Chapter 1
The club was hopping, and a group of girls in the back were celebrating Ali’s graduation. Meryl had graduated the week before with a few others. This time of their lives was coming to an end, and it was a bittersweet time for them all. Ali seemed harder hit than the rest. Her melancholy was in full swing.
Ali looked around at her friends and knew that she couldn’t have asked for a better set of people to share the experience with. They had stuck it out four years together, all starting at the same time and having the same orientation when they met. Now that the time was closing in, Ali wondered what would change. Everything felt like it was changing and she wasn’t ready for it.
“Where is your mind at, Ali?”
Ali turned to Meryl and shrugged. She didn’t know how to answer because her thoughts were racing with fears and excitement for the future. Whatever was going to happen, she knew she couldn’t change it, but that didn’t stop the countless scenarios that played in her head.
“I don’t know, life.”
“Can you ever turn that brain off?”
“No, I wish I could.”
She handed Ali a drink and told her that she hadn’t drunk enough yet. Ali didn’t think that it was going to help, but she tried to relax, and a shot didn’t seem like a bad way to try.
The clear liquid burned down her throat and Ali knew one part of college she wasn’t going to miss: all the drinking that was mandatory at every function.
“Let’s go dance.”
Ali grabbed Meryl’s hand, and they went onto the dancefloor. It wasn’t wise to not bring a friend out there. People were a bit grabby earlier, and Ali had already retreated once. She saw the man that was paying her far too much attention from before, and he was moving towards the two women. Ali gave Meryl a heads up.
“Do you see that guy coming this way?”
“Yeah, what about him?”
“He is giving me this strange vibe. Let’s get back to the bar before he gets here.”
Meryl agreed, and she started towards the bar. Ali was about to follow her when the man she was talking about was suddenly in front of her. She’d looked down for just a second, and now he was there. Ali looked behind her, expecting another man to look like him because there was no way that he could have made it in front of her so fast. The spot where she’d seen him last was now empty.
“Where are you going?”
“To get another drink. Excuse me.”
“You don’t care to have just one little dance?”
Ali’s first reaction was no, but instead, a yes came out. She should have pulled her arm away from him and walked away, but something else answered for her.
“Trenton is my name.”
Ali just acknowledged his words, not saying her name out loud.
“I like Ali. It’s short and sweet, just like you.”
She was confused as she looked into the bottomless black pits that were his eyes. They were so dark that she couldn’t distinguish the color from the pupils and they felt like they were seeing right into her, baring all her secrets for that man that embraced her.
Ali had never felt so vulnerable in her life, but she was unable to pull her gaze away. There was something about his pale face that transfixed her where she stood, making it impossible to break away.
He leaned in, and Ali knew what came next. He was going to kiss her, and she was unable to stop him. Ali didn’t know if she wanted to. It seemed like as soon as he got his hands on her, Ali was unable to speak for herself or make any sort of decision. Maybe it wasn’t even the touch, but his dark gaze that held her in line.
Trenton’s lips were cool to the touch but quickly heated up with her own fiery contact. His hands pulled her closer, something digging into her back and her front. The feel of him against her was overwhelming, and she sighed as his tongue found purchase between her lips. It was a sign of her submission to the moment and the man.
The world around her stopped for a flash, and all she could hear was the sound of her own heart beating rapidly in her chest. It thudded to a whole new rhythm that the mysterious man in black forced upon her.
His kiss deepened, and she felt like he was taking all her breath away. Trenton caused pain as she was pulled back from him rather roughly. Meryl asked her friend what the hell she was doing while she pulled her back to the bar.
“Fewer drinks for you, Ali, if this is what you do a little tipsy. You just warned me about that guy, and now you’re making out with him? Are you okay?”
