Chapter 1
917 Words
A few days after I gave Andre Carlson my first time, my brother hit me up out of the blue and asked me to come out for dinner.
My eyes burned as I stared at Andre.
Not even that long ago, he'd been breathing right in my ear, swearing he'd take care of me for the rest of our lives. But right then, he was sitting there, cheeks flushed bright red, peeling shrimp for another girl.
My brother had no clue what was going on.
He grinned and asked, "Jealous? Finally, in the mood to start dating?"
I bit back the tears stinging in my eyes and nodded with a bright, forced smile. "Yeah, bro. The family's been nagging me nonstop about this really great guy they want to set me up with, right?
"I'm ready to meet him."
The bowl Andre was holding clatters to the floor with a sharp clink all of a sudden.
A waiter hurried over and swept up all the broken porcelain shards scattered across the ground.
My brother shot him with a confused look. "Dude, you got a girlfriend now and suddenly can't even hold a bowl steady?"
The flash of panic on Andre's face vanished so fast I almost thought I'd imagined it.
He looked totally calm and collected, a tiny smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Yep."
Cindy Blake gazed up at him shyly, her eyes soft as spring water.
"Shut up."
Andre leaned back against his chair, resting one arm loosely on the back of Cindy's chair, right behind her shoulders.
It looked like he was caging her right up against his chest.
He glanced down at her, every inch the doting boyfriend.
"You don't like me saying that? Hm?"
Cindy gave him a playful, indignant shove.
My brother covered his face and yelled that they were being a total couple of show-offs, too mushy to look at.
I just kept my head down and shoveled food into my mouth as fast as I could.
I didn't even notice that Andre kept glancing over at me every few seconds.
My brother circled back to the earlier topic.
"Sonia, are you for real about that just now? If you're not messing with me, I'll hit up that bastard, Rohan Smith, and set up a meeting later, yeah?"
I clenched my spoon so tight my knuckles whitened, took a small sip of soup, then forced a bright smile.
"Of course, I'm serious. Seeing how sweet Andre and Cindy are together makes me want to find someone too."
I laid extra emphasis on the word "sweet", and Andre froze mid-scoop of soup.
Then he turned to Cindy, his voice soft as silk. "Be careful, it's hot."
My brother laughed out loud. "Hell yeah, that's the spirit. It's normal for a girl your age to want to get married soon. I'll text Rohan as soon as we get back."
Clang!
The sharp clatter of a spoon hitting the table rang out sharply.
Andre's voice was low and gruff. "Sorry, slipped."
Cindy grabbed his hand worriedly. "You didn't burn yourself, did you?"
My brother groaned again about how they were shoveling PDA down everyone's throats, saying he never should've dragged me out for this impromptu meal and made me suffer through all the couple's nonsense with him.
Cindy's face flushed as bright as a pink sunset after rain.
When the meal was almost over, Cindy stood up and said she needed to use the restroom.
My brother got a phone call saying he had to go move his car.
All of a sudden, Andre and I were the only two left at the table.
He flicked a lighter on and off lazily, one eyebrow raised in a mocking lift.
"Sonia Duke, look at you, all grown up and bold now. You've picked up that whole playing-hard-to-get trick, huh?"
Even an i***t could hear the sharp, hostile edge in his voice.
The bitterness I'd just forced down came surging back, filling my entire chest.
My heart felt like it was being squeezed tight in a giant fist, raw and aching so bad I could barely breathe.
I forced my mouth open, yanking up a wobbly half-smile.
"Oh, so what? One rule for you, another for everyone else?"
Andre's lips twitched, like he was about to say more.
But then Cindy came into view.
He tossed out two hasty lines over his shoulder.
"Don't overthink this. I'll explain when we get back."
Then he left me sitting there cold, stood up, and headed straight over to greet Cindy.
Cindy said her supervisor needed to see her, so she had to head back to campus.
Andre nodded like he got it, curled an arm around her waist, and got ready to walk her home.
Cindy glanced over at me, her eyes soft with apology.
"Catch you later, little Sonia!"
I shook my head and told her it was fine.
Andre kept looking over his shoulder again and again as they walked out, but I just stared down at my lap, refusing to meet his eyes.
My brother came back after moving the car, and blinked in confusion when he saw I was the only one left at the table.
"Where'd that bastard Andre go? He said he'd pay for this meal! Did he really just ditch and skip out on the bill?"
I didn't answer.
He didn't notice how off I was, just grabbed his coat and headed up to the register to pay.
- Writer
