by Marie Cole
“So, his name is Rio. And I totally just gave him your number.” I was mid-gulp on my beer and was not prepared for the news. I turned away and started to cough as I felt the burning of beer in my throat. I frowned at her but she kept grinning, “He’s looking for a new singer for his band. And I said you were awesome and I gave him your number.” She wiggled into her seat, “And he gave me his. And we’re going to chill sometime.”
I glanced at Kent. He was just watching and drinking his beer. I didn’t want to be the only one feeling embarrassment or discomfort at the table. I liked to share the wealth. “Damn,” I said as I turned my attention back to Rio, “He is hot. And in a band. Are you sure you’re interested?”
Stacy smacked my arm and glared at me. “Yes!” She recovered quickly and continued to verbally drool, “His voice is like…oh my god. So deep and gravelly. It’s so sexy.”
“It’s not fair that you always call dibs on the boys first.”
“It’s not my fault that you’re too shy to talk to the boys.”
She had a point but I wasn’t going to admit to it. “I am not.”
“Pft,” She looked at Kent, “Have you ever seen her go up to a strange guy and just start talking to him?”
“She never has when she’s been out with me.”
“Well, I mean that’s because—“ I nudged Stacy with my elbow to shut her up.
Kent looked uncomfortable. Half my mission was accomplished. “Yeah, so…”
“Because Elly used to be fat and shy,” Stacy blurted out. Although everyone at the table already knew I’d been fat and shy. I put my hand on my forehead as I ducked my head.
“Elly, prove her wrong. Walk over to…” I glanced up in time to see him scanning the bar and point to an attractive guy with long hair, “that guy.”
Seriously? Kent wanted me to go hit on a guy in front of him. I felt the familiar squeeze of disappointment in my chest. “No. I don’t need to prove anything to either of you.”
“Good. Then dance with me before we call it a night,” he finished off his beer and stood up, looking at me expectantly, his hand held out.
I shook my head. “No one else is dancing.” I wasn’t going to dance with him while everyone was staring at me, especially not Stacy. She’d probably record it on her phone and taunt me with it.
“Because no one fed the jukebox any money. No music equals no dancing,” he said.
“Only one way to rectify that then, huh?”
“You promise to dance if other people are out there dancing too?”
“Sure,” I retorted.
He grinned as he moved over to the jukebox. He stood there for a moment, mulling over the music. Stacy was watching him too as she finished up her beer. He stuffed some money into it and soon a few songs started to play. He stopped to talk to some people at the bar before coming back to the table. Just before he reached us a few couples moved onto the dance floor.
“He really wants to dance with you,” Stacy chuckled.
“I don’t know why,” I grumbled softly just as Kent approached the table and sat back down. I waited and waited for him to ask me again. He just stared at the bodies on the tiny dance floor while the song played through. I sighed softly and finished off my beer. It figured that Kent would make a big fuss out of wanting to dance with me and then chicken out. It was the story of our lives.
Stacy giggled beside me, her eyes turned down to her phone as she busily texted. Just before the song ended Kent reached over the table and took my hand. It freaked me out a little bit, his touch was so warm and soft. And unexpected.
“Can I have that dance now?” he asked with a warm smile. There was something else there. Something that scared me and made my insides joyful.
He held my hand as he pulled me to the outer edge of the dancers. As soon as we stopped the song ended. I felt his hand slipping from mine, felt the disappointment in my gut. “Dammit…” His fingertips were on mine when he grabbed my hand tightly and pulled me against his chest. “Oh, wait a second. I wonder who played this song.”
I rolled my eyes trying to hide the excitement that I felt having his arms around me. “Please. I’m not a five year old. I know that you picked this song.” I put my hands on his shoulders, ready to slow dance awkwardly middle school style.
He chuckled, I felt the vibration from his chest. “Always master of the obvious.” My cheeks flushed as his hands went to my hips and pulled me even closer. “I really did want to say thank you.”
“Got it, weirdo.” Weirdo was what he was. Dancing with me like… like we were more than just friends.
“I’m serious,” he said softly. His right hand ran up my back slowly, leaving a trail of tingles in its wake. His chin touched my temple and I was close enough to smell my favorite cologne on his skin. Did he buy it just to wear it tonight? Was it a gift from Jen he’d gotten for Christmas? I felt myself go rigid in his arms.
“So, since when did you change colognes?”
“I wanted you to say yes tonight. I’m not pulling any punches.”
“…Say yes to what?” Was he trying to seduce me? Was he holding me this close and smelling so good so that I’d hop into bed with him?
“Being the best woman,” he said.
I relaxed a little and tried to hide my frown in his shoulder. Stupid, Elly, stupid. Of course he wasn’t trying to seduce you.
“Sure thing,” I said softly as I tried to pull away, my composure back. He didn’t let me, his hand pressed on my lower back, holding me in place.
“Relax. I just want to dance with you. Hold you close. I’m not going to try and kiss you or anything else.”
I felt myself stiffen. I hadn’t been thinking that, until now. “Stop bossing me around.”
He grinned, “My apologies.” My mind started to wander as we continued to sway together. I wondered how many times he’d danced like this with Jen. I’d never seen him do it. Not even at prom. I shivered as I remembered prom. What a disaster that was.
“Since when have you liked to dance?” I asked, trying to distract myself from the fact that his hand was slowly moving down my back.
“Since I forced you into my arms,” he said softly. I felt my cheeks blush as I looked into his dark, glittering eyes. With his hands on me it was starting to wear on me. My mind was going places it shouldn’t go. I dropped my gaze to his shirt.
“Um…so it grew on you?”
“Sure.”
“Like ticks.”
“No, more like…” he paused to think and pulled away.
“Cancer?”
“No,” he grinned at me.
“That ugly dog poster your aunt got you for Christmas?”
He chuckled, “No, like that snowman sweater your mom insisted was adorable.”
“The haircut you thought was super cool.”
“Oh, god no.”
“Or me bossing you around.”
“Yeah. You bossy person.”
I realized in that moment that the time between us being close friends was probably going away. I wasn’t going to get to boss him around. That would be Jen’s job. I felt my heart sinking and I pulled away before I couldn’t hide the hurt. “Thanks for the dance. I just remembered I have to go plan a bachelor party.”
“Yeah, you have a lot of work to do to make it an epic party.”
“No, it’s going to be low key and nerdy. Like you.” I said, poking him in his chest. His hand caught mine and I felt my cheeks flush. I was saved by a strong hand pulling me backwards.
Chapter 26
“Soo, I’ve been texting and Rio wants to play pool,” Stacy said as she stepped between me and Kent.
“O…kay, that’s great. Have fun?”
Stacy stepped to the side and grinned between us both, her hands twisting her phone slowly, this was not going to end well. “He wants to play with us. Us against you two.”
“Um…” I looked at Kent, silently asking him if he wanted to do it.
“I’m game to ki
ck some ass.” He was so confident. So falsely confident. He’d never played pool with me before. I sucked but I didn’t want to burst his bubble.
“Ok! We’ll do it.”
Stacy squealed and bounced, “Yay!”
As we set up the game it was revealed that this was no ordinary pool game. This was like beer pong, but with pool table pockets and pool balls instead. The boys flipped a coin and Kent won. He nodded at me, I was up first.
I cleared my throat, bent over the table and put my stick into position. I looked like I knew what I was doing but I was awful. I missed the balls in the middle of the table twice but whacked them softly on the third try, causing the balls to scatter mere centimeters from each other on the outer edge. I bit my lower lip as I glanced around. Stacy and Rio were grinning. Kent looked shocked at my lack of skills. But when he looked at me he smiled and shrugged.
I moved over to him slowly, “Sorry,” I whispered. When I looked up Stacy had sunk two striped balls into corner pockets.
She pointed to us and then to the shots already on a large tray on the table. “Drink up, bitches.” Rio gave her a high five and then lined up to take his turn as we both downed two shots each.
“Don’t worry, Els. We can still make a comeback.”
It turned out that we couldn’t. Six shots later we were groaning and more than a little toasted. I had a feeling she’d done this on purpose and I didn’t appreciate it. I pointed at Stacy and Rio and yelled loudly, “You. Guys. SUCK!” My finger swayed just a bit even though I willed it to remain still so I could look as serious as possible.
“Don’t be jealous of our skills.” Stacy grinned as she wrapped her arm around Rio’s waist.
He looked down at her, “They gonna need a ride home?”
She shook her head, “No. Elly is taking a class and has her dorm just down the street. Kent can go too. Or call his fiancé’.” Rio glanced between us and shook his head. What the hell was his problem? Never seen a boy and a girl be friends before? Or had he caught me staring at Kent’s ass earlier? Oh god. The room was tipping.
Kent’s arm went around my shoulder and pulled me towards the pool table. “Come on, I’m going to show you a thing or two before I throw up all over the place.”
Stacy had yelled something about leaving but I was too distracted because Kent had bent me over the pool table and his arms were around mine. “Trying to teach me anything is pointless. Especially after eight shots.” I stilled my hips when I realized I was wiggling my ass against his crotch. Not that he’d seemed affected.
“Act like you’re going to shoot at one.”
“This is cheating,” I said. He was all but holding the stick with my hands.
“This isn’t cheating. This is how you play pool, silly,” his breath warmed my ear.
“It’s not how I play pool.”
“You handle a stick well, at least,” he said.
“I do not. You are helping me handle my stick.”
He laughed, “This all sounds so dirty.”
“I wish it were dirtier,” I murmured. I felt his lips on my neck and gasped, “Kent,” I whispered.
His hand left the pool cue and came to rest on my hip. Another kiss touched my neck. Fire was collecting in my belly as I gasped again. His other hand moved to my hip. He pulled me back and spun me around to face him.
I somehow managed to pant out his name, “Kent?” What was he doing? Why? What? I searched his face, he didn’t look nearly as drunk as I felt.
“Your lips numb?” he asked so softly; it was barely audible.
“Probably,” I whispered back. I fought back a moan as my nipples grazed against his chest.
He pulled me in closer and pressed his lips to mine, hard, as if he were laying claim on them. I kept my hands on the table, I didn’t trust myself not to strip his clothes off in the middle of the bar.
He pulled away and stared at me for a long moment. I didn’t say anything, afraid that if I said something it would break whatever spell he was under. He took me by the hand and pulled us both through the side door that led to the alleyway and the cold winter air.
My body stiffened against the frigid air and my mind was starting to clear. What the hell was he doing? Was he going to kill me now? Oh my god, I was losing it. “Kent?”
My mind fogged again after he pushed me against the hard brick wall and kissed me.
“Dorm?” he asked as he pulled away, his thumbs stroking my hipbones. I nodded and pressed my lips to his again. I wanted more, I wanted all of him. I wanted to feel him inside me again. He put his hands on my cheeks and held me in place as he pulled away.
“Need…” his lips came back to mine for a second before they pulled away again, “your stuff.”
I pulled back and stared at him. What did he say? My stuff? He was thinking about my stuff at a moment like this? Why was he even able to think clearly? “I…” Where was my stuff? “It’s in the bar.”
He pulled me off the wall only to push me back up against it, kissing me hungrily before he pulled me back into the bar.
I followed after him, a huge smile on my lips. It was happening. My fingers were interlaced with his and as soon as we were inside I pulled on his hands. I laughed as I almost fell into him. I pushed him against the nearest wall and kissed him again, my lips would never get enough. And my hand found the front of his pants. I wanted that. That was going to be mine.
“Say my name, Kent,” I whispered against his lips.
His hand closed around mine and squeezed, stilling it. He pulled back, his eyes were tightly shut, “Elly, I can’t…” He sighed heavily, “This…”
I pulled away quickly and the contact we’d shared, the intimacy was gone. What was I doing? Had I forced him into this again? Had I tricked him…again? “Oh, god.” I dropped my gaze, my hands on my head. “I’m so sorry. I’m terrible. I…” my hands moved through my hair as I turned away from him and started the seemingly long walk back to my stuff.
His fingers were around my wrist when I grabbed my purse. “Elly, hey. We’ve both had a lot to drink. It’s not a big deal.”
I gathered all my strength and smiled at him, “Yeah, not a big deal. Totally. Thanks for coming to see me sing tonight.” I grabbed my stuff and then hugged him tightly. I bit my lip to keep my sobs in. Soon I could let them out but not just yet. Not in front of him. “Okay, I gotta go.” I kissed his cheek, probably for the last time, and let him go. I grabbed my guitar and got the hell out of there.
Chapter 27
Two days before the wedding I arranged for Kent's bachelor party. I took being the undercover best man very seriously. I planned everything and paid for it all too. I wanted to make it the best since I’d all but raped him a few nights ago. I owed him at least this much.
The limo parked in front of Kent's mom's house and honked to draw him outside. The music, bass heavy rap, was vibrating the limo and the surrounding houses. I was with the other two groomsmen, all of us with our top halves sticking out of the top of the limo, beers in hand.
Kent had no idea. And it showed on his face when he opened the front door and eyeballed the limo. A neighbor came out on her porch to see what the noise was. "Sorry, Mrs. Sharp! I guess it's my bachelor party since I'm getting married in a few days. When they bring me back I'll make sure the music is down!" Kent called to the neighbor lady as he ran out to the limo and climbed in.
"Wooo!!!! KENT! KENT! KENT!!" We were cheering for him and disappeared into the limo when it started to pull away from the curb.
I grabbed a beer and opened it, holding it out to Kent. "For you, Bachelor!"
Mike, Kent's freshman roommate turned good friend, shared Kent's love of video games and they spent lots of time trying to best each other that first year of college. He sat back and lifted his bottle. "You lucky bastard. Jen is one sexy lady. And a tiger in the bed, I hear. Whew."
Kent blushed as he took the beer and held it up. "Thanks, guys. I had no idea. This was a pleasant surprise."
&nbs
p; Mike grinned, "The surprises are just beginning."
I rolled my eyes at Mike. "Don't give it away, dude."
Kent raised his eyebrow and looked around the limo with a smile before he turned the beer up.
I was dressed up for the occasion in a black pencil dress, the skirt ending just above the knee. My hair was curled loosely, a red flower in my hair to match the red piping that accentuated my tiny waist. I sat back after raising my beer with Kent and took a sip, pressing my knees together to keep from flashing everyone.
Mike was dressed in a light blue button down shirt and black slacks. The other guy, Paul, was the guy who kicked Kent's ass in the gaming competition. He was more on the heavy set side, he spent a lot of time in front of the console. He was dressed in a gray button down and dark jeans. His dirty blonde hair was slicked back and his beard was trimmed back neatly.
We rode around for twenty minutes, entering the outskirts of the city. My tattoo had healed enough that it was no longer bandaged and on display to the world. It flashed Kent as I lifted my hands up and danced in my seat to the loud music still thumping the leather seats.
We stopped in front of a building lit up with lots of red and pink neon. "Pussycat Palace" flashed through the window.
Mike grinned as he leaned over me to look out the window. "Yes!”
I pushed Mike back with a grin. "Too close to the goods, man!"
Kent’s curiosity was piqued and he too sunk down in his seat as he tipped back his beer, emptying it.
The limo driver opened the door so we could all climbed out. I was first, followed by Mike. Paul motioned for Kent to get out and followed after him. I stood at the front, the pink and red neon casting a glow on the guys’ faces.
Kent looked up at the sign and then his eyes fell on me a little grin on his face.
I grabbed his hand and pulled him up to the entrance. "Come on, dammit, we have a lot to do tonight!"
"Fine! I'm kind of scared to know what you guys have planned."
Paul and Mike flanked them. I let go of Kent's hand once we stepped into the strip club. It was dark, the stage was at the very back of the large space and it was illuminated by lots of hot lights. A thin large breasted stripper was already in her thong shaking her booty for the money that paid her bills. The smell of sex and stale beer was heavy in the air.