I watched her frame rise as she took a deep breath. I had turned the flash of my camera off after some nasty looks over her shoulder, but she was still painfully aware of me. How could she not be? It was a Sunday and this was a library. The place was a ghost town.
Of course, I knew she would break any minute now, even if I was sitting a few chairs away from her. In the meantime, I wasn't complaining. It had been some time since I had last gotten a picture of her.
She was sitting at a desk filled with textbooks, pulling her hair into a bun and piercing it with a pencil, before opening the book in front of her. It was her little ritual before she started studying.
"Three, two, one," I counted her down.
No sooner had I finished when she turned to me, her cheeks tinted a light pink, and whisper yelled, "Stop that. You're annoying me."
"Permission to approach?" I asked.
Not waiting for an answer, I jumped up and went to her. To piss her off just a little more, I took another snap, this time of her textbooks.
"IT books?" I asked, flipping open one of her textbooks. Anything to annoy her into talking to me. "I thought you were majoring in business."
"Not IT, cybersecurity. And if you must know, I am finishing my business degree, but I'm just a few credits shy of a degree for several other things. So I figured I might as well do a triple major if they'll let me," she said, snapping the book I had opened shut. "Now go away."
For anyone else, seven years at NYU without declaring a major was messing around and wasting money. Not Stacy Kendrick though. Even if she didn't know what she wanted, she was determined to be successful, even at being confused.
"How many things are several things, Stace?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I'm not talking to you," she insisted. "This is a library and you're being loud."
With a head flip, she went back to her reading. Sensing that this might carry on for longer than I had bargained on, I pulled her chair out, holding onto the backrest next to her shoulders.
"There's no one here. It's just us. Even the librarian is drunk on her stash of bourbon at her desk by now because she's so bored," I said, snapping the book Stacy was reading shut. "I think it's time for a little something I like to call Scott says."
Her face soured. Stacy still couldn't believe she had lost our last bet. My prize? I got to tell her what to do for five minutes straight.
"I did everything. All he had to do was close the deal. Can I have your number? How hard is that to say Kenny?" she moped.
"Closing the deal isn't Kenny's strong point, especially when there is a woman involved," I said with a laugh. "Setting the timer now."
I offered her my hand. Surprisingly, she took it and let me help her out of the chair. Luckily for me, Stacy was never one to go back on a bet.
"Okay fine but we have to be quiet," she said.
"Scott says get on this desk and scream Scott is the greatest," I said with a cheeky grin on my face.
Stacy hated those people. The ones that were noisy in libraries. The person she was about to become.
She narrowed her eyes and glared at me, but got onto the chair she had just been sitting on, using it as a stepping stone to get onto the table.
"Oh that's beautiful. Keep going," I said, taking one or two photos before she was standing straight up on the table.
"Scott is the greatest," she screamed as loud as her voice would allow.
I applauded approvingly. She was about to get off the table, when I stopped her.
"Now hold on, we're not done here," I said, turning to my playlist to seek out the loudest music I could find.
She looked at me like I'd just bitch slapped her. Her hands were on her hips and she looked like she wanted to bolt. Her reaction was so priceless I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Scott says let's see your moves, Kendrick. Dance for me," I said, raising my hands to the roof.
"You want to see my moves? Okay," she said, dropping her hands from her hips to her blouse.
She started unbuttoning the lower buttons of said blouse and I lowered my camera.
"What are you doing?" I asked, licking my lips as her belly came into view.
She unbuttoned a few buttons from the top, until there was only two buttons left. Then she took the two lower ends of her blouse and tied them into a knot. A little red was now visible just beneath the white knotted blouse. I stopped breathing.
"Getting battle ready," she said, winking at me before she started swaying her hips from side to side. "Don't stop now, picture boy," she said, her hands trailing down her body from her neck onto her chest, down her belly and settling on her hips as she swayed to the music.
She turned around and blew me a kiss over her shoulder. That move sent flashes of my sex dream about her through my head and I knew she needed to stop.
"Scott says gift me an item of clothing," I said, blurting out the first thing that came to mind.
Mercifully that got her to stop shaking her ass in my face. But when she turned around, I knew I had said the wrong thing. She looked like she was going to war, a mischievous glint in her eye as she reached for the knot in between her breasts.
"Scott says… game over," I said, hearing the timer go off.
I held up my phone as proof but she was already reaching behind her back. Then she reached her hands up her arms and pulled down her bra straps one at a time. Slowly, teasingly, ignoring me like I wasn't even there.
The song had long since ended when she finally pulled her red lace bra out of her shirt, her breasts rising and then dropping as she did.
"Your gift, sir," she said, handing it to me.
All I could focus on were her hard nipples and the shapes of her breasts visible through the fabric. There was no saving face now. I knew I was rock hard even without looking.
Just then, the librarian, who was indeed drunk, made an appearance.
"What do you think you're doing?" she yelled.
"Shit," Stacy cursed, her cheeks reddening as she buttoned up.
"Time to go," I said, grabbing her backpack and stuffing all her books back into it. "Next time, pack light."
"What do you mean next time?" she yelled at me.
"Wait right there," the librarian called out, drunkenly making her way to us.
"Run," I yelled back, slinging Stacy's backpack over my shoulder.
We both looked at each other, her bra still dangling from her fingers.
"Seriously go," I urged, snatching my prize from her and stuffing it into my pocket before grabbing her hand.
We were in such a hurry to get away from the drunk librarian that even Stacy couldn't find her way out of the library, her favorite spot on campus.
"Wait, wait, wait. Time out," I said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her behind a bookcase.
Her body was pressed up against mine as we breathed hard together, waiting to hear if we had lost the librarian.
"Uhm Scott," Stacy whispered.
"Shush," I said, looking down at her.
"But Scott," she shifted around uncomfortably in my arms, struggling until her hand accidentally grazed my hard cock.
"Shit, I'm sorry," I said, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her away.
She went off into a fit of giggles, covering her mouth with both hands. I wanted to die of mortification. Well, what did she expect?
When she finally died down, she held out her hand to me and said, "Friends?"
I wondered if she treated any of her other friends this way. Despite what she insisted about me being her only friend, Stacy was very popular at NYU. She had more study buddies than I liked. Most of them men, which I liked even less. Friends was becoming increasingly harder and harder.
I opened my mouth to speak, when my phone buzzed in my pocket. It was a text from Willow.
Willow: Don't flip out. Went out with Joey and the guys.
Willow: Joseph*
Willow: See you soon
"Who the hell is Joseph?" I asked, after reading the texts out loud.
"Oh crap," said Stacy with a sigh. "Scottie, don't freak out, okay?"
"You sure this is the place?" I asked, clocking the unmarked black van across the street. "Joey's not smart enough to bluff. He is ambitious though and he hates my guts. There's not much he wouldn't do to take me out of play as daddy's future heir. I'm not sure what we're walking into," said Stacy from next to me as we stood at the entrance of Hotel Topaz. "Yeah, I'm out," said Kenny on the other side of me, turning to walk away. I grabbed him by his suit jacket and pulled him back to the spot next to me."Sorry," said Kenny, fixing his collar before attempting to turn and make a run for it again. Just as he turned, he bumped into a man dressed in overalls, presumably some sort of service delivery man. This sent Kenny stumbling back, smack into me. "Sorry again," he said. "Look, I know this is scary. I'm terrified, but Willow is my sister and I don't really have much of a choice. If either of you wants out, I'll understand," I said, taking the invite Joey had given Kenny for us
She grabbed my hand and we linked our fingers in each other's, her squeezing my hand hard as I led us to the elevator. Once we were in the elevator, we watched the manager unlock a little compartment below the button panel. It was a special button with a b for basement on it. The manager pushed the button while the rest of us anxiously waited for the elevator to move. When the elevator doors opened again, I asked the manager, "Where's the bathroom?" Following his directions, I pulled Stacy along behind me. "I guess I'll just go and mingle," Ken called after us. "Go team."By the time we got to the bathroom, Stacy was pale. I could feel her trembling next to me as her hand shook in mine. First, I locked the door behind us. Then, I let go of her hand and checked all the stalls to make sure they were empty. Finally, I went back to her and stopped her pacing by laying my hands on her shoulders and bringing her to a halt in front of the mirror. "I'm sorry, I can't do this. Scott, don
Scott and I had what felt like less than thirty seconds to meet up with Kenny, who had found Willow throwing up in the bathroom, before we were discovered. "Stay with Willow. Lay low. Find a different way out of here and then text it to me and whatever you do, don't come up to us until the time is right," Scott had said to Kenny. "Incoming," I said, spotting Don Marcus and Luca at a poker table not too far away. Both of them here threw me for a loop. One was bad enough as it is, but both kof them? It was an uncommon and unfortunate occurrence. They had spotted us too. Luca and I made eye contact as he whispered to the two big hulks now headed our way. "How will I know when the time is right?" asked a nervous Kenny. "Trust me, you'll know. Now go," said Scott, seamlessly turning away from Kenny just as Luca's men approached us. "Don Marcus wants to talk," said one of the big guys, hands behind his back. "Lead the way," said Scott, his voice almost chipper. If his heart was bea
Scott and I had what felt like less than thirty seconds to meet up with Kenny, who had found Willow throwing up in the bathroom, before we were discovered. "Stay with Willow. Lay low. Find a different way out of here and then text it to me and whatever you do, don't come up to us until the time is right," Scott had said to Kenny. "Incoming," I said, spotting Don Marcus and Luca at a poker table not too far away. Both of them here threw me for a loop. One was bad enough as it is, but both kof them? It was an uncommon and unfortunate occurrence. They had spotted us too. Luca and I made eye contact as he whispered to the two big hulks now headed our way. "How will I know when the time is right?" asked a nervous Kenny. "Trust me, you'll know. Now go," said Scott, seamlessly turning away from Kenny just as Luca's men approached us. "Don Marcus wants to talk," said one of the big guys, hands behind his back. "Lead the way," said Scott, his voice almost chipper. If his heart was bea
I had no doubt that my face had the same question written all over it. I almost fell out of my chair. His misplaced confidence was making me sweat and I didn't like where this was going at all. "What? I read too. Mostly books with pictures in them, but I do read," Scott said, looking at me. I wanted to strangle him where he sat. "I'm no expert, of course, but then I don't need to be because the silent auction happening up front tells the story. You're businessmen at the end of the day. Who in their right minds from amongst all your rich clients would buy from you again if you sold them a forgery? The art in this room must be worth hundreds of millions of dollars," said Scott. "Don Cattaneo, excuse my friend. He majored in art," I said with a hiss, but the don was already out of his chair."Who is this kid, a narc? Get him out of my hotel," Don Marcus thundered. Luca, ever the cool customer, motioned for his men to back off, then for his father to sit down. "Imagine if, hypotheti
The adrenaline was fading fast and I was exhausted. Thoughts of how very wrong this afternoon could have gone flooded my head. Lucky for me, however, I wasn't left alone with my thoughts for too long after being escorted to a precinct along with everyone else caught in the raid. "Care to explain what you were doing in an underground casino, hanging around known members of the mafia, with over 800 million dollars' worth of stolen art in it?" the fed asked. "Look, agent whoever you are, no I don't have mafia ties. I'm not your big whale. I did not engage in any illegal activities. I'm a wedding photographer, that's how basic I am. Also, you're welcome. If it weren't for me tipping my dad off, your bust would have been a bust. How long have you people been planning this raid? Based on how long you dragged your feet before you actually showed up, they still somehow almost one upped you, didn't they? Badge number J638493. If you want me to say another word, that's who I'll talk to," I sa
And it was the worst thing I could have done. The worst part? I was such a fucked up mess that if I went home tonight and she was there waiting for me, I would likely do more. "So I did. Strictly platonic, don't marry some other guy/I might die kisses. Do those really even count?" I said, my pulse climbing as I waited to hear her answer. Why the fuck did I say some other guy, like I wanted her to marry me instead? "Well they did to me. Everything that's happened over the last two days… I don't do stuff like that. You're not just anyone," she said and I could have cried, because it was everything I wanted to hear and everything I didn't. "You know what? I met my dad at the precinct and he wants to have dinner. I might just crash at his place," I said, hating every word. I could feel her hopes dash despite her not saying a word, but I couldn't be around her right now. "Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" "Sure. Tomorrow." With that, I ended the call and changed my destina
"To Scott working for Vogue, bitches," I said with a proud beam, as we held our coffee cups in the air. I was so excited for him when I first heard the news that I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. I had done the same thing thousands of other times when he made progress in his career as a photographer. This was the first time I needed space to recover and get my pulse under control. Things were definitely different now. I found myself wondering if I should be here, waiting for him like this. It's not like I really had a choice, what with me not having a place to stay anymore, but it was more than that. I stayed because I wanted to know that he was okay after seeing his father. "I still don't know if I'm going to do it," he said, deep in thought about the call he got on his way home this morning. "It's nice to be considered, but a fashion magazine is not really my thing.""It's Vogue. The Vogue. All I heard was that my roommate has a stable job. To no more paying t
I knew hiking wasn't what she had in mind, but I couldn't think of anywhere else I wanted to take her. If she didn't want to do this, she certainly wasn't saying so. "This mountain has been my mistress and my archnemesis for months," I said, making small talk. "One of these days I'm going to—" "Take the perfect picture. I know," she said, surprising me. "What do you mean you know?" I asked. "I've been here before, a few times. I've watched you try and take the perfect photo. You want to capture the sunrise, but you've hated every picture you've taken up until now," she said, matter of factly. "Far be it for me to think you are so presumptuous, but did you follow me up here?" I asked, surprised once again. When she nodded, my mind was blown. Stacy Kendrick following me anywhere sounded crazy to me. "Why didn't you ever come out and say hi? Why didn't you tell me?" "I didn't want to seem like a stalker who is obsessed with you," she said, her voice lighter. "Don't get the wrong
I started at Vogue two days ago. I wouldn't be surprised if they fired me, with the way I was performing, just going through the motions. No matter where or when I looked, Stacy wasn't at her usual hang outs. I don't know when she moved, but the super said her apartment was empty now. Finally, for the first time since she left that bar, I knew where she was going to be. Don Cattaneo's wake was today. She was probably there already. "What? Just say it and get it over with, Ken. It's bad enough that one of my best friends won't even answer a text, much less see me. Don't give me the silent treatment too, for the love of God," I begged as Kenny walked into the kitchen that morning, still looking at me like I killed his dog. I probably looked like shit. I couldn't eat or sleep. Between getting up to shower and going to work every day, I didn't even have the energy to shave."Okay, fine. What the fuck was that with Jenny the other night? How could you do that in front of Stacy? What the
"You are wise to try and trick me instead of threatening me. I'll give you that. But using my family to do it? Bad move. No man controls what I do or don't do. Not you, not Don Angelo, not even Scott. Whom I will fuck if I so choose. Never make the mistake of thinking you are any different to me than Don Angelo. I did Cattaneo's books for the last seven years. What can I say? Daddy was a show off. If I can feed my own father to the wolves, I can just as easily do it to you," I finished in a huff. "Did you just threaten a don in his own home?" Luca asked, his voice dangerously low. "I don't make threats, I make promises. If you wanted me dead, I would be, but like I said, you're just another Don Angelo. If you want to keep entertaining delusions of us riding off into the sunset together, that's your prerogative, but don't ever, ever come after me using my family again," I said, rising to my feet. "Always a pleasure, Luca."It took effort to walk away in a straight line. My hands shoo
Five days, six hours and fifty three minutes. That's how long it had been since I last saw either Scott or Jenny. But this wasn't the time to think about that. I was about to surround myself with my old life and then some. Don Angelo would no doubt be coming out for this thing too. I remembered the day my mom and Jenny left home like it was just yesterday. My mother, Collette, was from a wealthy family. She ran away at a young age to be Don Angelo's wife. An event she would regret very early into her marriage. Unlike me, my mother was indifferent to what Don Angelo did for a living. If anything, she probably even liked it. The danger, the risk, the money. All of it appealed to her. Ultimately what broke my parent's marriage was the mistresses Don Angelo had. By the time the affairs started, my mother's whole life was Don Angelo. She fell into a deep depression, slitting her wrists when I was ten. "If you want to die so badly, it can be arranged," Don Angelo thundered, pulling a gun
I made it just in time to hear Scott slap Kenny's back and say, "Kenny's an idiot. He accidentally deleted your number and now he's agonizing over it.""I wouldn't say agonizing," said Kenny. "He would, he's in agony, because he really likes you. Despite his clumsy fingers, Kenny really is the best. If you're into it, would you mind giving him your number again? I'll save it myself this time," Scott finished. We all held our breaths for the five seconds it took Marlene to say, "Sure.""Yes," Kenny yelled, pumping his fists into the air. "I mean that's cool," he said, turning into a plank. "Please don't change your mind."Coming in with the save once again, Scott said, "He's not cool, but he's cute" and then held out Kenny's phone to Marlene, who took it with a smile. Kenny saying I was in love with Scott went round and round in my head as I watched this play out, all my anger instantly evaporating. This was the Scott women fell for. Confident, a little goofy, crazy hot and so down
"Are you going to shut that down?" Kenny asked, his gaze going to the bar where Scott and Jenny were getting the second round. Her hand was on his arm and she was batting her eyelashes and laughing her ass off. His back was to me, so I couldn't see what he was doing and they were too far away to hear. Just the same, it was pissing me off. The conclusions my mind was drawing was so out there that he might as well have been making out with her. "Shut what down?" I said, pretending not to see as rage brought with it shallow breaths. "He wouldn't do anything. Not with your sister," Kenny tried to reassure me. Him putting it out there nearly made me throw the glass in my hand across the room. "I don't fucking care. They're adults. Adults can fuck whoever they want," I yelled, raising the glass to my lips, then slamming it back down on the table when I found it empty. "Dammit, how hard is it to buy a couple of drinks?" I looked back to the bar to see what the hold up was. Jenny had s
"Luca sent me. This is for you. Well, all of it is," said Jenny, handing me an envelope, before spreading her arm out towards the room filled with roses. "He can't take a hint," said Scott. I heard him take a deep breath. If Scott wasn't seeing red before, he certainly was now. He snatched the envelope out of my hands. I snatched it back. "Don't be a jerk," I said, not wanting him to get even more ticked off by whatever was in the envelope. "Well? Aren't you going to open it?" Jenny asked, slicing the tension between Scott and I with her voice. "Yes Stace, open it," Scott insisted. "Maybe later. We should get to packing," I said, not wanting to add fuel to the fire. "It's the deed to the apartment," said an excited Jenny, clapping her hands together. "And an invitation to Don Cattaneo's wake."My fingers fumbled over each other as I opened the envelope, needing to see it to believe it. Sure enough, inside I found the deed to my apartment and an invitation to the wake. Buying me
"To Scott working for Vogue, bitches," I said with a proud beam, as we held our coffee cups in the air. I was so excited for him when I first heard the news that I threw my arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. I had done the same thing thousands of other times when he made progress in his career as a photographer. This was the first time I needed space to recover and get my pulse under control. Things were definitely different now. I found myself wondering if I should be here, waiting for him like this. It's not like I really had a choice, what with me not having a place to stay anymore, but it was more than that. I stayed because I wanted to know that he was okay after seeing his father. "I still don't know if I'm going to do it," he said, deep in thought about the call he got on his way home this morning. "It's nice to be considered, but a fashion magazine is not really my thing.""It's Vogue. The Vogue. All I heard was that my roommate has a stable job. To no more paying t
And it was the worst thing I could have done. The worst part? I was such a fucked up mess that if I went home tonight and she was there waiting for me, I would likely do more. "So I did. Strictly platonic, don't marry some other guy/I might die kisses. Do those really even count?" I said, my pulse climbing as I waited to hear her answer. Why the fuck did I say some other guy, like I wanted her to marry me instead? "Well they did to me. Everything that's happened over the last two days… I don't do stuff like that. You're not just anyone," she said and I could have cried, because it was everything I wanted to hear and everything I didn't. "You know what? I met my dad at the precinct and he wants to have dinner. I might just crash at his place," I said, hating every word. I could feel her hopes dash despite her not saying a word, but I couldn't be around her right now. "Okay. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" "Sure. Tomorrow." With that, I ended the call and changed my destina