Solo (29 page)

Lucas looked over at me. "I don't think we'll be making it to any after-parties either."

"Yeah, I'm getting tired," I agreed.

The DJ announced the last song of the evening, ladies choice. I glanced at Lucas hoping he would slow dance with me one more time. He was already getting up.

"Wow. Twice in one night. I'm a lucky girl."

He was so cute. He attempted to twirl me with a small dip thrown in. He seemed to be in a better mood, back to my funny, witty boyfriend. Casey and Jack danced next to us. The guys took turns copying each others moves. If I was twirled, she was twirled, and if she was dipped, I was dipped. When the song ended, Lucas bent and gave me a delicate kiss on the lips. It was the perfect finish for the night.

It seemed like everyone decided to leave prom at the same time. The lobby became a sea of people waiting for elevators. When the doors slid open, the elevators reached maximum capacity. I was pushed into a corner with Lucas pressed against me closer than we'd been on the dance floor.

He smiled down at me. His chest was against mine. I knew he could feel my heart pounding. I got a little claustrophobic, so I closed my eyes and laid my head against his chest. I didn't have a problem with elevators except when packed in like a sardine. The smell of sweat and perfume from the girl next to me turned my stomach.

"Hey, Lucas, what floor?" Jack yelled from the other side of the elevator.

"Fourth."

We stopped at each floor and little by little the elevator cleared. I couldn't wait to get to our room so I could take my shoes off; my feet were killing me. Casey and Jack were the last ones on the elevator with us.

"I'll call you in the morning. Maybe we can meet for breakfast," Casey said, when they exited on the third floor.

"That's sounds good," I replied before the doors closed.

Lucas and I stared at each other while we waited for the next stop. Our floor was quiet. There weren't any parties going on yet. He led me to a room at the end of the hall. At least we wouldn't be in the middle of the after parties. I didn't feel like dealing with noise.

The sleeping arrangements didn't bother me anymore; I just wanted to get comfortable. Lucas fumbled with the electronic key for a minute before the door opened. To my surprise, we had a suite with a kitchenette and a tiny sitting area with a pull-out couch already made into a bed. Adjacent to the sitting area was a separate bedroom with a huge king bed and large bathroom.

"What's this?" I said shocked.

"I told you they didn't have any more rooms with two beds. This was the next best thing."

"Um, this is too much. We could've dealt with a single bed."

"No, I want you to be comfortable staying with me. I'm sleeping on the couch. You can have the bedroom."

I couldn't believe Lucas had done all this for me. "You don't have to sleep on the couch, I feel really bad."

"It's okay. I don't mind." He walked toward me. "Alone at last; I've got another surprise for you."

"What else can there possibly be?"

He walked into the kitchenette and grabbed a movie off the counter. "I rented one of your eighties chick flicks that you claim to love. There's also cookie dough ice cream in the freezer."

"Lucas, that's so sweet of you. This is the best after party ever."

"Well, I had to come up with something. It beats staring at the ceiling all night."

"I think your plan is perfect." I leaned in to kiss his cheek. "But first, I need to get out of these shoes and dress. Where's my bag?"

"It's sitting on the dresser in the bedroom. Let me know if you need help." He grinned a hopeful grin.

I rolled my eyes and went to the bedroom. Sitting on the edge of the bed I removed my shoes and sighed with relief. Taking off my dress was the last thing I wanted to do. The double stick tape made me nervous. I kept telling myself it would be like taking off a Band-Aid—quick and painless. I only had to do it six times.

Finally, I built up my courage. I don't know where my bright idea came from, but I decided to pull all three on one side at the same time. I thought the quicker, the better. I bit my bottom lip and squeezed my eyes closed. Ripping the tape from my body my eyes instantly filled with tears. Every four letter word I knew passed through my head. If Lucas hadn't been in the other room, I would have screamed. Sucking a deep breath, I did the same thing on the other side. It didn't hurt as bad. But I figured that was because I was still distracted by the pain from the other side. I lifted my eyes skyward in a silent thank you when I stepped out of the dress.

I hopped in the shower to wash off my makeup and scrub the remainder of the double stick tape from my body parts. I didn't want my pajamas sticking to me in awkward places.

Since the bobby pins holding my hair would be time consuming to remove, I figured I could take them out during the movie.

When I opened the door, Lucas was passed out on the chair next to the couch still wearing his tux. I tiptoed to the couch to get a blanket and cover him up. He looked so good laying there. "So much for the after-party," I whispered. Grabbing the movie off the counter, I returned to the bedroom. Too late, I realized the DVD player was hooked up to the television in the other room. I devised a covert operation to retrieve the player without waking Lucas. I kept glancing at him while I disconnected cords from the TV. Accidentally, I dropped one of them on the floor.

Lucas moved in his chair. I froze and held my breath. When I thought he was sleeping soundly again, I tiptoed back into the bedroom and gently closed the door. Before starting the movie, I ran to the bathroom to retrieve my toiletry bag for the massive amounts of bobby pins. I jumped when I came out of the bathroom. Lucas was sprawled across the bed reading the movie cover.

"Did you really think I would pass out on prom night?" he smiled.

"Not really, but I figured it took me longer than I thought to get out of my taped on dress."

He laughed. "By the way, thanks for the blanket."

"No problem. You would have done the same for me."

"So…are we going to watch this movie or what?"

"Sure, but don't you want to get out of your tux first?"

"Oh, yeah." He hopped off the bed and walked toward me, pulling his tie loose.

My heart started to pound. I didn't know what he expected from me. Did he want me to help him out of his tuxedo? Not that I would mind.
Get a grip, Eliana
.

"I'll be right back." He bent and grabbed his bag off the floor and went into the bathroom.

I started talking to myself. "You are such an idiot. Nothing is going to happen. You have willpower. You can make it through the night."

I tugged at my hair with my good arm, trying to remove the bobby pins before Lucas came back. Luckily, he yelled that he was taking a quick shower. I sat on the bed pulling out pins, one by one. I brushed my fingers through my hair checking for more. When he came out of the bathroom drying his hair, his appearance threw me off guard. He was shirtless with his boxers peeking over the top of his basketball shorts. I tried not to stare, but he had incredible abs. I'd only felt them through his shirt before. I'd never seen them.

He saw me staring. "Eliana, I have a T-shirt if this makes you uncomfortable."

"No, you're fine." My cheeks were burning.

He grabbed the remote and climbed next to me on the bed before pushing
PLAY
. Then I felt his fingers playing with my hair. His hand covered my waist, pulling me slightly toward him. We relaxed and leaned against our pillows.

"How's your arm?" He started gently rubbing it.

"It's okay; just a little sore."

He reached over to turn out the light when the movie started. I don't remember much after that. I woke up around three to a pitch black room. The television was off and I was alone. For a second, I forgot where I was. I got up and walked into the other room to find Lucas asleep on the couch. I quietly walked to the other side and slid between the sheets next to him. I hadn't realized how much noise the bed would make.

"Eliana, Is everything all right?" he yawned.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I couldn't go back to sleep in the other room."

"You won't be comfortable here. You'll probably sleep better in the other bed."

"Oh." I climbed out of the bed a little offended and went back to the bedroom, locking the door behind me. I'd thought he would jump at the chance to sleep next to me.

Wide awake, I turned the television back on and rapidly flipped through the channels. There wasn't anything good on. There was a faint knock on the door. I ignored it, hoping Lucas would go back to bed. But he started talking.

"I know you're still awake. I can hear you changing channels." He knocked again.

I got up, unlocked the door, and went back to bed to continue channel surfing. Finally, I settled for a station playing old music videos.

 "Why can't you sleep?" Lucas rubbed his eyes.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you could hear the TV."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I don't know, I woke up and forgot were I was for a second. I don't like being by myself in a completely dark room. I guess I'll watch TV until I'm ready to go back to sleep."

I don't think he bought that excuse. He had to sense there was something else. I had locked the door.

"It's not that I don't want you next to me, it's just that the couch is uncomfortable."

"Then why are you sleeping on it?" I watched a girl with big hair do some cool dance moves on the video.

"I'm just doing what you asked me to." He started back towards the pull-out.

"Lucas." He turned to look at me. "You don't have to sleep on the couch. I would prefer if you slept in here with me."

He walked out of the bedroom, only to return a few moments later wearing his T-shirt. "This way there's no funny business with you, Missy."

He slowly slid under the sheet. "Are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Yes." I eased my way closer to him. I wasn't quite sure what I was thinking. I knew what
wasn't
going to happen, but I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. I didn't know when I might get to sleep in the same bed with Lucas again. I'm sure he would know my limitations—
wouldn't he?
His rejection was my only fear. If I made an advance and he turned me down, I would be mortified.

I continued moving closer. His eyes were closed. Was he really trying to go back to sleep? My heart thumped when I slide my hand under his T-shirt. I'd been dying to touch his abs since he'd come out of the bathroom. He flinched when my hand rubbed his bare stomach.

His eyes shot open.
"What are you doing?"

I quickly jerked my hand back like a kid caught raiding the cookie jar. "Sorry," I muttered, rolling to the other side of the bed. I planted my face in my pillow, fighting nausea. I almost started to cry. That was the first move I'd ever made on a guy and it hadn't gone like I'd imagined.

"Eliana, are you okay?"

"Fine," I mumbled. "Are you okay?"

A low chuckle came from the other side of the bed. "Um, to be honest, I'm a little confused."

I pushed my head further into my pillow. The bed shifted and I thought maybe Lucas was moving closer to me. Then I felt nothing. I mustered enough courage to peek from my pillow. The television was on, but Lucas was gone. I felt my eyes burn and before I knew it, I was crying into my pillow from humiliation.

The TV went off and I knew he'd come back. I tried to stop crying so he wouldn't know I was bawling on prom night. The bed shifted again and everything went silent. I didn't move. A few seconds later I felt a trembling hand slide under the back of my tank top and wrap around to the front near my bellybutton. My heart stopped and thousands of goose bumps prickled my body. Lucas pulled me around to face him. With my face pressed against his bare chest, I felt his whole body trembling. He kissed behind my ear, slowly moving toward my neck, and then to my chin.

I don't know what happened, impulse maybe? I started getting aggressive with my kisses. Instead of pulling away, he mirrored my aggressiveness. I wanted to duplicate the closeness from the elevator. Before things could escalate to the next level, however, I took a shuddering breath and released it slowly. Lucas understood my action. He held me tightly and ran his fingers through my hair.

"I'm sorry I'm confusing you," I whispered.

"Don't be sorry. This is so much more than I ever expected," he whispered back.

My cell phone rang around nine in morning. Casey called to remind us that check-out was eleven o'clock. We made plans to meet in the lobby at ten. Lucas was still asleep and looked so peaceful I decided to get ready before waking him up.

At nine-thirty I nudged his shoulder. He unexpectedly wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me down to the bed.