Chronicles of a Serial Dater - Book 5: A New Adult Romantic Comedy Read online

  The beer pong gods smiled down on me that night. I’m not a coordinated person to begin with, so throwing small balls into cups from a few feet away, while drunk, has never been my forte. But something clicked and I was sinking shots left and right.

  “God, does your back hurt?” Oliver asked as he rubbed a spot between my shoulder blades.

  “No, why?” I replied as I washed a ball off in the cup of water.

  “‘Cause you’re carrying me through this,” he laughed. “I’ve missed my last four shots!”

  “Then I guess it’s a good thing he didn’t ask me to be his partner,” I replied, nodding to a shorter guy playing against us. “You’d be screwed.”

  I took my shot, sunk it. He took his and missed again, the ball pinging off at an odd angle and rolling away.

  “Dammit! This is getting embarrassing,” he smirked, giving me a sidelong glance.

  Being in a new place with people I’d just met, loose from drinking and laughing… I don’t know. I guess I reinvented myself for a couple hours, became a bolder version of Talia, more like the persona I kept locked away on my blog.

  “You’re pretty competitive, huh?” I took a sip of the watery beer and tried to act like a confident, put together, seen-it-all New Yorker.

  “Well, I don’t want to brag but…” he looked around and leaned close, whispering behind his hand. “I’m hide and seek champion of my neighborhood back home.”

  “No way!” I gushed. “That’s just so… manly,” I joked. I grabbed his muscular arm like Olive Oil swooning over Popeye.

  He lined up to take his next shot and I couldn’t help but study the way his muscles flexed as he pinged the ball across the table. I quickly looked away when he turned back, still trying to maintain my cool girl vibe. “I know, right? I go back every summer to defend my title.”

  I snorted, the beer almost shooting out of my nose. “Against little kids?”

  “Hey. It’s a lot harder to hide when you’re twice their size,” he said, waggling a finger.

  I had no idea how to respond to that, so the conversation lulled a little. I fell back to a good bit of small talk. “What do you do for work?”

  “I’m taking a few classes right now,” he replied simply, almost like he was deflecting the question.

  “Cool, cool. Not an aspiring something or other?” I prodded, instantly regretting it. I had no business making fun of people and their career choices. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

  Thankfully he laughed and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. The only thing I’m aspiring to is sinking at least one shot in this game.”

  We played beer pong until Lourdes called for a couple cabs to come pick us all up. My defenses were firmly in place, but I found Oliver incredibly charming and easy to hang out with. There was a definite spark between us but he was so easy going, I wasn’t stressing about making a good impression. I got out of my own way long enough to enjoy myself! Imagine that.

  I was well and truly buzzed by the time the cabs came to take us to the club. My body was warm and relaxed. I felt sexy and confident. Not that I’m normally a self-conscious person, but it was a lot of fun being out with a group of people who knew nothing about me. I could be and do anything I wanted without caring how they reacted. Lourdes was there to keep an eye on me and she’d never judge.

  The cab company sent two smaller vans instead of three, so we had to smoosh in to all fit in one trip. Either by luck or his planning, I squeezed in next to Oliver.

  “Can I offer you a fine lap?” he asked as he slapped his thighs.

  I was tempted but decided it might be a little too forward. “Are you secretly Santa Claus?”

  He looked around the interior as if his cover had been blown. “Don’t say anything!”

  Instead of sitting on his lap, he squeezed against the side and put his arm up around the back. I wedged myself against his firm torso and nearly moaned when I caught a whiff of his cologne. Lourdes grinned at me as she climbed into the middle seat in front of me. In the end, with everyone crammed inside, I had to throw a leg over Oliver’s just to keep it from going to sleep. Despite the cramped conditions, he remained a complete gentleman.

  The night had me giddy and excited, more than I’d been in a long time. For the first time in my life, I was single and going out clubbing. No snappy boyfriend to drag me home early. I could dance with anyone, drink with anyone, just be happy and young and free. It was one of those moments where everything was right with the world and you feel incredibly lucky to be in the here and now. Even with two of my best friends hating me a few thousand miles away, I was in the best mood.

  With ten hot girls and four guys, we were whisked through the line and got into the club quickly. The sheer size of the building was what struck me first. From the outside, you couldn’t tell how vast the interior was. As we entered from the top, the dance floor spread out in front of us. Amid the pulsing lights, flashing lasers, and thumping bass were hundreds of people writhing to the music. This wasn’t real life. This was a scene from a movie I had no business being in.

  Lourdes hooked her elbow with mine and shouted into my ear. “I’m so glad you came out to visit,” she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek. “Now let’s get some guys to buy us a drink.”

  Already buzzing from the drinks we had at the house, I opted for water. The last thing I wanted was to get sloppy drunk and make a fool of myself. I wanted this to be a night I would remember for a long time.

  With nothing else on my mind but having fun, I quickly dragged Lourdes to the dance floor. The thumping club music vibrated in my chest, leaving me breathless and intoxicated. A few guys approached us as we danced, grabbing and grinding without asking. Each time we glided away and disappeared into the crowd, wordlessly rejecting their obnoxious advances.

  At some point in the night the tempo changed, slowed, the DJ giving the crowd a chance to catch our breath. I closed my eyes and lifted my arms above my head, swaying with the music. A pair of hands slid along my hips from behind. My eyes fluttered open to find Lourdes, to give her the look and get away from yet another guy. But instead of her reaching for my hand to pull me away, she gave me a secret smile.

  “Found you,” a voice spoke in my ear. I turned around to find it was Oliver and immediately understood why Lourdes hadn’t pulled the escape cord.

  “Yes you did,” I couldn’t stop the ear-to-ear grin I got when I saw him.

  “You having a good time?”

  I had to stand on my toes to speak into his ear, practically shouting over the music. His hands stayed on my hips, steadying me. “The best time. You?”

  The stubble on his cheek brushed my skin as he replied in my ear. “I am now.”

  As if on cue, the tempo of the music picked up, the driving bass steadily growing in speed. Unlike the guys who only wanted to press their denim hard-ons against my ass, Oliver followed my lead. His hands stayed put until I felt brave enough to wiggle down lower, brushing my bare torso against him.

  Before I knew it, my arms were wrapped around his neck, our bodies pressed together and moving with the music. Even though we were in the center of the crowd of hundreds, it felt like we were the only two people in the room. This was a seduction unlike anything I’ve ever felt. The way he moved his body on the dance floor made promises I hoped he could deliver in bed. Yes, my mind was already going there.

  The scent of his clean sweat mixed with his cologne, hot hands against the bare skin of my back. He pressed his forehead against mine as we moved, our eyes locked and I swear, I felt electric lust course all the way down to my toes.

  Oliver made me feel so sexy and desired. Sure, Zach did the same thing, but he knew me. We’d been friends for years and obviously his feelings had become… complicated. But here was this incredibly hot and funny guy giving me his full attention. It seemed almost too good to be true.

  After a few songs, Oliver grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the side of the room. I waited while he collected two bot
tles of water and led me to a patio where a handful of smokers puffed away on cigarettes.

  “I never knew Santa Claus could dance that well,” I joked with him as I leaned against the railing.

  “What can I say? It’s a gift.”

  It took me a second to register the pun, but I gave him an elbow when I did. “Oh, that’s such a dad joke.”

  He joined me at the railing, his forearms taking most of the weight. He stood a little closer than he had to, and I leaned into his touch.

  “That makes sense. I do have eight children,” he said solemnly.

  “No way! I have ten. What are their names?”

  “Well… There’s Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen,” he started with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and let him continue. “Comet, Cupid, Donner, and...”

  With a little twist to my brow, I counted off the names of my fingers and held up seven. “You’re missing one.”

  “Oliver Junior.”

  “Ah. Of course. Obviously.”

  He nudged me with his shoulder. “What about your kids? What are their names?”

  My thoughts were surprisingly quick considering how much I’d had to drink and the tiny amount of sleep I was running on. “I wanted to keep things simple, so I just named them one through ten.”

  Oliver nodded, trying to keep a straight face. “Clever.”

  “Thanks, yeah. One through ten, in Spanish of course to keep it original. Ten is turning fifteen this winter.”

  He lost it at that, breaking his serious expression with a laugh I loved to hear. “You started with ten?”

  “I knew what I wanted, what can I say?” The relatively cool breeze had dried the sweat I’d built up dancing with him in the club. I scuffed my toe on the pavement, wanting to say something about how much I enjoyed our banter without ruining the moment.

  “What else don’t I know about you?” he asked as he turned to face me. “Are you a secret agent?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “You know, that’s the second time somebody has asked me that in the last week.”

  “Then you must be really shit secret agent,” he laughed. “Good ol’ double-oh can breathe easy knowing his job is safe.”

  He had me feeling hypersexual and confident. I leaned closer and jutted my hip out, exposing a little more of my stomach. I threaded my arm around him along the railing, closing the gap but still not touching.

  “If you were a Bond girl, what would your name be?” he asked, an eyebrow twitching suggestively.

  I bit the inside of my cheek and rolled my eyes thoughtfully. “Umm, jeez. How about… Kitten Morhead!”

  “I love it,” he laughed, shifting closer and closer.

  A shiver of nerves held me to the spot, even though I was positive he was about to kiss me. “What uh… what would your name be?” I blurted out.

  “My name? I don’t know,” he replied in a husky voice. I could almost feel his eyes running a line down my jaw, my neck… “What do you think it’d be?”

  “Richard Bigmember,” I declared excitedly.

  I know. I know. What the hell, Talia? What can I say? I panicked. But for what it’s worth, Oliver loved it.

  Two little dimples formed at the corners of his luscious mouth. “Dick Bigmember?” he chuckled before growing a little more serious. He brushed his knuckles along my cheek like a scene out of a cheesy romance. “God, where did you come from?”

  “Suffolk County,” I breathed a little self-consciously.

  The words didn’t matter anymore, only the movements. Oliver dipped his head low and captured my mouth with his. Electric surges of lust pulsed through my body as we kissed. This guy was entirely too gorgeous to be making out with a girl like me. I kept waiting for him to realize that, pull away, and disappear into the crowd.

  But he didn’t. He was actually into me. Me. Mousey little Talia with her nose always in a book. In fact, he didn’t pull away once until a voice called us back inside.

  “Hey, come on you two. We’re heading back,” Lourdes grinned.

  The group splintered pretty quickly when we got back to the house. Some of Lourdes’ friends crashed in the living room, slowly coming down from the high of the club. Others clustered in the kitchen with fresh bottles of beer, urging the night to carry on. I managed to pull her to the side long enough to talk in private.

  “So… Oliver,” I started.

  She smoothed her hair back and gave me a knowing smile. “Told you he was a nice guy.”

  “He is, totally. But I don’t want to step on any toes if I…” Even with Lourdes, even after everything she’d read on my blog, I still couldn’t bring myself to say it outright.

  “Sleep with him? Go for it,” she grinned.

  “You’ve never…”

  “God, no!” I must’ve made a face because she quickly grabbed my elbow and continued. “I’ve just made it a rule to never date models. Or actors. Or musicians. Especially full-time ones.”

  “No wonder you’re single out here,” I giggled, looking across to the room where he was relaxing on the floor. What she said sunk in. “Wait. He’s actually a male model?”

  Lourdes scrunched up her face, looked at me, looked at him, then back to me. “Um, hello. He’d be an idiot not to capitalize on what the good Lord gave him.” She softened and spoke lower, just between us. “Not that you need my permission or blessing, but I think he’s exactly what you need right now. Go for it.”

  With the night clearly drawing to a close, it was time to act or I’d miss my chance. I held his gaze with a lingering look as I walked around the perimeter of the room. I paused at the glass doors, made sure he was watching, and pushed out to the deserted patio. Underwater lights illuminated the still water of the pool. Without a plan and on a whim, I tore off my clothes and jumped in. From the darkness, I could clearly see Oliver casually stand and make his way outside.

  My heart was thumping as he squinted into the patio, searching for me. I deliberately made a splash in the pool, turning away as if I hadn’t noticed him yet.

  “There you are,” he called out.

  I spun around, my hair swirling in the surrounding water. “Hey.”

  With a quick glance to the pile of clothes by the side, he quickly assessed the situation, cocking his head in surprise. “How’s the water?”

  “Good. Dancing got me pretty worked up,” I replied suggestively.

  I could tell he was trying to figure out if I was completely naked or just in my underwear. The pile of clothes didn’t give him any hints and the water was probably reflecting strangely.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  “It’s a free pool,” I said.

  Oliver chewed on the inside of his mouth before he stripped. I pretended not to watch as intently as I actually was. He knew it. I knew it, and he put on a little performance. With a flick of each finger, he unbuttoned his shirt and let it slip from his thick shoulders. The buckle on his belt jingled as he slowly pulled it apart, holding the end suggestively in one end before pulling it free. Before I knew it, he was stepping from his jeans and toying with the waistband on his boxers.

  Looking at him nearly naked, I had no doubt the man made money with his body. It looked like it’d been sculpted from one perfect piece of marble, his physique a Renaissance artist’s crowning glory. He had a swimmer’s build, lean but muscular. He dropped his boxers and stood at the side of the pool without shame, not that he had a thing to be ashamed about.

  A wicked smile spread across his face just before he leapt into the air and grabbed his knees with both hands. I turned away and blocked the majority of the splash with my hands, letting out a cry as he landed. I was still sputtering and wiping the water away from my eyes when he surfaced much closer than I’d expected. I wasn’t about to let him get off easily though.

  “So,” I said. I used my toes to slowly walk away from him.

  “So.” The light danced along his face, his eyes sparkling.

  “Why didn’t you tell me you were a
model?” I asked casually, throwing the heavy question at him with a light tone.

  “Ugh, who told you? Lourdes? You know, your friend acts all nice and friendly but inside she’s a real Judgy McJudgerson.”

  I laughed and kept moving, the water rippling in currents away from my naked body. “You’re saying she’s an anti-model?”

  “Exactly!”

  “So why lie?”

  He breathed quickly out of his nose and dipped below the water. When he resurfaced, he let the water cascade untouched down his face. “I don’t know. I guess I just liked being a different version of myself around you. And for the record, I’m not really Santa Claus, either.”

  I gasped. “You monster! It’s like I don’t know you at all!” I turned and kicked away, but his hand caught my foot before I could escape. “And your hide and seek title?”

  “That’s all true.”

  “Good,” I replied with mock relief.

  Oliver pulled me toward him, the water sliding across my skin with delicious smoothness. I twisted and didn’t resist, but was surprised when he let go with our bodies only inches from touching. We bobbed with an agonizing closeness, crouched with our chins only a fraction above the water.

  “I don’t really care, you know,” I whispered.

  He nodded, eyes dropping to my lips. “If I’d told you I was a model, you would’ve looked at me differently. You wouldn’t believe how many women want to sleep with me just so they can say they’d bagged a male model.”

  “God, I know. It’s the same for associate book editors, lemme tell you,” I replied with wide eyes. He laughed and gave me that smile I was growing way too fond of. “The groupies can get kind of insane.”

  He looked at my lips again and I knew he was about to kiss me. “You have to be the funniest girl I’ve ever met.” With a little slosh of water, he leaned forward and found my mouth. Even though we were naked in a pool together, the kiss was tender and sweet, like one you might share at the end of a really good first date. With a few drips of water, he lifted his hand to cup the side of my face and pull me closer.