500 Days (39 page)

I nodded, that’s all I could give her for
now. She was right. I needed to make a choice. It should be simple.
It was easy to see who the obvious choice was, but my heart and
head were currently battling it out. Either would be a risk. I just
had to figure which risk was worth it. Casper had been everything I
wanted. He was the bad boy with an edge, every girl’s dream and
that was the problem. Casper was constantly surrounded by women who
he took home on a regular basis. Casper wasn’t the monogamous type.
He didn’t do relationships and has proven that to me over and over.
I knew Casper was a lost cause even though something inside was
telling me not give up. I had doubts but I quickly relinquished
them by reminding myself that Reece was the good guy. He was smart,
goal oriented, good looking, and someone who knew where his future
was going. He was every parent’s dream guy for their daughter.

I tossed and turned all night struggling
with the internal battle that was creating a shit storm inside my
mind. I woke up feeling like crap from the lack of sleep. I could
barely keep my eyes open during my classes and got called out
several times from my professors for it. Casper strolled into class
late, sporting shades, and a very messy hair style. “What hole did
you crawl out of this morning?” I asked him as he slipped into the
seat next to me, tugging off his shades. His eyes were all
bloodshot and he had dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he
didn’t get any more sleep than I did.

“
Had a gig last night,” he
smiled lazily. I raised my brows at him. “The night kind of turned
over into the morning.”

“
Ah, I see. Let me guess,
a blonde, big boobs and a short skirt?”

“
Nah, I prefer brunettes,”
he said, flicking my hair. My heart fluttered as his stormy eyes
met mine. I turned away not able to take it. I could feel his close
proximity all through class, making it hard to
concentrate.

On the way out we ran into
some of Casper’s
‘fan
club’
. I began to walk away when Casper
caught up to me. “Hey what’s the rush?”

“
I don’t want to be late
to meet Declan.”

“
Don’t you have a break
for lunch now? If you wait I’ll go with you.”

“
I’m suddenly not that
hungry,” I said, my eyes flicking behind him. “And you shouldn’t
keep your groupies waiting.” He looked torn on what to do but I
didn’t give him the chance to debate. I turned and left.

Later when I got home, I made my decision. I
picked up my cell phone and dialed his number. “Hi.”

“
Hey, I was hoping you
would call. What are you doing tonight?”

I lay back on bed. The small flutter in my
stomach at the sound of his voice told me I made the right choice.
“Hanging out with you,” I smiled.

“
I’ll pick you up at
eight.”

“
Great, see you then.” I
hung up the phone and closed my eyes, reminding myself I made the
right choice.

At six on the dot there was a knock on the
door. I answered it. “Casper, hi.”

“
Hey.”

“
Reece.” His eyes turned
down and he frowned. I looked over Casper’s shoulder. Reece was
standing behind him. Casper turned around and then looked back at
me.

“
I’m sorry, I’m not
interrupting something, am I?” Reece asked.

“
Can you give me a
minute?”

“
Yeah, I’ll meet you down
at the car,” Reece said, giving me a kiss on the cheek.

I looked back at Casper. “Cas, what are you
doing here?”

“
You seemed upset today
and I just wanted to make sure everything was okay,” he said,
slightly pained.

“
Just didn’t sleep well
last night is all.”

“
Right.”

“
Anything
else?”

“
No,” he said, taking a
few steps back.

“
If you don’t mind I don’t
want to keep Reece waiting.”

He laughed humorlessly. “Yeah, your date.
I’ll see you around…Katherine.” He turned and left, leaving me
questioning if I really did make the right choice.

Reece and I spent all week together. He
joined us for lunch everyday between classes and on the nights I
didn’t work I spent them at his place just hanging out and watching
movies. I noticed Casper had been somewhat distant and when I asked
him if something was wrong he just said he had a lot on his mind. I
knew my spending time with Reece was a way of distancing myself
from Casper. I thought if I spent all my time with Reece I wouldn’t
think about him and the amazing sex we had together or the fact
that he was the mystery man from New Year. Was it just a strange
coincidence or was it fate that brought us back together? I went
with the former. Casper had already proven he wasn’t someone who
could change. I was happy spending time with Reece and everyday he
let me know I made the right choice in picking him.

Casper had stopped eating lunch with us. The
only time I saw him was in class and even then he barely talked to
me.

I pulled him aside after
class. “Hey, what’s going on with you?” He looked at me confused.
“You haven’t been yourself lately?” I was worried that maybe
something had
happened that he didn’t want
to tell me about.

He gave me a small smile. “Sorry, I’ve just
been busy.”

“
Okay, would you maybe
want to get together and hang this weekend?”

“
Can’t, have a gig this
weekend and it’s out of town, but maybe next weekend?”

“
I can’t. I work and have
plans with Reece,” he flinched slightly at the mention of Reece. I
looked down at my feet wondering if he was avoiding me on
purpose.

“
How about I just give you
a call?”

“
Okay,” I said. He gave me
a quick, awkward hug, and then walked away. I watched him go,
feeling a small pain in my chest at his departure. I didn’t
understand it or know how to explain it, but I felt like there was
something I was missing.

Work was crazy Thursday and Friday, so by
Saturday I was more than happy to have a nice relaxing dinner and
just chill. Unfortunately Reece had informed me early on to dress
nice because we were going to Echo for dinner. He also told me he
had something special planned for tonight. I wanted to surprise him
with a new outfit so I asked Declan to go shopping with me. She
nearly fell off the couch with excitement.

Declan somehow convinced me to get a pink
dress. I think the only reason I agreed was because I could then
use the excuse I needed new shoes to go with the dress. The dress
had capped sleeves and a boat neckline. There was a small black
belt that rested above the waistline and the bottom flowed into an
A-line hitting just above my knee. I curled my hair loosely and
pinned up the sides. I was finishing up my make-up when Reece
arrived. I quickly applied my mascara and then grabbed my
purse.

Reece was sitting on the couch talking to
Declan. He stood up when he heard me. “Wow, you look great,” he
said, walking behind the couch to give me a hug and kiss. “You
ready?” I nodded and he escorted me out the door.

“
Have fun!” Declan called
out, smiling big.

I had a small nervous feeling in my stomach.
I wasn’t sure what the special dinner was about and the weird
feeling in my stomach wasn’t helping. He helped me out of the car
when we arrived. We only had to wait about five minutes before we
were seated. Reece ordered a bottle of champagne. “Are you
nervous?” he asked, looking concerned.

“
Um, no. Why would you ask
that?” The waiter came back with the champagne and poured me a
glass. I picked up the flute and downed it in one gulp. Reece
looked at me
,
brows raised. I cleared my throat. “Sorry.”

“
Don’t be sorry.” He
signaled for the waiter to refill my glass. “I’m assuming you’re
curious as to why I brought you here?” I shrugged. “I’ll just get
to it. We’ve been seeing each other for a while now.” He looked at
me for conformation of the time. I nodded, sipping the champagne.
“I like you Alex, a lot. And I believe you like me to.”

“
Yes, I do.” I wished he
would quit beating around the bush and get to it
already.

“
I don’t want to see
anyone else.” He reached across the table with his palm up. I
placed my hand in his as he closed his fingers around mine. “I want
to be exclusive.”

“
Alex, will you be my
girlfriend?”

My shoulders fell, relieved. “Yes, yes I
will.” He grinned happily and got up to move his chair next to
mine. He turned me to face him and pressed a soft kiss on my lips.
“You know, you didn’t have to do all this.”

“
No, but I wanted to do
something special for you. You deserve it.” He kissed me again
before the waiter returned to take our order.

Reece held my hand all the way home. I was
happy that Reece asked me to be his girlfriend, but for some reason
there was part of me that felt like this wasn’t right. I really
liked Reece, I did. He was a great guy and I enjoyed spending time
with him. I just couldn’t get rid of this feeling that we shouldn’t
be more than friends. I pushed all doubts aside. I convinced myself
it was just my stubbornness kicking in. It might also have to do
with the fact that we also haven’t slept together yet. We’ve been
dating for over a month and all we have done was kiss. I was
starting to grow cobwebs down there. I tried to push for more, but
Reece was always the one to pull away. I convinced myself he was
just being a gentleman.

Declan had told me ahead of time she was
spending the night at Colton’s so I would have the place to myself.
I was going to take advantage of the opportunity and ask Reece to
stay the night. Hopefully this time he wouldn’t deny me. Before I
unlocked the door to my apartment, I turned around to face him. “Do
you want to come in for a little?”

“
Yeah, that would be
great.” I let him in and walked straight to the fridge to grab two
beers. I handed a beer to Reece and then made myself comfortable on
the couch.

“
Wanna watch a movie?” I
asked, clicking on the TV. Reece took the beer from my hand and
placed it on the table. Then he slid closer to me, placing a hand
just next to my hip on the couch. With a slightly devious smile, he
leaned in and kissed me. I ran my hand up the back of his neck and
into his hair, pulling him closer to me, deepening the kiss. I slid
down on the couch, bringing him with me. Our position was a little
awkward. I tried to readjust myself, but Reece stopped. He sat up
and slipped off my shoes. Then he kneeled on the couch allowing me
space to slip my legs in between his. He climbed on top of me and
continued to kiss me. Wanting to take things a little further, I
slipped my hands up his shoulders to take off his jacket. He pulled
it off the rest of the way and tossed it to the floor. He seemed a
little confused on what to do with his hands. I wasn’t sure if he
was afraid to touch me or he didn’t know what he was doing. I
prayed it was the former.

To help him out, I ran my
hand down the back of his tricep, hooking my fingers around his
elbow and guiding his hand to my hip. His hand slipped up my side,
stopping short. I arched my back slightly and his hand moved to my
breast.
Thank god
. I pushed myself into his hand, encouraging him. He rubbed
his thumb over my breast, making my nipples perk. His lips trailed
down my jaw and to my neck, tickling me. He kept himself propped on
his one elbow to keep his weight off of me, but I preferred to feel
the pressure. I pulled his hips closer to mine, he was resistant at
first, but I won in the end. I pressed myself into him, making him
gasp slightly. I lifted my leg and rubbed my heel down the back of
his thigh. Getting braver, his hand slipped up my dress and back
down again, teasing. His hands were soft, tender, and welcomed to
explore.

After twenty minutes of nonstop kissing and
groping, I was ready to move this to the bedroom. I pulled back to
kiss his neck. I nibbled lightly on his ear and I could feel him
trying not to shake. “Declan’s spending the night at Colton’s,” I
said, continuing to work him into a frenzy. “So we have the place
to ourselves.”

He pressed his lips lightly to mine and sat
up. I thought for sure he was going to reject me. He stood up and
held out his hand for me, then he gestured for me to take the lead.
Once inside my bedroom, he wrapped his arms around my waist and
backed me up to the bed. I kissed him roughly, showing him how much
I wanted him. He had no problems now. I untucked his shirt and
nervously started to undo his buttons. There was always a sense of
nervousness sleeping with someone for the first time. Reece calmed
my nerves by kissing me sweetly. Once his shirt was off he unzipped
my dress and tugged it down gently. I pulled him down on to the bed
with me. He kissed me swiftly, hungrily. He sat up to take off his
pants and boxers. Next went my bra and underwear – a little faster
than I liked, but hey, I wasn’t going to complain.

Reece pulled the comforter back and crawled
underneath, inviting me to join him. Comfortably inside the
confines of the blankets, Reece crawled on top of me, not wasting
any time. Apparently once I gave him the green light he was ready
to just go for it. No more foreplay no nothing. I stopped him
before he sailed right in. “Hold on a second there.” I put a hand
on his chest to stop him.