Page 17 of Deeper

“I’m serious.”

He leaned close, his nearness causing me to catch my breath. “I am too.”

My first one-night stand was with Zander Khalil. And I was his first, too.

Why did that make me feel special?

That famous Sam Smith song started to play in my head and I felt tempted to ask Zander if it was in his as well.

“My privacy means everything to me. I hope you’ll be discreet,” Zander said gently.

“It never happened.”

He rolled his tongue across his upper lip, his eyes drinking me in slow. “Oh, it happened, but only between us.”

His level of flirting, of attention, was stifling. Leaving was imperative, but staying for another go at it—

I forced myself to walk up to the door and open it, going and seeing myself out. I peeked back at the singer behind me, the singer not hiding the fact that he’d been staring at my ass. “Have a nice day.”

“You as well.”

To smooth things over, just a little, I said, “I…I’m sorry I slapped you last night.”

“Under the bridge.”

It felt like we were ending better than we started. “By the way, my people call meBia.”

I turned, ready to go over to the elevator.

“Bianka.” I turned around as he spoke up, defiantly using my full first name. “Thanks for coming out to my show.” A light chuckle rolled off of his breath, and then there was that grin again.

A soft smile curled my lips up. “Fuck you, Zander.”

He shut the door and I walked over to the elevator.

Fucking boy bands.

When I made it back to my apartment, I found a folded sheet of paper taped to the door. Instantly I grimaced as I snatched it off and read over its contents.

Due to a water leak, we will be shutting off the water supply tomorrow, Mon May 29th from 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. for repairs. Sorry for the inconvenience. –Management

Someone must’ve stuck it on my door sometime after I’d left for the venue with Tori. Even still, I crumbled the paper in my hand and shook my head, sick of this shit. The staff at my apartment complex was notorious for these last-minute and totally inconvenient notices. Thank God I’d missed that time slot and showered at the hotel.

Inside, I turned on my kitchen sink, the familiar sounds of pipes groaning and vibrating as the hot water supply came to life greeting me, as well as the stop and start of the water jetting out of the faucet.

I hated living here, but it was the most I could afford working one jobandhaving a car.

After the water was back to normal, coming out in steady streams, I leaned against the counter in my bathroom, thinking. I debated with myself on whether or not to actually text Zander.I could wash my hands of the situation and be free of the whole event. But still, since Zander was nice enough to want to know of my safety, I did manage to send him a simple text message.

Home safe. Thx, Bianka

Pleasure meeting you…

There, it was done. And it was time for a nap.

I only accomplished gaining an hour of sleep before loud knocking at my front door woke me up. Dressed in an old T-shirt, I climbed out of my bed and left my bedroom to go and see who was over at such an offending hour.

Victoria.

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