The One After [SHAWN MENDES]

Chapter 8

I'd just stepped into the elevator when Shawn appeared and put his hand on one of the doors to hold it open.

"You're not leaving already are you?" he asked.

I noticed he had a tiny bit of frosting in the corner of his mouth. "You've got some stuff..." I said as I pointed to it. He used his tongue to lick it off and my heart skipped a beat. "As for leaving, I'm tired, so yes, I thought I'd go back to my room."

He frowned. "Without saying goodbye?"

"You were occupied, but I was going to text you once I got in bed."

"Come back to the party, party girl," he said in a very sexy voice. "I'm sorry I haven't spent much time with you, but I'm always pulled in a million directions at these things. I didn't mean to neglect my special guest."

It was tempting, but he was pretty drunk and moreover, he'd been distraught about Camila not coming, which made it clear that I was his second choice at best. Given that he hadn't spoken more than fifty words to me me, I questioned why he'd invited me at all. Still, I needed to be gracious since he'd been so generous. I placed a hand on his arm. "I understand and it's fine. I really enjoyed the night."

He stepped inside the elevator. "What floor?"

"Five, but you don't have to escort me to my room."

"It's the least I can do," he said.

When we got to my door, I fumbled through my clutch for the key card. "Thank you for inviting me and for flying me here and getting me a room at this luxurious hotel," I said as I looked up at him. I was tall, but he still towered over me.

"We don't have to say goodnight." He took a step closer to me and leaned forward until his lips brushed mine in a brief kiss.

"What about your party," I whispered as I fought the urge to pull him in so I could kiss him deeper.

"No one will miss me if I'm gone for a little while."

So he wanted to come in my room, fuck me, and then leave? That felt super cheap, and alarms were going off in my head. "You've had a lot to drink, so I think you should go back to the rooftop, get a coffee, and enjoy the end of the night."

He moved a curl from my face and kissed my jaw. "Lucy," he breathed in my ear, "I'm not that drunk. I can still make you very very happy."

More temptation, but I needed to stay strong. "Not tonight, but maybe some other time."

He abruptly pulled away, and I was worried he was pissed until he spoke. "Are we still on for coffee tomorrow?"

"I'd love that, but it needs to be early. The driver is picking me up at nine-thirty."

"I'll come get you at eight. Sleep well," he said before giving me a half smile.

"Goodnight," I told him as I watched him walk to the elevator.

As soon as I got inside my room, I flung myself on the bed and moaned loudly, which ironically was what I might have been doing if I'd let him in. "Why am I making this so hard?" I asked myself. "I had the chance to fuck him and turned him down again!"

I got up, took off my clothes, removed all my makeup, brushed my teeth, and switched my messy bun to a ponytail before setting the alarm on my phone for seven. Then I crawled under the covers and let the night replay in my head. The whole thing had been kind of surreal. It was a nice party, and I was glad I came, but the night wasn't as memorable as I'd hoped it would be.

It would have been memorable if I'd had sex with Shawn, but was that the memory I wanted to create with him? A fast drunken fuck before he rejoined his family and friends would have left me feeling empty. I wasn't stupid enough to think we'd truly connect if we fooled around, plus I'd fantasized about have a whole night with him- not twenty minutes. I'd definitely made the right decision, even though I suspected I wouldn't get another opportunity. I'd turned him down twice and it was unlikely he'd open himself to more rejection from the same woman.

Was he up on the roof right now hitting on someone else? I'd watched him, and he hadn't blatantly flirted with any of the female guests. Then again, he didn't flirt with me until we were alone, so maybe that wasn't his style. I had the sneaking suspicion he would have behaved differently if Camila was there and she would have had every second of his attention. How weird would that have been for me?

I fell asleep as confused thoughts swam through my head, and it felt like no time had passed when my alarm woke me.

After taking a quick shower and blowing my hair dry, I put on a little makeup and got dressed in the black jeans and halter top I'd decided on the day before. I slipped my feet into a pair of all-white Converse before packing my bag and checking over the room for anything I might have left behind.

Shawn didn't show up at eight, and half an hour later, I was certain he wasn't coming at all. Maybe that's what I got for brushing him off, or perhaps he found someone who was willing to get in bed with him and was still with her. I waited until nine, just to be safe, and then took my bag down to the lobby where I got myself a latte and a croissant at Neighbors, the small café in the hotel.

While I sipped my coffee, I got a text from Shawn.

I'm so sorry

Woke up feeling sick

Are you still here?

For no reason other than having hurt feelings, I left him on read and waited for the driver to come get me.

I arrived at my apartment around three in the afternoon and was greeted by Inky. "Did you miss me?" I asked her, and she rubbed herself on my legs in response.

After unpacking everything, I collapsed on my sofa and checked my phone for any new messages, though there was no reason for Shawn to reach out when I hadn't replied before. Both Briya and Fallon texted earlier wanting to know how my night was, but I was in no mood to talk about it.

Since it wasn't that late, I logged onto my work computer and spent several hours on my accounting work, paying bills for my dad and uncles and making sure the deposits they'd made the day before cleared. When that was done, I cooked myself a pot of Kraft dinner which I ate in front of the TV.

A knock at my door around eight made me jump because I rarely got surprise visitors. I expected to see the girls on the other side of the peephole, since I'd told them I'd fill them in the next day and both were notoriously impatient. I didn't expect to see a man holding flowers.