The Last Boyfriend (6 page)

“Wow, this place is huge.”
I said, impressed at the grandeur of his home. “Do you live
here alone?”

“Yes.” He nodded and walked
to the front door. “Come. Let’s go inside.”

I followed him into the
house, and it was all I could do to stop my jaw from dropping to
the floor as I walked in the door. Zane’s home was unlike anything
I had ever seen before in my life. It was open-plan, and I could
see the living room, dining room, and kitchen, but the most amazing
part was the view. The back of the house was made up of
floor-to-ceiling windows and overlooked a huge pool and hot tub.
The walls were painted white and had huge paintings on them, I was
pretty sure I recognized a Chagall and my breath caught. There was
a huge crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and I imagined
my frat boyfriends trying to jump up and swing from it. I giggled
to myself at the thought. This was the home of an educated and
distinguished man, not some drunken Sigma Chi. The floor shone
underneath my feet and I realized it was solid marble. But it was
the huge pool that beckoned to me from beyond the glass.

“I love your pool,” I said
shyly.

“Thanks, Noah used to swim
in it every day. It was the reason we bought this place. It’s
Olympic size.” He spoke matter-of-factly, and I turned to look at
his face.

“Who’s Noah?” I asked
quietly, wondering if Zane was perhaps gay? Maybe that was why he
wasn’t really interested in kissing me, I thought.

“My brother.” His voice was
curt. “Let me show you to your room.”

I followed him up the
marble staircase quietly; it was obvious that he didn’t want me to
ask him any more questions about his brother. I wondered where he
was and why he had left this amazing house. I had a million
different questions twirling around in my brain, but I kept them to
myself. Zane didn’t seem to be interested in my questions, and I
didn’t want him to think I was prying. I was, after all, almost
like his staff. I felt slightly weird following him up the
stairs as if I was his guest. I only really knew him
from the diner. One encounter at a party didn’t exactly make us
fast friends.

“This is really nice,” I
gushed, as I followed him into a huge room. I was starting to feel
like a robot, but didn’t really know what else to say.

“Let me go and get you some
pajamas.” His voice was rough, and he walked towards the
door.

“That’s okay.” My voice was
feeble. “I can sleep in my clothes.” I spoke louder, wanting to
show him that this situation wasn’t making me
uncomfortable.

He ignored me and continued
walking to his room, and I sighed while running my fingers through
my hair. I wanted to run into the bathroom and check my
reflection in the mirror. I had a bad feeling that I looked like a
mess, and I wasn’t sure if I had smudged my eyeliner and mascara
when I had been rubbing my eyes earlier.

“Here.” Zane appeared in
the doorway again. “You can wear this.” He handed me a pair of
boxer shorts and a soft blue t-shirt, and I looked up at him with a
thankful glance.

“These look really
comfortable.” I smiled gratefully. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” He continued
to stare at me and it looked as if he was debating
whether or not to say something else to me. My heart started
pounding as he gazed into my eyes and I could feel my inhibitions
going away. I had a feeling he was going to ask me to sleep with
him. I also had a feeling that I wasn’t going to say
no. “Lucky, you can tell me to mind my own business, but why did
you drive your car out late at night if you knew it had mechanical
issues?”

“What?” I frowned in
confusion. I had been preparing myself to accept his caress; I
hadn’t been expecting a lecture.

“I just don’t think it’s
safe for you to be driving around late at night in a car that isn’t
very reliable.” He frowned and leaned towards me. “I don’t even
want to imagine what might have happened to you if I hadn’t been
there.”

“Why exactly were you
there?” I shot back defensively. “It seems kind of suspicious to me
that you were driving right behind me. I thought you had already
left the party.”

He looked away quickly and
ran his hands through his hair and sighed. “I wanted to make sure
you made it home safely.”

“What?” I gasped. “You were
following me?”

“I wasn’t following you per
se.” He shook his head. “And you should be thanking me. I saved
your ass.”

“My ass didn’t need
saving,” my voice rose. “You are a creeper. I can’t believe you
were following me.”

“I wanted to make sure you
were okay, Lucky. You’re too nice of a girl to be going to those
types of parties.”

“What’s that supposed to
mean?”

“The girls at those parties
know the deal. They fit the lifestyle.” Zane paused. “I didn’t want
to see you getting hurt.”

“So what deal is that
Zane?” I frowned. “Do you mean these girls are all a part of ‘The
loose legs for Zane club’?”

“The what?” He looked at me
and laughed. “Did you just make that up?”

“You know what I mean.” I
glared at him. “It seems to me that you seem to think you
are the only one who can look after himself.” I went off on a
tangent. “I may be a girl, but I don’t need you to come save me
Zane. You can save that for the $2 whores you take out every Friday
night.”

“That’s a low blow, Lucky.”
He frowned. “And I’ll have you know I don’t sleep with every girl I
take out.”

“Oh really? So you didn’t
sleep with any of the girls I’ve seen you with at
Lou’s.”

“Well, hold on.” He
grinned. “I never said that.”

My heart fell at his words.
I was hoping he was going to say that he had never slept with any
of them. That he was looking for Mrs. Right, and that was why he
had gone on so many dates. In my heart of hearts, I had pictured
him telling me that he had also been saving himself for his future
wife. and then, I would tell him that I had been saving myself as
well, and we would ride off into the sunset together.

“So you’ve slept with most
of them?” I looked up at him curiously, the causal expression on my
face hiding the urgency behind the question.

“I’d rather not talk about
my sex life with you, Lucky.” He peered at me with a serious
expression. “I’m sorry that you were uncomfortable with me
following you, but I thought it was for the best. And it turns out,
I was right. I followed my gut Lucky, and my gut was telling me to
make sure you got home okay.”

“What about Angelique?” I
bit out angrily. I was mad that he didn’t want to tell me more
about his dating life.

“She got home fine, I’m
sure.” He sighed and turned around. “I’m going to let you get some
sleep. In the morning, we can call a tow truck and have it towed to
the shop.”

“I don’t have any money to
pay a mechanic yet.” I sighed softly. “Well, I have some money, but
not enough.” I looked down at the lush cream berber carpet beneath
my feet, feeling embarrassed.

“We’ll figure something
out.” He reached over and grabbed my arm. “I promise, Lucky. It’ll
be okay.” His blue eyes crinkled warmly as he reassured me, they
seemed to be trying to communicate to me in some unknown language,
and I felt myself trying to understand his silent
message.

“I hope so.” I sighed,
letting my long brown hair cover my face. I was starting to feel
even more confused, and I could feel a slight melancholy build up
in me. A wave of exhaustion hit me, and I yawned loudly.

“Point taken, Lucky.” Zane
grinned and winked. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Night.” I watched him as
he walked out of the room and quickly shouted. “And
thanks.”

“No problem.” He didn’t
look back as he sauntered down the hallway and I quickly closed the
door before pulling off my clothes and putting on his boxers and
t-shirt. I sniffed the t-shirt to see if I could smell his scent,
but it smelled like fabric softener. I laughed at myself for my
cheesiness before getting into the king sized bed. I moaned
out in pleasure as I slipped in between the sheets. They reminded
of hotel sheets, and I knew that they had to be 500-thread count
Egyptian cotton. I moved my legs back and forth, loving the
luxurious softness against my skin. I lay back with my head against
the down feather pillows, and I wondered what Zane was doing and
thinking. I felt a warm thrill in my stomach as I thought about him
being concerned for me. It had been a little creepy that he had
waited for me, but part of me felt exhilarated and cared for. He
had to like me a bit if he had been worried about whether I’d get
home safely. Unless he just saw me an innocent, guileless,
local girl and he felt a responsibility for me because he saw me
every Friday at Lou’s. I felt disappointed then. Maybe he didn’t
really care for me at all. At least not in the way that I wanted. I
felt my eyes drooping and I yawned. I rolled over exasperated
with myself for continuing to hope that I meant something more to
him. He doesn’t even know you Lucky, I thought to myself as I
drifted to sleep.

***

I awoke about two hours
later, sweating and delirious. I felt disoriented in the big bed,
and jumped out and walked around the room. I wanted to go home. I
wanted to be in my own space and look at the photos of my parents.
I wiped my head and cleared my dry throat and decided to go down to
the kitchen to get a glass of water. I knew that I couldn’t go back
to bed right away. Not with the images of my parents so fresh in my
mind. I walked lightly, hoping not to make any noise and I looked
around the house in awe. It was beautiful and large, in a
non-ostentatious way. This must be what Scarlett O’Hara must have
felt every day at Tara, I thought as I floated down the stairs
imagining myself to be the lady of the manor. What would it feel
like to live in a palatial home like this? I looked at the statues
in the foyer, lit up by the moonlight shining through the window. I
was a bit surprised at the décor of the house. It seemed to be a
bit sophisticated for someone Zane’s age, but what did I really
know? I jumped from the staircase to the ground, and the marble
floor beneath my feet was cold enough to make me cry out slightly.
I paused, and looked up the staircase to make sure that I hadn’t
disturbed Zane.

I walked quickly through
the hallway and into the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as
possible. I walked into the kitchen and looked around in
amazement—it was beautiful. I was just about to open the
doublewide, stainless steel fridge when I felt something on my
back.

“Argh!” I screamed and
turned around quickly, my heart beating rapidly.

“Hey sorry.” Zane’s voice
was calm and slow, and he looked at me with a twinkle in his eyes.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“I was just coming to get
some water.” I muttered, unable to stop myself from looking at
his naked chest. Zane looked even more handsome and muscular than I
had imagined, and I was slightly overwhelmed by the urge to run my
hands across his chest. “I was feeling sexy—I mean, thirsty.” I
quickly corrected myself, blushing furiously.

“I don’t see why you can’t
have been feeling both ways.” He laughed and opened a drawer. “I
think I’ll join you in a glass.”

“Did I wake you up?” I
watched his biceps flex as he took the glasses out, and I swallowed
hard.

“No, I couldn’t
sleep.”

“Oh.” I wanted to ask him
why, but I didn’t want him to think I was being nosey.

“I was about to go in the
hot tub.”

“Oh.” I looked down and
realized he was wearing a pair of swimming trunks. I stared at his
muscular thighs and wondered if he played soccer. I had always had
a thing for guys who played soccer.

“You are welcome to join me
if you like.”

“I don’t have a swimsuit.”
Please don’t tell me you have one for me to borrow, I thought to
myself. I couldn’t stand to think of myself wearing one of his
skanky girlfriend’s outfits.

“We can skinny dip.” He
winked, and laughed at my mortified expression. “I’m joking,
Lucky.”

“I knew that.” I swallowed
the water quickly, trying to ignore the telltale feelings in my
stomach. “I should just go to bed.”

“Or we can just talk?” He
smiled. “If that would help.”

“You don’t want to
talk.”

“How little you trust me,
Lucky.” He cocked his head and smiled. “But actually yes, I would
love to talk.”

I bit my lip and giggled.
“I didn’t mean that you wanted anything else or anything, just that
maybe you wanted to relax and not feel the need to entertain
me.”

“Thanks for clarifying
that.” He grinned and opened a cupboard. “Want some
cookies?”

“What cookies do you have?”
I paused. “And do you have hot chocolate as well?”

“You are not going to eat
cookies and drink hot chocolate as well?” Zane looked at me with a
shocked expression.

“There’s a reason I’m not a
size 0.” I laughed, suddenly feeling a lightness between us. I
wasn’t sure what had changed between us, and it was almost
imperceptible, but I could sense a change in the way Zane was
smiling at me.