Take Me Out (2 page)

The onlookers which packed the rows around us had mixed responses to the display. Some stood with their mouths hanging open, while others whispered with their respective neighbors and some cracked jokes about my new
boyfriend
. The fact was they knew I never get serious about anyone. I had dated around through college, but had never taken a serious boyfriend. I wasn’t planning on doing so until I was done with college in a year. I had too much riding on my last year of college, including a full-time, real world job.

I was never going to see him again and a flood of disappointment washed over me. But it didn’t matter, he was gone. That realization flooded me with both disappointment and longing. This beautiful man, who had just sent such a raw desire through me, was gone. Even more than before, I felt I didn’t just want his touch, but that I needed it. I was helpless against the power of my timidity and the strength of the rules which I’d given myself.

“I think I am going to head out for one last beer before the game ends.” I headed in the general direction of my new fetish.

Jake threw in his two cents. “Uh huh, like you need another beer. Good luck finding him. He’s long gone!”

I let out a laugh and hurried away. Making my way down the tunnel my head spun back and forth in search of Bentley. After a few minutes, I gave up. On the way back from my disappointing search, I stopped for a beer. As I reached the section entry, I heard a voice behind me, “You were just going to let me walk away like that?” My heart soared. I turned around to find my new obsession standing so close to me that I could smell him. The mixture of cologne and beer was heavenly.

He took me in his arms, right there in the tunnel for anyone to see, putting his arm around my waist tightly, the other on my face softly. As he brushed his knuckles down my cheek, he leaned in and brushed his lips against mine. His lips were warm and inviting. He tasted delicious, of mint mixed with beer. I melted in his arms. The way he made me feel in that moment was so foreign. He might as well have stripped me naked and taken me against the wall with the sensations that were going through my body. The kiss was unlike anything I had felt before. After his romantic gesture he let me go and backed away repeating his question.

“Ugh... What the hell? I don’t know where your mouth has been!” I stuttered out. I couldn’t speak worth a shit. What the hell was wrong with me? His spell was potent, so much so that I couldn’t speak. I stuttered out something incoherent. Even I have no idea what I said.

He let out a little chuckle at my bitchy demeanor.

I was just stuck and confused. Why in hell was I letting this guy touch me and kiss me? The only explanation was that I had officially lost my damn mind. I had tried for years to control my damn behavior and now I was ruining all my hard work by losing control in public?

“I’ll take your response as a good thing,” he said, grinning.

As he walked away from me I was finally able to breathe again. When he put his arms around me, he’d made me feel naked. I watched him head for the entrance to our seating section, my clothing feeling suddenly constrictive. “I don’t need a guy in my life right now anyway!” I mumbled as I walked back to my seat.

As I rounded the corner there was Shay and Jake chatting it up with Bentley.
They’re conspiring with the enemy!
When they noticed me they pretended like they weren’t doing anything wrong. There was no way I was letting Shay get away with it.

As much as I didn’t want to admit to myself that Bentley had made an impression on me, he was the only thing on my mind.

The game ended and Shay and I stumbled back to our apartment only a couple of blocks away. When I hit my bed I knew I had overdone it with the alcohol for the night and I was out in seconds.

All weekend brought dreams of Bentley. Dirty dreams: like the kind you have after falling asleep watching Cinemax and you wake up to the cheesy porn remakes with horrible plot lines. Saturday and Sunday nights I woke up turned on, soaking wet and in need of a cold shower.
What am I, a horny teenage boy?

No matter what I did I couldn’t get Bentley out of my mind. In a city with six hundred thousand people I was resigned to the fact that I would never see him again.

I decided I would blog about it. Not like it was much of anyone’s business, but it was what I did when I was bored. I opened my MacBook Pro and let all that I could remember from Friday night pour onto the screen. The drinks, the chance meeting in the beer line, the scene we made dancing and Bentley serenading me. Against my better judgment, I included the kiss. Since I wasn’t going to see him again, it couldn’t hurt. I didn’t use his name; he could ride off into the sunset, safe from my crazy life.

I scheduled the post to go up on the following Tuesday morning, to avoid being around for my friends’ harassment.

Monday morning brought the last day of freedom before exams. I decided after I crawled my ass out of bed I would see if Shay wanted to head down to Starbucks and grab a Frappuccino before getting a quick pedicure. I looked into her bedroom but she was nowhere to be found.
‘It would have been helpful if I’d gotten out of bed before noon.’

I left for Starbucks and once there, I ordered my favorite drink. As I enjoyed it, I checked my e-mail on my phone, and then spent the better part of an hour checking the local tabloids for pictures of the kiss. And all the while, I felt as though someone were watching me. After a while, it bothered me so bad I got goosebumps. I quickly finished my coffee and without taking the time to look around threw away my cup in the garbage. On the way to the door, I collided with what felt like a brick wall.

“I am so sorry... I should’ve been....”

When I looked up to apologize to whoever was in my clumsy path, I was shocked. It was none other than Bentley, standing there with an amused smirk.

“Fancy meeting you here Miss Windsor” he said with a laugh. ‘
How does he know my last name?’
I couldn’t stop sizing him up. Wearing a tight white shirt with some black writing and a pair of dark blue jeans, his ensemble was finished with a backwards Red Sox ball cap.

“How are you doing Bentley?” I barely choked out.

“I was having a sub-par day until I saw your beautiful face Charlie,” he said without skipping a beat. “I missed you over the weekend. I was hoping to run into you at another game. I was greatly disappointed when I didn’t because I have something for you.”

Me? Beautiful? I desperately tried to keep from blushing, but it was damn near impossible. The last thing I needed was for him to know I was completely smitten with him. He was one of
those
guys who would take advantage of me and set me out with tomorrow’s trash.

“Oh is that so? Do you say that to all the girls you pick up?” I said it in such a snarky tone; I knew he never expected it.

The look of confusion and amusement on his face was priceless. “I don’t make it a point to pick up girls Charlotte. I’m not really the relationship type,” he replied. “Please take this, it’s for you.” He handed me a small box wrapped in a fancy green shiny wrapping paper with a large blue bow.

“Thank you but I really shouldn’t accept this,” I said as I tried to push the box back to him, but he wouldn’t accept it.

“I have no use for it. Please, I bought it specifically for you Charlie. Now take the damn present.” A smile lifted across his lips. Gone was the bossy tone and he was back to charming and sweet.

I knew I should have just walked away; I’m not looking for a hook up... hell, I’m not even looking for a boyfriend so why am I still wasting my time talking to his guy? He made it clear he’s not the relationship type.

“Well I have an appointment in fifteen minutes; I hope you have a nice afternoon Bentley. Thank you for the gift.”

I sat looking at the little box as it sat on my giant kitchen table. Our apartment was nothing short of lavish, but only because my mother purchased and designed every detail. I never brought people to our apartment because I was embarrassed that I was a college student living in a penthouse condo most could never afford in their lifetime.

Shay, on the other hand, showed off the place to everyone. She still remembered what it was like when she lived with her mom. Being raised by a single mother and even on the salary of two jobs, they had barely scraped by. While she missed her mother immensely, she didn’t miss living in the projects wondering if she would have power at the end of the week.

I wanted to open it but I was almost scared to know what it was. Just then Shay finally made an appearance for the first time all day. “What’s for dinner, I’m starving!”

“Where the hell have
you
been?” It wasn’t often she vanished for an entire day.

“I was studying at the library. I’m worried about finals, so I wanted to put in a little extra time.”

“That makes sense.”

Shay was a pre-med student. Shay’s mother had always joked that her daughter should make her proud by becoming a doctor, but when Shay’s mother was killed by a drunk driver, she took the joke seriously. Plus with my father running every detail of Boston Children’s Hospital her career move after graduation was not a question but a certainty. It was getting the degree that was the real challenge.

She was smart though. If I was told to vote on “most likely to be a successful doctor” like we had for the high school yearbook, Shay would have won.

Shay picked up the shiny box from the table. “What’s this?”

“Remember that guy from Fenway Friday night
?
” I replied with a huge grin on my face.

“Bentley? How could I forget him?”

“I ran into him at Starbucks today and apparently he’s been carrying this around all weekend looking for me. Maybe he’s stalking me?” Though I feigned a look of disgust, she knew just as well as I did I was overjoyed to see him.

“Oh Honey! He ain’t stalkin’ you, I told him your Monday routine!” she laughed hysterically. Sold out by my other half!

She had set this all up. Shay went behind my back! That’s what they must have been talking about Friday night when I made my way back to my seat. Now I could only wonder what else she spilled!

“Oh, well at least I know he isn’t a total creep now!”

“Open the damn gift already, I want to see what it is,” she commanded. Before I could rip the pretty present to shreds I took out my iPhone and snapped a picture of it and posted it to Instagram.

‘
Mystery Gift from a Hot Guy
,’ I captioned.

I knew that soon my Facebook and Twitter pages would be abuzz with all my friends asking what the hell was going on. ‘
Let them ask!’
I thought.
I was going to have fun with this! It had been too long since I was wooed by a man.

I ripped into the paper quicker than any present I ever dove into on Christmas morning. Then I opened the little brown box inside. When I pulled the lid off there were at least a dozen loose pictures and then a Red Sox picture frame, which enclosed the best picture of Bentley serenading me from Friday night.

I had been given diamonds and jewels, fancy dresses and designer clothes in the past. But the little frame with an amazing memory was the best gift I’d ever received. I had to hold back a tear because I didn’t want Shay to think I had gone insane. I wasn’t used to genuine sweet gestures. I had to post about it on my blog.

“Now that is one sweet man.” Shay laughed and headed for her bedroom. “He’s a keeper Charlie.”

At that moment I secretly hoped I would run into Mr. Tattoo again.

I opened my blog and began writing.

The Mystery Man

I feel like a little girl with a crush.