Electricity flowed from his lips to mine. He gave me one chaste kiss, and then he pulled back before leaning in again, waiting to see if I would meet him halfway. Well, he did mention we were living fantasies, right? So, I tiptoed so I could kiss him back. He tightened his arms around me and deepened the kiss. We lost ourselves while the song ‘You and I’ blasted on the speakers.
We didn’t care. It was the perfect song, the perfect moment… the perfect kiss. It sent tingles down my spine, making me want to feel more. I was glad that he was strong enough to hold me because I didn’t think I would be able to stand on my own.
Fireworks erupted above us, and the crowd cheered louder. He leaned his forehead against mine as he sucked in a deep breath.
“Wow…” he said softly.
I closed my eyes and smiled as I felt his arms around me tighten, as if he were afraid to break the connection we just had.
I turned around toward the stage. He wound his arms around my waist and pulled me to him so that my back was resting against his chest. He held me like that, and it felt comfortable and safe, even though he was a stranger. I hadn’t been this close to anyone before, and yet Zach’s arms around me felt real… and right. It felt familiar, like I’d been held like this before, and at the same time, strange, like it was the first time I was discovering these feelings, this sense of thrill and surge of emotions.
I didn’t know him, and yet I felt like I could trust him, and it wasn’t like me to trust easily. I still kept a lot from my best friends. I never appeared vulnerable to anybody. That’s why I never had a boyfriend before. I wasn’t comfortable opening up and trusting anybody. To trust is to show weakness. And the weak never survived—not in my world. To believe that a person would come back for you is pure stupidity. They never did.
I put my arms over his, and I felt him pull me closer. We listened quietly to the music. I savored the feel of this stranger’s arms around me. He leaned his cheek against my head.
“What’s your real hair color?” he whispered.
I giggled. “Don’t you like it the way it is now?”
“I do. But I think you’re the first rainbow-haired girl I’ve ever been interested in.”
I laughed. “What do you usually fancy? Blondes? Redheads? Brunettes?”
He was thoughtful for a while, and then he said, “I didn’t really pay attention to that. But now that you asked, I think I have a certain partiality for girls with ash-blond hair and big brown eyes.”
No shit!
I was tempted to tell him my real colors, but I stopped myself. This night was about adventures and fantasies. Maybe if we see each other again after this night, I would just take him by surprise.
“I guess you’ll remember me as the odd one someday.”
He gently spun me around. When I looked up at him, his brows were drawn together. “Why? Have you no intention of seeing me after tonight?”
In fairness to him, he sounded disappointed.
I smiled. “Anime chicks don’t exist in real life, stud. I only exist tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll be wiped out.”
In a way, that wasn’t a lie. Tomorrow, I would be back to my old life. This six-year reprieve was over. And so was my life as I had known and loved it. It’s pointless to drag Zach into the mess I would be coming home to.
“I have a feeling you won’t give me your phone number either,” he said.
“Were you going to ask for it?”
“Hell yeah!” he replied without hesitation.
“Too bad,” I said, giving him an apologetic look.
He shook his head. “Well, this party will last until morning. I have until then to change your mind.”
“I highly doubt that, stud. I’m unusually stubborn.”
“And I’m unusually persistent,” he said evenly.
I laughed. “Let’s see. Otherwise, let’s leave it up to fate.”
He shook his head. “I’m more of a make-your-own-destiny kind of guy.” His eyes drifted on my arm where my temporary tattoo was. “But maybe fate is in my favor this time.”
“What do you mean?”
“What are the chances that you got a tattoo with my initial on it a few minutes before you meet me?”
I laughed. “Don’t be absurd. It’s not your initial.”
“Last time I checked, Zach starts with Z.”
“Well, yeah. But…” I was thinking of somebody else when I had it done. “It just happened to be my favorite letter in the alphabet. Meeting a guy whose name started with a Z was just purely a coincidence.”
“It’s fate. Considering that Z is the fifth most uncommon initials for guys.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Coincidence. I was thinking of somebody else.”
He paused for a while and then carefully he asked, “You don’t already have a boyfriend, do you? I don’t have to steal you from some other guy? I took a vow never to covet some other guy’s girl. But for you, I just might make an exception.”
I laughed. “Relax. I’m not dating anyone. Relationships don’t come easy for me.”
He raised a brow. “Why? Your parents are strict?”
I shook my head. “My parents couldn’t care less about me.”
“Overprotective big brother who will punch the lights out of any guy who attempts to corrupt you?” he asked playfully.
Suddenly, my mood changed. It made me sad thinking that, yes, my big brother was protective of me. I think he would be overprotective and paranoid with the guys I would date. No, he wouldn’t make it easy for me to have a boyfriend. But it broke my heart to think that it was only just hypothetical now. Because my brother wasn’t really my brother anymore. Not biologically. Not even legally. I had no right to call him my brother at all. Right now, we were nothing but unrelated strangers.
“Did I say something wrong?” he asked.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Well, in any case, no brother of yours could ever stop me from doing this,” he said, and without warning, he leaned forward and took my lips in his. This time, he wasn’t gentle. He invaded my mouth. He tightened his grip on my bare waist as his skin sent infinite shocks of electricity to my body.
I was feeling hot, and my body was tingling all over. Suddenly, I forgot we were in the middle of a crowded place. We made out like we were the only people on the concert grounds. He tightened his arms around my body, holding me against him, touching me only in places he knew were safe to tough, careful not to sacre me, drive me away, or turn me off.
Fireworks shot up the sky for the second time that evening—literally and figuratively. I looked up as thousands of colors burned above us. Then I stared into Zach’s expressive blue eyes. He was smiling back at me. And I just knew he felt the same magical feelings I did.
The band played the song ‘All I Wanna Do.’ He stared back at me and grinned. “Nice song,” he said in a teasing tone.
I couldn’t say that I wasn’t thinking what he was thinking. After that mind-blowing kiss, it was difficult not to wish we could go further.
I had never felt anything like this before. Usually, by this time in a date, I was plotting three levels of escape already. Any excuse that would not hurt the guy’s feelings but would make him never call me again.
But with Zach, I seemed to be drawn more and more. Like I wanted this evening to last forever. I felt neither safe nor in danger. I felt excited and thrilled. And for the first time, I wanted to explore more with him, because I had a feeling I could trust him.
Zach spun me around and wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head against his shoulder again as we watched the wonderful display of fireworks around us. I felt him nibble gently at my ear.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered. “But I guess you’ve heard that already.”
“I don’t believe everything I hear.”
“Good girl,” he said. “But believe me when I say that you are gorgeous. I don’t get attracted to a girl at first sight. Especially if her hair isn’t ash-blond. But there’s something about you that pulled me in, right there at the tattoo shop. When you ran off, I was afraid I would never see you again.”
"Maybe we're meant to meet tonight," I said.
Zach planted a soft kiss at the base of my neck, sending shivers down my spine.“I’m starting to believe in fate more and more,” he said.“Maybe it’s high time you should.” I turned to the stage and continued watching the band that was playing.Suddenly, I felt queasy. Sweat started to form on my forehead. I could feel a shiver running down my spine. I knew this feeling, and I’d lost count of how many times I felt like this before.Zach pulled away from me and looked at my feverish expression. Quickly, he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a piece of candy. “Take this,” he said. I took it from him without another word. Then he said, “Let’s grab something to eat.”I could only smile at him. Somehow, he realized what was happening. I was going hypoglycemic because I hadn’t had anything decent to eat for hours.He took my hand and intertwined our fingers.“You’re diabetic?” he asked.I nodded.“Okay, we better eat. They have burgers, sushi, pasta, and salad. Japanese, Chinese, It
Memories of the night my mother beat the hell out of my brother because she thought she was hitting me flooded my mind. I was scared of thunder and lightning. Every kid was. But when I sought comfort from my parents, I was either ignored or abused, which aggravated the fear even more and developed into a full-grown phobia.Thunder bellowed for the third time, and I covered my mouth, stifling a scream. My body started shaking.“Hey, hey!” I heard Zach say beside me. He hugged me, and I buried my face on his chest. He caressed my head gently and bent his head so he could whisper in my ear. “Shhhh… It’s okay, baby girl. I’m here. I got you.”I learned how to deal with my phobia over the years, but I had never been in an open field during a big thunderstorm before.Another roll of thunder bellowed in the skies. I couldn’t help screaming, “Zachary!” Tears rolled down my cheeks, my thoughts drifted off to the last time somebody held me during a storm. It had been too long, it felt like it w
“What? Where?” I managed to ask.He pointed at the tall five-star hotel across the street.“Are you kidding me?”He shook his head. “I was celebrating my birthday, remember? My… father thought I should do it in fashion.”After two minutes, we entered the hotel lobby. We were soaking wet from the rain, and my clothes were totally ruined.Zach pulled me to the elevators and pressed his floor. The long ascent to his hotel room felt like a short descent to my first indiscretion. Zach and I were like fireworks in a public place, I wonder how we would be in a private, enclosed place with a comfortable bed between us.Zach’s room has a small sitting area with a small couch and a shower room. The bedroom was huge, with a California king bed, a dining table, a balcony, and en suite bathroom. I took off his jacket and hung it in the bathroom. Then I took off my wet shoes and dabbed a towel all over my wet skin.Outside, the rain only poured harder than before. Lightning occasionally illuminated
Shit! Will that turn him off?Shyly, I bit my lip and nodded.“You mean, if I take you now, I would be taking your cherry?” He sounded like he couldn’t believe what he was saying.I nodded again.Slowly, he smiled at me. “Okay,” he said. “I won’t take it if you don’t want to give it up yet,” he said. “If you’re saving it for marriage… or you want to wait until you’re sure about the guy.”Oh my god! I couldn’t believe he was saying this to me. Half a minute ago, I was going to give it to him!“But, damn, I’m so hot for you, and I would go crazy if we stop now,” he added. And I completely agreed with him. “If you let me, I will make you cum. Is that okay?”“Zach…”Before I could say anything more, he pressed his cock against me. “You know what, on second thought, I’m not taking no for an answer.” Then he kissed my lips savagely.He took his boxers off. Then he positioned himself so that the length of his penis was resting above my clit. I squirmed at the sensation and felt my juices flo
“This is temporary, baby girl,” he said. “When we get back to our homes, I’ll call you. We need to talk about logistics. Send me your addresses, the university you go to. We’ll work this out. I’ll fly to London as often as I could. Who knows? Maybe someday, I’ll move there after I’m done with my masters.”“I… I won’t be going to London.”“What?” He blinked.“I’ll be here in the States,” I said. “My father asked me to come back home.”His eyes gleamed, and he kissed me on the lips again.“Hey, lovebirds! We’re on last call!” Marie shouted.“All right, go!” Zach said. “We’ll talk later.”He gave me one final kiss, and then I turned around and ran off toward Marie. Before I entered the station, I took one last look at him. He gave me a small salute. I smiled and blew him a kiss.I boarded the train with a heavy heart. I was scared that I might never see him again. I was regretting that I didn’t fully make love to him because I knew, I’d fallen in love with him.I couldn’t believe this wa
I sat beside Zachary during dinner. My eyes were reddish and wet with tears. My parents thought they were only tears of happiness because I was reunited with my brother. Or maybe they simply didn’t care. They were being nice to me—for Zachary’s sake.Now, it all made sense, why my parents suddenly asked me to come home. I had a strong feeling that Zachary asked for it. He wanted me to be here.Zach!I called him Zach over and over when I was reduced into a pool of liquid passion in his hands.“You said you met an amazing girl at the concert, son. Tell us more about her. Am I going to have a daughter-in-law soon?” my father asked, and I choked on my food.“Are you okay, dear?” my mother asked.I took a gulp of water and nodded slightly.We all fell quiet, and when I looked at my parents, they were staring expectantly at him, waiting for him to answer.He cleared his throat. “No, Dad,” he replied. “I doubt that.”“Why? What was the problem? You looked so over the moon when you arrived t
Last night was one of the most amazing nights of my life. I knew, no matter what I discovered today, I wasn’t sorry about it. “I’m embarrassed,” I said, not wanting to add more to that. Because anything beyond that would either be saying too much or lying. “You?”Please say no!I couldn’t comprehend why, but I didn’t want him to say he wanted to undo what happened to us last night.“You won’t like my answer, baby girl,” he said in a frustrated tone.Ouch! That was an indirect way of saying he was sorry about the whole thing! Of course! What kind of sane brother would feel right about making his sister cum all over his fingers?“I know what you’re thinking. Nasty, right?” I said, almost glaring at him.He stared at me crossly. “You have no idea what’s going on in my mind right now.” His voice was low, but his tone was sober, thick with emotions.Tears rolled down my cheeks again. “This… could have been the best day of my life. I’ve… I’ve waited for you to come home for fourteen years,
“I hope you understand,” Ben Ramirez said. “I have work after hours. I can’t work on this project with you.”“It’s okay,” I said as my supposedly economics paper partner struggled to make excuses in front of me. “I’m sure you can find somebody else to work with.” Then he walked away.I don’t need a term paper partner. I can do this alone. My professor suggested we work in twos. I picked Ben Ramirez’s name in the hat. He flinched when I read his name out loud, and he looked like he was shitting in his pants.Wow! Do I smell bad? Look bad? He looked like he couldn’t wait to get rid of me.I had been in the university for almost two months now, and I could say I had been better. A lot better!“That’s the third one now, right?” said April Jones, a girl I had been hanging out with since the start of school. She’s a freshman too, and she had her locker beside mine, and so far, she was the only person I have spoken to regularly in school.“I guess. Is something wrong with me?” I asked her.“