Sliding (The Stone Series) (30 page)

“Stop it, what are you doing here? I have classes all day today and
tomorrow. The only free time I’m going to have over these next two days will be
tonight” I tell him.

“Tonight is all I need baby!”

Tate takes my hand and follows me into the Grand Hyatt. I tell him he
needs to wait in the lobby area, I wouldn’t put it past my mother to call the
hotel and make sure that I checked in safely and ask if a boy was with me. Check
in is a breeze, I’m aloud to stay by myself because the hotel is hosting the
dance seminar and my mother has booked the room giving me permission to stay
alone. She usually comes with me but this weekend she has to take Katrina to an
event.

When Tate and I get into the hotel room I call my house so my parents
won’t worry but Tate is being very distracting and I need to be in my first
class in less than an hour. He puts on music, “Straight Up” and is dancing
around like a stripper and pointing to his body part that is straight up. I
never should have taught him to dance so well, there is no way I am going to be
able to resist him now, I’m going to be late for class without a doubt entering
it already sweaty.

The weekend is amazing. Tate says it’s my early birthday present. When I
get back from the most amazing classes with the top choreographers all I want
to do is collapse but Tate forces me into the shower and tells me that he has a
huge surprise for me. I shower then remember I have nothing to wear that I can
leave the hotel in. Thankfully Tate thought of everything. He had Katrina gave
him one of my outfits to wear knowing that all I would have brought with me were
dance clothes and sweatpants.

Tate takes me to see The Phantom of the Opera then out for pizza. He
wanted to take me somewhere fancy but the tickets for the show were more than
he thought. The show is amazing and the pizza is the best I’ve ever had. We
hold hands and feed each other slice after slice of the thinnest crust pizza in
the world.

When we get back to the hotel room it’s like a glimpse into what our
future can hold. He’s being very romantic. He kisses my eyelashes and whispers,
“I love you” over and over in my ears. I love all the different sides of Tate
and I’m glad that tonight he brought the sweet, gentle, romantic Tate; but something
tells me the frisky, aggressive Tate will be waking me up tomorrow morning.
 

************

I wake up on the beach to find Tate next to me and my sister with Bobby
and the girls splashing in the water. “Thank you for bringing her here, this is
good for all of them. Good for me to have her here through all this with the
babies too. Did you find out anything from Damian about him and my doctor?”

Tate sighs, “Yes, but trust me they are not details you want to hear.”

“Mmm” I hum annoyed with the situation of my doctor and Damian.

Tate pulls me into his arms and kisses the top of my head, “You planning
on trying to find someone for him?”

“As a matter of fact I was kind of thinking about Drea and Mac. But now
that I see how sad Damian is yes, I think he needs someone too. It’s time.”

“Hold on, Drea and Mac? Are you out of your mind? Damian will kill even
you for that. Mac is twenty years older than her.”

“Yes and I think they’d be great together. I can’t really explain why,
it’s just a feeling I have.”

“I want nothing to do with that, do you hear me? We never had this
conversation. When it all goes bad, I am not getting involved.”

“Fine but when it ends up good, I’m taking all the credit.”

Tate and I lay together on the beach that day and the hours roll into
days and the days turn into weeks. I miss Connecticut but I’m happy for a fresh
start, it’s what Tate and I need right now. Tate is talking to me about his
feelings this time around. It is usually his style to clam up and take to the
bottle or drugs. I finally feel like he’s grown up and ready to be a father
which is a good thing because our son and daughter are on their way. We found
out last week that we are having a boy and a girl.

Damian has left for New York and I was thrilled to learn that he needs a
new head of security. I talked Tate into letting him burrow Mac for the time
being. Mac moved into Damian’s penthouse where Drea will be returning to after
her modeling job in Paris is done next week. Everything should fall beautifully
into place if I’m right about the two of them.

Our California house is finally ready to be moved in to, Michael and
Jeremy have taken Andrew back to Connecticut with plans to come back soon,
maybe for the holidays. Certainly to see the babies after they are born.
Katrina and Bobby’s divorces are almost final; Tate pulled some strings to move
them both along and be sure their ex-spouses got next to nothing. Katrina’s
ex-husband has never even tried to contact his daughters. Tate wants Mac and
Domincik to pay him a visit and kick his ass no doubt. I’m having all I can do
to keep my eyes on him to make sure he is not ordering a hit on the douche of a
man even though he does deserve it. Bobby has really taken to Katrina’s girls,
he’s always wanted children and he’s enjoying their company. They are always
riding on his shoulders or wrestling him to the ground. Bobby and Katrina have
been spending a lot of time catching up and hanging out together with the
girls. I think she still has a crush on him. I just hope she doesn’t plan to
use him as her rebound guy because I think he’s really falling for her and I
tell her that when we are out together having a spa day. I really should make
match matching a paying job because I think I’m pretty good at it.

“Remember my senior year when you were a sophomore?” I begin while
getting a manicure with Katrina. “It was like you had just seen Bobby for the
first time. I don’t know why you got so head over heels in love with him all of
a sudden. I mean why then after he had spent like four years hanging out at our
house?”

Katrina smirks, “Do you really want to know why?”

Of course I tell her that I do but before she’ll continue she makes me
promise not to get mad at her.

“Okay, I made Bobby swear never to tell you. I knew you would be so
pissed at me and never let me near your friends again.”

I prompt her to continue when she looks to reluctant to do so.

“We kissed this one time at our house. It was stupid. He was with Asia at
the time. Oh God, I’m sorry we maybe shouldn’t…I mean she’s still your best
friend.”

She looks to me to see if she should shut up or go on.

“Its okay, go on with your torrid tale of lust” I joke.

************

It started the day of the car wash. All the kids who played sports had to
work there for an hour to raise money for athletics. Tate and I signed up to go
with Bobby and Asia who were once again fighting and ready to break up. My mom
made me take Katrina with us so she wouldn’t have to bring her later in the day.
Katrina reminds me of my attire from that day and how I threatened to kill her
if she told my mother that I was washing cars in my bikini and wet white
t-shirt. Tate spent more of his time watching me then he did washing cars. He
wore his gray cut off sweat shorts and had his shirt stuffed into the waist
band hanging out in a very sexy way. The shirt was covering his manhood that I
suspect may have been standing at attention from the way I looked in my wet clothes.
Tate’s body is now that of a man’s, he has broad shoulders, pecs to die for, a
small narrow waist and a toned six pack. He has muscular legs and the best ass
I have ever seen. He brought in quiet a few dollars from the ladies that day.

Asia had just left pissed off at Bobby for something, leaving him once
again with Tate and I. Katrina thought she was so cool trying to be just like
me that she got her shirt all wet like mine. A car full of boys from the
neighboring town pulled in and started hooting and hollering at us. Tate and
Bobby didn’t see the car of boys at first, they were washing a truck and their
view of Katrina and I was blocked. We started to wash their car and then the
boys got out and one of them got a little touchy feely with me. Tate happened
to be coming around the truck just as he trapped me up against the car with his
hands on the hood on either side of me. Before I had a chance to defend myself Tate
grabbed the kid and flung him to the ground, he pulled out his t-shirt that was
stuck in his shorts, flung it at me and said, “Put this on right now” before he
lifted the kid back up to his feet and threatened to kick his ass if he didn’t leave.
The boys drove off without getting their car rinsed and our shift ended.

Tate and Bobby drove Katrina and I home and came in to hang out for a
while. Katrina says at one point Tate and I must have gone upstairs for
something because we left her and Bobby alone. Bobby was upset over Asia and
Katrina was trying to make him feel better. She claims she has no idea why but
all of a sudden he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She said it was just
kind of a friendly kiss until his tongue entered her mouth.

“Eww…gross, I’ve heard enough” I say while covering my ears but she keeps
going.

“He kissed so well, way better than any of the boys I’d kissed before. I
had this butterfly in my stomach sick but good feeling and that was it, I was
in love. Well love for a what? A fifteen year old?”

I just laugh at her.

“So he kissed that good huh? Believe me, you don’t want to know how he
learned” I warn her.

“Umm…I think I already do know. His brother, the porn and that girlfriend
he had in high school? Yeah, everyone at school knew about him and Tate and
their little sex lessons. I bet the manual is still being passed down to kids
today” she laughs but all I can ask is, “Manual? What manual?”

We are lead to the pedicure chairs and Katrina asks, “Can I tell you
about the other times or should I shut up?”

“Holy shit, what other times? How many other times? Does Tate know about
this?” I stammer.

“I never told your husband but I have no control over what his best
friend does obviously” she giggles then continues with her story.

She tells me that they kissed a few more times during that school year
but it wasn’t until the night of the prom when things really heated up. Asia
and Bobby broke up months before the prom and she got herself a new boyfriend
from the college only minutes away from our town. Of course she was bringing
him to our prom and Bobby didn’t have a date. Tate and I not knowing what was
brewing between them set it all up. Bobby would take Katrina to the prom as
friends. She’d be happy to go and he’d have a date but the best part for me is
that Asia wouldn’t care. Even though she was done with him she still didn’t
want anyone else to have him and she’d be fine with Katrina going with him. She
knows Katrina would never try anything with her ex-boyfriend.

The night of the prom arrived and Katrina and I got ready together. I did
her hair and makeup and she helped me into my skin tight dress. I have no idea
how I sat down in that thing. I’m not really sure that I did now that I think
back on it.

“Nothing Compares to You” was the theme, remember?” I ask my sister.

The very young girl doing my pedicure stops and says, “OMG, wow, I
remember that one. My mom always made us listen to her tapes in the car. My
favorite was “The Power”. Remember that one?”

Katrina and I laugh, remembering how we used to
dance to that song and attempt the say the words but I don’t think we ever got
a single one right.

Bobby and Tate came to our house for pictures
first then we went to Bobby’s and finished at Tate’s. My parents were so
thrilled to have Katrina tagging along with me that they even agreed to let her
come to all the parties. The prom itself was boring. The food was terrible and
the whole thing just felt like a front for getting drunk, stoned and having sex,
the only good part was the music.
I don’t think Tate or I sat down once.
We danced with each other, we danced with our friends, and we even danced
alone! When the night ended we left, went to my house and got changed. My
parents checked to be sure none of us were drunk and we headed out to some kids
beach house for a party.
 
Since Jeff and
David’s fatal accident Tate and I only drink when we are not driving and
because we know we are sleeping at the beach house tonight we both decide to
live it up. I am slurring my words and wobbly on my feet after two beers. It
takes Tate about six before he’s visibly drunk. We smoke whatever pot is put in
front of us and by 1am we are done for. I guess that’s why Katrina’s story is
news to me.

While our feet and legs are being massaged Katrina continues, “So at the prom
party when you and Tate were getting it on in one room I was kind of losing my
virginity to Bobby in another.”

I just stare at her with my mouth wide open. I am in total shock. I mean
she never told me who she lost it to or when but I never would have guessed
this. I prompt her to continue and she seems in a dream like state and more
than happy to oblige.