“Stefan, I am not going to plow a service truck into the side of Andrew’s car.” I open my night table drawer and begin looking for the right color nail polish for tonight’s momentous occasion.
Stefan grabs the bracelet Andrew gave me off my dresser and hurls it into the trash. “No? Then I will.”
“Would you stop it?” I swear, this big brother thing is getting to be too much.
“I told you. I told you you couldn’t trust that dickhead.”
“No, you didn’t. Stef, would you calm down?”
He paces in the middle of my room. “I’m gonna kick his ass all the way back to Indianapolis.”
“Daytona.”
“Whatever.” He throws himself on my bed, tossing and retossing my pillow into the air. “Even Maite knew it. She saw how he was with Susy at the gym, but didn’t say anything because she wasn’t sure. It might’ve just been innocent flirting.”
“There’s no such thing, Stefan. Flirting is cheating’s ugly cousin.”
“What?”
“Never mind. Look, I’m going to handle this, not you. It’s my problem.”
“You sure? ’Cause if you want, I can see to it that his tires go flat.”
“Would you stop it?” I say, turning to look him in the eye. “I’m not going to do anything like that. In fact, I’m going to pretend nothing happened.” I pick a bottle of nail polish and close the drawer. “After all, I’m not supposed to know his little secret, right? We’re supposed to have a wild time tonight in a romantic hotel, aren’t we? Celebrate our newfound love for each other?”
“Pfft,” Stefan says, then gets real quiet.
Oh, yes. We’ll celebrate all right.
Stefan and I lie there on the bed without talking for, like, ten minutes. Which is good. I can finally think without him going nuts around me. I’m a good girl, right? So I should probably take this with a grain of salt. I mean, Susy’s just offering her slutty self, whereas Andrew told me he loved me.
“Turn my cheek, that’s what I’m going to do. Give him a piece of my ass, just like he wants. What do you think about that, Stef?”
I look over. Stefan’s asleep. For such a big goon, he can be pretty cute sometimes. I kiss his forehead. Then I lean back into my pillow and paint my toenails Bad Girl Red.
At the Biltmore Hotel Andrew and I order dinner in a courtyard restaurant. There’s an accordion and violin duet playing. The night is so pretty.
“So how was fishing last night?” I ask, chin in my hands, elbows on the table.
His eyes turn to the fountain next to us. “Awesome!”
“Yeah? That’s so great that you and Iggy go fishing every weekend like that. You guys must be really good buddies.”
“Uh-huh, he’s really cool. Super guy.” He slides the silverware out of position, into position, out of position…
“Right.” I nod. Right, asshole. “So tell me again, if you and Ig are such good friends, why’d you move out? I think you told me, but I must’ve forgotten.”
“I said I wanted a place of my own, which is true, but also because Iggy…well, he’s great and all, but the dude gets jealous, you know? He got some dumb idea that I was after all his girlfriends.”
Ohhhhh. I see it now. Clearly. You guys are not good buddies anymore. You don’t even talk to each other since you started taking away all of Iggy’s girls with your charm and your looks. And then came Iggy’s last girl, Susy.
Son of a bitch.
“Man, that is dumb!” I laugh, sitting back in my chair, fake-wondering how anybody could think that of Andrew. “Is that why he never introduced you to Susy when they were going out?”
“I guess so. I never met her till day camp at Anhinga started. I never even knew she was the Susy he talked about.”
Riiight, and that’s when your radar zeroed in on her bull’s-eyed butt and my stupid heart. My stupid, stupid heart.
“Interesting. And wasn’t it also a coincidence that the two of you ended up in the same gym? Small world, isn’t it?”
“Yep. Small world.” Andrew chugs his water.
Our drinks come—a beer, a Diet Coke, and a shot of something. After the waiter leaves, Andrew picks up the shot glass. “For my little señorita, on her eighteenth birthday!” He leans in for a kiss first, before handing it to me, and I can’t help but think of where his lips were last night. My insides get all tight, no butterflies in sight, but I go along with it.
“Thank you. To a wonderful evening.” I take the shot glass from him. I’m gonna need it.
“To a wonderful evening,” he says back, with a wicked smile that might’ve induced some form of swooning, were I not so ludicrously pissed right now.
I place the glass to my lips and shoot back the fiery liquid. Damn! I place it back down with a hard clank.
“Wow!” Andrew says, readjusting his seat, mouth open. “That’s my girl!”
I smile. Yep, I’m gonna get buzzed and you’re gonna get it all right. Good girl, my ass. “So where’s our room?”
“Eleventh floor.” He reaches across the table for my hand. “With a balcony. View of the golf course and all of Coral Gables.”
“Really?” I knew that already when I called the hotel. All the better. “That’s so sweet of you, Andrew.”
Our plates arrive, and I make it a point to enjoy the lobster tail as much as possible. Thank God my bloodstream now has some fuel to battle the Goldschlager that’s racing through it.
After we finish, the waiter brings a dessert menu, but Andrew waves it away, requesting the bill instead. Interesting, we always have dessert. The waiter returns, and Andrew signs the check.
“Know what I think?” Andrew asks, folding the receipt and placing it in his wallet.
That you’re the hottest shit ever to blow through here?
“No, tell me.”
“I think we should have dessert in our room.” He watches my eyes carefully and waits.
“I think that’s a great idea. It’s about time we really celebrate.” I bite my lower lip and softly bat my lashes. Hook, line…
“Let’s go, then.”
Sinker.
The elevator rattles, its little bells ding softly. The doors open to a Mexican tiled foyer and carpeted hallway ahead. I’ve never been inside the Biltmore, but I know it has a reputation for being haunted. Maybe the ghosts are following us right now. Maybe they’re reading my thoughts. Maybe their presence will give me more strength.
We reach the room, where Andrew pauses before slipping in the card key. “I just want you to know…this summer has been the most awesome ever because of you. You’re the most incredible person. All I want is for you to have a great time.”
Blah, blah, quit jerking me around. “I’m sure I will, Andrew.” I’m sure I will.
He pops open the door and flicks on the light. For a moment I almost forget why I’m here. Andrew’s dad will freak when he sees the Amex bill. Roses everywhere, a basket of blank canvases and new oils wrapped in cellophane and a red bow, and in the corner of the room—the painting of the guajiro we saw on our first date.
Good move, jerk.
I fight back the urge to cry and tell him it’s okay, that I forgive everything. Let’s just go on as if nothing ever happened. You really are a wonderful person, you just got caught up in Susy’s web, I understand. My hand covers my mouth. Why did he have to buy that painting?
“Well?”
“It’s wonderful, Andrew. Really, it is.” I don’t believe this. Why would he go through so much trouble just to screw me over? Have I been that hard to win? “It’s just…”
“Just what?” His expression dampens. Hurt maybe?
No, Isa, don’t do it! Don’t tell him you saw him. He’s been lying to you, remember? He’s been playing you like a wide receiver in fantasy football. When he gets tired of you, he’ll trade you away for someone who’ll rack in more points.
God, this sucks! How did I let him play me like that? I lace my arms around his neck.
“It’s just…I can’t believe you bought me that painting. You are too sweet! God, I love you!” There you go. Good girl. Play him back.
He tries to kiss me, but I turn my cheek, offering my neck instead. “I knew you’d like it.” He breathes into my skin, holding me close.
I don’t think I can take much more of this, but I have to. If I want to go through with it, I’ll have to get him right where I want him.
He leads me into the suite, showing me the gifts and some chocolate-covered strawberries on a table. I remember at Stefan’s birthday how I would’ve loved to have fed him those strawberries had my parents not been around to watch. I could’ve easily given in to him that night. But I didn’t, thank God.
“Ah, so there’s dessert.” I pick up a strawberry and touch his bottom lip with it. His mouth opens, but I pull it back and take a bite with a smile.
“That’s okay,” he says, drawing an imaginary line from my chin down to the hollow of my neck, “that’s not dessert anyway.”
“It’s not? What is?” Mr. I-Love-Myself.
“This.”
He pulls me into his kiss, and totally against my will, the butterflies return. Which kills me. Fine, they can stay, but this is the last time I’ll let them in for Andrew Corbin. I can’t believe he’s doing this to me. I can’t believe I fell for his act. I should’ve known I couldn’t trust him on our first date, when he faked me out with his mom being dead.
“What’s the matter?” he asks, swiping my lashes with his thumb.
I’m crying? That’s just great. Push it aside, Isa. He’s an asshole. Yeah, but an asshole I fell for, an asshole I thought loved me. Wouldn’t Robi love to know he was right? “Nothing. I’m just so happy.”
I’m just so pissed it’ll have to end this way.
He wants to kiss me again, but I pull away. I walk over to the balcony curtains, slide them aside, and open the doors. I turn off the outside light to see better. Our room is in the shadows, away from the pool. There are two chairs and a little table out here. The sky is void of stars. The city, alive with lights. “Andrew?”
“Babe?”
“You know how much I’ve been thinking about you all week?”
“Believe me, I know.” He sits on the couch’s armrest. “I’ve been thinking of you, too.”
“No, I don’t think you do. I’m dying here, dying to get this going already. Seriously. I don’t want to waste any more time.”
“I hear you.” He falls back onto the couch and stretches out.
“No, don’t lie down. Can you please turn off the lights? I want to do it out here. On the balcony.”
He smiles like the devil he is and springs from the couch in two seconds flat. “You totally read my mind.” He bolts for the switch. “Is it dark enough? Wouldn’t want anyone to see us.”
“Yes, it’s completely dark out here. There’s nobody. Just a few people sitting on the golf course.”
Then Andrew is behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, kissing my ear and neck.
“Another thing,” I say, leaning back into his arms, trying real hard to seem like I’m enjoying his willing body pressed against me. “I know this sounds crazy, but…well, it’s kind of embarrassing.”
“What is? Don’t be embarrassed by anything, sweetie. I’ll do whatever you want. This night’s all for you.”
You couldn’t be more right about that. “I kind of have this fantasy—”
He presses harder. “I’m liking it already.”
“Where I come out here and find you ready for me. Could we do it like that?”
“Anything you want. That sounds sexy as hell.”
“Okay, then wait for me in the chair. The less you’re wearing, the better.”
His laugh is low and mischievous. It’s no wonder he enjoys games, being a playa’ himself. “Yes, ma’am. Woohoo!”
“Woohoo!” I twirl a finger and disappear into the bathroom. And there I wait against the door, watching myself in the mirror, feeling my heart beginning to pound. My palms sweating, my fingers at my earlobe. Honestly, I don’t know whether or not I’m doing the right thing, but I don’t care anymore. For my sanity, and to make sure I don’t think of him ever again, I’ve gotta do it.
I start peeling off my dress.
Quietly I click off the bathroom light and crack open the door. The lights are off, but, faintly, I see something rustling in the darkness of the balcony. My eyes adjust a bit, and I can see the comforter’s gone from the bed. He’s outside, waiting. I drop my dress on the floor and wrap a towel tightly against my chest.
My heartbeat’s in my throat. My blood pounds against my eardrum as I cross the room and stand by the wide open doors. Come on, Isa, you can do it. Deep breath, then I float into his view, gripping the bathroom towel tighter.
From the chair, he whistles, solid chest and legs uncovered by the comforter draped across his lap. On the little table, a condom packet. “Hey, there.”
My lips are trembling, but I manage a smile.
“How’s this?” he asks.
I stroll up and kiss him. “Perfect. But it’d be even more perfect without this.” I step back, sliding the comforter off of him, tossing it into the room. Nice. Very nice, Coach.
His knee bounces up and down, as he looks around. “You’re a fierce one.” He laughs, eyeing my towel. “Your turn.”
“A fierce one?” I snicker. “I like that. Better than a good girl, isn’t it?” I start pulling my towel, as he tucks his tongue into his cheek, his knee bounces a little harder. I step back inside, holding up a finger. “Wait a minute.”
His eyebrows raise. “What’d you forget?”
I pause, watching his gaze, remembering the first time I saw him, the way he caught me, made me feel confused and excited at the same time, the way he always knew just what to say. Then I remember the way he touched Susy at the gym, like there was already something going on between them, the way he kissed her in the shadows of the club, tasting her lips and running his hands all down her body.
I tuck the towel back in. “I didn’t forget anything. Except that you’re a dickhead.” I reach for the doors and slam them shut.
Click.
On the other side, he shoots out of the chair. “Hey! What the hell are you doing?”
“What the hell am I doing? What the hell did you think you were doing last night? At the Library?” I shout through the door. “Did you really think you could get away with this?”
I reach for his cell phone and balance it gingerly on the door handle. “Why don’t you call Susy to get you out of there, asshole? Oh, I forgot, your phone’s in here, isn’t it? Bummer!”
“Isa! Stop it. Open the door—we’ll talk about it.”
I pick my dress up from the bathroom floor and begin putting it on in the dark. “There’s nothing to talk about. I was stupid, that’s all. I fell for your stupid tricks.”
He pounds on the glass, and the phone falls. “Isa! Open the freakin’ door, come on! Don’t do this!”
I straighten my dress and reach for the balcony light switch. I flick it on and off quickly to attract plenty of attention, leaving the lights on at the end of the show. “Tell your audience I say hi. Gotta go.”
I slip on my sandals and pull Andrew’s watch close to my face. 9:05. Perfect. He’s probably waiting already. Mmm, these strawberries are good.
“You’re a fucking bitch, you know that?” Andrew shouts into cupped hands at the glass.
At the door I pause and look around the room. I could take that painting. Nah. I’ve done enough damage. He’s not worth it. I see Andrew pace the balcony, hands at his hips, then he hurls his shoulder at the door and glares at me. I turn up the one finger that best expresses how much I give a shit and close the door.
Head up, eyes focused on the end of the hallway, I strut out of there. The elevator opens, and I breeze past an elegant old couple getting out. Eleven stories down, the doors again slide open, and I head straight through the lobby.
I take a deep breath. “There’s a naked guy out on a balcony!”
For a moment a multitude of eyes falls on me. A few scoffs, a few laughs. Then dozens of people rush past me to the hotel courtyard.
Exiting the revolving front doors, I drop my head and laugh. At the bottom of the driveway I see a car waiting with hazards on. I speed up and pull open the passenger door.
“¿Y?” Stefan asks, throwing the car into first.
Getting in, I lean my head against the headrest and let out a deep breath. “Done.”