Not Even Close (A New Generation) by Elizabeth Reyes (books to read in a lifetime txt) 📗

As she watched the married administrator at the lab carry on withthat guy in a way that Vannah too was now certain they were having a full-blownaffair, she shook her head, then cringed. She remembered Byron’s reactions today.Both the more subtle when she mentioned cooking for lots of guys and then theall-out blatant one when she said there was another guy she had to meet upwith. And this was before he’d kissed her. She didn’t want to get ahead ofherself but if things moved forward between them and they became a couple shecould not even imagine being brave or even stupid enough to sneak aroundon him. As little as she knew about him so far, she didn’t even have to wonderif he’d react violently, possibly frightening, to anything that disrespectful froma girl he’d just met or even one he was seeing, but his wife.

Despite the distraction of watching Mrs. Diaz and her secret lover,mostly all Vannah could think of was what’d she’d be doing in a few hours andwith who. So, she left early to go obsess about what she’d wear. She didn’twant to overdo it, but she didn’t want to look sloppy either.

Surprisingly, she settled on something to wear fairly quickly.She’d forgotten about the denim shorts romper she hadn’t worn in a while. Itwas cute and sexy at the same time. Xochitl had said it was figure flatteringbecause it hugged her body just so but not slutty because it wasn’t too tightor too short.

Since she was done early, she decided maybe she should packsnacks. Looking in the fridge to see what she could put together. There wasn’ta whole lot to work with but thankfully Vannah had skills. She quickly made somechorizo quesadillas with an impromptu avocado salsa she threwtogether with the few things they had in the fridge and pantry. They had a halfbag of tortilla chips in the pantry that she grabbed and threw in along witheverything else to the beach bag. Perfect finger foods they could munch onwhile they sat on the beach.

Vannah still wasn’t sure what to make of Byron’s “associate” remarkin his check-in text. It could’ve been a harmless teasing comment. But she wasback to wondering if the text before the call with the invitation had all been calculated.Was it his low-key forewarning for her not to start expecting too much?

According to what Vannah was still telling Xochitl it’s all shewanted. Though her ongoing quivering insides and unabashed pounding heart,every time she remembered those kisses were telling a whole other storyalready. Vannah made a few subtle comments reminding Xochitl how she wasn’t lookingto get into anything serious with anyone. Mostly she was desperate to prepare heroverly excited heart for the worst—that Byron had taken her statements to heart,and it was the only reason why he kissed and asked to see her again. Whilehe’d been eyeing her for weeks and was obviously attracted to her, it wasn’tuntil her full disclosure about not being into the relationship thing and only hadfriends that he decided to make a move. That said a lot. Vannah wasn’tabout to ruin any chance of fun with the hottest man who’d ever kissed her.

The more she thought about it, the more it made perfect sense.Why he hadn’t bothered to approach her before Friday night, when she’d approachedhim. Clearly, he’d already pegged her as young and naïve, this being her firsttime away from mommy and daddy, after all. He probably thought tryinganything with her before Friday night would be more trouble than it was worth.A man like Byron was in no way looking for a clingy little college freshman whomight get her heart broken. But hooking up with a young girl who was all for agood time with no strings attached he was willing to do. Sticking to her planof enjoying her college years, she’d made her decision. Especially after thosekisses. She was going for it and there’d be no looking back. No regrets.

Vannah laid it on a little thick when discussing it with Xochitl thatevening. She was all for this even if it turned out to be just a meaninglessfling. But she had a feeling Xochitl wasn’t buying that the idea of anything realhappening between her and Byron didn’t excite the hell out of her. Still, herfriend’s advice was, if the subject of relationships were to come up again tojust stick with her first story.

“Just be cool if it comes up again. You don’t have to be allbitchy about it like, no I am not looking for anything serious, so back off!You can just reiterate that you’re okay with just trying to focus on schoolin case you’re worried he might be thinking a few kisses has you all twistedalready.”

Vannah had scoffed at that last statement, though it was soawkwardly ingenuine, she’d caught her friend smirking. As bold and in-your-faceas Xochitl had been during her forthright pep talk about how Vannah should handleByron, she was quick to run to her room when the knock at the door came thatevening.

“I just can’t face him this soon, Vannah. I’m still soembarrassed.”

With a nervous chuckle Vannah promised her roomie she’d check inthe moment she got a chance. Inhaling deeply as she peeped through the peephole in her front door, she wondered how in the world the man got bigger eachtime she saw him.

“Hey,” she said smiling as she opened the door.

Byron took her in with an equally broad smile. “Hey.” To hersurprise he immediately reached for her hand and tugged her to him. “You lookgood.”

In the next second, she was pressed against his big hard body andhis lips were on hers. Just like it’d happened earlier that day, she fell intoa heavenly trance as his mouth devoured hers for what felt like forever and yetit was over too soon. He leaned his forehead against hers, his big arm wrappedaround her waist, as she felt him take in as deep a breath. “You ready?”

“Yeah.”  The breathless word was a near whisper as her eyesgravitated to his tongue licking his bottom lip.

Inhaling deeply, Vannah’s eyes traveled