Sofia

“Dance with me?”

I look over at Adrian and he has this hopeful look in his eyes, as if he’s expecting me to say no. Doesn’t he understand by now I can only say yes to him?

I nod at him and he smiles. He slowly reaches down my arm until he clutches my hand and leads me to the dance floor. Nico and Ana are engaged in what looks like a serious conversation by the bar, so I don’t even think they notice when we leave. They need alone time anyway. Plus, I certainly don’t mind being alone with Adrian.

He takes me almost to the complete other side of the dance floor, but we’re still surrounded by a lot of people. He immediately grabs me by the waist, pulling me towards him, but leaving a gap in between us.

God, he is so handsome. He’s not even that dressed up tonight but he still looks incredible in just a black shirt and jeans. I never thought I would feel this way about him, but I must admit I got insanely jealous when that other Sofia girl showed up. It wasn’t so much that they hooked up before, although it still bothered me on some level. I get it, Adrian is a guy and that’s what they do. Him probably more than others, but that was in the past. But the way she just automatically jumped all over him, like she owned him or had a claim on him, made me want to rip off her perfectly French manicured hands from his chest.

Is that what guys like? Ugh, maybe I should go get a manicure. Or at least start taking better care of myself. Truth is, I don’t have the first clue on how to get a guy’s attention, but for whatever reason Adrian seems interested in me tonight so I’ll take it.

Someone bumps into me from behind and Adrian quickly moves us away. I place my hands on his biceps to steady myself and they automatically flex a bit. Wow, I forget how strong he is. I’m not able to appreciate it that long because he soon reaches down to grab my hands and brings them behind his neck.

Hmm. I thought he didn’t like this based on his reaction to the other girl when she did it. But he sighs contently when my fingers grab hold of the back of his hair. His hands fall to my hips and he starts swaying me slowly to the music. Oh my. He’s such a good dancer and this position is incredibly sexy. I think this may be my new favorite feeling in the world. Besides falling asleep with Adrian, of course.

I recognize a Lana Del Rey song playing in the background. It’s the slow version I prefer and it couldn’t be more perfect for this moment. I wish I could stay like this forever.

Adrian brings his head down towards me and rests his forehead against mine. I’m so glad I decided to wear heels because he could easily kiss me like this if he were to lower his mouth only an inch or so. His breath feels so close to mine and I want so badly to reach up and press my lips against his.

As if he could hear my thoughts, his mouth starts to lower, but it travels towards my ear instead and I think I whimper.

“I missed you, Sofia. So much, darling,” he whispers.

I close my eyes at his words and I feel his lips softly press against my neck in a kiss. He does it just once, but I immediately feel goosebumps travel down my back and my fingers dig into him as I try to regain my balance.

I manage to open my eyes again and I meet his. They’re hooded, yet deep, and so, so wonderful to look at. God, I want him so badly. “I missed you too, Adrian,” I whisper back. More than you’ll ever know.

He smiles and seems to be considering something. But then he gulps and looks back towards the bar and I know he’s thinking about Nico seeing us together. Sometimes he worries too much.

“Want to go upstairs with me?”

No, I want to stay right here with you. I obviously don’t say that out loud and wonder about his question instead. He’s just asked me to go somewhere else with him. Is it because he wants me too or does he just want to get away for a while? Maybe he just wants some privacy. Either way the sound of going off and disappearing with him is very enticing.

“Okay, I just need to stop by the bathroom,” I respond. My bladder always seems to pick the worst moments. Or maybe I’m just really excited about this and need to catch a break.

“Yeah sure, I’ll take you.” He pulls me away from the dance floor and we head towards the bathroom. I think I hear him groan when he notices the ridiculously long line. Typical.

“You don’t have to wait with me, Adrian,” I tell him.

“No, it’s fine,” he responds.

“Seriously, I can just meet you at the bar when I’m done.”

He looks at me hesitantly and almost seems disappointed. “You sure? Will you be okay here?”

“Yes, I’m in a line with a bunch of women. What’s going to happen?”

“A lot of things could happen. But okay, guess I better check up on Nico before he does something stupid.”

“Good idea. See you in a bit.”

He quickly kisses my forehead. “Call me if you need anything.”

I chuckle and shake my head as he walks off. Definitely worries too much.

I decide to check my phone to kill time and before I know it, ten minutes have passed and I’ve barely moved up the line. Maybe I should just suck it up and try to hold it. A bathroom attendant passes by and I ask her if there is another bathroom. She tells me there’s another one upstairs and probably not as crowded. Thank goodness.

I try my luck and head upstairs. There’s still a line but it’s not as long as the other one, so it was definitely a good move. My phone suddenly vibrates in my hand.

Adrian: How’s it going? Nico is leaving with Ana ;)

Me: Oh nice! Mission accomplished I guess. Still in line. Probably another 10 mins.

Adrian: Okay. Hurry up, darling. I have plans for you.

I swoon for a good five minutes after reading that last text, wondering what type of plans he possibly has in store. Once I finish up in the bathroom, I can barely contain my excitement and quickly head towards the stairs to go back to the ground floor. I notice that the view of the club from up here is pretty nice, so I scan around for a few moments, trying to see if I can spot Adrian at the bar so I can reach him faster.

I can’t seem to find him though. Nico and Ana aren’t there either so they probably left already. I take out my phone to text him, when I suddenly see him near the bathroom talking to a pretty girl. I can tell even though she has her back to me. They seem to know each other and I can’t help but notice how much she’s leaning into him. I sigh heavily. On some level I knew this would happen, but I didn’t expect it to be so frequent.

He suddenly reaches down to hug her, his hand running up and down her back. He whispers something in her ear and she nods at him eagerly. Of course she would. He then grabs her by the wrist and starts leading her off somewhere.

Jealousy hits me again for the second time this night, but this time it feels so much worse. It’s such a raging, all-consuming ugly feeling and I hate that I let myself feel this way. I should have known. I’m such an idiot. Of course he’s still going to want to hook up with other girls.

I can’t bear to watch this anymore and turn to leave. A hand suddenly grabs my arm halting me in my steps.

“Well, if isn’t little miss Princess Durant. I almost didn’t recognize you in those fuck me boots.”

I turn around to see Ruiz eyeing me up and down. I swear you can’t make this shit up sometimes.

I quickly remove his filthy hand from my arm and step back from him. “Don’t call me that,” I warn him. I can tolerate the idiotic thing he just said to me, but not that nickname.

“I have to say, that was a little heartbreaking to watch myself,” he says signaling towards the first floor. “The way he was all over you before, I thought I had a little competition going, but he’s clearly dropped out of the game. Lucky for me, now I don’t have anyone standing in my way.”

God, how slimy and pretentious can one person be? “That’s where you’re wrong, asshole,” I bite back at him.

“Oh, right. Nico. He left with Ana so both of your guard dogs are out of the picture. Who’s going to protect you now?”

He reaches out towards me and I quickly grab his arm and jack it behind his back, keeping the rest of his body pinned down with my weight. I make sure to push his other shoulder towards the front to keep his right arm immobilized in case he tries anything. He immediately cries out in pain as I twist his left arm out even further as he tries to stop me in vain. I’m so grateful Leo taught me this maneuver and relieved at the same time to see it actually working.

“No, I was talking about me. I can protect myself, jackass. Next time you come near me, I’ll fucking break your arm.” I push him towards the ground, letting him fall over like the scumbag that he is.

I dust off my hands on my shorts when I notice a bouncer approach me with an impressed look on his face.

“Todo bien, señorita?”

I wave a hand dismissively at him, assuring him that I’m fine. Like if he was any help. “Sí, voy de salida.”

I finally make my way downstairs, which I should have done in the first place after leaving the bathroom, and head directly towards the exit. Suddenly, I can’t wait to get out of this forsaken place.

Once I’m outside, I notice two things. It’s pouring rain and I’m going to have to take a taxi to get home. Great, on both accounts. I quickly check my pockets to make sure I have enough cash on me and head towards the street to try to hail a cab.

As I step out in the rain, I immediately regret not bringing a sweater or a jacket. It’s freaking cold as hell and the rain is dropping hard. I hold out my hand praying that a taxi shows up soon. It’s hard to make out through the rain, but so far I haven’t seen many cars pass by. I’m obviously the only idiot trying to brave the weather right now.

Maybe I need to rethink my plan. I could call a car service, but from experience I know they’ll take at least an hour to show up. I could also try for Nico, but the last thing I want to do is interrupt his night with Ana. I think I might be screwed.

“Sofia!” I hear Adrian suddenly yell behind me.

No, not now. My emotions are running so high I don’t think I’ll able to face him. I can hear his sloshy steps running towards me, and I almost consider trying to hide behind a tree. Before I know it, he’s standing in front of me with a panicked face.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m getting a taxi,” I say pointing out the obvious.

“I can see that. Why?”

“I want to go home.”

“Sofia, I’ve been going crazy here. I was looking for you all over the club, calling, texting. I ran into fucking Ruiz … did he hurt you?” he asks suddenly inspecting my body.

“I’m fine. Just leave me alone, alright?”

He sighs heavily. “I don’t understand. I was waiting for you. Let’s just go home and we can talk about this. It’s freaking pouring out here.”

I can see the drops of water running down his face and his shirt is starting to stick to his torso like a second skin, outlining his chest and abs in a marvelous way. He looks sexy as hell, but I don’t want to see any of it.

“Why don’t you just do what you really want to do and go back to the club to hook up with that girl you were with? You don’t have to take care of me anymore. Nico left and I’m going home in a taxi. You’re relieved of your duties for the night.”

Adrian’s face falls as if he’s not following me. “Wait. Are you talking about Clara? I went to the bathroom to go find you and she was there crying about breaking up with her boyfriend and wouldn’t leave me alone. I took her to the bar to get some water so I could get rid of her. I swear I have zero intention of hooking up with her again.”

“Again?”

His expression contorts at his obvious slip. “It was a while ago,” he says quietly.

“Yeah, I get it. They all are,” I say sarcastically.

“Sofia, I’m not interested in them. I would take it all back if I could. But I can’t.”

“Look, your past is your past. You have every right to do whatever you please. Let’s just stop pretending there is something between us because it’s never going to work.”

“That’s not true, Sofia. There is something. There has always been something. I want you. I’ve always wanted you, even when you weren’t here, and now more than ever. We can make this work. Just please, give me a chance.”

I feel my heart stop at his words, but they simply cannot be true. “You don’t have to lie to me, Adrian. Even when I wasn’t here? So you screwed every girl you could get your hands on instead?”

“I’m not lying to you. I know, it’s fucked up. I was fucked up. You were gone. You left! You left me,” he says holding on to his chest. “I called you, I emailed you for months, I even went to London to try to find you only to be sent packing by your brothers. What was I supposed to do? You never even had the decency to write back to me, to tell me why you left? You just disappeared one day when we were supposed to go out on date. I waited for you for hours, days on end, and you never showed up. You left me … and I had no one. No one who gave a fuck about me anyway.”

I stare at him in shocked silence, trying to digest everything he’s just told me. He went to London to find me? Why didn’t they tell me? All I know is that I feel terrible. I thought that he would be better off without me. I didn’t know I had done this to him. But I had to leave, I couldn’t stay here. There was no other way. I notice he’s shaking and his hands are locked into fists at his sides. “Adrian, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to –”

“You know what? I don’t even care anymore. It’s in the past. I’m going home … in the car. You can come with me or you can stay here and get hypothermia. Up to you.”

I watch him brush past me and he starts walking towards the parking lot, not bothering to check if I’m following him or not. I don’t blame him. He should be angry at me. I’m angry at myself. I’ve been angry at the world for the last eight months, and seeing everything that I lost with him … everything that could have been, makes me even angrier.

He asked me to give him a chance earlier and it’s all I ever wanted to do. I want to give him a chance. I want to give us a chance. But I’m still so messed up inside even after all these months and I don’t know what the right thing to do is anymore. He said he didn’t care anymore. About us, or about what happened?

Fuck it. You know what? Maybe I shouldn’t care either.

I feel my legs suddenly moving. At least, that’s what I think they’re doing. I can barely feel them anymore, or the rest of my body for that matter. Everything just feels entirely numb from the cold and my clothes are starting to weigh on me from how soaked they are from the rain.

My boots splash over several puddles and I’m pretty sure they’ll be ruined tomorrow. But I don’t care at all. All I care about is this amazing boy I’m running towards. I’ve led him to believe I don’t care about him so I’m about to show him how much I do.

“Adrian!”

He turns around to see me with wide eyes, coming towards him at full speed in the middle of the parking lot. He’s completely drenched, and confused, and looking like the saddest but cutest lost puppy I’ve ever seen.

I finally reach him and don’t even hesitate for a second. My mouth presses against his and I can’t get over how soft his lips are. I feel a tingle deep in my stomach as I kiss him further. He feels cold to the touch but suddenly this warmth spreads throughout my body and I decide this is my new favorite feeling. I’ve had a lot of those tonight.

I pull on his shirt to bring him closer to me and wrap my arms around his neck. I think this is the moment where he finally realizes what is going on, because he grabs my face and takes control of the kiss. He teases my mouth open with his tongue and I’m suddenly moaning into his mouth as I taste him. His kiss is desperate, yet incredibly soft and tender. He angles his head with mine and deepens the kiss and I no longer know who I am. This has to be bliss and I never want it to end.

His hands drop from my face and I try to hold on to the last seconds before he ends this. Before he realizes what a bitch I am and all the trouble I’ve caused him. Before he tells me to get lost and that he’s done with me.

But instead of pushing me away, his hands travel towards my hips, lifting me up by the legs and wrapping them around his waist.

I’m still utterly confused when he turns around and starts walking further into the parking lot, somehow still kissing me while he does it. My back hits against a car and I hear the jangling of keys followed by a light beep. The door opens and he moves us inside, quickly shutting it behind us with a thump.

He doesn’t let go of me once as I hear the keys drop to the carpet on the floor and he positions me on top of him so that my legs are straddling him. He shoots me a fervent look before bringing my mouth back down to his and continuing where we left off outside.

My heart leaps in my chest at the realization he wants this as much as I do. Somehow I know this is part of the plans he said he had, so I let myself get lost in the moment of Adrian and me, and the intermingling sounds of our kisses, heavy breathing, and the beating of water against the roof in the backseat of our car.