm not telling you."

  "Have you seen her since the night she left the letter?"

  "Yeah. I was just at her apartment. She got mad at me for just showing up but she got over it pretty quick." I laugh a little as I think of her reaction when I kissed her. She couldn't even stand up. I had to hold her. And the way she looked at me when I walked in on her when she wasn't dressed? She couldn't hide how much she wanted it. I felt the same way. If I'd actually gone into her room, we would've done it. No question. But she said she wanted to take things slow so I left.

  "Meaning what?" Van asks. "You guys had sex?"

  "No, but we could have. She wanted to. She just wouldn't let herself do it."

  "Why?"

  "Because she doesn't want our relationship to just be about sex. She wants us to get to know each other. I mean, shit, I didn't even know her last name until a few weeks ago, when Austin told me."

  "But you can't go out with her? Then how are you supposed to get to know her?"

  "I'm going to find ways to go out with her. I don't know how yet but I'll figure it out."

  "I know you like this girl, but this is stupid. She's making you work way too hard. You should get back with Allison. Sex whenever you want it. No strings. And she's freaking hot."

  "She was also cheating on me."

  "When'd you find this out?"

  "Friday night. She told me after I broke up with her but I'd suspected she was for weeks."

  "Shit. Sorry, man."

  I shrug. "It doesn't matter. I'd planned to break up with her anyway. Every time I was with her, all I could think about was Amber."

  "So you showed up at her door today? And then what happened?"

  "We went out for coffee. Talked."

  "That's it?"

  "We kissed. We didn't do more than that, but shit, I wanted to. I accidentally walked into her room when she was changing and..." My voice trails off as I remember how she looked, standing there in just a pair of pink panties. Her body is smoking hot. She still has the body of an athlete, lean and toned. Flat abs. A tight ass.

  "Dylan."

  "What?" I look at Van.

  "What'd she look like? I've asked you three times now."

  "She's hot. Hottest girl I've ever seen. She used to be a gymnast so she has the body of an athlete. Tight. Toned."

  "Like Kira."

  "I guess, but I don't really look at Kira that way. Unlike you, I don't check out my friend's girl."

  "Like you've never looked at Kira? Seriously?" He huffs. "Whatever."

  "Yeah, she has a good body but she's more muscular than I like. That's why Austin likes her. I like a girl who's softer, but still lean. That's Amber. She's freaking perfect."

  "Even better than when you were with her in May?"

  "I didn't get a good look at her back then. The room was dark and after we did it she was lying next to me so I didn't really see much of her. But today? I saw plenty, and damn, she's seriously got the best body I've ever seen."

  "Tell her to send you pics so I can see."

  I reach over and smack him. "You're not seeing my girl. Don't even think about her that way. Get your own girl."

  He smiles. "Sienna called me last night. She wants to get back together."

  Sienna is a girl he dated last year for a few weeks. She's a massage therapist who also tells fortunes and reads tarot cards.

  "You sure you want to go out with her again?" I ask. "She's kind of scary with all that mystical crap."

  "That's just a side job for extra cash. She doesn't really believe in that shit. And she gives me massages." He laughs. "With happy endings."

  "If that's what you want, then go for it."

  He gets his phone out. "I'm gonna call her right now. See if she'll come over tonight."

  The doorbell rings. "That's the pizza."

  After loading up on pizza, I get to work on my paper and a few hours later it's done. It's not the greatest paper ever written but it's good enough. That's been my attitude about all my classes this semester. It's my senior year and at this point, I really don't care about getting all A's, especially in classes I don't care about, like sociology, which is what the paper is for. I was supposed to take this class freshman year but didn't and kept putting it off until now. But I have no interest in it so I skip a lot of the classes.

  I'm interested in my other classes, my marketing classes, but I still don't put forth the effort I did in past years. Instead, I've been putting my energy into finding a job for after I graduate. Of course, every job I'm interested in expects you to have some experience so I've been applying for internships for the spring semester. I really wanted to get one at this start-up web company downtown but found out last week that they gave it to someone else. My next top pick for an internship was at a company that makes sports equipment, but they hired some guy who's graduating in December. The other ones I applied for I'm not really interested in but I can't be picky. I need the experience. I'll take what I can get.

  "Mail," Van says, dropping it on the kitchen table where I'm sitting with my laptop.

  "Guess I forgot to get it yesterday." I glance at the stack of envelopes. The one on top is from a hospital I interviewed with for an internship. I'm not interested in health care marketing, but like I said, I can't be picky. If I get it, I'm taking it.

  I rip open the envelope and take out the sheet of paper. The first line reads, We are pleased to offer you an internship for the spring semester.

  "Got an internship," I say holding the letter up to Van, who's standing at the open fridge.

  "Did you drink my beer?"

  "No." I pause to think. "Maybe I did. I don't know. Who cares? Did you hear me? I got an internship."

  "Yeah? So? Where is it?"

  "The hospital, which is the last place I wanted to work but at least it pays and gives me experience."

  I finish reading the letter. It says I can start next week if I want to help out with the holiday fundraiser. Why not? It'll give me extra cash as well as the experience I need.

  "That girl wrote you a letter," Van says, shoving some chips in his mouth. "It's in the stack."

  Sorting through the mail, I find a cream colored envelope with her fancy handwriting. She couldn't have mailed it. She must've dropped it off. Why didn't she knock on the door? She could've at least said hello before leaving. She's going to drive me crazy with this letters only thing. I want to be able to talk to her, and I definitely want to see her.

  "You gonna open it?" Van asks as he sees me staring at it.

  "Yeah, but not in front of you." I get up, the letter in my hand.

  "You can stay there. I'm leaving to go buy some beer. You want anything?"

  "No, I'm good."

  As he goes out the back door, I sit down and open the envelope and take out the sheet of paper. I smell something. A hint of perfume. I bring the paper to my nose and inhale. It's a sweet, flowery smell. Girly. Romantic. Just like Amber.

  Here's what she wrote.

  My dearest Dylan,

  It was a pleasure seeing you today. Although your unexpected visit took me by surprise, I appreciated the gesture. And the cranberry muffin.

  But...I do think we need time apart. As we both know, being together without "being together" is nearly impossible and makes it hard to take things slow. So for now, let's stick with letters, and maybe I'll call you to discuss the biographical information that's not suitable for letters.

  That was the unromantic part of the letter. Here's the romantic part.

  I find your eyes bewitching. Beguiling. Perhaps that's why I'm so drawn to you. You beguile me with your eyes. They're the color of chocolate, dark chocolate, the
kind that's supposed to be good for you. I like dark chocolate. I also like milk chocolate. I basically like any kind of chocolate.

  I'm getting off track. Back to the romance. I love your eyes. I'd like to see them again but it'll have to wait. We need to take time to let our romance blossom, to become a beautiful flower that won't wilt over time but will remain strong, even in the strongest wind and times of drought.

  For now, I'll simply dream of your dark chocolate eyes, and the soulful look they give me whenever we're together.

  Love, Amber

  I'm smiling as I read it. It seems that she decided to go the humorous route. From our brief encounters, I can tell she's not comfortable expressing her feelings, despite claiming to be a romantic. But I think she's serious when she says she likes my eyes. She's always staring at them. I like her eyes too. I'll have to write about them in my next letter.

  As I told Van, I have no problem writing these letters but I am annoyed she won't let me see her. It's true our attraction makes it hard not to act on our impulses when we're together, but that shouldn't matter. After all those months apart, we need to see each other, even if it's just for coffee.

  Fate brought us together, first at the party, then through Austin and Kira. If that's not a sign we should be together, I don't know what is. But maybe Amber needs yet another sign.

  But how many times can fate intervene?

  Chapter Thirteen

  Amber

  I've read his letter over and over again and yet here I am, reading it once more. That's the great thing about letters. Unlike texts and emails, letters can sit in your drawer forever, to be read whenever you want.

  Dear Amber,

  I think you're beautiful. Did I tell you that? I'm sure I have, but if not, I'm telling you again, this time on paper. I thought you were beautiful the moment I saw you. You caught my attention from across the room and I couldn't take my eyes off you. I still can't.

  But it's more than just your beauty that drew me to you. It was something else. I don't really know what it was because it was something I've never felt before.

  The way our relationship started out, you may think I'm only interested in you for that, but it's not true. I promise you, Amber, it's not. I've thought about you since the day you left, wanting to know more about you, wanting to date you, wondering where we'd be right now if you hadn't run out on me that night.

  Part of me is still angry at you for that and doesn't fully understand why you did it. But none of that matters now because we have a second chance. A chance to see where that one night could lead.

  Yours truly,

  Dylan

  P.S. - Do not let anyone see these letters! If you do, I might lose my man card. Seriously, Amber. This goes in the vault. For your eyes only.

  I laugh at that last part. He didn't need to tell me that. I wouldn't show his letters to anyone, and I trust he wouldn't show anyone mine. I didn't pour my heart out in mine the way he did in his but that's because I'm not great about sharing my feelings.

  "Amber?" I hear Kira yell. "Are you home?"

  She's been gone all day. After walking in on Dylan and me, she stayed at Austin's place for the rest of the day.

  "I'm here," I tell her, meeting her in the kitchen.

  She turns toward me, a big wide grin on her face. "So?"

  "So what?" I say, going past her to the fridge.

  "What happened?" She grabs my arm, stopping me.

  "He came over."

  She looks around. "Is he still here? In your room?"

  "He didn't go in my room. He wasn't here that long. He came by and brought me a letter and we went and had coffee down the street."

  "And kissed." She can't stop grinning. She's wanted Dylan and me to get together ever since I told her about him last August.

  "Yes. We kissed. But that's all we did."

  "And? How was it? How was the kiss? As good as last time?"

  "Better." I can't help but smile as I say it.

  "Details." She pulls me to the table to sit down.

  "There aren't any details. We kissed. That's it."

  "Oh, please. That wasn't just any kiss. You're practically breathless just talking about it. And when Austin and I walked in and caught you guys, it took you forever to even notice we were there. That had to be some kiss for you to react like that."

  "It was," I say, unable to stop the dreamy tone in my voice. "I don't even know how to describe it. I've never felt that way from a kiss."

  "But it didn't go anywhere? You guys just left to get coffee?"

  "I changed clothes first." I pause. "And Dylan saw me naked."

  "What?" She leans toward. "You stripped for him?"

  "No!" I laugh. "Kira, when I have ever stripped for a guy? Never. And I probably never will."

  "Then how'd he see you naked?"

  "He was telling me to hurry up and he opened my bedroom door and there I was, with no clothes. And the way he looked at me? It took everything in me not to do it. We wanted each other so bad."

  "Then why didn't you do it?"

  "Because we're supposed to be getting to know each other."

  "There are many ways to get to know someone. Like getting to know him in your bed?" She smiles.

  "Yeah, which messes with your judgment. Anyway, I told him he can't keep coming over here. We need distance."

  "Meaning you're not going to see him?"

  "Not yet. Not until we know each other better. But he's writing me letters. He writes the best letters. Better than mine. I'm so glad we're doing this letter writing thing. It lets me see a whole different side of him. I'm finding out he's really funny. But also sweet. Sensitive."

  "You could find all that out by dating him too."

  "But I wouldn't, because we'd spend all our time making out. We can't seem to control ourselves when we're around each other. This morning just proved that."

  "You didn't do anything."

  "But we could have. And almost did."

  "How long are you going to keep this no-contact thing going?"

  "Maybe until the end of the year?"

  "That's like two months. That's crazy."

  "But I'll be home for part of December so that doesn't really count."

  "It's still too long. You should make it a week. Or two, max."

  "Two weeks isn't long enough."

  "Two weeks is plenty long enough. And in two weeks it'll be Thanksgiving break. You'll both be in town. You guys could hang out that week. Go for dinner. Meet for lunch. See a movie." She pauses, then cautiously asks, "Or um, do you think you'll go home?"

  Kira keeps trying to talk me into going back to Michigan for Thanksgiving. She knows I don't want to be around my parents but she still thinks I should go, for my sister's sake.

  "I'm not going," I tell her. "I'll be there at Christmas."

  "You could have Thanksgiving at my house."

  "Like my mom would allow that. If I'm there, I have to be home."

  "Well, maybe your parents won't fight this time."

  "They always fight and it gets worse every year. Besides, I don't mind being here. It's quiet and I can catch up on homework. Oh! Guess what? I got that internship I wanted."

  "The one at the hospital?"

  "Yeah. It doesn't officially start until January but I'm starting next week to help out with a holiday fundraiser they're doing. So that's another reason I need to stay here."

  "They're not going to have you work on Thanksgiving weekend."

  "Then I'll work at the restaurant."

  "They're not open on Thanksgiving."

  "Fine, whatever, but I'm not going home."

  "Then you can hang out with Dylan that weekend. You'd have four whole days to get to know each other." She gives me an exaggerated wink.

  I laugh. "I'm not going to survive dating him if you keep this up. You're way too eager for Dylan and me to get together."

  "Because you guys are perfect for each other. And think how great it'll be if you guys are a c
ouple. We're all best friends. We can double-date. Go on trips together. It'll be awesome!"

  "You're getting ahead of yourself. Dylan and I barely know each other. It'll be a long time before I'll consider us a couple. I'm not even going to see him again for weeks."

  "Which makes absolutely no sense." She goes around me and opens the freezer door. "I know you want this romantic dream or whatever, but not seeing him is crazy."

  "Yeah, you've told me that like a million times."

  "And I'm going to keep telling you until you finally agree to go out with him. On a date. Like a normal couple." She hands me a quart of ice cream. "Want some?"

  "Sure. Do we have any sprinkles?"

  "Ha!" She points her finger at me.

  "What?"

  "You only want sprinkles when you miss a guy, which just proves how much you miss Dylan, even though you just saw him this morning."

  I roll my eyes. "That's ridiculous. I don't only want sprinkles when I miss a guy."

  She puts her hands on her hips. "High school. Sophomore year. You were dating Cody and he went to Europe with his parents for two weeks. You came to my house everyday and went through an entire container of sprinkles in two weeks. You even ate them plain, like candy."

  "Because I like sprinkles."

  "Sorry, but it's more than that. You stopped eating them when Cody got back. And senior year? When you were dating Luke and he went to that football camp? The day he left you made us go to the store to get sprinkles."

  "You're making this up. Eating sprinkles does not mean I miss a guy."

  "Fine," she says as reaches in the cupboard and takes out a jar of colored sprinkles. She shakes it in front of me. "Then I'll just save these for myself."

  "I just told you I wanted some, and NOT because I miss Dylan."

  "Then just for fun, let's do a little experiment and see how long you can go without eating sprinkles."

  "Your experiment is pointless because the two are not correlated."

  She smiles and sets the sprinkles on the counter. "If you eat those, it's proof you miss Dylan and want to see him."

  I sigh as I open the drawer to get the ice cream scoop. I hand it to her. "I changed my mind. I don't want ice cream. I have to go study." Then I walk off to my room.