by R. S Burnett
“Yeap and Chloe knows the drill as well” she assures me “Where are you going?”
“To dance” I grin and duck through the crowd.
“Hello” I smile at the band as I reach their table. “What did you refuse to do?” Cam asks gesturing towards Andrew who’s still say in the same position that I left him in.
“Nothing exciting” I assure him.
“So what can we do for you?” Tucker asks.
“I wanna dance” I pout at everyone sat at the table “Will one of you dance with me please?”
“I will” Cam volunteers.
“Uh .. I kind of only asked you lot because I want to dance with someone who won’t feel me up. I’d ask Andrew but he’s busy …. That means your out sorry Cam” I shrug apologetically as the rest of the guys laugh at him and he grins at me.
“Come on” Tucker says standing.
“You’re not serious. I said someone who won’t touch me” I raise an eye brow ay him.
“You don’t think I can dance with you without touching you?” he asks disbelievingly.
“No, I know you can’t”
“Want to bet on that?”
“Fine” I shrug knowing I’ll win this one hands down.
“If I win you have to do whatever it was that Andrew asked you asked you to do earlier and if you win I will do whatever next challenge Andrew gives you”
“I’ll accept that” I grin at him and we head off to the slowly filling dance floor.
We mess around for while twirling each other around and under our arms, we do a weird clubbers version of the tango, we do the chicken, the running man and some other moves that were so strange I don’t even think they are worth having a name. We are both doing the moonwalk when a slow song comes on and we come to a mutual decision to dance to this one properly while catching our breath.
Tucker is careful to keep his hands on my hips and not moving them an inch while my hands go behind his neck and I mindlessly play with his hair.
“I’m glad you’re back Brooke” Tucker smiles down softly at me.
“Me too, this place really feels like home, you know”
“Yeah, I know. Your not going to leave like that again are you?”
“No, I just needed to sort myself out, emotionally I was all over the place before I left and now I feel more grounded and level headed. I know what I want and what I need now not just what I think I want and need”
“When you left a lot of things became clear for me too” he admits quietly.
“Like…” I prompt
“Before you left I think I took advantage of having you back in my life, I guess a part of me thought that being with you is what I wanted because it was familiar and I took advantage of that and hurt you in the process.. but now … but now after having spent three months away from you I know I don’t want you in my life I need you in it”
“I guess we both came to the same conclusion then” I say quietly back to him.
“So where does that leave us?” he asks watching my eyes intently.
“Dancing a slow dance to a fast song in the middle of my club with about fifty people watching us curiously” I smirk at him glancing around at our audience.
“Well we can’t have that” he mummers bringing his face down to mine and kissing me softly, the crowd cheers and the kiss deepens, when a few random shouts go up around us we pull apart. “Guess I lost the bet huh?”
“Yes and no” I tell him laughing.
“What do you mean?” he frowns at me
“Well you lost our bet and now you have to do whatever challenge Andrew cooks up for me but I don’t think he’s going to have to anymore because the first one was that I had to kiss someone in the club”
“I’m glad you refused it” he says softly against my lips.
“Me too” I agree falling into a long kiss again until we hear someone clearing their throat over through the speakers. I look up to see Andrew standing on the bar.
“Tucker doesn’t count so you still have to do something else and I say we throw you’re no more bar dancing rule and you do one for loosing the bet earlier” Andrew says without preamble.
I grin up at Tucker who now looks slightly nervous because he has to do my next challenge so technically he’s the one who has to dance on the bar but I take pity on him and grab his hand to get his attention.
“Want some help? I have an idea” I nod over at Andrew and head to the stage and picking up a mic for myself I pass one to Tucker as well. “Can you guys do a cover of the song like the first night I had to do it?” I ask as he gestures for the rest of the band to join us.
“I lost another bet guys” I call into my mic addressing the crowd “Are you ready for another dance?” the crowd all cheer.
“I lost a bet too” Tucker sighs into his mic and all the women in the club start cheering and whistling “So I have to dance too” he pouts and the female cheers turn into screams. “I think I have more fans than you Brooke” he says into his mic grinning at me.
“I’m not hearing it sorry” I shake my head as I call into the mic and the male cheers go up over the female ones making Tucker chuckle and then strip out of his shirt leaving him in just a tight white tee. I actually have to cover my ears to try and block out the ringing in them from the shrieks that are drowning out everything else in the club.
I watch as Tucker turns to me smirking and raises an eyebrow at me in challenge, I smile sweetly at him and start unbuttoning my jeans. Both his eyebrows shoot up and Andrew’s voice comes over the speakers “Uhh … Brooke?” he tries for a warning tone but it comes out questioning and slightly, nervous? I ignore him and pull my jeans off leaving me in a black shirt and black hot pants with my stilettos.
The male cheers come out as a loud roar and I take a bow, I can hear the band laughing behind us making me giggle.
I watch as Tuckers eyes lazing travel down my legs and back up again and he swallows noticeably. Shaking his head and grinning at me he looses his tee. I don’t know if we are doing to tease the crowd or each other anymore as I can feel myself grow more and more turned on by his strip tease. I know why he’s grinning he knows the only thing I have available to take off now is my shirt, he also knows I’m not wearing a bikini top underneath because from below the top three buttons that are undone you can see lace. He also knows I wouldn’t ever leave myself in just a bra. What he doesn’t know however is that what I am wearing underneath my shirt is not a bra.
I angle my body so only Tucker has a view of my front. “Are you sure you want to play this game with me?” I ask sweetly unbuttoning my shirt slowly to reveal the red with white lace corset top which laces up at the front that I’m wearing. Before I reach the bottom button of my shirt Tuckers hands are moving mine out of the way and working the buttons back up so fast he misses one and has to start again. “What are you doing?” I ask laughing at his concentrated expression.
“I’m thinking we should play this game when we are alone because I really want to know what you’re wearing under those shorts to match that” he replies tightly his mic resting between his legs so only I can hear.
I lower my mic and lean into his ear running my tongue along the outline of it teasingly “Nothing” I whisper in answer to his question. He stops fumbling with my buttons, in fact he freezes all together. A few shouts of ‘what’s going on’ bring him out of his daze and he throws me over his shoulder. I leave the club exactly like I entered it, upside down and not bothering to fight it.
Chapter Thirty
“I take it you had a good night last night?”
Lucy asks me smirking.
“What are you talking about?” I turn my attention from the group of students in front of me to frown at her in confusion.
“I’m talking about the matching grins that you and Tucker have been wearing all night”
I turn my head and follow her eyes to the table the band are sitting around and sure enough Tucker is grinning to himself, as if he can fe
el my eyes on him he turns and throws me a wink making Lucy giggle and me roll my eyes.
“It was alright” I wink at her.
The DJ starts playing Footloose and I grab Lucy’s hand and start dancing with her behind the bar much to the customer’s amusement.
We laugh our way through it doing some really cheesy dancing and the people at the bar start clapping along with the beat as Lucy and I sing to them. The DJ notices what we are doing and gestures for us to get on the bar so with help from Will we both climb up and continue our dancing/laughing/singing as the music changes from show tune to show tune. The whole club is caught up in our laughter and some people are copying our moves and others signing along with us once the music shuts down ready for the band to go up, we jump down to catch our breath.
“I’m getting to old for this” I complain draining a glass of water.
“You love it really” Lucy shakes her head at me still laughing. “Oooh just in time”
“What?” I ask following her gaze and the stag party has just arrived I hold back a sigh and wince inwardly. The best man booked the stag due but I didn’t realize who the stag was. “Please tell me that isn’t who I think it is” I beg to Lucy turning my pleading eyes on her.
“Afraid so ... that would be Jason the lip ring stud” she sighs dramatically. Looks like you lost your chance with him. “I hope they behave, they look like they’ve drunk a truck load already” she notes watching them stumble and being excessively loud.
“I’ll go welcome them and check it out”
I jump over the bar and shake my head laughing at Tucker and his female fan group, standing at the bottom of the stage chanting for him to take his top off again. I catch his eye and send him a mock glare he smirks at me and shrugs his shoulders but then frowns and sends me a very real glare, I soon realize why when I’m lifted off my feet from behind and carried to the stag table. I’m put down on Jason’s lap. I don’t make any attempt to move deciding how best to deal with these guys. Lucy was right they have had a hell of a lot to drink already and I don’t want to upset them or cause any problems.
“You guys doing okay?” I ask plastering on my biggest smile.
“We are now” Jason grins at me bouncing me on his knee.
“Are you going to drink with us?” One of his friends asks excitedly.
“Only one” I agree and gesture for Lucy to bring me over a round for the table.
“It’s my last night of freedom tonight” Jason says in my ear while wrapping an arm around my middle.
“And what are you going to do with it?” I smile at him trying to hide how uncomfortable I feel.
“I think you’re what he’s going to do with it darling” One of the boys announces and the whole table laughs appreciatively. Jason leans in and kisses my cheek pulling me tighter against him. I look around for a friendly face and meet Lucy’s eyes as she makes her way to us carrying a tray of drinks. I try to send her a message of help with just my eyes but I don’t think she understands as she only smiles back.
“Here you go” she says to us all as she hands out the bottles of beer. “Who’s the lucky lady then?” she asks Jason moving her head to look behind me.
“For tonight, Brooke is” He tells her making her frown.
“I don’t understand” she admits making me roll my eyes.
“Well I’ve heard good things about how this one is in the bedroom and I refused to get married without trying her out” he says tatter of factly and feel my jaw fall open.
“Who told you that?” I demand twisting in his lap.
“I did” comes from beside me and I turn to look at the voice I recognize from the phone booking for this party, I look him over from his brown eyes, shaggy dark brown/ almost black hair, his nose that looks like it may have been broken once before and he has a small scar on the left side of his jaw, he looks like the ultimate bad boy in his black jeans, black boots and black tee, it’s then I notice the tattoo on his right arm and recognition hits me. Memories from that drunken night a few years ago all come back. “Do you still do that thing with your …” he starts but Lucy cuts him off grabbing my arm.
“Umm , I need you to help me a second at the bar, there’s a problem” she pulls me up from the Jason’s lap and with promises to return I follow her to the bar.
“Who is that guy and what was he talking about?” she demands clearly shocked because no one has ever met anyone I have ever slept with before apart from Tucker. Because there is no one else, apart from that guy.
“I’ve had sex with him” I say quietly so we can’t be over heard.
“I gathered that but who is he and when?” she says gesturing with her arms impatiently.
“When I first moved up here, you know after everything that happened with Tucker back at uni, I needed a rebound and well, you just met him”
“He’s hot, maybe even more so than Tucker”
“Who’s hotter than me?”
We both spin around at the sound of Tuckers voice, he’s stood on the other side of the bar watching us curiously.
“Uh … me?” I say not wanting to tell him what we are actually talking about and flipping through the planner under the bar.
“What are you looking for?” Lucy asks, I glare at her and she snort “You can’t remember his name?” she asks incredulously.
We are joined by Jason and his best man just as I find what I was looking for. I look up smiling.
“Jason, Nick. What can I do for you?” I ask and immediately regret it when they both smirk at me.
“Do you have any more tattoos?” Lucy asks Nick eyeing the one his arm.
“Yes“ I answer for him before he has a chance to speak.
“So you do remember, for a second there I thought you had forgotten” he grins at me “So tell me Brooke, how many do I have?”
I can feel Tuckers eyes on me but ignore it “Six” I say watching Lucy not Nick or Tucker.
“Six?” Lucy asks impressed “Where?” she asks me.
I kick her ankle behind the bar where no one can see the action only her wincing.
“I have this one on my arm, one across the back of my shoulders, one behind my ear, one across my side, and one on my chest” Nick answers her for me.
“That’s only five” Lucy says making me turn red.
“Why don’t you tell her about your favorite one Brooke?” Nick says, I can hear the amusement in his voice and want nothing more than for the ground to swallow me up in this moment.
“He has a small inscription running from hip to hip … I think I traced every letter with my tongue or something. I made a really bit deal about it” I whisper in her ear mortified.
I step back from her and watch as she throws her hand over her mouth, at first I think it’s in shock but then a small laugh escapes through her fingers.
“Now do you understand why I want to ...” Jason starts grinning but I cut him off. I seriously need to get Tucker away from this conversation.
“Shouldn’t you be on stage singing or something?” I ask him but cringe at how harsh it sounded.
“The guys are taking a break a minute and I wanted a word … alone” he snaps back at me.
“Sure, come into the office” I gesture for him to come around the bar.
“Good luck” Lucy whispers as I walk past her following him into the office.
“What the hell is that all about out there?” he demands as soon as the door is shut.
“Uh… “ Will says weakly from the desk “I’ll just give you two a minute”
“Thanks” I call to the door as he shuts it behind him.
“Who are those men?” Tucker asks watching me closely “I remember the one, didn’t you date him?”
“Uh no, I didn’t date Jason that’s the one with the lip ring”
“And the other one?”
“Nick … well remember when I told you that apart from one other person you were the only one I’ve ever had sex with … he’s the other one”
“Yes” I answer nervously, not sure where he’s going with this.
“How long were you sleeping with him?”
“Just one night”
“Really, because he seems to remember it well for just night one”
“I was drunk … and quite enthusiastic” Why am I telling him this?.
“I don’t like that he’s here, can’t you kick him out or something? I don’t like you talking to him, knowing that you two have been with each other”
I check his expression looking for any signs of a joke but all I see is complete honesty, a little anger and seriousness. “You cannot be serious” I shake my head at him and walk back into the bar.
“Whoa what’s with the look” Lucy asks grabbing my arm and pulling me aside.
“What look?” I snap at her.
“Forget I asked” she lifts her hands in a defensive gesture and steps aside. I carry on past her and head over to Jess’s table. I grab a glass of water.
“You okay honey?” she asks softly watching me chug the water.
“Tucker has issues with me being in the same room as one person that I have had sex with one! That’s how many other men I’ve been with apart from him and he doesn’t like it yet I have to speak to and see, forget the fact that I am best friends with two of the people he’s slept with an god knows how ever many more there are in here just tonight. I had people come up to me in university and tell me all about it in details after they spent a night with him and he has a problem because of one fucking guy”
“What are you going to do?”
I think over all the times in university when Tucker showed his possessive side and come to one conclusion. “Distract him” I grin at her and go into the staff toilet with adjoining locker room.
I keep a few spare dresses and things in my locker just in case I ever find myself missing clothing because of a bet again and I select the dress that I know will work best to my advantage.
As I walk into the bar again ignore the stares I’m getting and head back over to Jess, there is nothing revealing about my dress only the fact that it is fire engine red, fits me like a second skin and is only transparent lace in certain parts.