Chapter 1
Chapter One
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this...” I hissed into my friend Bethany’s ear. My anxiety was skyrocketing as the bass thumped in my ears. The entire house smelt like sweat, weed, and alcohol. Not to mention, I just saw the class president projectile vomit on a couch among the sea of phones recording him.
He was never going to live that down.
“Reilyn, you can be such a stiff sometimes, you know that?” Bethany said jokingly, nudging my arm playfully. I wasn’t stiff as much as I was awkward and uncomfortable all the time. This wasn’t my scene, and if I was being honest, I wish it was. I wish I could be one of the girls hanging in the corner on...
Ugh, God. Eden Thorne.
Maybe not, then. I mean, it wasn’t that he wasn’t handsome because he was...almost infuriatingly so. He was that ‘bad boy’ I was pretty sure most schools and universities had. He was tall, covered in tattoos – he even had white-blonde hair that oh so stylishly fell into his fierce, blue eyes. I couldn’t deny he was good to look at, but holy hell, his reputation. At this rate, I was pretty sure that he’d slept through half the female population, if not more. I was all for sexual liberation, but I didn’t want anything to do with him.
I liked that I decided that as though I had a choice in the matter. I’m a freshman, and he’s a...senior? I think. It didn’t matter, anyway. He didn’t even know my name, and we had no classes together. Though I’d seen my fair share of girls crying over him. In a way, I found it perplexing. He was known to have constant one-night stands – nothing meant anything to him. I knew it wasn’t their fault, though. No doubt he was super manipulative, from what I’d seen from a distance, anyway.
“He looks good though, doesn’t he?” Bethany whispered in my ear, pulling me out of my thoughts to the very same person I was thinking of. He was leaning against the wall with a drink clutched in a long-fingered hand. I could see the tattoos on his hand from a distance, going up his corded forearm. The sleeves of his black dress shirt were pushed up, his black pants and boots almost giving him a lazy look – but he made it look sexy, I had to admit. His other arm was loosely hung around the shoulders of a blonde girl who was too pretty for words.
“Look, he’s got his arm around Florence Vega,” Bethany whispered, making me frown. I had no clue who that was, but she was gorgeous. “I guess she’s next on his list,” Bethany shrugged, taking a sip of her drink. “Ya know, if he ever spoke to me, I can’t say I wouldn’t do it or fall for his tricks.”
“Dude is a predator,” I said blandly, feeling bad for the girls he’d hurt as I watched him lean over to Florence’s ear, clearly whispering something as her pretty face turned red, and she nodded meekly. Part of me wanted to go rip her away from him, but that wouldn’t work. I was a nobody, a nobody freshman at that. I didn’t have the guts, anyway. Bethany was a sophomore and got an invite. She insisted I come, and I did because she was my best friend.
I jumped when a hat was suddenly thrust into our faces and shook. It had a bunch of little pieces of paper in it and was being held by Eden’s known best friend, Kego Thomas. The handsome, golden-haired guy always seemed nice enough. He didn’t have the reputation of his best friend, that was for sure. Whenever I’d seen him, he tended to always be light-hearted, always making jokes. He didn’t make me uncomfortable.
“Hey, add your names for seven minutes in heaven!” he said brightly, shaking the hat and holding up paper and a pen with his other hand.
Bethany immediately grabbed it and wrote her name down, tossing it in the hat. She tried to hand the paper and pen to me, but I shook my head. I could feel my face heating up. There was no way I could bring myself to go in a closet with some random guy-
Bethany rolled her eyes and quickly wrote on the paper, tearing it off and throwing it in, handing the paper and pen back to Kego. My mouth dropped open, and Kego smiled. At least he looked a little concerned for me, as it was pretty obvious I wasn’t crazy about the idea.
“Don’t worry, if it's someone you don’t like, you don’t have to go in,” he tried to reassure me in a kind voice, but that didn’t so help so much. Someone I didn’t like? I’m pretty sure it would be the other way around...I didn’t know any of the guys here, not that that made a difference. I was part way into the second semester, and not a single guy had asked me on one date. “I won’t let ya go into a closet with some creep!” he said joyously, winking playfully before walking up to the next group and shaking the hat at them.
Considering who your best friend is, I’m not sure I trust your judgment of people’s character...
“Beth!” I hissed the second he was out of earshot. She grinned, putting her arm around me.
“Don’t worry!” she encouraged, shaking my shoulder, but it didn’t help the tension I felt as everyone started to group together in the living room as Kego motioned for everyone to gather around. “If it’s a guy you don’t like, like Kego said, don’t go. If it is a guy you do like, then you’re welcome,” she grinned, but I wasn’t very amused, “it’ll help you, trust me.”
Help me, what? Be humiliated?
I watched as pairs were pulled from the hat over and over. People were cheering, especially when couples came out of the closet looking disheveled. As time passed, I felt myself start to foolishly relax. Just because my name hadn’t been picked yet, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t.
I yawned as Kego called out, “Ohhhh, Eden!” Kego laughed, slinging his arm around the tall, tattooed man with a small smirk on his face. “Who’s the lucky lady that gets seven minutes with Edi here?” he said playfully, making me frown as I could hear the girls chittering excitedly.
“Do you want to go?” I nudged Bethany, not wanting to hang around anymore. Bethany looked at me like I was nuts and shook her head. “Come on, Bethany, I don’t want to do this-“
“Reilyn!”
I swore my brain dropped to my feet when I heard Kego call out my name, the blood draining my face as Bethany’s jaw dropped. I slowly turned my head to look at them. My heart threatened to escape my chest as Eden looked around the crowd with furrowed brows, clearly trying to figure out who ‘Reilyn’ was — he wasn’t the only one. Most people were looking around at each other; I grabbed Bethany’s hand, squeezing it as if to say, ‘Please, don’t.’ She remained quiet, her face tense as I ducked behind the guy in front of me, seeing Kego was looking around for me. Surely, he took so many names he couldn’t remember me?
“I’m Reilyn!” a girl chirped up, making my jaw drop as I saw a red-haired girl eagerly rush forward. Eden cocked a brow skeptically as Kego rolled his eyes.
“You aren’t Reilyn!” Kego let out a bark of laughter, clamping his hand on Eden’s shoulder. “I just saw her a little bit ago, but...we have our first rejection! Who would have thought it?” Kego let out a bark of laughter, slapping Eden on the back. Eden didn’t look amused, raising his beer to his mouth while his bright blue eyes scanned the crowd, looking for me.
“I’m leaving...” I muttered up at Bethany, worried that Kego would see me and point me out. It seems Eden’s eyes weren’t about to give up. This time, Bethany nodded in understanding.
“I’ll be home later. Be careful and don’t wait up, yeah?” she asked, to which I nodded and hunched down, slipping out of the room and the house. I let out a sigh of relief when I got in my car, fumbling with my keys. My heart was still in my throat. I couldn’t imagine the embarrassment I would have felt when Eden Thorne refused to go into the closet with me. That would have followed me for the rest of my college career, no doubt.
He had no clue who I was, and I wanted to keep it that way
((O))
Bethany apologized profusely for putting my name in the hat. I’ll admit I was irritated at first, but I knew she had good intentions. She was just trying to get me out of my shell and around more people – maybe even find me a boyfriend. She was right, and I couldn’t fault her for that. It wouldn’t hurt me to be around people more, but it was going to take time. I could step outside of my comfort zone by going to the party, but the seven minutes in heaven thing was too much. She insisted that he wouldn’t have turned me down, and I was crazy to give up the opportunity to possibly let Eden Thorne paw at me.
She was wrong. I’d probably have a heart attack if he looked at me for too long.
A few weeks later, I was running late for class. I barely had time to throw my mousy hair into a messy bun and run out of my apartment.
Bethany would have a stroke if she saw I wore a tee shirt and flats with leggings like it was 2010.
I pulled my compact, grey car into my favorite coffee shop, pulling down my mirror and trying to tuck some flyways behind my ears. My hair was very long, but I was told repeatedly by my mother it was an awful, ‘mousy’ color. Too light to be brown and too dark to be blonde. Truth was, I kind of felt like she was right — it was hard to argue with that description when that’s exactly what it was. I rubbed my hazel eyes and sniffed, throwing my door open and hurrying into the shop with my bag hanging from my hand.
I hurriedly ordered my coffee and stood off to the side while it was made. My eyes immediately went to the corner of the shop, my heart dropping when I saw none other than Eden Thorne. He was alone, it seemed, and was looking at his laptop. His brows were furrowed as he looked at the screen, his hand was up near his face, his fingers rubbing along his smooth chin. His fingers were adorned with silver rings that matched the silver piercings in his ears. With his light hair and bright, yet dark blue eyes…Eden looked almost ethereal. I could see exactly why the student population of girls went Gaga over him. His face was…oddly symmetrical; I wasn't sure if that made sense. His jawline could cut glass, and I was pretty sure his perfect, pale skin never had a single blemish. For fucks sake, I never even saw a 5 o’clock shadow on his face before. His style was rugged yet stylish — his immaculate appearance almost didn’t fit his dark aesthetic. He was all leather jackets and boots.
I was openly staring at him, unable to stop myself. I tried to refrain from doing so before, but since that night at the party, I felt like I knew some kind of secret that he didn’t. Of course, he’d never know because I’d be damned if I’d ever tell him.
“Reilyn?”
It felt like ice water was poured over my head when the barista called out my name.
God, I’m so stupid.
My eyes blew wide open when Eden’s eyes immediately looked up at the barista, his hand dropping from his chin as he looked around the relatively empty coffee shop. Unfortunately for me, there was only one person standing, and that idiot was me.
His azure eyes instantly snapped on me, his face neutral, and my deer-caught-in-headlights look likely gave away my guilt. I sharply looked away, feeling my face heating rapidly as I fumbled to grab my coffee and pay the barista. I could feel his gaze burning into me as I hurried out of the coffee shop, contemplating dropping out of school like the coward I was.
It could be someone else — fuck, who was I kidding? Who the hell else in school could possibly be named Reilyn? I could curse my parents for not naming me something more popular, like Ashley or maybe even Britney. They were good names. Why couldn’t I have one of those? He never would have known! I hadn’t felt negative things about my name since middle school, not since I was made fun of for it. Now, I had a fresh and new reason to dislike my name. It was quite literally the only thing that stood out about me.
I fumbled with my keys, my feet stopping when I heard a deep baritone behind me.
“Reilyn!”
I closed my eyes for a moment, humiliation flicking at my skin as I gripped my coffee and keys tightly. Taking a deep breath before opening my eyes and slowly turning around. I tried desperately to keep my face relaxed and normal, but I had a feeling the anxiety in my eyes was screaming at him.
Eden was walking towards me, his computer bag hanging on his side. His face was neutral, so I couldn’t tell what he was thinking. His tall frame was draped in all black, as usual, his unique eyes looking at me through his pale hair as it whipped around his head from the breeze. My throat felt dry when he stopped in front of me, his eyes flicking over my frame and flashing for a moment. I couldn’t decipher at all what he was thinking. His eyes were a contradiction of fire and ice. Being under his gaze was somehow burning hot and freezing cold all at once.
It was disarming.
“...I’m r-running late,” I stuttered out, taking a step back, hoping his curiosity was sated and he’d just...leave me alone and not make a big deal out of it. He clearly just wanted to meet the girl who had refused to make out with him in a closet, right?
For fucks sake, don’t think about making out with him! I could feel my face heating substantially more, much to my chagrin. It wasn’t like he could read my mind.
His brow lifted slightly, and I got the feeling he knew that I was just trying to get away from him. “Alright, you can leave,” he smirked, the corner of his mouth crinkling charmingly as he crossed his arms, “Right after you tell me why you ditched me at the party.”
I pursed my lips. Should I deny it? Say I wasn’t there? That could backfire, though. It made it seem like I would have gone in the closet with him if I had been there, and I quickly decided that was worse.
“I...don’t know you,” I stumbled out, shifting in my sneakers awkwardly, “My friend put my name in there. I didn’t even want to be there.”
His brows lifted, looking a little surprised by my answer. It was as though he expected me to say I wasn’t there, or I would have gone with him because of course, I would have — he’s him. It looked as though he couldn’t really fathom my answer.
That...irritated me.
“Well,” he said casually, as though he didn’t react at all to my answer, and took another step towards me. “I’ll give you a chance to rectify that. I’ll pick you up tonight and take you out. We’ll have more than seven minutes in my car.” He grinned suggestively, flashing teeth that seemed too perfect to be real. My eyes blew wide in shock. He was...asking me out on a date? Everyone knew that he had a limit of one — one night with him before he moved on to the next one. I’d heard that girls sometimes begged for another night with him. He had perfect eyes, skin, and hair...his chiseled face grinning charmingly and suggestively. To be in his early twenties, he sure had a lot of tattoos, and he was very obviously fit. Even though the idea was appealing in some ways, I knew I was too sensitive. I’d be damned if I’d be one of the girls crying over my broken heart. At least, not if I could help it. A one-night thing was perfectly fine...but it wasn’t for me. I knew I needed much, much more than Eden Thorne would ever offer me, or anyone else, for that matter.
“Um, no, thank you,” I tried to say politely, hoping he wouldn’t get offended and watching as his smirk fell off his face, his azure eyes narrowing, “I’m n-not interested...” I trailed off, his gaze getting darker by the moment, his jaw tightening as he looked at me suspiciously, “I-I have to go, erm, s-sorry.” I mumbled out, turning and awkwardly getting in my silver car. I could see him out of my peripherals as I buckled my belt and left the parking lot, making a point not to look at him at all.
I breathed a sigh of relief, still in a state of disbelief that he actually asked me on a date. Part of me wondered why, as I definitely wasn’t his type. From everything I’d seen and heard, his type was drop-dead gorgeous. I didn’t think I was hideous or anything like that, but I wasn’t someone who would ever end up dating someone like Eden Thorne. He probably just wanted to be able to say he ended up nailing the girl at the party anyway.
I pulled out my phone, texting Bethany.
Eden Thorne just asked me out on a date.
I pulled into the university, laughing when my phone started ringing when I got out of the car. Of course, Bethany probably high-tailed it away from class to call me. That would constitute an emergency for her.
“Hello?”
“BITCH, ARE YOU SERIOUS? WHAT DID YOU SAY?”
I laughed, shaking my head as I slung your bag over my shoulder, making my way to class.
“I said no, of course,” I replied. She knew that, didn’t she? Perhaps she didn’t because I was met with a long silence on the other end.
“...You WHAT?” she yelped into the receiver, making me flinch and move the phone away from my ear for a second.
“Of course, I said no,” I said defensively. “That’s...he doesn’t date. It was a sex offer. It was very uncomfortable. He...said we’d have longer than seven minutes in his car,” I mumbled, my face heating at the memory of his bold statement. I didn’t even fully register how bold that was until I repeated it...he really said that, and suggested that to me. I knew he was known for taking girls to his dorm constantly. The fact that he offered me car sex showed how little he regarded me. I was lower than the other girls he slept with, and we both knew it.
“...I’m speechless – wow, you said no? I admire you, Rei. You’re my hero,” Bethany let out a bark of laughter as I chuckled lowly, heat burning my cheeks. Perhaps if I had more confidence in myself, I would have taken the offer to have a one-night stand with a super-hot guy. I wish I was in that kind of position. I wasn’t very experienced. I wasn’t someone that he’d actually want. He was just trying to prove something to himself or his friends.
I hated the term, but God, did it apply to Eden Thorne. He was a…fuck boy. Pure and simple.
“I wouldn’t say that,” I mumbled, reaching my class. “I have to go to class, Beth.”
I got off the phone with Bethany with the promise we’d talk about it when we both got home.
