For the most part, the party-goers left me alone after they spent a moment saying hello. That is all except four girls who seemed to think I should slip off and spend time with them.
That was until Mercedes made her entrance.
It was almost humorous to watch as the four checked her out and decided they had no shot with her around. All I can say is, if looks could kill, Mercedes would be dead four times over.
“Did you really want to party?” she asked me.
“I don’t normally drink. Why? What did you have in mind?” I asked.
“Come upstairs, and I’ll order a pizza. I’m starved.”
I told Manaia which unit I was going to and that I would call him if I planned to leave. Quickly scanning the room, I saw that Tim and Wolf chatting up some girls, and Cassidy standing at Hayden’s side.
◊◊◊
Whoever built these apartments knew what they were doing. Once we closed the door, we barely heard the party going on right below us. Mercedes had a nice place. It wasn’t at all what I’d expect in a complex like this. She invited me to sit on the couch so we could talk until the pizza got here.
“I heard you say you had a paper to write.”
“It’s for my Business Strategy class.”
“You go to OU?” I asked.
“Does that surprise you?” she asked. “Dancing pays the bills better than anything else I can do.”
“Is Mercedes your real name?” I asked.
“No. We have stage names so creeps can’t track us down. I’m Tawny Greenwalt.”
“I like Tawny. It’s unique.”
“Did you really want to talk, or did you come up here to try to have sex with me?” Tawny asked.
“I’m up for either,” I admitted.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“I make it a policy not to sleep with men I meet at the club,” Tawny explained.
“Is that why you keep Hayden at arm’s length?”
“You ask a lot of questions.”
“Would you rather we did the other?” I asked.
“So, you do want to jump my bones.”
“I never said I didn’t. What I said was we could do either, and I would be fine.”
“Word is you’re here this weekend trying to decide where to go to school. What do you plan to major in?”
“Business, and then get my MBA.”
“That happens to be my plan. Want to talk about that, unless you’d rather …?”
“We have all night to decide about the other option. Tell me about going to school here,” I said.
“You’re not what I expected. I figured you would try to jump me as soon as you came upstairs. By the way, that would have been a mistake. I’ve never had someone want to just talk.”
“I didn’t come here this weekend to get laid. In the next couple of days, I have to decide between going to school here or USC. I really am interested to get the scoop on school here from someone who won’t just tell me what they think I want to hear.”
“Why don’t we make it a game? I ask you a question, and then you ask one of me. That way, you can learn about going to school here, and I get the dirt on a Hollywood star. I’ll go first. Did you sleep with all those movie stars?” she asked.
I raised my eyebrows and shook my head.
“Are we playing the game?” she asked.
“Okay, Hotshot, you’re on. But don’t start crying if I ask you personal questions, too.”
“How else will we get to know each other enough for me to sleep with you?” she teased.
“You play dirty.”
“You have no idea.”
◊◊◊
We were up until nearly two in the morning, when her roommate came home. She was a dancer too, with the stage name Lyric.
“What have you been up to?” Lyric asked her roommate.
“Get your mind out of the gutter. We’ve been talking all night.”
“You had him to yourself all night, and all you did was talk?”
“What do you think?” Tawny asked.
“I think that if you don’t plan on doing him, I should.”
“No, I’m not doing anyone right now. I need to get some sleep,” I said and got up to leave.
Tawny stood up too.
“Don’t mind me,” Lyric said as she went to her room to give us some privacy.
“If you promise to be good, you can stay here tonight,” Tawny offered.
“I’m not really feeling like sleeping on a couch,” I admitted.
“Who said anything about a couch?”
“Count me in,” I said as she led me to the bedroom.
Once we were in her room, she quietly shut the door and sat on the end of her bed.
“I think it’s only fair that if I stripped for you earlier, you do the same for me,” Tawny suggested.
Her eyes got big when I began to sway my hips and slowly undress. I might not have a pole to dance around, but I had my moves.
“How come I’m not getting paid?” I asked when I got down to my boxers.
“We’ll see about that in the morning. Let’s go to sleep.”
◊◊◊
Chapter 32 – Make One Promise Sunday March 12
I woke up to the smell of coffee and an empty bed. I found my phone to check the time. Shit! I needed to get going.
I got dressed and walked out to the living room, where I found Lyric doing yoga. Somehow, I suspected that she happened to be doing downward dog because she heard me come out of Tawny’s bedroom. I looked around, and there was no sign of my new friend.
“Tawny said she was going to church and then the library. She said you were free to spend some quality time with me this morning.”
