Only The Beginning

Chapter One - Bianca

 

“Fuck, you have great tits.”

I checked my watch. Wow. What a compliment, and not even ten minutes into the date. I fought to keep from rolling my eyes, and instead, smiled tightly at the dickhead sitting across the table from me.

He was a handsome dickhead, with his dirty-blond hair and chiselled jaw. His collared white shirt clung to a muscular frame, tanned skin on display where he’d left several buttons undone. Not just several. Half his shirt, really. I could see the tops of his abs. He obviously thought it was sexy, and maybe his shit come-on lines, if that was what that had been, worked on some people. Maybe he just flashed that fake white smile, told women their tits were great, and they threw their underwear at him.

Vomit.

“You wanna get outta here?” he asked, voice smooth as silk.

“What?” I stuttered. Was he serious? Our waiter had barely had time to take our entree order. “What about dinner?”

He shrugged, and then one eye kind of half closed, and he went back to smirking at me.

I stifled a laugh. Was that supposed to be a sexy wink? It looked more like an eye twitch. Suddenly, I regretted every single one of my life choices that had led to this moment.

“Sure, we can eat. If you really want.”

What I really wanted was a drink. And to yell at my best friend for making me come on a ridiculous Tinder date anyway. I should have known better than to take advice from someone who had been with her husband for ten years and had probably never even downloaded a hookup app.

“Excuse me for a moment.” I picked up my bag and carried it to the bathrooms, pulling out my phone while I locked the stall door behind me. At least it was nice in here. The tiles were black marble, or at least imitation marble, and the fittings glinted silver under chrome lights. Sitting on the closed lid of the toilet, I called Reese.

“I hate you,” I moaned when she answered.

“What did I do?”

“You made me come on this stupid date! The guy’s opening line was to tell me my tits were great, and he’s already giving me the come-on. He’s probably going to ask me for anal before we even get to dessert at this rate.”

Reese snorted on her laugh. But I was serious, so it didn’t seem all that funny. “I should have never come.”

That sobered her. “Why not? You keep telling me there’s nothing between you and Ri—”

“Don’t say his name!” I cut her off, imagining one hand on her hip and a frown creasing the space between her eyebrows.

She sighed. “B, he’s one of our best friends. His name is going to come up.”

“No, he’s one of your best friends.”

“Come on, you know that’s not true. He cares about you, and you care about him, in some weird, demented sort of way. Not that anyone else would know it with the way you two go at each other like pit bulls in a dogfight.”

I sighed. She was right. But I wished she’d stop. She was only making things worse. Every time his name was said out loud, all it did was make me think about the last time we’d been together. And all the times before that.

“You’re thinking about him, aren’t you? B, you gotta stop this. You and Riley—”

“Aaaah!”

She was rolling her eyes for sure.

“Fine. You and the man who shall not be named, you can’t keep doing whatever the hell you’ve been doing for the past ten years. Just tell him you love him and live happily ever after already.”

Jeez, she was over the top. And I was supposed to be the actress. Maybe I should get her a job on my show. “You said it yourself, Reese. All we do is fight.”

“And fuck.”

My cheeks heated at the thought. Yes. We fucked. A lot.

“We don’t work. We can barely be in the same room as each other without a screaming match breaking out. Yeah, there’s chemistry there. There always has been. We scratch an itch for each other from time to time. But chemistry isn’t the grounds for a relationship.”

There was a moment of silence, then, “I know.”

“Are you pouting?” I asked with a laugh. I knew our friends wanted Riley and me to get our shit together, but it was never going to happen. There was nothing between us. Nothing but history. And history should stay in the past. “Look, I’m ditching this date.”

“No, wait. Stop. You know I’m Team Riley but I’m also Team Bianca. Tell me, once and for all, there’s really nothing there between you two, and I will never mention it again.”

Ugh, the woman was exasperating sometimes. “There’s nothing between us,” I said truthfully. “I mean it, Reese. I need you to have my back. You know I have no willpower around him. I need a boyfriend. I wouldn’t still be having casual sex with him if I had someone else. That’s why you made me come here, remember?”

“Right. No more sleeping with Riley. I shall never speak of the two of you again. Now get back out there and give that guy a proper chance. Maybe he was just nervous.”

I doubted the dickhead had ever been nervous. And I also doubted Reese would never speak of Riley and me again. I’d told her just last week that I was done giving in to my basic urges, which was why I’d agreed to come on a Tinder date. Riley and I hadn’t dated in ten years. It was time to put whatever we were to each other to bed. To start acting like grown adults. Not horny twenty-somethings who hated each other but couldn’t keep their hands to themselves.

But goddammit. Was the dickhead waiting for me in the restaurant really the answer? Riley and I might have spent years arguing, but he’d never leered at me the way Dickhead had.

“Okay, I’m going back to deal with Prince Not So Charming.” I laughed, though it sounded fake even to my own ears.

I said goodbye to Reese and pushed open the bathroom door. I’d been in there for ages and I semi hoped my date might have given up and gone home. I slid my bag strap up on my shoulder, flicked my hair back off my face, and lifted my head.

And froze. My gaze collided with familiar brown eyes, and heat swept through my body like a wildfire. I swore quietly under my breath.

Riley.

This was exactly why he was the man who should not be named. Because everything about him, his name, his beautiful face, his smouldering gaze—everything about him scrambled my senses. I’d never been able to think straight around him. There had always been something between us. Something so damn strong it had a force of its own. Something strong enough that it had withstood ten years.

I faltered. Images of the last time we’d been together flashed in front of my eyes. His lips on my neck. My legs wrapped around his back. His cock buried deep inside me and my orgasm roaring through my core.

Fuck.

I had to stop this. My date was waiting for me. And, with a start, I noticed Riley was on a date of his own. The realisation hit me like a punch to the stomach. The woman across from him chatted happily, not seeming to notice that he’d been staring at me since I’d walked out of the bathroom. Jealousy flared in my chest. It wasn’t like we kept each other updated on our lives, but surely Reese would have told me if he was seeing someone. Her husband was his best friend after all. She had to have known…

I couldn’t stop staring, his eyes holding me to the spot. The air between us crackled with an energy so tangible I could practically see it. I shook my head slightly. Get a grip. He wasn’t mine. He hadn’t been mine in so long, I had no right to be jealous. Dragging my gaze away from him, I pulled back my shoulders and made my way to my table.

I knew he was watching me. And despite knowing I shouldn’t, I liked it.