Going the Distance (No Excuses Book 1) (7 page)

“Are you gonna stare at that dress in your hand much longer?” Danielle asked, coming to stand next to Sam.

They’d been shopping for the last hour, trying to find outfits for Clare’s upcoming birthday party. It was still a month away, but Danielle insisted on finding just the right kind of thing, which was impossible since she was so picky.

“Was I staring?” Sam mumbled, hanging the dress back on the rack. After trying on several dresses in the last store, she’d started getting bored, but didn’t want to ruin Danielle’s fun.

“What’s on your mind?” Danielle asked, looking through the clothes before them.

“Nothing,” Sam said quickly and turned to inspect the dresses hanging behind them.

“Nothing? Sam, you know you’re a terrible liar. What’s up?”

Sam was thinking that actually no, she was pretty good at keeping secrets, but she wasn’t going to point that out. She did admit though that she hadn’t been able to think of anything but Trent all day.

When she’d woken up in the morning, he was gone, and when she’d touched his side of the bed, the sheets had been cold. He must have left very early. She had been disappointed that he hadn’t woken her up to at least say bye. Then again, maybe he had and she had just been too exhausted to realize it.

Their evening together had wiped her out. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d slept that soundly. In the morning, she had felt rested and contented. Some parts were sore, but she didn’t mind. Good Lord, she didn’t mind. He’d done things to her that made her blush, and she’d shamelessly let him.

“Do you realize you’re grinning?” Danielle asked, pulling Sam out of her thoughts.

Sam felt her cheeks take on even more color and she pretended to examine a blouse. “I was not.”

“Were too. Not smiling, but grinning, like you had a dirty little secret.”

She couldn’t help from laughing out loud. “Okay, so maybe I do.”

Danielle set down the skirt she’d been holding and fixed her with an expectant stare. “Spill it, girl.”

“I had sex with Trent Page,” Sam confessed.

Danielle looked back confused.

“The guy from Vegas?” Sam prompted.

“The same one whom you slapped?”

Sam nodded, grimacing. Not something she wanted to remember now.

“What in the hell?” Danielle said with wide eyes. “How did I not know about this?”

“Because it only happened last night.”

“But obviously you’ve been seeing him since Vegas, cause I know you. You wouldn’t just jump the guy’s bones after running into him last night.”

“True,” Sam said, smiling at her friend’s logic. “I’ve been trying to talk him into giving me an interview for the paper, but it’s been taking longer than I thought.”

“So you slept with him?”

“Uh huh.”

Danielle looked impressed. “I must say, I didn’t think you had it in you, Sam.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sleeping with a guy to further your career.”

“That’s not why I had sex with him,” Sam shot back louder than intended. Several people turned to stare at them.

“That had nothing to do with it,” she whispered, following Danielle to the next rack.

“Oh?”

“Yes, damn it, I had sex with him because I like him.”

The moment the words left Sam’s mouth, she stopped to question what she’d just said. How much did she really like him? He had started to grow on her, she’d already admitted that, but was there more to it? They hadn’t known each other for very long and she still had much to learn about him despite the info she’d gotten from her research.

Did it really matter though? He was a boxer who’d never been attached to a woman for probably longer than a couple of hours. Maybe a whole night, to be generous. Sam wasn’t exactly the relationship type either, and together, they were a hot mess. But what a hot mess, my goodness. She’d never be able to forget his body pounding into her like they were making up for lost times. No other guy had done that to her and she was afraid he’d spoiled her for any future encounters. Her body craved him now like the junkies craved their fix.

She wondered if he’d consider entering into a sex-only relationship with her, in which both of them could satisfy their needs without getting involved. She frowned at the ridiculous idea. He didn’t need to satisfy his needs, he had plenty of women to choose from. She’d seen their pictures all over the internet, hanging on to him like slutty monkeys.

“Earth to Sam,” Danielle said, holding up a blue dress. “What do you think?”

Sam considered the color against Danielle’s orange-hued blonde hair. “Hm, not sure about that. Try it on, it will be easier to tell.”

Danielle held the dress up in front of her, seeming to consider the suggestion. “Okay, but I think I’ve reached the limit. They won’t let me take in more than five things. Can you hold some of my stuff?”

“Sure,” Sam said, grabbing a handful of items. They made their way to the dressing rooms and Sam announced she’d wait outside.

“Be right back,” Danielle shouted over her shoulder.

Sam found an empty corner of a display unit to sit on and stared a hole in the ground. She needed to talk to Trent and get that damn interview over and done with already. As soon as her shopping trip would come to an end, she’d give him a call.

Part of her hoped the interview would be followed by another session of a naked Trent, but maybe that was too much wishful thinking. She wasn’t sure what the consequences were yet of their time together and didn’t want to jump to conclusions. Maybe he hadn’t even enjoyed it as much as she had. And maybe she was starting to sound like a love-sick puppy.

“So, what do you think?” Danielle asked, stepping out of the dressing area to do a twirl.

“It’s okay,” Sam said, not wowed by it. “The red one you tried on looked better on you.”

Danielle’s face fell, as did her shoulders. “Ugh, I’ll never find the perfect thing.”

“Do I have to remind you that it’s not your birthday but Clare’s? Does it really matter if you have the perfect dress or not?”

“Sure it matters,” Danielle said, readjusting her boobs. “Unlike you, I haven’t gotten any in a long time. I just might find someone at Clare’s birthday party to break the dry spell.”

Sam gave her an indulgent smile. “In that case, go with the red. Much better against your skin tone.”

Danielle pursed her lips, not at all pleased with the verdict and disappeared into the dressing room again.

Sam ran a hand over her face. She’d just about reached her limit. After this store, she’d call it a day and go home. She had things to do after all and couldn’t spend all day trying on dresses that after a while, all looked the same.

She grabbed her phone out of her purse and checked to see if she had any missed calls or messages. Nothing. She put her phone back in her purse displeased and plastered a smile on her face as Danielle came out to get the items Sam was holding for her.

“Only five more to go,” she announced, tiptoeing back to the dressing room barefoot.

Sam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Danielle was taking an eternity with her new outfit and Trent was taking just as long reaching out to her.

Getting more frustrated by the minute, she stared at the people walking around the store. Granted it had only been a few hours since he’d left her place, but she had expected to hear from him by now since she hadn’t seen him leave in the morning. It was only polite for him to call her. Then again, using the word polite in the same sentence as Trent was ridiculous. The man didn’t know the meaning of the word. She’d just have to make the first move herself.

***

It was Friday night and Trent was throwing a party. It had been several days since he’d slept with Sam, and she was on his mind day and night. It probably didn’t help that she’d called and texted him a couple of times, asking to talk to him, but he’d told her he was busy with training and didn’t have time during the week.

So to get her out of his system, he’d decided to have friends over, which meant the guys and a handfuls of girls. Hot girls.

They were dancing in his living room now, putting on a show in their skimpy outfits. He’d had a few beers and was feeling good, but still, the girls didn’t seem to hold his attention. Or his interest actually. They had his attention, simply because they were trying to dance as though they were auditioning for a stripper role, but he wasn’t turned on. They looked ridiculous, trying to impress him.

“Shit man, it’s been forever since you threw a party,” his friend Damon said as he plopped on the couch next to Trent.

“Yeah, sure has.” He stared at the girls without much focus.

“How’s the training going?”

“It’s alright,” Trent lied, not wanting to get into details. The last thing he wanted to do right now was tell his friends how badly he was fucking up in the ring. They knew of his loss, but not how badly his comeback was going.

He didn’t know what was wrong with him anymore. He was going through the motions but not showing any results for it.

“Damn, these bitches are hot,” Damon said, stroking his chin.

“Josh knows how to pick ‘em.”

Josh was another friend, usually in charge of finding girls for parties. He seemed to have that special talent that attracted girls every time.

A tall, busty blonde came walking up to Trent and started dancing in slow, rhythmic movements before him. He watched her ass wiggle provocatively.

“It’s great to be you,” Damon said before getting up and walking away.

The girl took that as a cue to make herself comfortable on Trent’s lap, rubbing up against him like a goddamn cat. Her sickly, sweet perfume was giving him a headache.

“Hi baby,” she purred, grazing his jaw with her manicured finger.

He merely nodded, trying to make an effort to actually enjoy her rubbing up against his dick.

“You like my dancing?” she asked in a throaty whisper.

“Sure.”

“I’m good at lots of other things too, you know.”

He could only imagine.

“How about we go somewhere more quiet?” she suggested, blowing warm breath over his ear.

He moved his head to the side. “Maybe later.”

She didn’t get the hint since she continued running her finger all over his body, from his face to his chest, as though he should find that erotic.

“Why not now?” she asked, biting her lip.

“Cause I don’t feel like it right now,” he snapped, pushing her gently off him.

She stood and frowned at him. “Okay, well, you don’t have to be a dick about it.”

He looked at her as though she suddenly grew a third nipple. “Why don’t you go take a break, cool down a little?”

She looked even more pissed now and huffed arrogantly before walking away.

Just what I fucking need right now. Sluts with attitudes.

He ran a hand over his face and went to get another beer. The remaining girls were dancing in a cluster a few feet away. Some of the guys were out there with them, and some were shooting the shit by the kitchen counter, making a dent in the beer supply.

“You going to Emmanuel’s thing?” Josh asked, referring to the yearly fundraiser the old man put on.

Trent nodded and grabbed another bottle. “Never miss it.”

He wasn’t obligated to go, but always wanted to support Emmanuel. The event raised money for impoverished kids to play sports and buy equipment that was needed. Trent wasn’t much into fancy events and such things, but this one had been such a staple in his life, he actually looked forward to going. Besides, his attendance always helped bring in more people and more money. It was the least Trent could do to help the old man out.

“I think I’ll bring Stacey,” Josh said, sipping his beer.

“You bringing a date?” Damon asked, making a face.

“Yeah, so what? What’s wrong with that?”

“You’re the fucking lady killer, man. You get bitches left and right. Why would you be bringing a girl to an event where you can find a new one to take home?”

“Cause Stacey’s my girlfriend, dipshit,” Josh said, throwing a crumpled napkin at Damon.

Trent shook his head, chuckling. Josh knew how to bring in the girls, but lately, he hadn’t been able to shut up about one girl in particular. The guy was so whipped, it was fucking ridiculous.

“Tell me you’re not bringing a chick too,” Damon said, looking at Trent.

“No, going solo.”

“Thank God. I don’t wanna be the only single guy there.”

“Like that would be so bad?” Josh asked.

“It would suck ass.”

“You can always bring one of these girls,” Josh suggested, nodding at the dancers behind them.

Damon took his time looking them over. “They’re for tonight, not tomorrow.”

“The fundraiser isn’t tomorrow,” Josh pointed out.

“You know what I mean.”

“You still got time to find someone,” Trent joked, smirking at Josh because he knew how Damon would react.

“Find someone? Are you fucking crazy? I wanna go solo, man. I’m gonna find me a fine ass girl that’s gonna make me getting dressed up worthwhile.”

The mention of worthwhile things brought other thoughts to Trent’s mind and he growled as he took another sip of his beer. One thing was for sure. He wasn’t bringing Sam to the fundraiser.

Suddenly he wondered what she’d look like dolled up in a fancy dress with her hair pinned up. She’d be a knockout. Just like every time he’d seen her, fancy dress or not.

Without trying to, he’d memorized her face so much during their outings, that it was easy to picture her green eyes sparkling back at him defiantly or those pouty lips giving him an unexpected dazzling smile. It was so fucking annoying to have her face readily available in his mind, that he wondered if there was some kind of miracle drug he could take to wipe his memory clean.

“How about you, Trent? Don’t wanna find a date to bring along?” Josh asked, tearing Trent out of his daydream.

“Nah, I’ll stick to going solo.” Just like last year. And the year before that, and all the other ones since Trent had started going.

“He’s not gonna have trouble finding someone to keep him company,” Damon said, grinning.