There is a collective, ‘yeah’ from Maureen’s friends and I roll my eyes.
“All right, let’s just get this over with so you can go entertain my stepsister and her flunkies so she’ll leave me alone.” I wrap my hands around my waist and then place them on the couch not sure what to do with them. “Do I just open my mouth?”
I stretch my lips as far as they’ll go and tilt my head back closing my eyes, wishing this night would just end already. My jaw aches having it open so wide so I crack one eye open, wondering what the hold up is.
“I’m ready, Cassanova,” I say when I catch him staring at me. “Am I doing it wrong?”
My Trifecta shakes his head and grasps the back of my head, his eyes searing into mine with what looks like lust. But, it can’t be. These men don’t fall for women at their shows. I stiffen for a second and he smirks at me. “I need you closer for this to work.”
I allow him to pull me closer to him. He situates my mouth at the bottom of his belly button. “Open wide.”
I listen, watching in wonder as he raises the bottle pouring it in between his bulging pec muscles. I’m in awe as the gold liquid rushes over the grooves of his abdomen landing straight into my mouth. I don’t close my eyes. We watch each other as I drink what he’s offering me.
Oh, he’s good.
“Okay, she’s done now come play,” Maureen says, yanking on my Trifecta’s arm causing some of the champagne to spill over my cheek which soaks into my dress.
I stand up and wobble on my heels. I blame the alcohol refusing to give the man’s body I just drank from any credit for my unstable legs.
“Are you ok? Let me help you clean up,” he says, brushing off Maureen’s hand.
“I’m fine. I’m just going to go to freshen up.”
“See she’s fine.”
I move around Maureen and my Trifecta. His hand brushes my arm as if he’s trying to stop me, but I move around him too fast for him to get a good grip.
I take my time in the bathroom, cleaning up my dress. Not wanting to go back to my stepsister and her cruel friends. And if I’m being honest, not wanting to face my Trifecta either. The Trifecta I can still taste when I touch my tongue to my lips. I cup water from the sink so I can rinse him out of my mouth, but at the last second I dump the water back in the sink and walk out of the bathroom on a mission.
The second shot at the bar burns down my throat, and I know I’ve gone too far. Although, the taste of my Trifecta hasn’t been removed from the alcohol I’ve drowned in. I sit at the bar, pretending to watch the dancers on stage so nobody will bother me, needing to stay away from the man now stuck on my lips.
“Are you ready for another one?” the bartender asks, and I shake my head. The bartender splits into two people until I stop moving and blends back into one.
“I think I over did it,” I admit. “I’m going to go outside and get some fresh air.”
I stand up and it takes a second for me to get my legs to hold me up.
“Do you want me to call you an Uber?”
“No, I’m here with my sister and her party. They should be getting ready to go soon. I’ll just wait for them outside.”
“All right, the bouncer outside's name is Chuck. Let him know, Rafe sent you. He’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
I nod and walk outside. It takes all my control to walk out without bouncing off any of the people or furniture I have to navigate around. I almost cheer when the night air brushes across my overheated skin.
“Are you all right?” a large man with bushy eyebrows asks when I take another deep breath.
“Yeah, you must be Chuck.” I smile at him.
He nods and I stick out my hand to shake it. “I’m Clara, Rafe told me to tell you I’m just going to sit out here until my sister and her friends are ready to leave.”
Chuck takes my hand and helps me up on a nearby planter as I continue to beg my body to sober up. I stare at the night sky, all the twinkling lights, as Chuck tells me about his daughter who’s in advanced placement classes and will be going off to college next year. And I try not to bother to think about what my sister and her lackeys are doing to my Trifecta.
Chapter 4
Ben
“What the hell did you do to her?” Damien asks as we wipe off with baby wipes from our rowdy bachelorette party.
Those women were there to party just like Willie said they were. All of the women in that room attempted to stick their hands down my shorts at least once throughout the three hours they had us. Well, all of them except one.
She ran off so quick after she rushed off to the restroom I couldn’t even talk to her. I waited for her to come back, but she never did. I even asked the annoying red-headed sister if she was worried when she was gone for over an hour. The lovely bride-to-be rolled her eyes and said her stepsister was a lost cause and she would be fine. Now my brothers decided I must’ve done something to scare her off.
“I didn’t do anything to her. Her sister pulled me back and I spilled some of the champagne on her. She said she was going to clean up but she never came back.”
“It didn’t look like it was nothing,” Axel says as he pulls his duffle bag out of his locker.
“Did you call dibs on the brunette with the big gold hoop earrings?” Rick says, glancing out the peephole interrupting our conversation.
“What?” I ask, still trying to figure out why Clara never came back.
“The brunette in the front row, the one who’s wearing this color lipstick.” He points at the lipstick maring his lower ab.
“No, she’s all yours, man.” I slap him on the back.
He brushes his hair with his fingers in the mirror before sauntering out to snatch her up.
I turn and both of my brothers stare right at me with what I know is curiosity. “What?”
“What’s going on with you?” Axel asks.
“Nothing, you said no bringing women home tonight so I’m not. Remember the celebration of getting the loan today?”
“Oh, we remember,” Damien says. “We just didn’t think you would comply. In fact, I didn’t see you with any women tonight.”
“I was gone for thirty minutes before we went to the VIP room.”
“Yeah, but you were there before us. So you were gone from our sight for what, twenty minutes? I know you, there’s no way you could’ve done anything in that time. Unless you’re losing your touch.” Axel crosses his arms and Damien copies his stance.
“Can’t we just get out of here? I’m tired and ready to go home and relax like we planned on doing tonight.”
“Holy shit what happened? Did you get turned down?” Damien asks, smiling as he stands up straighter, puffing out his chest.
“I never get turned down. I just want to celebrate with my brothers tonight.”
Axel eyes me, skeptically. “That girl. The one who ran out of the VIP she turned you down didn’t she?” he asks.
“You’re right.” Damien hits Axel on the shoulder. “I saw you looking at her during our dance on stage. You couldn’t close the deal.” Damien and Axel laugh and I’m done with this shit.
I push through them bumping into their shoulders, pulling out my bag from my locker. Instead of going outside and getting into the car I drop my bag next to my still laughing brother’s feet.
“I’ll be right back. Meet you in the car.”
“Where are you going?” they ask, but I’m already through the door and looking for my conquest.
I don’t get turned down.
Ever.
I spot a blonde, and it’s go time. She’ll be the lucky one of the night.
To be honest, I don’t even feel like doing anything with her at all.
But, I won’t let my brothers think I got turned down.
Things like that don’t happen to Ben Jamison.
Remember, it’s not cocky if it’s true.
She licks her lips as soon as she spots me. All I have to do is cock an eyebrow at her and she’ll
come up to me as if I’m a magnet she can't resist.
Bingo.
Works every time.
“You ready to get out of here?” I ask, and she whimpers, clinging onto me as I walk her toward the front entrance.
Making sure everyone sees I don’t lose.
“Good night, Chuck,” I say as the blonde clinging to me giggles, running her hand over my t-shirt. Her name’s Brittney, or Courtney, or Suzanne.
Chuck frowns while watching the parking lot, not responding to me. I follow his gaze and see the party I’d just entertained for the last three hours standing around a stretched Hummer. Maureen’s hands are on her hips and she’s glaring. Her friends are all mimicking her stance. Before I even move my head to see what has them so upset I already know what I’m going to see.
I groan and remove whatever her name is off of me. “Hey, Chuck can you get her an Uber.”
“What the hell,” what’s her name screeches, finally getting Chuck's attention.
“They’ve been yelling at Clara for five minutes. I’m going to go over and offer to give her a ride,” Chuck says.
I’m in shock Chuck knows Clara’s name, but I stop him from going over to rescue her. “I’ll take care of it. If you could make sure she gets a ride I’d appreciate it.”
Chuck frowns. “Clara’s a good girl, Ben. She’s not a one-night stand kind of girl.” Chuck glances at the girl I brought out silently saying she’s the one-night stand kind of girl.
“I’m not going to sleep with her, Chuck. Her virtue’s safe with me.”
“All right. Be nice to her.”
I nod and walk off, the girl I just ditched cursing me out as she follows behind me. I don’t pay any attention to her. My mission’s to get Clara away from her awful sister any way possible. However, the screaming and cursing from blondie behind me gets the attention of Clara and her lynch mob.
“Trifecta.” Maureen changes her sneer she has aimed at Clara turning it into a smile aimed toward me.
“Ben,” I say, giving her my name. “What’s happening over here?”
“I was just explaining to my stepsister she needs to loosen up. She did her best to ruin my night, but with you here it seems to be getting better.” Maureen bats her eyes and her friends descend on me.
I do not like these women.
I can see now why Clara decided to abandon ship.
“I don’t think she ruined your night. Didn’t you have fun?” I ask.
My brothers come over and cross their arms. A united front. “Did we not do our job?” they ask, making the women stumble over their reassurances.
“No, you guys were fantastic,” one of the women from the VIP lounge says, giving a seductive smile.
“It was Clara. She just can’t have fun and it brought the room down.”
“I don’t think she brought the room down at all,” Damien says, always the advocate.
“I agree. Your room was the best room we’ve ever had the pleasure of dancing in. Your VIP lounge will go down in history as our favorite room,” Axel says, laying on the charm. He might hate being an erotic dancer, but he sure knows how to lay on the charm when the need arises. And at the moment the need is arising.
“You really think so?” Maureen runs her pink-tipped finger up and down the front of Axel’s tight-fitted shirt. “I really wanted to go out with a bang.”
Her double entendre is so obvious it’s ridiculous. Axel hides his laugh by covering his face. This is the part I agree with Axel about. It’s fun hunting the women who warm my bed for the night, but when they do the same joke, the same pick up line, it sours the stomach.
The intriguing ones are the ones who have imagination. The ones who invent fun ways to get my attention. They’re the girls who get a piece of at least one of the Trifecta. And now apparently the girl who didn’t want anything to do with me is the most intriguing of all.
When Clara refused to drink from my abs I wanted nothing more than to see her beg for it. She refused to join in on the VIP fun and I wasn’t sure if it was all because of her bitchy sister. She didn’t have the lust in her eyes like all the other women who came into the club.
I want to put it there.
I want her to look at me as I push inside of her.
I need her to want me.
Our eyes meet as Maureen continues gushing all over Axel and Damien. Clara appears drunk. Very drunk.
“It’s fine. I just want to go home.” The request comes from a heavily intoxicated Clara. She leans against the Hummer, her already pale face leached of even more color. “I’m sorry I ruined your bachelorette party.”
“You didn’t ruin her party,” I say, putting my arm around her. I know she’s drunk by the fact she allows me to hold her without fighting. In fact she does the opposite and leans into me. All of her luscious curves pressing against me make it hard for me to concentrate.
“Well, she’s certainly ruining the after party.” Maureen’s pout has me wanting to walk away.
“Sorry, girls, we don’t do after parties. The night stopped after the three hours. We need to get home. Beauty sleep and such.” I flash them a smile and grip Clara harder.
Maureen rolls her eyes. “Whatever, come on girls let’s go find another after party. Clara can call an Uber.”
“Are you really leaving her here to get her own way home?” I ask.
“She wouldn’t want to keep partying anyway. Believe me she’s wanted to get out of this party since before she put on her boring ass red dress.”
“We’ll take her home,” I say, looking at my brothers to gauge their feelings on the idea. I know they said no women tonight, but I’m hoping they’ll give me an exception. Besides it’s still early and we can drop her off, make sure she’s safe and still have time to go home to celebrate.
What’s a little detour?
“Whatever.” Maureen cocks her head and the girls pile into the back of the Hummer.
Not one of them appears worried they’re leaving one of their own with a group of men they just met. We watch as they pull out of the parking lot, the bass bumping and their giddy screams drifting out into the night sky.
I glance down at Clara who’s still leaning on me not bothering to hold up her own body weight.
“Where do you live?” I ask, shaking her a little to get her coherent enough to get her address.
Her face tilts up toward me, her blue eyes glassy and unfocused. She opens her mouth and I lean in to capture her words, but then she turns and pukes on the pavement.
“Not only did she turn you down. You made her physically sick,” Damien says, laughing with my brother as I keep Clara on her feet.
“Shut up,” I say, not turning to see my idiot brother’s enjoyment.
When her body stops shaking, I attempt to get her address from her one more time. Her eyes slide over to the side as I ask where she lives. “I don’t remember,” she whispers, before passing out in my arms.
“What the hell are we going to do?” I ask as my brothers stop laughing. It’s not so funny now that they understand the gravity of the situation.
“We get her address from her ID and take her home,” Axel says, glancing around to find her purse.
“I don’t think she has her purse with her,” I say.
“Those bitches left her and took her purse with them.” Damien glares in the direction they drove off to.
“We’ll take her home and let her sleep it off. At least we’ll know she’s safe at our place. And it’s not like we can’t celebrate, she’s passed out.” I swing her into my arms, her body going limp.
Axel and Damien exchange looks but I don’t wait for them to agree. They’ll figure out my solution is the only one we have soon enough. I get to the Range Rover seconds before Axel opens the door and I climb in the back with Clara still in my arms.
I lean my head against the window as Damien drives us home. My laugh gets both of my brother’s attention. They give me a questioning look and I watch Clara’s head bounce as
the car moves over the asphalt.
“Out of all the scenarios of how I thought this night would end, I can honestly say this wasn’t even on my radar.”
I brace Clara’s head against my shoulder and smile. This curvy woman hasn’t done any of the things I expected since the moment I saw her.
Chapter 5
Clara
I’m dying. And it can’t come soon enough.
My mind wanders, attempting to piece together the reason I feel like I’m about to meet my maker.
Was I run over?
Tortured?
Kidnapped?
Perhaps all three?
My head hurts from internally asking those questions, so I give it a rest. I groan as pain splits through my head causing light to brighten the inside of my eyelids.
“Here take these,” a voice says into my ear. Instead of wanting to cringe away from the noise I want to crawl closer to it. It’s soothing, and doesn’t hurt like my own inner voice does. A warm hand grabs mine and puts something small in it, but I don’t move, not understanding what I’m supposed to do.
“They’re pain pills. Take them now and you won’t feel so bad after a couple more hours of sleep,” the calming voice says even closer to my ear now.
I still don’t move, my body not responding to any of my orders. My body’s broken. It feels like my spine has been severed and my brain is no longer communicating with the rest of me. The only thing they have in common is they’re both working together to put me in extreme pain at the moment.
Am I awake?
When the voice understands I have no control over myself, it takes the pills out of my hand. “Open up.”
My mouth opens and the bitter pills land on my tongue. It appears as if my body refuses to listen to me, but has no problem listening to the comforting voice. And at this moment, I don’t mind at all. Something hard presses against my lips and I wait for more orders.
“Take small sips, but try and get as much water as you can.”
Water sounds amazing so I gulp down a large drink and my stomach rolls over not liking the feeling. I gag but it stays down.
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