Vince. What to say about Vince?
It’s crazy to think that someone who made such a big impact on my life hasn’t popped up in it in years.
In fact, the last time I saw him in person was the night before I finally decided to end my life. Spoiler alert: I didn’t.
Why is it so hard to write about him? Probably because I was in love with him for years. However, there was one night in particular that changed everything.
I’ve decided that Vince is my therapy homework this week.
“Hello?” I asked as I answered my cell phone without even looking at who was calling. I was in the middle of blow-drying my hair, so it couldn't have rung at a worse time.
“Hey, girl,” I heard Shey say on the other line.
“Oh Hey!”
“What time are you planning on getting there tonight? Cuz Vince has to spot me a couple of bucks and he can't get there till about eleven,” she said, with an annoyed tone in her voice.
“Um, I was planning on leaving here in about an hour. Why, what time are you getting there?”
“Well I'm all ready to go, so I was thinking I could swing by and pick you up and we could wait at my place until Vince is ready. He should probably carpool with us since the parking lot fills up fast.”
“Crap, I'm not completely ready yet, but I'll hurry!” I said as I quickly ran into my room and started to look through my tops. Geez, it was only nine-thirty.
“I'll text you when I'm there.”
“Thank you!” I shouted into the phone as I frantically pulled my velvet black and red rose-printed tank top off of the hanger.
“No problem. See you soon.”
I met Shey and Vince when we were working together at DaVinci's Pizza. With the slogan “Real Pizza, Real Price” I bet you can guess the quality of the food. We instantly bonded over our love of sarcasm and our hatred of our manager playing depressing country songs during the night shift.
With Shey on the way, I was instantly in double-time mode. I grabbed my semi-dirty silver paint-splattered denim shorts off the floor with one hand and grabbed my strapless bra with the other. As I walked into the bathroom to change, I thought about the night ahead. Shey, Vince, and I had finalized these plans while intoxicated at Denny's the night before. We decided to eat there after the strip club closed because of their cheap appetizers. We had to face it, we were broke. Unfortunately, the place we were going had a five-dollar cover charge. I managed to bum the money off of my brother so I didn't have to go by an ATM, and Shey had rounded up three dollars worth of change. Vince always had money on him because of his delivery tips, so he could spot the rest of the money.
Our night would consist of drinking and dancing at Club Legends, Fresno's most popular gay club, followed by an after-party at Shey's apartment. She had just received a new roommate, so we wanted to welcome him the only way we knew how: with alcohol. The reason for this particular club was that we had received an invite from Shey's love interest the night before when we visited her at work. I didn't remember much of the conversation because of all the beer running through my veins. However, I did remember that she really knew how to work the pole. Although this girl looked about seventeen years old, I quickly found out that she was in fact thirty-five years old, and she had a sixteen-year-old son. Who knew?
I was excited to finally go to Legends, though. Especially after my friends' failed attempt at taking me there on my birthday. That night, we had arrived only to quickly realize that none of us had enough to pay for the cover charge. It was unusually high on that particular night because of a Drag Show.
I walked into the bathroom and finished blow-drying my hair. Thank God I was having a good hair day. I hooked my strapless bra around my chest and slipped on my top. As I reached to put on my shorts, my phone's text message tone blared from my bedroom.
Shit! She's here already? I muttered to myself as I threw on the incredibly frayed shorts. I quickly exited the bathroom and ran to the front door to let her in.
“Hey girl, what's up?” Shey asked as she made her way up to the front porch. With her flawless and androgynous dark-skinned face and her small stature, she was often mistaken for a male by those who had just met her.
“Hey! I'm almost ready, I just have to put my shoes on. Come in”
“No problem.”
“I am so ready to dance!” I said as I slid on my knee-high black socks.
“Same, dude! I can't wait to get down with Mikayla,” she said as she smiled and stared up at the ceiling. I pulled on my brand new high-heeled brown leather boots and stood up very slowly to catch my balance. These babies were tall!
“Do I look like a hooker?” I asked while wobbling back and forth.
“Um,” She paused, as her eyes widened. “It might be a bit too much.” She was right, I looked like I walked right out of Pretty Woman.
“I'll just stick to my favorite shoes. They're easier to dance in anyways,” I said as I kicked off the boots, and pulled my black combat boots out of my closet. Sure I wore them way too much, but it was because they looked so damn good with everything. “Ok, I'm ready!”
“Awesome, we have to wait for Vince at my place, but he said it shouldn't be more than thirty minutes.”
“Sweet!”
We drove off and quickly began talking about the night ahead. It was quiet and the air was clear. We arrived and parked in front of her apartment complex, then walked up to the main entrance. The building was completely enclosed with an open courtyard and soared up four stories high. It was built to be student housing, and this couldn't have been more obvious with the giant pool and hot tub full of people playing chicken. Shey's apartment was located on the top floor which left me feeling extremely grateful for the flat shoes. We walked inside and sat down at her kitchen table and quickly turned on the radio to drown out the silence.
“Do you think this outfit looks good?” she asked as she stood up and began examining herself in the sliding glass door. She was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt with baggy jeans and a grey paperboy hat. This outfit wouldn't have looked good on anyone else, but against her masculine build it really seemed to work.
“Of course it does!” I said reassuringly. “But, if you're not feeling it, you're not feeling it. Trust me, I know the feeling.” It was true. Some outfits, no matter what anybody said, just didn't feel right.
“Maybe I should try what I was originally going to wear,” she said as she opened her bedroom door and disappeared into the closet. I couldn't see much of her room but it slightly resembled the lack of cleanliness in her car.
“Ooh, model it for me darling,” I uttered in a dramatic voice as I got up to pour myself a glass of water.
“Ok,” she said emerging from her room in a much-improved ensemble. The black long-sleeved undershirt and polo combination fit the occasion much nicer.
“That's the one!” I shouted, before slurping down my gigantic glass.
“Yeah, I'm feeling this one a lot more,” she said while examining herself again. “Let me text Vince and see where he is.” As she picked up her phone to send the message, I closed my eyes and listened to the music blasting from the radio. I could feel it begin to take me away into my own world.
“I wish he'd hurry up because I want to leave,” I said while tapping my foot to the beat.
“He better not be fucking serious.”
“What do you mean?”
“Before I could ask him where he was, he sent me a message saying that he was taking a shit.”
“Oh, my god?” I laughed as I abruptly stopped my foot tapping and slammed my hand down on the table. “He's just now taking a shit? He won't be here for like forty minutes!”
“This is bullshit, man,” she growled as she reached over and turned the music up louder. “Fuck it, let's dance.” I joined her in the kitchen and began to start moving to the beat. We danced and laughed for what seemed like only ten minutes until Shey received a message on her phone.
“Is it him?” I asked.
“Fuck yes!” she said as she shoved her phone into her pants pocket and swung on her coat. “Let's get the fuck out of here.” I practically flew down all four flights of stairs. I couldn't contain my excitement.
As we exited the building, we saw Vince's car pulled up against the curb.
“Hey, man!” Shey shouted as she ran up to greet him. It was looking a lot less clear outside than it had been earlier.
“What's up, yo?”
“Man, you're going to have to park in one of those parking lots over there,” she said as she pointed to some office buildings next to her apartment complex.
“Follow me then.” Shey and I quickly walked over to her car and got in. As I sat down, I felt an extremely awkward lump in my shorts. I pulled out my expired license and a wad of one-dollar bills and temporarily placed them in the cup holder. Expecting to feel immediate comfort, I was shocked to feel yet another object in my pocket.
“What's in there?” I asked myself as I dug into my pocket and pulled out a familiar object. “Oh my God, no way? Shey! I found my ID card!”
“What are you talking about, girl?” she asked as she pulled up next to Vince's car in the office parking lot next door.
“My ID card! You know, the one that I lost. Well, the one I thought I had lost. I could have sworn I dropped it at Old Town or something, but it was in this pocket the whole time!”
“Thank God, now you won't get hassled. I hear they have one of those ID scanners at Legends, so I don't think they would have let you in with your expired Driver's License.” Little did I know at that moment, but that ID in my shorts pocket allowed the night to propel forward for me, and that night changed my life forever.
“Get in the back!”
“Huh?” I asked as I looked up to see Vince outside of the car.
“Not you, Allie.” Shey laughed as Vince opened the car door and sat down in the back seat.
“So, when's the threesome gonna start?” he said as he buckled his seat belt.
“Are you sure you brought enough condoms for the whole night?” I shot back as I examined the ID in my hands.
“Just enough for us,” he retorted as he pulled a silver flask out of his jacket. Vince was the definition of my type. From the very first time I laid eyes on him on my very first day of work, I felt a flush of redness on my cheeks every time I would see his green Jetta parked out front. Vince was around my height, Hispanic, and had the most beautiful green eyes I had ever seen. His curly black hair fell like a cloud over his unconsciously seductive face.
I rolled my eyes and placed my ID into the cup holder with the rest of my things. “I also brought this for us.”
“Thank God,” I said. “I plan on getting wasted tonight. What's in there?”
“Tequila,” he said as he unscrewed the top and took a huge swig. He immediately began to cough and quickly asked Shey if she had any gum.
“You're in luck!” She smiled as she reached down and pulled a stick of gum out of her pocket.
“Dude, you're a lifesaver!” He shoved the gum in his mouth and began to chew loudly and dramatically.
“Don't hog that thing all to yourself,” I said as I reached back to grab the flask from his lap.
“Yo, did I say you could have some of that, yet?”
“No, but I did,” I responded coyly, as I opened the top and took three large gulps of tequila. The burning sensation traveled down my throat and instantly warmed my chest. It was the perfect combination for such a cold night. The aftertaste, on the other hand, knocked me out cold. “Gum, please!” I reached out to Shey as she placed a stick in my hand. The mint worked wonders in kicking away the awful taste.
“Best chaser in the world,” Vince said as he went on chewing.
We turned into a residential neighborhood and flew past the first stop sign. I had no idea where we were going, due to the fact that the one time I had been outside of Club Legends I was almost black-out drunk. My directional sense told me that we were heading South, but I had no time to read the street signs as we drove past them at a ridiculous speed. I popped my gum out and into my hand as I took another huge gulp from the flask. Shey and Vince started to talk about some people whom I had never met, so I didn't even bother to get in on the conversation. All I cared about was getting tipsy before I entered the club.
“Dammit!” Shey screamed as we pulled into the back parking lot of the huge nightclub. It was starting to look familiar now. “Excuse me, sir? Are there any more spots?” she asked as she rolled down her window and pulled up next to a security guard.
“Not that I'm aware of,” he said looking down at me strangely. It must have been because I was holding a chewed-up piece of gum in my hand. I popped it back into my mouth and watched as his face cringed even more. “You could try parking in front of those houses over there.” He pointed over to a neighborhood across the street. “Other people have started to do that.”
“Thanks,” she replied. We drove around toward the front of the building and observed the line of about twelve people waiting to get inside. Not too bad for a Friday night at almost eleven thirty.
“Should we take the flask in? Who has big pockets?” Vince asked after grabbing it back from me and taking another large swig.
“Dude, Hell no. They pat you down in there!” Shey shouted as we pulled up in front of a random house.
“Fuck, man,” he said as he threw the flask down on the seat. “Oh well, I have enough to buy a Heineken.”
I grabbed my ID and my cash and followed Shey toward the club. Vince came up beside me and I finally got a really good look at him. He was wearing khaki pants with a black shirt and a black leather jacket. He also had on a yellow and black checkered scarf and a hat that slightly resembled Shey's. It was an interesting outfit, but it worked for him.
We waited in line for about five minutes which was just enough time before I started to get too cold. As we walked in through the giant doors, I noticed how huge the place was. There were three separate rooms all divided by glass walls. The first section had a giant bar that extended from one side of the room to the other. The middle section had TV screens with live video streams of people dancing and about five pool tables. The last section was nothing but a huge dance floor with some tables and chairs and wall-to-wall mirrors. Instantly, a man wearing a patent leather zebra-printed jacket who slightly resembled Adam Lambert caught my attention. He was dancing with about three other guys, yet all he could do was check out his reflection.
“Yo,” Vince started, as he pulled me over toward him. “Does this outfit make me look gay?”
“Um, no?” I replied with a slight question in my voice. Did he want to look gay or something?
“Good, 'cause, I don't want no guys tryin’ to pick me up, ya know?”
“I think that's unavoidable,” I said examining his scarf. “You have the pretty face that gay men just swoon over.” I winked at him then walked over toward the counter to pay and get my hand stamped.
“If any of them try to hit on me, can you pretend to be my girl?” he asked as he once again tugged my arm to pull me close.
“Of course, I'll be your fake girlfriend, Vince,” I joked.
I arrived at the counter and handed the man my wad of money. He gave me a dirty look as he pulled apart the wrinkled dollars and counted them one by one. After forcefully shoving them into the cash register, he took my left hand and stamped it with what looked like a deformed happy face. We entered the room with the bar, and Shey and I exchanged smiles as we waited for Vince to order his Heineken. Almost immediately, an extremely flamboyant man appeared next to him out of nowhere and placed his hand around his side.
“Hey, Daddy,” the man winked as he leaned in. “Can I get you a drink?”
“Nah man, I'm good,” Vince muttered as he jerked back uncomfortably. The mystery man appeared to be very offended and quickly left. “What the Hell, yo? You're the worst fake girlfriend ever!”
“Sorry, I was just enjoying that too much!” I retorted. With a horrified look still on his face, Vince managed to order his beer and then followed us into the room with the dance floor. It was so crowded I didn't know if there would be room to squeeze in.
“Hey, Mikayla's friends are over there,” Shey shouted over the loud music as she pointed toward a table of familiar-looking people. I had met them all the night before, but I couldn't remember any of their names. I barely remembered their faces. We walked over and exchanged friendly greetings before dropping off our jackets and heading toward the dance floor. We managed to push our way through the large crowd after leaving Vince behind, and eventually ended up in the middle of the floor. The music was absolutely terrible, but I wasn't about to complain. Booze would make it tolerable.
“Where's Mikayla?” I shouted to Shey, barely audible over the loud stereo.
“I don't know. I'm gonna go look.” She turned around and made her way back to the table. Vince was awkwardly leaning against the wall drinking his beer, in fear that another man would try to hit on him.
“Aren't you going to dance?” I asked him before grabbing his beer and stealing a sip.
“Maybe after I have a few more of these,” he laughed. I joined in the laughter and handed him back his beer. I stood next to him and looked over at the crowd. Shey had managed to find Mikayla and at this point, they were dancing and smiling in their own little world right there on the dance floor.
“They're so cute,” I said to Vince.
“That's love right there, yo,” he said before finishing up his beer. Just as quickly as I could admire them, they stopped dancing and walked away in different directions. Shey came over to the table and quickly pulled me onto the dance floor with her.
“What is it?” I asked.
“She's fucking that tall chick,” she said angrily, pointing toward the girl who was now by Mikayla. As she held back tears, she uttered, “Can you believe that? Why'd she even invite me here?”
“Whoa, what are you talking about?”
“Mikayla, she's hooking up with that tall chick. You know, the one that was at the strip club last night?”
“What the Hell?” I shouted. “What a bitch!” I couldn't believe it.
“I need a drink, now,” she demanded as we walked back toward Vince.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Mikayla is hooking up with another girl. I'm fucking pissed, and I need a drink now.” Before Vince even had time to respond, she led us into the room with the bar and stopped right behind the counter. “Too bad I don't have money to spend on expensive ass bar alcohol.”
“Man, I got you,” Vince said as he pulled out his wallet. “What do you guys want?”
“Me too?” I asked.
“Yeah, can't leave ya hangin'.”
“Shoot, thanks man,” Shey said as her face started to light up. “Get us two Red-Headed Sluts.” Vince patiently waited behind the large crowd of drunk gay men until he could finally get the bartender's attention. He ordered our drinks and handed them to us with a look of satisfaction. I was so thankful to get some more alcohol in my system.
“Thanks so much, Vince,” I said before taking my first sip. It had a hint of cinnamon that burned my throat in the best possible way.
“Yeah, thanks man,” Shey said as she gulped down her entire drink. I stared at mine for a second, then did the same thing. Almost instantly, I felt a rush of inebriation and all I wanted to do was get back to the dance floor.
“Let's go!” I said as I tugged Shey's arm.
“Hold up girl, we gotta wait for Vince!” He appeared to be buying another Heineken. Thank God, maybe he would finally loosen up. He turned from the bar with his beer in hand and followed the very eager Shey and me to the dance floor. We managed to push our way into the middle of the large crowd and I instantly felt all of my inhibitions go out the window. I had somehow accumulated my jacket, even though I clearly remembered placing it down at the table with Mikayla's friends. It was becoming increasingly hot with every song that passed. The crowd became larger, and the dancing didn't slow down one bit. I felt beads of sweat dripping from my forehead, but I didn't care. After all, who was I trying to impress? The Adam Lambert wannabe?
“Have some,” Vince said as he handed me his beer. I grabbed it and gulped down as much as I could without choking. I handed it back to him while trying to keep my balance but the room began to spin uncontrollably. “Come here,” he said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me in close. I fed off the motion of his hips as I swayed back and forth against him. The heat from our two bodies made my jacket become so unbearable that I ripped it off and threw it at my feet. His hand grazed against my side and slowly moved down toward my hip. His touch felt so natural, I craved more. I turned my head to the side and looked deep into his big green eyes as his forehead met mine. I had a sudden urge to kiss him.
“Guys, let's get out of here,” Shey shouted above the blaring music. “I'm not feeling this. Let's head to Veni's.”
The high I was beginning to feel from Vince was immediately crushed as I snapped back to reality. What was I thinking dancing with Vince like that? We were friends, and even more so, we were coworkers.
“Let's do it, yo!” Vince replied as he reached down to pick up my jacket.
“Thanks.” I smiled as he handed it to me and flashed his seductive eyes. We pushed our way through the crowd and left the club. I was still so hot that I didn't even bother to put my jacket on.
“Shotgun!” Vince shouted as he ran up to the passenger car door.
“I'll be fine with that as long as you let me have that flask,” I said as I entered the backseat. I reached over and picked it up before taking a couple of large gulps. At this point, I didn't even need a gum chaser.
As we drove off toward the new club, Vince and I continuously passed the flask back and forth between the two of us. By the time we arrived in the parking lot of Veni Vidi Vici's, I was struggling to walk in a straight line. Shey ran in front of me and signaled for me to hop on her back. I jumped up on top of her and started giggling uncontrollably. Vince trailed behind us, laughing at the sight of our ridiculous piggyback ride. We managed to stumble across the street to Veni's and walked inside without creating too big of a scene.
Veni's was a small bar located in the Tower District that only became popular after 12 am. Luckily, it was about twelve-fifteen when we arrived. Vince and Shey instantly recognized a girl who was sitting down at a table in the corner with some friends. We joined them and started the typical meet and greets where no one was really paying attention to the names being said. I only remember the name of the girl they already knew. Her name was Nikki, and she was extremely pretty with gorgeous curly hair.
After exchanging names with everyone, Vince and Shey got up to move some of the other tables around. They cleared just enough space to create a small dance floor near the DJ spinning House Music in an awkward corner. As soon as the tables were out of the way, Vince started warming up to dance. I had been out dancing with him millions of times before, but I had still never seen him really dance. He taught break dancing classes at multiple schools around town, so I knew he had to be good. My buzz was still going strong, so I joined him on the floor and signaled to Shey to join us. Before she could, a short, middle-aged Asian man appeared in front of me.
“You like Sushi?” he asked with an extremely thick accent. I could barely understand if that was in fact what he had asked.
“Sushi? Yeah, I like it,” I replied, confused.
“I am Mr. Sushi!” he exclaimed. “You want me to buy you a drink?”
“Sure,” I replied.
“What do you want, girl?”
“Um, an AMF, please,” I said while continuing to dance in place.
His eyes narrowed. “What is an AMF?”
“Adios Motherfucker!”
“Ok, I will get you an Adios Motherfucker,” he laughed as he walked over to the bar. I was ecstatic that I was getting a free drink, however, I was not ecstatic about who was getting it for me. At least when the typical burly 'I'm so awesome' guys would buy me drinks, it wasn't so bad to have to flirt with them for a bit after. You know, so they didn't feel used. I was not too happy about having to potentially flirt with “Mr. Sushi.”
I looked over at Shey who was laughing hysterically at the whole situation and shot her a sarcastic thumbs-up. “At least it's a drink!” I shouted.
“Here you go, lady,” Mr. Sushi said as he handed me the blue drink. I took a sip before looking up to thank him, but when I did, he started to walk away.
“Well, that was weird,” I said to Shey. “He just handed me the drink and left.”
“Maybe it's Roofied!” Vince shouted from the dance floor.
“Don't say that! I won't want to drink it now!” I screamed. Who was I kidding, though? I definitely wanted to drink it. I took another few sips then joined Vince back on the dance floor.
Pretty soon, our small corner was overloaded with drunk people all attempting to “get down.” It was definitely the night of creepers. One, in particular, caught my attention when he came up behind me and proceeded to grind on my ass without any formal warning. I immediately turned around and started to dance backward in order to escape him. When he tried to follow me, he lost his balance and stumbled onto the ground.
“Oh, my God! Are you Ok?” I asked as I kneeled down next to him on the floor.
“Oh yeah, I'm all good,” he murmured as he attempted to get up before falling again. His ankle definitely looked twisted.
“Maybe you should go home,” I said, while simultaneously finishing the rest of my drink. As soon as I did, all of the lights came on and the music stopped. Was it really one thirty already?
“After party time!” Shey said as she came over and put her arm around me.
“Should we stop by the store to get more stuff to drink?” I asked while trying to catch my footing.
“Girl, I think you've had enough!” she laughed. She was probably right. Although only being a few months into the age of twenty-one made it hard to think of much else other than alcohol.
On the way back to the car, I managed to wave and say hello to at least five different strangers. I received mixed responses.
“Shotgun!” I shouted as I ran past Vince toward the front seat.
“Good, now I get to sit in the back with Vince,” Nikki joked as she climbed in the back seat. She was coming to join us for the after-party. I felt a sting of jealousy as they sat in the backseat together.
We drove off toward Shey's apartment, and by this time of night, the fog had rolled in, making it nearly impossible to see. I asked Shey if she was OK to drive, and she said she was. Maybe if I wasn't so intoxicated myself, I would have noticed her swerving, but her driving looked fine in my state of mind.
All of the front parking spaces were taken up by the time we arrived at her place, so we were forced to park behind the gated parking lot next to the complex. This meant only one thing: more walking. I stumbled getting out of the car, which led to Vince and Shey having to prop me up between them. We carried on walking like this for only a few minutes until I received a sudden burst of energy and galloped ahead of the group. I made it to the main entrance before everyone else, so I began to twirl around and dance to amuse myself.
“You're crazy,” Vince said as he flashed me a wink. The rest of the group made their way up to the door, and Shey slid her key card through to let us inside. I wanted to take the stairs because of all my built-up drunken energy, but they insisted on taking the elevator. I couldn't stop moving, it was ridiculous. The elevator ride up to the fourth floor seemed like an eternity as we stood in silence. When we finally made it to the apartment, we didn't hear the loud music we were expecting. We made our way inside to find one guy passed out on Shey's couch, and a random girl sitting in a chair, staring out the sliding glass door.
“Some party,” Nikki whispered.
“What the Hell is this?” Shey demanded. The guy who appeared to be unconscious on the couch suddenly woke up to the sound of our loud voices.
“Hey!” he shouted from under his blanket. “You guys missed it! Oh man, it was awesome.”
“We missed the party?” I asked as I examined him. He looked really familiar but I couldn't put a name to the face.
“Yeah, everyone else is asleep. It's just us now.” He pointed to the girl sitting in the chair. She was still looking out the window and hadn't said a word to us.
“There any booze left, man?” Vince asked as he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter.
“Nah, we had a little too much fun. It was really...”
“I know you!” I interrupted, as his name finally clicked in my head. “Jesse, right? Clovis West High School class of '07?”
“Yep! I totally recognized you dude. I thought you looked familiar,” he said as he took off his blanket and finally sat upright. “I don't remember your name though.”
“Allie,” I replied. Normally I would have been offended by someone not remembering my name, but I guess since I didn't remember his either so it was only fair.
“That's right, Allison!” he said as a huge smile came across his face. No one but teachers had called me by my real name in high school, so I looked at him with a slightly confused expression.
“Yep! So anyway, there's no booze?” I asked, as I quickly ended the conversation with Jesse and walked over to join Vince in the kitchen. I slowly unwrapped the scarf from around his neck and drunkenly placed it over my shoulders. “I like scarves.”
“I can see that,” he said as he grabbed one end of the dangling scarf and pulled me in close. I stared at him for a few seconds and examined his face. He was absolutely gorgeous. I tried to think of something to say to break up the silence, but nothing came out. Instead, I continued to stare. Our eyes only left each other to blink. I didn't know whether or not it was a good idea, but I knew that I wanted to kiss him. Luckily, he seemed to share these thoughts, because he leaned in and kissed me, right there in the kitchen. Right there in front of everyone.
“Woo hoo!” Shey shouted, completely ruining the moment. I quickly realized that everyone in the apartment was watching us. My cheeks turned bright red as I took off the scarf and placed it back around Vince's neck. “Oh no, don't let us stop you!” she joked. I repositioned myself against the counter and folded my arms against my chest. Sure, I felt a little awkward, but I wasn't going to let everyone else know that.
The next hour at the apartment consisted of me accidentally trapping myself in Shey's bathroom multiple times, Jesse falling asleep and reawakening over and over again (each time seeming confused why there were people over), Shey gossiping and filling Nikki in on the whole Mikayla situation, and Vince and I sneaking into the hallway every few minutes to continue doing what we had been doing in the kitchen.
“Well, I'm sorry to bail so early but I'm so exhausted, Shey, you have no idea,” Nikki said as she stood up from the table and stretched her arms above her head.
“No worries girl. You gotta talk to Vince though, he's the one driving you home,” Shey replied. At the sound of his name, Vince quickly made his way into the front room.
“You ready to take me home, Vince?”
“Most definitely, yo,” he replied.
Shit, I didn't have my car because Shey had picked me up from my house. “Hey, you wanna give me a ride home too? Unless you wouldn't mind?” I asked as I looked back and forth between Vince and Shey.
“No problem, yo.” He winked at me, just as he had earlier in the night. I felt a flutter in my stomach. Oh, wait. Was I about to puke?
“Awesome, I just have to use the bathroom first,” I said as I stumbled down the hallway.
“Don't lock yourself in again!” Shey joked.
I walked into the bathroom and shut the door. The flutter had gone away. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. The alcohol running through my veins was blocking all common sense from reaching my brain. I had one thing on my mind, and it was Vince. I opened a blank text message and began typing. “You should take Nikki home first, just saying.” I sent the message to Vince, then slowly made my way back to the kitchen. When I walked up to him, he shot me a look that instantly told me he agreed with my idea. We exchanged hugs with Shey and thanked her for suggesting such an awesome night. Then we made our way out to the parking lot.
The drive from Shey's place seemed like only minutes. I was still a little tipsy, But I was beginning to sober up. We dropped Nikki off at her apartment complex and said our goodbyes. I drunkenly mumbled to her, thanking her for being “such an awesome person” and then took over her place in the passenger seat. We drove off in the direction of my house, and as soon as we pulled up in front, a very heavy and awkward silence fell over the car. It stayed like this until I asked him, “Do you want to come in?”
“Sure,” he smiled. He followed me up the walkway and waited patiently as I struggled to unlock the door. I warned him to be quiet because I knew my dad would be waking up at any minute. He had a routine of getting up around 5 am every Saturday morning to watch Tombstone.
We made it to my room without making too much noise and instantly lay down on the bed. We began exchanging light conversations, but that quickly became a big problem when I could not contain my volume.
“Yo, you gotta be quiet,” Vince whispered with a smile.
“Oops!” I giggled. I rolled my body over into the fetal position. “I'm so cold. I swear, I must be cold-blooded or something. I'm like, a salamander.”
“What the fuck is a salamander?” he laughed.
“You don't know what a salamander is?” Was he serious?
“I honestly have no clue, yo.”
“Well, it looks kind of like a slimy lizard,” I said while holding up my hands to mimic the size.
“So, it's a lizard?”
“No! It's an amphibian!” I retorted angrily. “It's like a frog, with a tail.”
“You're crazy, dude,” he laughed.
“I'm not crazy!”
“You're right, you're not. You're my little salamander,” he said as he pulled me in close. Without even thinking twice, I leaned in and kissed him. It was a sloppy buzzed kiss, but that didn't make it any less amazing. As I continued to kiss him, I felt his hand reach down and tug on my shirt. I got the hint and sat up slowly to pull it up and over my head. As soon as I threw it on the floor, I reached up and removed his shirt as well. I had always assumed that he would have a great body, but I never imagined it would be this incredible. The sight of his chiseled chest nearly made my heart stop. I ran my fingers over it a few times until he leaned over on top of me and began to kiss me, starting at my neck, and slowly moving to my lips. His touch felt like pure ecstasy. Begging for more, I reached my hand up and began to unbutton his pants. However, my coordination was a bit off.
“Here,” he smirked. “Let me help you with that.” He gave me a long kiss and then reached down to undo the button and pull down his zipper.
