R U S S O 18+

R U S S O 17

R U S S O 17

It was Jocelyn.

And knowing it was her friend who was super emotional, Anastasia stepped away from her dance partner to get somewhere more quiet.

Her eyes landed on a flight of stairs and began heading that way. She didn't even spare Eric a glance, leaving the man stunned as she snatched her frame from him.

Anastasia was concerned about her friend but also annoyed with Mateo. He looked away, and it did something to her chest to see him be so calm about it.

It was confusing as hell.

But as she moved to reach a room that didn't have a crowd of people in it, Anastasia twisted the door to another secluded room. She hoped she'd be able to hear Jocelyn, and as she closed the door, the humming sensation of the song appeared in the room.

It wasn't so bad, so she unlocked her phone to call Jocelyn back.

"Hello?"

Anastasia's relieved that she answered, "hey girl. You alright?"

"Yeah, I was just seeing if you were busy," Jocelyn responded before asking, "are you at a club?"

"No, I'm at Mateo's party."

"Mateo's party? I thought you didn't go to his stuff."

"I was trying something new," she sighs, "should've stayed my back ass home, but," she smiles. "how are you? Doing any better?"

Jocelyn beams genuinely, "I'm good. Go enjoy the party, okay? Text me all about it."

Anastasia walks over to a picture frame that looked like it had Mateo on it, "we can talk for a little bit," she set her drink down before picking up the frame to see that it was him. 

He looked young, maybe five or six, and she smiled at his toothless one.

"Girl, you are at a party," Jocelyn giggles, "we'll talk later."

"You sure?" Anastasia asks, "I could call an Uber and come see you."

"Noooo," Jocelyn says, "tonight is about fun for you. Enjoy it, okay?"

Anastasia voices, "okay. I'll text you."

Jocelyn didn't stay on the line much longer after that, Anastasia moving the phone from her ear. She sets the picture frame down, and she sees this light appear in the room like someone opened the door, but even seeing that, the sound of the door closing startled her.

Anastasia turned around with a panting chest, facing Mateo as he entered the room. Her gaze averted down to his hand, and seeing him lock the door, her heart slowly fell from her chest and into her stomach.

She clears her throat lightly before speaking, "sorry, I was answering a call-"

"I don't care," he says, causing silence to erupt through her.

She notices he's walking towards her, and she moves her feet away from the bedside table.

"Something wrong?" She asks, eyeing him with 'curiosity.' It was clear he wasn't the type to put on a show in front of people as she realized he had got her alone, "Mateo?" 

She couldn't even make it to the door because she knew he would catch her frame and pull her right back where she was. He was a football player who was trained to tackle. He could very easily keep her in place.

He finally speaks, "what are you doing here?"

She brings her steps over towards this rectangle table against the wall, trying to calculate how she could get by him.