by Mae Reese
There’s at least sixty people crammed into the open space, bodies moving in the middle in what usually turns into a makeshift dance floor on nights like these.
“Who are all these people?” she asks.
I place my hand on the small of her back, leading her off to where Sebastian and Tanner are playing a game of pool in the corner “Mostly Townesville kids. Some from the public school, some that went to Townes Academy and are now at the public school.”
I can see she’s already drawing attention from both the guys and the girls in the room. I don’t think Skylar realizes that even when she’s wearing her mask, she fucking commands attention.
Like she’s commanded mine since the minute I laid eyes on her.
I see Jillian in the corner with her group of friends, her eyes narrow as she watches Skylar. Great, just what I needed.
When I told Jillian a few weeks ago that we were done hooking up she seemed to be cool with it. It had run its course and we both agreed that we were better off moving on, but the look on her face now tells me her agreement may have not been the full truth.
“OH MY GOD SKYLAR!” Breanne shrieks, her black hair down and falling around her shoulders. She’s wearing a pair of black jeans and a Ramones tee shirt that I am almost positive was mine at one point.
Little thief.
She falls in next to Sky, and locks her arm with hers. I can tell she has been drinking a little because her apprehension and anxiety about talking to Skylar is out the window. She is talking her ear off, but Sky doesn’t seem to mind as she seems happy to have a friendly face in a room full of mostly unknowns.
When we reach the guys, Sebastian grabs Sky from Breanne, picking her up off her feet and slamming a kiss on her cheek. Skylar throws her head back and laughs, the sight so different from her normal cool and collected demeanor.
I love seeing her laugh like that.
He places her on the floor, his arm still thrown over her shoulder “Elsa!! Please, please tell me you brought that hot piece Jessica Rabbit with you.” He bites his fist. Bash already admitted that he had a thing for Skylar’s friend Maisie. His constant drooling over her in class had become something that Sky and I would joke about. The pickup lines he uses almost painful with the cheese factor of them.
Maisie has a boyfriend, one of those dickheads that Weston is always hanging out with but that didn’t seem to stop Sebastian from chasing her.
Skylar shakes her head, leaning closer to him to be heard over the music “She’s had ballet rehearsal tonight.”
Sebastian grabs his chest like she’s wounded him, causing her to laugh again. “You just broke my heart Elsa. Seriously, you may have to kiss it and make it better.”
Skylar laughs “What’s with you nicknaming everyone with cartoon character names?”
“I guess you can say I’m just a big fucking kid at heart.” He replies.
Walking over, I push his arm off of her shoulder and steer her to a barstool sitting against the wall. I will have to make sure he keeps his kissing comments to himself from now on. Bash knows damn well that I don’t share what is mine.
“Do you want a drink?” I ask.
“Rum and coke?” she asks, I nod and leave her to sit with Bash and Breanne to grab her and myself a drink.
When I return, Bash has her full attention. Her eyes light up as he says something that makes her laugh. Sliding in beside her I hand her the drink and take a sip of my own, joining in on the conversation.
Seeing Skylar so laid back is seriously fucking with my head. I somehow had managed to catch some feelings over the last week, but seeing her like this are ramping those feelings up even more.
I am generally not the girlfriend type. My family is too much for most girls so I usually keep it to playing around with girls who want the same; A little fun, and nothing too deep. I can’t see myself having that same arrangement with Skylar, it wouldn’t work for me.
Skylar is watching the guys play a game of pool, her leg bouncing on the bottom rung of the barstool as she does. I slide my hand across the top of her thigh, halting the movement. I can feel her tense slightly, but not out of discomfort.
No, I’m pretty sure this girl is having the same feeling as me. Lust. Like. Confusion. Tension. All of the above, plus some.
“You good?” I ask her, the bouncing of her leg showing her nerves.
She nods, leaning closer to me “A lot to process after tonight.” She says.
I nod in understanding, well as much understanding as I can have given I don’t know the full story behind Skylar and Weston’s relationship… or lack thereof.
“You’ve got this, gorgeous. You’re far too good for him and hopefully tonight proved that to you” I say.
She turns her head towards me, her eyes narrowing slightly as she thinks about something.
“You’re up, Sky” Tanner says, snapping her out of whatever thought process that was just going through her head.
Chapter 14
Skylar
“You’re up, Sky” Tanner says, handing me his pool cue. I stand, a little wobbly from the four glasses of rum and coke I’ve had throughout the night and the four inch platform booties I am trying to stand on in my tipsy state. Barron’s hand comes to rest on my hip to steady me, the warmth from the spot he’s touching sending electric pulses through the rough denim and straight to my core.
“You good?” he asks quietly for the second time in so many minutes, only this time his reasoning is different. I nod, a flush creeping across the rest of my body. He notices, his lip quirking on one side as he pulls the other side between his teeth.
Jesus this guy is sex on a stick.
“I stand by my assessment I made the other day.”
He looks at me, cocking his head “What’s that?”
“That you’re trouble. Now I think you’re much more trouble than I thought you were the originally. You, Barron Tucker, are trouble with a capital T.”
He barks out a laugh, his hand squeezing my hip as he leans close to my ear. “All you have to do is say the word Princess and I will happily show you just how much trouble I can be.”
Using his hand on my hip he pulls me flush against his side, his lips still hovering close to my ear.
“Oh? How do you plan on doing that?” I ask, my heart hammering in my chest. I could easily turn my head just a few inches and my mouth would be on his. My inner skank is sitting in the corner chanting ‘Do it, Do it, Do it’ over and over.
Sit down, Skanky Skylar. I got this.
“Give Tanner back that pool cue and come upstairs with me and I’ll show you” he replies.
I cock my eyebrow, debating his offer for the barest of seconds. Compromising with my inner slutbag who is currently screaming in my head to go upstairs with him, I turn my head and place the lightest kiss on the corner of his mouth. His eyes darken as he looks down at me.
“I don’t know what you’re doing to me, Santora” he whispers, his lips brushing against mine as he speaks. I can feel my nipples pebble beneath the soft lace bra I am wearing, and my panties dampen with my arousal.
Barron’s green eyes darken as they flick to my lips and back to my eyes, silently asking for permission to kiss me. My heart hammers in my chest as his hand tightens on my hip, pulling me closer to him if that were even possible. My tongue snakes out, wetting my bottom lip in anticipation. I am so freaking ready for this.
Damn I want to see what this guy can do when he is actually touching me….
“Either go upstairs and get a room or lets get this game going” Bash yells, causing Barron and I both to groan and separate.
“You’re such a fucking cock blocker” Barron says, chucking the pool chalk at Bash. Sebastian laughs, dodging the little blue cube.
Breanne squeaks as Bash takes refuge behind her, like her five foot frame could ever hide him.
“Keep it up and I’ll make sure I keep your favorite redhead from ever coming with me to hang out in the future” I say, leaning
over the table and breaking the balls that Sebastian had just racked.
“Jesus and just when I was starting to like you….” He trails off but the smile on his lips tells me he’s playing with me.
“Just play the damn game” I chuckle.
Barron goes off and refills my drink again while Bash and I play a game, then Tanner and Bash when I lose.
I listen to the banter between Bash and Tanner, playfully joining in when I can and enjoying spending time with the boys and Breanne.
I notice that Barron has been gone for a while and I look around the room, not seeing him anywhere.
Chapter 15
Barron
Just as I was pouring some rum into Skylar’s cup, Jillian’s long slender fingers wrapped around my wrist. I looked down at her as she pushes herself as close to me as physically possible.
“Hey you” she whispers in that breathy voice she used whenever we were about to get down in bed. One that now just sounds fake and sort of annoying.
“Hey, Jill” I say, pulling my arm free from her hand as I grab the coke and top off Skylar’s drink.
“I was hoping I would see you tonight. I was kinda thinking we could go upstairs…” I cut her off.
“Didn’t we decide that this, whatever it was, was over?” I rhetorically ask her. Apparently she doesn’t get the rhetorical part and answers anyway.
“Yeah, but seeing as it’s not serious and I’m really fucking horny I figured you’d take me upstairs and do that thing that makes me moan with your tongue?” Her hand slides up my chest, stopping above my heart.
The only person I want moaning on my tongue is Skylar, and thinking about doing that with Jillian again just makes me feel sick.
“I think I’m good” I say, attempting to cut her off. I try and walk past her but she stops me with her hand on my arm.
“Is this about that blonde you came in here with?” She asks, glancing in the direction of where I left Skylar with Bash and Tanner.
I know they can’t see us because of the crowd of bodies that are taking over the middle of the room but this situation makes me uncomfortable none the less.
“Jillian, we decided that this was done and I am moving on. The blonde girl is none of your concern and I would suggest you remember that if you don’t want me pissed off” I growl.
She releases her hand, her eyes turning cold. “I wasn’t just some piece of ass for you to use and throw away Barron.”
“Normally I would agree with you, but you and I both know what we were. Don’t sit here and try and act like I played you, or that I led you to believe something that was never true just to get in your pants. You used me for the same purpose I used you. We filled a need and that was something you made perfectly clear from the beginning, something I was beyond okay with.” Without waiting for a response I take off around the crowd, setting Sky’s drink down on the table before heading out to the back yard to smoke. I take a seat on the lounge chair by the pool, lighting a cigarette and inhaling deeply.
“Got another?” Sebastian asks as he takes a seat in the lounge chair next to me. I toss him the pack and lean against the cushioned back, looking out at the darkened pool.
“Where is Sky?” I ask, taking another drag. The slow burn of the smoke in my lungs easing some of the tension that my conversation with Jillian had stirred.
“Downstairs playing darts with Tanner and Little B. I think your sister is obsessed with her” he laughs “same as her big bro.”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t start with me. I just had a run in with Jillian, the last thing I need is shit from you too.”
He holds his hands up “Hey now, I wasn’t starting anything. I actually like Skylar. I just never thought I would see the day you liked someone, too.”
Bash has known me practically my entire life. He was there through my mom dying, my dad being arrested, and countless other things that made us as close as two people could be without sharing blood.
“All I am saying,” He blows a few smoke rings into the sky “is that she is a good egg, and I don’t mean a ‘good girl’. She’s a fighter, I think she could handle you and not even flinch. But what about the Montgomery douchebag? Did tonight go as planned?”
I nod. “Predictably so. She left his ass at Stephy’s after we walked in on them.”
“Then, all I have to say about Skylar is if you like the girl, and I am almost positive you do, you need to lock that shit down. Don’t let her get away because you’re afraid that once she finds out about your Pops she is going to take off. She seems like she is made of stronger stuff than that.”
I agree with him, which is part of the reason I am letting her in.
Bash drops his cigarette on the ground, stubbing it out with his boot before heading back into the house. I smoke one more before I head back in to find my girl, well she will be mine if all keeps going as planned.
Chapter 16
Skylar
Bash and I are halfway through another game when I notice a tall brunette with a black skintight dress has made her way over to where Tanner and Barron are sitting on the stools. She slides her hand across the back of Barron's shoulders, leaning against him.
Something stirs in the pit of my stomach. A feeling I haven’t felt in years surfaces, it almost feels like jealousy.
What the fuck?
I continue to watch them, taking my shots when I’m supposed to and trying to tamp down the surging feeling in my gut. I can’t get jealous over someone who isn’t mine. I notice he doesn’t remove her arm, but he also doesn’t acknowledge her standing there. His jaw is set and he looks annoyed, irritated even.
“Don't worry Sky, he’ll shut her down…” I hadn’t even noticed Bash standing next to me, my focus too caught up in watching the girl hanging on Barron like a cheap suit.
“It’s no big deal, it’s fine” I say, shaking my head and turning my attention back to the table.
“No, it isn’t fine and yes it is a big deal. But I promise you, he doesn’t play that way. If he is showing interest in you, which he obviously is, that shit over there won’t fly with him.”
“I have no claim on him” I shrug repeating the mantra that has been in my head for the last 15 minutes. I finish off my drink, tossing the cup into the trash can.
“You have more than you think you do” he says, a playful smirk coming across his handsome face. I can see a look of mischief in his eyes, a sure sign he is planning something.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“It means, Elsa, that for some reason that mother fucker right there has set his sights on you. I’ve known the guy since we were three years old and scaring the shit out of our nannies by hiding from them on the playground during playdates. He is one of the most loyal and perceptive people I have ever met and since he has you in his head, nothing but God himself is going to deter him” he says, leaning down to talk into my ear.
“But be warned, that is one intense dude right there. Don't get on the ride if you think you’re going to get nauseous.”
“You’re like a fucked up, blonde, Confucius you know that?” I say, laughing and pushing him to the table to take his next shot.
I groan as Bash misses, sending the cue ball to the end of the table where Barron and Tanner are still deep in conversation.
“You’re up, Elsa” he says, winking at me.
“You did that shit on purpose” I hiss at him, glaring playful daggers at him as I pass. He bats his eyelashes innocently.
I try my best to avoid eye contact with the girl and Barron as I get to the other side, chalking the end of my stick. I silently fume as I stand there, the blue dust peppering the top of my hand from the force.
I feel his hands snake around my waist seconds before I'm pulled back between Barron’s legs as he sits on the barstool. The heat from his body calming my growing agitation towards the girl now standing off to the side of us.
He doesn’t stop his conversation, or acknowledge the girl who is now scowling. H
is hands trace lazy circles on the top of my thigh, silently telling the girl everything she needs to know.
He’s not interested.
My heart thrums in my chest as I take in his silent gesture. I look over to Bash, who winks at me, silently saying I told you so.
Chapter 17
Barron
I was shocked that Jillian’s little stunt didn’t make Skylar close up, especially after she had just found her boyfriend, ex-boyfriend, cheating with another girl.
It took everything I had in me not to lose my shit on the girl myself. The moment her hand touched me I thought about calling security downstairs and having her escorted off the property but I needed both Jillian and Skylar to know that I wasn’t interested in her. My interests solely side with the gorgeous blonde sitting across the car from me right now.
“Thank you for saving me tonight” Skylar whispers as she stares out the side window. I begrudgingly offered to drive her home once she realized it was after two in the morning.
“I told you, Princess. If you need a knight just call. I will always answer and come to the rescue.”
She laughs tiredly, the husky sound vibrating straight to my dick.
Down boy, not tonight.
I drum my fingers on the steering wheel to the music “Do you have any plans tomorrow?”
She turns her head to look at me “Yeah I do actually. Why?”
“I know you just broke up with Weston, but I was going to see if you’d be down for getting something to eat or going to the movies or something.”
Her lips quirk up on the side “Are you asking me on a date, Barron Tucker?”
“I sure as shit am” I reply, smiling back.
“I’ll be busy all day tomorrow, I won’t get home until late…” she trails off.
“But if you want to come with me?” She almost seems apprehensive, worrying the corner of her lip between her teeth.
“I can do that” I agree without even knowing where we are going. I would go to the gates of hell if it meant spending time with Sky.
Jesus, I am in deep.