The Romeo Club

My eyes widened as I took in Trey’s tall frame and messy hair. He wore a black tux, with red bowtie and vest. His face lit up with a smile when he saw me. I swallowed hard, trying not to stare.

“Hey, you clean up nice,” I said when we made our way over to them.

He grinned. “Thanks. You too.”

A small thrill went through me, when I noticed his gaze linger on the slit in my dress. My mind wandered to our almost kiss and I instantly chastised myself. You’re here with Rex. Don’t act like such a slut.

Portia clung to Trey’s arm and she smiled. Of course, she was gorgeous in her red and black gown. Her dark hair was piled atop her head in an elegant twist, a diamond and ruby bracelet secured on her wrist.

“Delyla, so good to see you,” she said.

“You too.” I pasted a fake grin on my face. How long would I have to keep this up?

“Damn, my mom’s already starting.” Rex stared at Mrs. Tallac, who waved for him to come over. Next to her, I saw Portia’s parents do the same. “Listen, I’ll be right back. If she keeps me too long, feel free to look around.”

“Sure.”

He and Portia hurried across the room.

“Well, this ought to be fun.”

Trey raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, somehow I don’t think so.” He grabbed a cracker with some weird meat or something on it. “What do you think this is?”

I giggled. “Um—I have no idea. Could be bologna spread or shrimp paste, or maybe it’s mice scrotum.”

Trey sputtered, nearly spitting the cracker out of his mouth. “Nice. You’re sick.”

We wandered around the food tables, admiring the chocolate fondue fountain and fruit cut into intricate shapes of stars and flowers. There were various crackers, cheeses, and spreads. Pastries filled glass dishes, and beside those sat tiny cakes covered in chocolate and strawberry drizzles.

“Sorry about that.” Rex joined me again. “I swear, my parents think I care about the president of their bank or their new ambassador friend from Cairo.”

“It’s fine. Besides, it gave me a chance to pig out on the cream puffs,” I teased.

He rested his head against mine. “You don’t know how bad I want to kidnap you and go back to my house so we can be alone.”

My stomach knotted. I hoped that wasn’t what he had planned for tonight because I wasn’t ready for his idea of alone, which I’m sure included shedding our clothing and jumping into his bed.

Rex grabbed a new glass of punch and right when he was ready to take a sip, his mother waved for him again. “Son of bitch. This is gonna be a long night.”

He pasted a smile on his face and went to join his family again. Portia did the same.

“So what do you say we explore this place?” Trey put his cup down on a nearby table.

“Maybe we can figure out where all their bathrooms are,” I said.

Trey offered me his arm and we moved through the crowd. All around us, I listened to people talk about sports cars, expensive trips to Paris, diamonds, and who was wearing what designer.

We snuck down the hall, where we found a ginormous bathroom that had a walk in shower, which could’ve fit my whole soccer team. And don’t get me started on the tub, which was the size of a small wading pool.

“Holy crap, what do they do, swim laps in here?” I glanced at Trey.

“Don’t worry, if you decide to take a bath, I’ll be your lifeguard so you don’t drown.”

We snickered and continued our tour. We found the home theatre. It had enough seats to fit like fifty people in it. “So what kind of movies do you think they watch?”

“Only ones with subtitles. Or maybe he’s in the porn business and this is where they preview the shows.”

“Ew, you’re totally sick.” We raced up the aisles and down the hall to a pair of French doors, which led out onto a deck. “Wow, check out the size of this yard.” Down below a pool sparkled under the moonlight. Cool night air licked at my exposed skin and I inhaled deeply.

“There are so many stars out tonight.” Trey leaned against the railing next to me.

“It’s beautiful.” I sighed. “Hey, do you want to go into the yard? Maybe we can find something to do.”

He clutched my hand and we went down the stairs. When we reached the bottom, I slid my heels off letting the grass squish between my toes.

“There’s an outdoor building right there.” Trey pointed to the shed next to the pool house.

I ran across the yard and tugged open the door. Inside, I found every type of sporting equipment imaginable. Footballs, basketballs, tennis rackets, Frisbees, lawn darts, croquet mallets, and a soccer ball. Without hesitating, I grabbed the soccer ball.

“How about a game?” I said.

“Can you play in that dress?”

“Don’t worry about me.” I snorted. “More like can you play in that suit?”

“Those are fighting words.” He stripped off his jacket and dress shoes. “Let’s do this.”

I tossed the ball up in the air and did a header, which flew over Trey. We raced after it. I cut in front of him and got the ball between my feet and dribbled. “Where are our goals?”

“The shed can be yours, mine will be the gate for the pool,” Trey said as he caught up to me.