"Oh my God, please tell me I did not just imagine that," I said as soon as Sara and I were in the car.
"Ha ha, no, you most definitely did not. It was weird too, he never really shows any interest in girls. He normally keeps to himself," she said, seeming as amazed as I was. "I mean, girls try to get with him all the time; he's obviously gorgeous, but we were beginning to think he was gay." She started laughing, and I did too. My nerves were starting to get to me again.
I asked her what seemed like a million more questions, none of which led to an answer that satisfied me. I wanted to know as much as I could about him before the party, but it seemed like I was out of luck. I got to her house as quickly as I could, and once we were there I realized that I had absolutely no clothes worthy of what that night would be. I tried on various outfits of Sara's, determined to look hot but not slutty. I ended up in a pair of her black skinny jeans, which were extremely tight but made my ass look amazing, a backless, silky white halter, and black high heels. I kept my hair as it was, cascading halfway down my back. I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life, and it was for no feasible reason.
On the drive back to the guys' house, I forced myself to focus and calm down. Self consciousness is by no means sexy; I was determined to be as confident as I could with this gorgeous man driving me crazy. Sara had called to let them know we were on our way, and they were just walking out the door when we pulled up. I left my large, black sunglasses on as we walked toward the guys, wanting to be able to ogle for a minute without being caught.
I could feel his gaze on me from a hundred feet away. My stomach tightened into knots as we got closer. He looked even more stunning than he had before. He had on the same shirt he did earlier but had changed into darker, even more snug jeans that looked amazing. And his beautiful, blue eyes were locked on me. The look in his eyes could not be mistaken for anything but lust; time seemed to stand still as he ran his eyes up and down my body in an appreciative, but not offensively blatant gaze. I could hear someone talking beside him, but was so focused on Derek that I couldn't tell what they were saying or even who was talking. One thing was for sure though, the look on his face was exactly what i had hoped for. All the nervousness I had felt was gone, and I was overwhelmed with confidence. There was no doubt, I was in. He wanted me just as bad as I wanted him.
Derek's eyes never left me as Clark told us about how wild the party was going to be and how many people were going to be there. It was decided that I would follow them in my car, just in case Sara or I needed to leave. When we decided this Ben complained that he wanted Sara to ride with him, but she insisted she would go in my car so I wouldn't be alone. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Derek said, "I'll ride with her. Then she won't be alone, and if we lose you I can show her how to get there. Is that okay with you, Aurora?"
"Yeah, that sounds good," I said nonchalantly, even though I was so excited I wasn't sure I would even be able to drive. I was afraid it would be awkward when we got into my car, but it wasn't. We rode in comfortable silence for the first few minutes, me trying to keep my eyes on Ben's car and him messing with the radio. Eventually, he started making idle small talk, asking about my car and what kind of music I like, and before I knew it we were pulling up at a huge house out in the country, lined with more cars than I could have counted if I wanted to. Once I had parked and started to get out of the car, Derek lightly grabbed my hand, and I felt a rush of electricity through my whole body.
