The Ex Games (2 page)

“Ugh, don’t talk about food.” I groaned and lay back down, with my brain racing a million miles a minute. Who was the gorgeous man next to me, and what was I doing in his bed?

“I’m Brandon, by the way.” He smiled at me gently. “We didn’t exchange names last night.”

“Oh.” I peeked up at him and swallowed hard. He was gorgeous and even though I felt like death warmed up, I was still attracted to him.

“And your name is?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Katie.”

“Nice name.” He smiled at me again. “Rest a little and I’ll be back.”

“Okay, thanks.” I gave him a quick smile and lay back and closed my eyes.
Oh my God, oh my God, have I been kidnapped?
I peeked under the sheets and groaned as I saw myself wearing only my bra and panties. He’d taken off my clothes. Then panic hit me – had we had sex? Oh, God, did I have sex for the first time and not even know it?

“Scrambled eggs, bacon, and lots of buttered white toast.” He walked back into the room. “Nothing healthy, but it will help your hangover.”

“I feel like shit.” I blurted out and blushed when I realized what I’d said.

“Not surprising.” He laughed. “First hangover?”

“Yeah.” I nodded and first my face going red. Did he know it was the first time I’d ever had a drink as well?

“I don’t know many people who’ve reached the age of 22 and never had a drink.”

“Oh?” I looked down at the plate and swallowed hard. Should I tell him the truth?

“Were you and your friends celebrating something?”

“Yes, yes we were.”

“Oh?” He looked at me expectantly, waiting for an answer. I knew there was no way in hell that I could tell him that we were celebrating starting college. Then the questions would start, the ‘why were you drinking?’ and ‘why are you so irresponsible?’. I stared at him guiltily. I felt bad and disappointed in myself. I knew that my parents back home in Florida would be upset if they knew that I was already making bad choices.

“Sorry, I feel a little sick.” I turned my face away from him as I felt myself becoming hypnotized by his blue eyes.

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?”

“Huh?”

“To throw up?”

“Oh, no, no.” I shook my head and groaned. “I just need to lie down again.”

“Sure. Feel free.” He sat next to me on the bed. “Do you mind if I lie down next to you?”

“No.” I whispered. My heart was beating fast again and little men were jumping around in my stomach.

“Are you new to the city?”

“Yeah, I moved here from Florida a few weeks ago, for, uh, a job.” Technically I wasn’t lying, I was going to college to get a job.

“Oh nice. Where are you working?”

“Ooh, my head.” I groaned and rolled over, trying to control my panicked breathing. I hated lying and was already regretting my comments. I felt his hand rubbing my back and I froze. What was he doing?

“You’re very trusting to be here with me, Katie. I’m not sure where in Florida you’re from, but there are a lot of wolves in New York, and they are looking to prey on young girls in their twenties like you.”

“I can take care of myself.” I mumbled and turned over.

“You’re lucky I’m a nice guy.” He chuckled and I looked up at him, not sure if he was joking or being serious. He looked even more handsome close up – his blue eyes were shrewd, and I felt like he could see right through me.

“Yes, thank you.”

“I could kiss you right now.” His voice sounded like a growl and my eyes widened. “Don’t worry, sweet thing, I’ll let you get better first.”

“First?” I swallowed.

“That’s if you don’t have anything against men in their thirties?”

“No, no, of course not.” I squeaked out. Thirty wasn’t that old. I mean, he wasn’t old enough to be my dad.

“Good. I don’t normally go for girls in their twenties, but you seem different.” His eyes crinkled and he laughed. “That is, if you let me take you on a date.”

“You want to take me on a date?” I stammered in shock. Was I dreaming? This seriously good-looking man wanted to take me out?

“I think you’re someone I want to get to know better, Katie.” He nodded as he looked at me seriously.

“Thank you.” I mumbled, with a wide smile. I didn’t bother to hide my excitement from him. I didn’t know then that you weren’t supposed to let a guy know that you had feelings for him.

“You’re welcome, my dear. You’re very welcome.” He jumped off of the bed then and grabbed the plate. “Try and get some more sleep, and we’ll see how you feel when you wake up.”

“Okay.” I nodded sleepily and closed my eyes again. Sleep found me easily and I stretched in the luxurious bed imagining Brandon’s lips kissing me softly.

***

“Ma’am, would you like anything else to drink?” The airhostess tapped me on the arm and I broke out of my reverie.

“No, thanks.” I smiled at her and rubbed my forehead. I was starting to get a headache and a small heartache as well. I hated remembering the first days I had met Brandon because he had been so sweet and wonderful. He had been a man I thought only existed in romance novels. The beginning of our relationship had been magical. It was only the end that was the stuff that nightmares were made of.

“Okay, just let me know if you change your mind.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. “Do you know how many more hours until we land in San Francisco?”

“It’ll be about two more hours, Ms. Raymond.”

“Thanks.” I looked back out of the window and thought about Brandon again. Maybe I wouldn’t even see him. I’m sure he would be busy with the board of directors. What time would he have for a manager? It was just my luck that he had bought the company that I worked for. Out of all the companies in the world, he had to pick mine. What sort of bad luck was that? He was going to fire me, I just knew it. He would take one look at me, laugh in my face, and fire me. Maybe after calling me a liar. And what could I say? What would I tell HR? I knew the answer to that, and I would just leave with my tail between my legs. Because it would be true. I had lied to him. At first, I had a reason, but then I had built up the lie, made everything more complicated. And then it all exploded in my face. I closed my eyes again and thought of Brandon, my sexy, hunky Brandon.

“How was your day today?” His voice was warm and I smiled into the phone.

“Good, what about yours?”

“Long.” He groaned. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’d rather talk about our dinner tomorrow night. Are you excited?”

“Yes!” I exclaimed in excitement.

“I love that you don’t hide your true emotions. I’ve dated way too many women in New York who act like they can’t stand me.”

“That’s silly.” I said honestly. Thinking back, he should have realized the truth from our phone calls. Brandon had taken my number before putting me in a cab home the afternoon after he had taken me home. He had wanted me to spend the weekend with him, but I knew that I had to get back to the dorms or my friends would be mad. He had called me every night since then, and I delighted in his phone calls. He made me laugh and he made me feel special. He seemed to really want to know how I was spending my days, and he told me little things about himself as well. He was the only son of a billionaire banker and worked at his father’s hedge fund. He hated his job, but knew that it was his duty. He owned his apartment in Chelsea, he had a house in the Hamptons and an apartment in San Francisco, He preferred the West Coast but had to stay on the East Coast due to work. He loved dogs, but traveled so much that he thought it was unfair to have one. He loved Mexican food and jazz and collecting first edition books. He was also 35. When he first told me that, I felt my heart stop beating. 35 sounded so much older than me. 35 was old enough to be my dad, if he had had sex at a young age. 35 made me feel guilty for having him think I was 22, about to turn 23. 35 made me keep my real age a secret. I didn’t want to stop talking to him. I didn’t want his calls to end, and I very much wanted to go on that dinner date with him. 35 made me realize that I couldn’t let him know that I was 18, even though I very much wanted to be honest about my age.

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow.” He whispered into the phone. “I’m going to take you to dinner and then we can go dancing if you want.”

“That would be nice. Do you know what club you’re thinking of?” I grabbed my laptop so I could check yelp to see if they let in people under 21.

“Oh, not a club.” He smiled. “I was thinking we could go to some salsa classes.”

“Salsa?”

“Yes, you know, the Spanish dance.”

“Oh, yeah. I just never heard of a date where people went to classes.”

“What are you used to, Katie? Burgers and movies?”

“Something like that.” I laughed.

“Then that just means you’ve been dating boys, and not men like me.”

“Yeah, that could be right.” If he only knew just how true his words were.

“Men in their twenties are still chasing the almighty dollar and trying to get laid. Men in their thirties know that money and sex are not important.”

“It’s not?” I’d had neither and still hoped for both.

“I mean, we need it to live, of course. But it’s not worth losing your life for either.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

“So tomorrow, shall I pick you up from your apartment?”

“My apartment?” My body burned as I stared at my roommate’s empty bed. “Uh, no. I’ve got a late day at work tomorrow. I can meet you at the restaurant.” I couldn’t believe how easily the lies slid from my mouth.

“Okay, that makes sense.” He yawned. “Tomorrow will be our first date.”

“I know.”

“I can’t wait to see you again.” He chuckled. “And if anyone I knew heard me say that, they’d think someone had stolen my body.”

“Why?”

“This isn’t me, Katie. I’m not a romantic guy. I don’t do relationships.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.” I felt disappointed and confused. “Why are you talking to me, then?”

“I don’t know. I guess there was something about you that touched me as I walked by.”

“You mean my puke?” I joked and he laughed.

“Thank God, no.” He cleared his throat. “I’m not really sure why I stopped and took you home though. I’ve asked myself several times what I was thinking. You could have been a psycho.”

“I could have been a psycho?
You
could have been a psycho.”

“I’m glad neither of us are psychos.”

“Me too. Sweet dreams, Brandon.”

“Sweet dreams, Katie.”

“Have a good day at work.”

“You too.”

“Thanks.”
I’ll be doing the assignment I didn’t do tonight because I was waiting for your call
.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you then.” And then we hung up and I lay in my bed and hugged my pillow tightly. I was so excited. This was going to be my first proper date and it was with a man that knew the world, and he was interested in
me
. I couldn’t believe it. I was worried about what we would talk about. What if I sounded like an idiot?

“You up?” The door creaked and Meg walked in with a handful of books.

“Yeah,” I sat up and looked at her with a guilty pang. I hadn’t studied all week. It was only the first week, but I knew I had to keep up or I was going to fail out. Everyone in my class at Columbia was smart, and they all seemed to know more than I did. There was no way I was going to be able to sail through my classes without studying like I did in high school.

“How was Mr. Wonderful?” She giggled as she sat her books down on the desk and then pulled out her pajamas.

“He wants to take me salsa dancing.”

“But you don’t know how to salsa.” She frowned as she pulled off her t-shirt and pulled on her nightgown.

“I know, but he’s taking us to classes.”

“Wow.” She looked impressed and the fell on top of her bed. “I’m so tired.”

“Aww.” I gave her a sympathetic look. “You don’t have to go hardcore right away.”

“I do, I need to get a 4.0 GPA if I want to get into Harvard or Yale law.”

“We just started undergrad, Meg.” I giggled.

“I know that, you know that, but does Mr. Hastings know that as yet?”

“No,” I groaned and lay at the ceiling. “I can’t tell him, Meg. Not yet. He won’t want to see me if he knows I’m 18.”

“You never know.”

“Trust me, I know. He’s working on Wall Street, living in a swanky apartment and I’ve just started college living in the dorms, with a roommate in single beds.” My stomach tightened in knots. “He wouldn’t give me the time of day if he knew.”

“You’re still you. He’ll still like you.”

“No, he won’t. He’ll think I’m a kid.”

“I don’t know, Katie. I just have a bad feeling he’s going to figure out you’re not 22.”

“I’ll tell him eventually.” I sighed. “Once we get to know each other better. I’ll tell him then.”

“Okay.” She yawned. “Shit, I’m tired. I’m falling asleep already.”

“Sweet dreams, Meg.”

And in response, she started snoring.

The next day was crazy, Meg lent me one of her dresses and another pair of heels, and I walked to the station on 116th with a huge grin on my face. I knew I looked good because I had caught several guys eyeing me as I walked down Broadway. I was so excited I thought I was going to throw up. I was going on a date with a hot man, a very hot man, and all I wanted to do was sing and smile. I changed trains in Herald Square and then looked on my phone for the best directions to get to the restaurant. I got a little lost and ended up arriving about ten minutes late. I saw Brandon waiting outside for me and his eyes lit up as I ran over to him quickly.

“Sorry,” I gasped, slightly out-of-breath. “I can’t walk fast in these heels.”

“You should have caught a cab.”

“I, uh, prefer the train, it’s more environmentally friendly.” I lied. I only had a thousand dollars to last me a few months and I certainly wasn’t going to waste it on cabs.

“I do like a girl that thinks of the environment.”

“That’s me.”

“I thought you were going to stand me up.” His blue eyes sparkled as he surveyed my appearance. I looked him over hungrily: he looked even more handsome than I had remembered, with a crisp light blue shirt that illuminated his eyes and a pair of grey slacks. He had on flat black leather shoes that looked expensive and shiny.