Autumn and Summer (16 page)

             
“You are a progressive thinker my friend,” I giggled. “So how was
your
date?”

             
A slight frown graced her lips before she forced a smile. “It was cool. I learned to play the guitar,” she answered oddly, avoiding eye contact.

I quietly waited for details since h
er weird tone of voice and lack of eye contact piqued my interest. After a minute of silence, I implored, “What are you not telling me?”

             
“Nothing.”

             
She’s hiding something,
I thought, narrowing my eyes at her.
She’s not saying much so she must be still processing whatever happened on the date. Or she’s hiding something. One or the other.

“So what did you think of him?”
I asked slowly, studying her.

             
“He’s the sexy, musician type. And also very clever. He told me how he opened the bar so he could have a platform to showcase his music. And he’s a good teacher. He taught me a little something on the guitar.” She smiled but it still seemed awkward.

             
I tilted my head and squinted my eyes at her. “So… did you two hit it off?”

             
She opened her mouth and then the loud sound of her ring tone blasted from her back pocket. Pulling it out, she mouthed, “Tatiana” before answering the phone.

             
I listened as she set up our Saturday night plans, my eyes shifting over to my perfect date dress.

             
Hanging up the phone, Summer walked into my closet and grabbed two little black dresses. “We’re all wearing black tonight,” she informed me, handing me both dresses.

             
“I don’t know.” Holding the leather mini-dress up, I argued, “I’m going to be too hot in this.”

             
“Yes, you are!” Summer cheered, changing the music to an up-tempo song. She pumped her arm in the air to the beat and swung her hair around.

             
I laughed, “I meant, hot as in temperature not in appearance.”

             
“Well, you will definitely be hot in appearance in this. But you won’t be hot in temperature.” She stopped dancing and looked at me with a gleam in her eye. “It’s never hot in VIP!”

             
“What?!” I screeched, eyes wide. “How are we in VIP at Dirty Dozen?”

             
“Tatiana’s boyfriend, Jason. I’ll explain after I take a shower.  But we need to get ready! Jason’s picking us all up in his SUV.”

             
She ran out of the room and I looked at the clock. “We still need to talk about your date,” I hollered after her before shutting my door and getting ready. Because I spent extra time flat-ironing my hair, Summer actually ended up dressed and ready fifteen minutes before I was ready.

             
“Autumn! Come on!” Summer yelled from downstairs.

             
Putting my phone into my clutch, I hurried down the stairs. “I’m ready, I’m ready!”

             
“I told you she was going to work in color somewhere in her outfit,” Autumn remarked as soon as I walked in the kitchen.

“Nice touch with the red
!” Olivia said, pointing at my blood-red handbag with matching stiletto pumps.

             
“Hey, Livie! Thanks! I didn’t even hear you come in!” I said, giving her a big hug. Stepping back to look between Olivia and Summer, I added, “You guys look awesome! The guys at Dirty Dozen won’t know what hit them!”

             
“Agreed,” Summer said, raising her glass and spinning around in her black leather pants with a black sheer top. “And thank you!”

             
“Thanks, Autumn!” Olivia said before she poured shots for both of us. “To hot guys and cool nights!”

             
“Cheers!” we screamed, clinking glasses.

             
Tatiana and Jason arrived after our second round of shots and Tatiana insisted on catching up with two consecutive shots before we could leave. Jason, being our designated driver, grabbed a bottle of water before ushering us out of the door and into his Lincoln Navigator. 

             
“This is going to be a long night,” he joked as we started singly loudly.

             
Thirty minutes later, we were sitting in traffic, having a great time, but feeling antsy from the delay.

             
“We should’ve left earlier,” Jason complained as he craned his neck to see what prevented traffic from moving.

             
“I’m sorry, baby,” Tatiana said sweetly. She leaned over to kiss him causing a groan to erupt through the car.

             
“No, it’s not your fault. I just should’ve known that with Trace and Taryn performing tonight it would be crazy,” he said when Tatiana finally pulled away from their impromptu make-out session.

             
“Wait, Trace and Taryn?!” I breathed in disbelief as the others screamed. “Oh my God!”

             
“I love them!” Tatiana shrieked, throwing her arms around Jason’s neck and kissing all over the side of his face as he inched the car forward.

“Hell yeah!” Summer yelled
, hitting the headrest with her hands.

             
“This is crazy!” Olivia said bouncing up and down in her seat. “I’ve always wanted to see them!”

             
“They said on the radio it was a secret guest so how did you find out?” Tatiana asked, excitedly.

             
“Phillip works at the radio station. He was part of the crew who arranged it and flew them all in. He wasn’t supposed to tell anyone, but when he told me to get a VIP section tonight, I said ‘hell no’ because the surprise guest could’ve been anyone. But then he said, you are going to feel like an ass if you don’t get it. Because I still wasn’t convinced, he told me they were coming and I immediately reserved it. Tonight is going to be epic. I think a couple other people from their label might be there too, but he had me at Trace and Taryn. You don’t get bigger than that!”

             
After waiting twenty more minutes, we were finally able to park. We could barely contain our excitement as we were escorted through the VIP entrance and straight into the club. We were given wristbands and two options: head upstairs to our semi private section or we could hang out in the main club area.

             
Jason needed to find Phillip so he headed to VIP with Tatiana in tow. Summer, Olivia and I made a lap around the main floor of the club. Looking up, we could see the twelve VIP sections that overlooked the entire club. The music was a dull throb and the lights were low so everyone was mingling.

             
“Let’s get a drink,” Summer demanded. She pointed to the bar in the back, near where we entered the club.

             
“I’m getting a bottle of champagne for Jason and Tatiana,” I said, pulling cash out of my clutch as we got to the bar. “It was so nice of him to do this for her…for us.”

             
“I’m already starting to feel tipsy,” Olivia chirped, purchasing a large fruity beverage.

             
“Light-weight!” Summer teased.

             
As they went back and forth, I peeked at my phone. No messages. No missed calls. Not a peep from Boris.
We would’ve probably been having dinner right now. But we’re not because he’s working. On a Saturday night,
I thought, the alcohol taking its effect, as I stuffed my phone underneath my wallet.
I will not ruin this night in a trendy club with my awesome friends wearing this sexy dress because I’m worried about hearing from a guy who would rather be working. I am focused on the here and now!

After the bartender
gave us our drinks, we headed toward the stairway that led to the second level of the club.

I felt a masculine hand on my elbow and I flinched, ready to jerk my arm from his grasp. I didn’t want to risk dropping the champagne so I looked over my left shoulder
, prepared to glare at the man connected to the hand that was touching me.

             
“Hey, Autumn,” Jordan said, releasing my elbow as soon as our eyes met. His thick, curly brown hair was slicked back, making his green eyes stand out.

             
I broke into a huge smile. “Jordan! Hey!” I exclaimed in surprise, throwing my free arm around him to give him a hug.  As soon as he wrapped his arms around my waist, I felt the warmth that took me by surprise Friday night. “What are you doing here?”

             
“I couldn’t resist the whole surprise-musical-guest ploy, so me and a couple of my boys came out tonight,” he answered, releasing me from the hug.

             
“That’s cool! It’s good to see you!”

             
Jordan looked past me and laughed. I glanced behind me to see Summer and Olivia wiggling their eyebrows suggestively. I turned to stand next to Jordan, facing my friends.

             
“Hi, Summer, good to see you again,” Jordan said, extending his hand to her. Moving his hand to Olivia, he continued, “I’m Jordan. It’s nice to meet you.”

             
“I’m Olivia,” she beamed. She turned to me and nodded. “You’re right. He’s hot. Good work.”

             
My eyes bugged out of my head and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. There was an awkward pause that followed.

             
“Um, we’re going to go upstairs. Good seeing you Jordan!” Summer said, taking the champagne out of my hand. “I’ll take this…and her.” She pulled Olivia away and they disappeared behind the velvet rope.

             
Avoiding eye contact, I continued to stare in the direction where my two friends just disappeared.

             
“So…you told her I was hot?” Jordan asked, turning toward me with a smirk.

             
Looking him in his gorgeous eyes, I shook my head and threw my hands up. “I can’t stop embarrassing myself around you.”

             
He smiled, leaning down to my ear again. “So I’m taking that to mean you
did
tell her I was hot.”

             
I laughed, pushing him playfully. “Well, you are pretty hot.”

             
Taking my hand into his, he admitted, “If we’re being honest, I think you are absolutely stunning.” He brought my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.  My skin tingled from his touch.

             
“Thank you,” I whispered, my eyes dropping to his lips. Without warning, my stomach twisted in knots and I started getting hot. The alcohol was really making it difficult for me to keep my distance from Jordan.

             
Just being around him makes me want him to kiss me,
I thought as we stood in the crowded club staring at one another.
We should have kissed last night. If I hadn’t freaked out about the separation, we would’ve kissed last night. And if we’d kissed last night, it wouldn’t be weird for me to kiss him right now. His lips are so juicy and kissable,
I thought as I leaned in a fraction closer.

             
“I’m sorry I dropped the whole pending divorce thing on you last night,” Jordan blurted out, completely obliterating the kissing mood. As slowly as I’d been leaning forward, I leaned back. “We kind of acted like it never happened, but I could tell it bothered you. I wanted a chance to talk to you in person this weekend about it.”

             
I forced a smile. “That’s understandable.” Looking around, I saw the crowd had grown in a matter of minutes. I decided in that moment that it was time for me to join my friends upstairs.

             
With my hand still tucked in his, he placed it against his face and I immediately met his gaze. My stomach fluttered and I fought against the feelings that he brought out of me.

             
The feeling I’ve been waiting for cannot and will not come from a man fresh out of a marriage,
I decided as my heart skipped a beat. 
Yes, he’s separated, but…

             
He leaned his head closer to my face to ensure our conversation was private. “Last night was my first date in a while and I felt like you’re worth being up front and honest with. Not that I would ever lie about my relationship status. But when I brought it up, I saw the look on your face so I immediately changed the subject. And I shouldn’t have done that.  I brought it up because I wanted you to know exactly what you would be getting into. From the moment I laid eyes on you…well, actually, from the moment you called me Dexter, I felt something between us, something worth exploring. I’m single in every aspect of the word and it will be official as soon as my lawyers iron the details out. So, I told myself that if I got the chance to see you face to face again, I’d tell you that. I know this isn’t really the time or place, but I wanted to get that off of my chest. No pressure.”