Sleeping With Paris (16 page)

“Fiona, that . . .” I said, pointing to the group of grunting giants, “is out of control. You, my dear, would have to try very hard to get out of control. You’re having another drink.”

“What can I get you two?” Dean placed his heavy arms around us as we reached the bar.

“Two vodka and cranberries please.” I took the lead since Fiona was clearly intimidated by the madness all around us.

“Coming right up, darling.” Dean winked at me, then ordered our drinks.

After that point, the night could pretty much be summed up like this:

Dean was all over me the minute we made it back to his group of friends. We danced and made out all night on the dance floor. It was overwhelmingly hot.

Lexi continued to dance in true stripper fashion in the middle of a group of about five rugby boys who took turns groping and grinding on her.

As for Fiona . . . well, I thought she was going to stand in the corner the whole night with the same wide-eyed, terrified look on her face. But after that vodka and cranberry hit her, she proceeded to take dance lessons from Lexi and ended up dancing with the absolute hottest player in the bunch, Matt. He was about a foot and a half taller than Fiona, but that didn’t stop him from leaning down to make out with her for the rest of the night.

When you have an insane night like that, sometimes it’s better to stop while you’re ahead. Otherwise people get too drunk and crazy things happen. In our case, we opted for the latter.

With an entire English rugby team in tow, Lexi, Fiona and I stumbled out of the bar as it was closing. It was one of those drunken, debauchery-filled study abroad nights where we were all laughing so hard we could barely move, let alone walk to the nearest cab. So, we leaned on the boys for support and walked with them through the empty Parisian streets for blocks and blocks without even asking where in the hell we were going.

After who knows how long of stumbling, laughing, and even falling on the hard cobblestone sidewalks, we rounded a corner and spotted a big blue bus.

Dean pointed up ahead. “That’s our bus, and you my dear, are getting on it with me.”

In my giggly, drunken state, I smiled, took Dean’s hand, and got right on that bus. Fiona and Lexi weren’t far behind.

The rugby boys became grew rowdier once they boarded the bus, if that’s even possible. I think that at least five of them simultaneously kissed Lexi, while Fiona and Matt bolted straight to the back and disappeared behind the seats.

Before we knew it, we were on a long bus ride to an unknown destination with a hormonally-charged group of rugby players.

“Where are we going?” I asked Dean as the bus took off, suddenly feeling alarmed that we’d climbed on with no clue where we were headed.

“Oh, I don’t know love . . . some hotel outside the city.”

“How far outside the city?”

“An hour, maybe? But relax, you’re with me,” he said as he pushed me down into the seat underneath him and stared into my eyes. “Wanna snog?”

“Snog?” I asked, confused, thinking he wanted to have sex with me on the bus. I admit I had been a little crazy since I’d arrived in Paris, but I wasn’t
that
easy.

Dean leaned down and kissed me. “That’s snogging, my dear,” he explained as he pulled me closer to him.

“Oh, well in that case, yes, I would love to snog,” I replied as Dean planted his lips on mine.

The Rugby Sex Bus arrived at a random hotel in the middle of nowhere about an hour and much snogging later. I grabbed Fiona and Lexi on our way into the hotel and asked them if they were both okay. Granted, I was having a great time myself, but this could’ve been a really sketchy situation, and we girls needed to stick together.

“Daaaarling, don’t worry,” Lexi replied in her best English accent. “This is a fabulous night!”

Fiona was grinning from ear to ear with Matt’s arm wrapped tightly around her.

“I’m fine,” she squeaked as we all piled into the hotel.

Dean led me to his room while Fiona followed Matt down the hallway and Lexi followed . . . well, a group of three guys into one room. I didn’t even want to know what was going to go down in there.

When we got into the room, Dean didn’t waste any time. He pushed me up against the wall and kissed my neck, face, and lips—basically any bare skin he could reach. He then found a way to get both my tank top and bra off in one swift movement, unbuttoned my jeans, and yanked both his shirt and pants off. His roaming hands were all over me, making it hard for me not to want to take things further as he pulled me down on the bed on top of him.

His upper body was amazing. He was more finely cut than any guy I’d ever seen. Yes, better than Jeff. Humph. Suddenly I wished I had a camera to take a picture of Dean to send off to Jeff. How nice it would’ve been to throw yet another one in his face.

My buzz began to wear off though as Dean buried me underneath him on the bed. All of a sudden, I wasn’t sure how I felt about being alone in a hotel room with this random, huge dude on top of me. Who knew where this guy had been or how many drunk girls, just like me, he had been sleeping with all over Europe?

Of course it would’ve been easy to just sleep with him. He was attractive, and he was probably really good in bed. But the truth of the matter was that I didn’t want to rack my numbers up that high with a guy who I knew nothing about. A guy who cared nothing about me, and who I would never see again. If I was a man, I would just have sex. But I wasn’t. I was a smart woman, and I suddenly knew for certain that I did
not
want to have sex with this guy. So, before things got too out of hand, I pulled the ultimate girl excuse.

“I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s a bad time of the month.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind if you don’t mind. We can still do it.”

What? I had never heard that one before. Gross.

“Um, I think you will mind. It’s just not going to happen tonight, okay?”

“Really, Charlotte. It’s not that big of a deal,” he said as he thrust his hand down into my jeans.

I grabbed his hand and placed it firmly on the bed. “No, really, I’m not okay with it.”

Dean pressed his groin hard on top of me and groped my breasts. “But I want you so bad.”

As Dean began dry humping me, and I could feel his erection pressing hard into my inner thigh, I wanted out. I struggled to roll out from underneath him, but he was too heavy and too drunk.

“Dean, seriously, I can’t do this. You need to stop,” I shouted in his ear.

He rolled his eyes at me, shot up and stalked over to his clothes. He threw his t-shirt back on and gave me a harsh glare. “Fine. I just don’t understand why you came in here in the first place then. What did you think was going to happen?”

“I told you it’s a bad time of the month, and I don’t want to do it, okay? You don’t need to be such a jerk about it.”

“Whatever. I’m going to bed.” He walked over to the bed in his tighty whities and a t-shirt, buried himself under the covers, and within seconds began snoring.

I was so shaken up by the way he had acted that I just wanted to go home. But I knew that Fiona and Lexi were probably having the time of their lives, and I didn’t want to ruin it for them.

Even though I was pretty certain that a tornado couldn’t get the sleeping giant out of bed, I didn’t want to risk waking Dean up, so I locked myself in the bathroom and slid down the wall onto the cold tile floor.

I closed my eyes and buried my head in my hands. As the alcohol swished around in my stomach, I felt disgusted with myself. Was
this
what life without Jeff was going to be like? Getting wasted at bars and ending up in strange hotel rooms with scary men who wanted nothing more than sex?

My new plan to date like a man was supposed to empower me. It was supposed to make me feel confident and happy.

But instead, as I curled up on the hard tiles and wished for morning to come, I felt more empty, scared and alone than I’d ever felt in my life.

***

At nine o’clock the next morning, a bunch of hung-over rugby boys pounded on our door.

“Dean, the bus leaves in ten minutes. Get your arse out of bed!”

I peeled myself up off the bathroom tile and opened the door, dreading having to face Dean again. I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

“Bugger,” Dean muttered under his breath as he scrambled to get his clothes on and throw his things in his giant rugby bag.

When he saw me grabbing my purse and heading for the door, he called out, “Wait, Charlotte. Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving.”

“You’re not even going to say goodbye?”

Who the hell did this guy think he was?

“Not after the way you acted last night, no.”

“I’m sorry, what do you mean? I had so much fun with you last night. I guess I don’t remember . . . Did I say something wrong?”

“You don’t remember what happened?”

“No, I’m sorry, I don’t,” he said as looked shamefully at the floor.

“Well, we’ll just say it wasn’t pretty. And I’m ready to get the hell out of here.”

“Listen, for whatever it’s worth, I’m sorry. I’m not always the best drunk.”

“Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t have so much to drink the next time you bring a girl back to your hotel room.” And with that, I stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind me. After a long night alone on a cold, bathroom floor, I had no sympathy for him. I needed to find my friends and go home.

I spotted Lexi strutting down the hall with the same three boys still trailing behind her, and Matt and Fiona walking out of their room cooing at each other like two lovebirds. It seemed as if everyone else had had a successful night but me.

“Hey chick, did ya have a good night?” Lexi asked me with a wink.

I shot her a look that showed that I most definitely did
not
have a good night.

“Ohhh, we’ll talk soon. Are you okay?” she whispered.

“Yeah, let’s just get out of here.”

Apparently the Rugby Asshole Bus was heading down to Lyon next, which was not where we needed to be going, not that I would’ve ever stepped foot on that thing again anyway. Fiona kissed Matt goodbye while Lexi kissed all three of her drooling boys on their cheeks. The girls waved as their men pulled off toward their next destination in search of more women and more trouble.

 “Where in the hell are we?” Lexi asked after the bus drove off.

“I have no idea, but let’s figure it out so we can get home.” I led the way back into the hotel so we could talk to the concierge and figure out where we were. It turned out that an RER stop was just a few blocks away from the hotel, so we caught the next train and dished the entire way home.

Fiona put her arm around me. “Are you okay? Did something bad happen?”

I filled them in on the stunt that Dean had pulled.

“You should’ve come and found us, Charlotte. Don’t ever sleep on a bathroom floor again. That’s horrible,” Fiona said as she squeezed my shoulder.

“Thanks. I just didn’t want to ruin your night. Enough about that though, I’m fine. Lexi, what happened with you and all your men?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” A devious grin spread across her face before she changed the subject. “What about you, Fiona? You and Matt seemed pretty into each other. Did you do the deed?”

“We had a nice night,” she answered curtly, trying to avoid the question.

“Oh no you don’t! We want the details girl, the dirty details. How was he?” Lexi wasn’t going to let her get away with it.

Fiona blushed, and then she finally let it all loose. “He was . . . amazing. Oh my gosh. He’s the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen! And he was so sweet about everything.”

“And?” Lexi prodded.

“And what?” she answered innocently.

“Did you sleep with him?”

She paused, blushed an even darker shade of red, and finally spit it out. “Mmhmm.”

It was the most excited I’d seen Fiona since I met her. She was always so studious and controlled; it was nice to see her let down her guard a little bit.

“It was
so
good,” she cooed.

“It’s been a little while, hasn’t it?” I asked her. I was fairly sure that she hadn’t been with anyone since Andrew.

“Yes, over a year!”

“Oh honey, you’re killing me. A year?” Lexi gasped in disbelief. Not having sex for an entire year was probably more than Lexi could ever imagine, seeing as how she could get laid just by walking down the street. “Well, it’s a good thing you came out with us then!”

In the midst of our laughter, one by one, we fell asleep on the train. As I was dozing off, I thought of Jeff. And for the first time, instead of hating him and wanting to cut off his balls, I thought about the fact that if he hadn’t cheated on me, and if I hadn’t come to Paris alone, I would’ve never met Fiona and Lexi. Plus, I was only twenty-five years old—way too young to be marrying a pathetic, low-life scumbag. I had my whole life to make those kinds of mistakes. Why start now?