Lover's Roulette, (Forever and Always #6)

by Todd, E. L.

  Ryan stood up. “Let’s go.”

  Cortland didn’t say anything, but he had a stern expression on his face. His eyes were heated and bright, like he was about to walk into a fight. Their horny faces were weird. I wondered what mine looked like. Scarlet could recognize it pretty well.

  Mike sighed. “Seriously? We’re just going to follow them all night?”

  “You’ll meet a chick at the club,” I said.

  “Obviously. I meet a chick anywhere I go. You guys are lame.”

  We left the lobby then reached the strip. They were easy to find because there were whistles coming from up the street. When men walked by, their heads turned to get a better look. Their necks were stretching so much it looked like their spine would snap. “Over there,” I said.

  We walked up the street until we saw them up ahead. They were like a beacon on the trip. Everyone noticed them. It really wasn’t surprising since they looked so incredibly fine. I felt like a hound on the scent, sniffing Scarlet like prey.

  They turned inside a club and walked up to the security man. After one look, he lifted up the rope and let them walk inside.

  I came up next and tried to get in.

  “No,” was all the bouncer said. He was huge, easily three times my size.

  “No what?”

  “The line is over there.”

  “Well, my fiancé just walked in.”

  “Well, your fiancé is going to drive up bar sales.”

  “I bet she is,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “Come on, man,” Ryan said. “Let us in.”

  “Nope.”

  “You guys are idiots, you know that?” Mike said as he opened his wallet. He pulled out a hundred bucks and handed it to the bouncer.

  The bouncer opened the rope and let him in. I walked behind him but the bouncer held me back.

  “What?” I asked. “He paid.”

  “Yes. He paid.”

  I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was paying a hundred bucks just so I could get to my girlfriend because I was harder than I had ever been in my life. I opened my wallet and forked over the cash.

  The bouncer smiled. “Have a good time. Buy your girl a drink.”

  I glared at him then walked inside. It was dark but there was a faint glow of lights from the ceiling. Music was playing on the dance floor. Couples were grinding and pushing on each other.

  Ryan and Cortland came behind me.

  “Where are they?” Ryan shouted.

  “Huh?” I asked, unable to hear him.

  Ryan shook his head then walked forward. We went by the tables and looked at all the girls. There were a few cute ones, but they looked like shit compared to my fiancé. I kept looking but I didn’t find her. When we reached a table with three sofas around it, I saw the table covered with drinks. There were at least six cosmopolitans, three glasses of wine, and three fruity drinks. The girls were sitting close together, chatting and laughing. When I looked at Scarlet’s face, covered in blue shadow and red lipstick, I knew it was her. Like a hound coming to its master, I walked to her then sat on the table across from her. She flinched when she recognized me.

  “Hey gorgeous,” I said as I kissed her neck.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked.

  “You expect me just to stop thinking about you after seeing you dressed like that?”

  “Dressed like what?”

  “Like the hottest bitch in this place.”

  “You can fuck me later.”

  I grabbed her hips and pulled her closer to me. I could tell she was annoyed I was there, but she couldn’t resist me. Her legs opened slightly and she let me kiss her. From the way she breathed into my mouth, I knew she wanted me, but that didn’t mean much. She always wanted me.

  “Go away,” Janice said as she took a drink. “You’re ruining our bachelorette party.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m just hitting on Scarlet like a random stranger.”

  “Hey, baby,” Ryan said as he squeezed in between Monique and Janice.

  Janice rolled her eyes. “I can never get away from you.”

  “What did you expect me to do?” he asked. “I practically drooled on my shirt.” His hand was immediately on her thigh, sliding upwards. “You can’t leave the room looking this fine and expect me not to follow you.”

  “You need to learn self-control.”

  “Ha. Look who’s talking.” He pushed her drink away.

  “I was going to be good, Ryan.”

  “Well, now you don’t have to be. Just let me stay.” He leaned toward her ear. “You won’t even know I’m here.”

  “When you press your boner against me every minute it’s hard to forget you’re here.”

  “I’m just happy to see you,” he said with a smirk.

  “Really happy,” she said as she took a drink.

  He watched her but didn’t take it away.

  “Cortland, go away,” Monnique said.

  “I’m not here for you,” Cortland said.

  She had a look of disbelief on her face.

  “Your ass had me in a trance.”

  “Stop referring to me and my ass as two different people.”

  “That’s like asking me to combine America and Canada into Canamerica.”

  “You’re unbelievable.”

  “You’re unbelievably hot.”

  “I have no idea why you guys bother,” I said. “Stop trying to fight it and let’s have a good time.”

  “I don’t like it when Cortland doesn’t trust me,” Monnique said.

  “That isn’t why I’m here,” he said quickly.

  “I’ll tell you why we’re here,” I said. “You guys looked so damn fine that we would rather spend the evening with you, getting you drunk and in bed, then out doing something else incredibly boring and stupid. Now get over it.”

  Scarlet shook her head. “Get over it?”

  “Now let’s have a good time.” I handed her a drink then picked up a glass of wine. “Cheers,” I said as I clanked my glass against hers.

  She smiled at me then took a drink.

  “So, what’s your name?” I asked.

  She raised an eyebrow. “What?”

  “What’s your name?”

  “How drunk are you?”

  “Hey. I’m just a guy trying to pick up a hot piece of ass in a bar.”

  She chuckled. “Are we role playing now?”

  “Whatever let’s me stick around.”

  She slid her fingers around the top of her glass while she looked at me. I kept glancing at her tits as she leaned forward. She knew I was staring but she didn’t seem to care. “Scarlet.”

  “Beautiful name.”

  “Who are you?”

  “Sean.”

  “That’s a boring name.”

  “You’re hot so I’m going to let the insult go.”

  “I should wear this dress more often.”

  “So, you’re getting married?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who’s the lucky guy?”

  “Some loser.”

  I glared at her. “That’s an expensive ring. I doubt a loser could afford to purchase that big diamond.”

  “I’m just with him cuz he’s good in bed.”

  “Well, maybe you need to get out more.”

  She crossed her legs. As her legs moved, I glanced down and saw the red thong she was wearing. I didn’t try to be discreet about it. I blatantly looked between her legs and felt my dick twitch. “You’re such a gentleman,” she said as she took a drink of her cosmopolitan.

  “I never said I was.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “I haven’t made that clear?”

  “I’m getting married. I’m taken.”

  “So? You should have one more go.”

  “No. I could never cheat on my fiancé. I love him very much.”

  I leaned toward her ear, placing both hands on her thighs. “It’ll be our little secret.”


  “You don’t give up, do you?”

  “Would you like to dance?”

  “You know how to dance?” she asked incredulously.

  “I know how to make love. They aren’t that different.”

  “I guess it would be a nice preview.”

  I smiled at her. “Down that drink and let’s go.”

  She titled her head back and finished the whole glass. I liked having sex with her when she was drunk. She was already amazing in bed, but when she had some alcohol, she was free and wild. I grabbed her hand and pulled her from her seat.

  Ryan was whispering in Janice’s ear and she smiled as she listened to him. Cortland was making out with Monnique, his hand up her dress. Mike was gone. I had no idea where he went. I led Scarlet to the dance floor. A lot of guys looked at me with pure envy. They should be jealous.

  She stared shaking her hips, smiling at me. I gave her my best moves, and she seemed impressed with the way I was moving my body. I grabbed her hips and grinded her body next to me then turned her around so her ass was rubbing against me. Her fingers twisted my hair as my boner moved against her. I kissed her neck, not caring about the crowd looking at us. When I was with Scarlet she was the only person in the world. I never thought I would end up with someone so beautiful and perfect. I always imagined that my wife would be gorgeous, smart, had a smoking body, but I never expected her to be so amazing.

  She turned in my arms, rocking into me as we danced together. “I didn’t know you could dance.”

  “Why would you if you just met me?”

  “We’re still doing this?”

  My hands slid down to her ass and squeezed. “Yeah. It’s our first date.”

  “I never would have let you grab my ass like that on our first date.”

  “Don’t lie. You’re a slut and you know it.”

  “I usually hide my sluttiness for a while.”

  “That isn’t necessary.”

  “And I wouldn’t sleep with you on the first date.”

  “Oh you will.”

  “Is that a challenge?”

  “I could get you in the sack so easily.”

  “Arrogance isn’t a turn on for me.”

  “It’s confidence.”

  “Still annoying.”

  I placed my forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. My lips were close to hers and I wanted her to kiss me, make the move. I knew she wanted to by the slight opening of her lips. To convince her, I brushed my nose against hers, making her melt like it always did, then I placed her arms over my shoulders, her favorite feature. She always grabbed onto me when I fucked her. I knew the touch would make her think about it. I pulled her to my chest, begging her to kiss me. Like I knew she would, she pressed her lips against mine and breathed into my mouth. I cupped her face, kissing her with more passion than I ever had before. I loved her so much that my heart hurt. The blood pounded in my ears because I was so happy that I found the girl of my dreams. She was the sexist thing I had ever seen, the coolest chick I ever knew. I was the luckiest bastard in the world that she picked me. I kissed her for a long time, her body held to my chest. It was dark in the club and the music was loud, but all of that was blocked out as I kissed her. She had my full attention every minute of every day. I couldn’t stand being apart from her even when I was at work.

  When I pulled away, I pressed my forehead against hers and looked into her eyes. “That will be our first kiss.”

  “What’s wrong with the first one?”

  I felt my heart throb. “You deserve something better than that.”

  “I thought it was pretty great.”

  “No.”

  “Just because it led to a painful breakup doesn’t mean it wasn’t special. It was the best day of my life, Sean. After all that drama happened, we got engaged. Don’t be ashamed of the past. That’s how we got here, right? We’re spending our bachelor parties together because we can’t stand to be apart. What’s more pathetic than that?”

  I smiled. “Yeah, it is pretty lame.”

  “But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  “So, that means I’m going to get laid tonight?”

  She shrugged. “Maybe. There’s no guarantee.”

  “I’ll make it a guarantee.”

  She grabbed my hand. “I need another drink.”

  “I can get that.”

  “I already have five waiting for me.”

  “I’m guessing they are from admirers?”

  “Oh yeah.” She came back to sofa and I sat down next to her. Her dress was so short she could barely sit.

  “You wanna go to the bathroom?”

  “I’m good.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked as I squeezed her thigh.

  “What’s with you and fucking in public places?”

  He laughed. “I just like having sex with you all the time.”

  “You have a sickness.”

  Ryan looked at him. “I have the same sickness, man.”

  “And what’s that?” I asked.

  “You’re a sex addict.”

  I laughed. “No, you’re confusing me with my brother. You aren’t a sex addict if you have sex with the same person.”

  Ryan shook his head. “I don’t think monogamy matters.”

  Scarlet looked at me. “You’re sick, babe.”

  “Well, you shouldn’t have alcohol in front of an alcoholic.”

  She raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”

  I nodded to her dress. “Did you think I would just be immune to this?”

  “I thought you had some control.”

  “What gave you that idea?” I asked with a smile. “You know what? This is all your fault.” I looked at the other girls. “You too.”

  “What?” Scarlet asked, shocked.

  “Yeah,” I continued. “You did this on purpose. You get all gussied up so we would be totally hooked on you and follow you around. You manipulated us so we would come here tonight and spend the evening with you. You aren’t fooling anybody.”

  “Sean, that’s the dumbest thing I ever heard.”

  Cortland nodded. “He’s totally right. This was all a plan. Well, mission accomplished.”

  Ryan looked at Janice. “Baby, if you wanted me to be with you all you had to do is ask.” He put his hand on her thigh. “I can’t say no when you dress like that.”

  Monnique shook her head. “We did no such thing. You’re the ones who can’t keep it in your pants for five seconds.”

  “It’s in my pants now,” Cortland said.

  “That’s a miracle.”

  “Don’t act like you don’t like it. How many times have I woken up to you riding me like a jockey?”

  Her cheeks reddened and she looked away.

  “Well, that’s settled,” I said as I wrapped my arm around Scarlet.

  Janice looked at me. “So you’re saying we should wear sweatpants and shirts with stains all over them, clothes that make us look like men, put our hair in a messy bun, and not wear a drop of makeup? That will get you to leave us alone?”

  “That would be perfect,” I said. “Thank you.”

  “Why don’t you do that, baby?” Ryan asked.

  Scarlet looked at Janice. “I’m going to call off the wedding.”

  “And I’m going to dump your brother.”

  Cortland looked at Monnique. “You’re so gorgeous, babe.”

  “Too late. We’re done,” she said.

  I grabbed Scarlet’s face and kissed her, parting her lips with my tongue. She was resistant at first, but then she gave in like she always did. “I love you.”

  She growled. “You can’t use that excuse again for like a year.”

  I smiled. “Okay.”

  “I mean it.”

  I grabbed another drink from the table and gave it to her to distract her. “Bottoms up, baby.”

  “You’re trying to get me drunk?”

  “I have a feeling that’s the only way I’m going
to get any tonight.”

  “You’re right.” She down the whole glass then returned it to the table. “But I’m gonna need a lot more of those.”

  “You got it.”

  7

  Scarlet

  I’m not sure what happened. There was booze—lots of booze. I remember talking to Mike, thinking he was Sean. Janice danced on the table, and Monnique and I hit the dance floor again. We left and went to another bar—I think.

  When we came back to the hotel room, Sean and I didn’t have sex. I vaguely remember him carrying me to the bed and undressing me. I was blabbering about something and he seemed to humor me. I fell asleep as soon as I hit the pillow, but my head was throbbing the whole time. It hurt so much that I woke up.

  When I glanced at the clock, it was three in the morning. I felt like I just fell asleep. Perhaps I did. I was just wearing my bra and underwear. Sean was fast asleep, his hand around my waist. I pulled away and got up. There were some pain pills in my suitcase so I grabbed them and downed them with water.

  I was still drunk, but not nearly as much as before. I felt like crying and I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t a mean drunk, a fun drunk, or a tired drunk. I was an emotional drunk. My darkest fears always came to the surface and knocked me over. My mouth kept running and I was unable to stop it.

  I sat at the edge of the bed and wrapped my arms around my waist, trying to remember what happened tonight. Nothing came to mind. This was my bachelorette party but I couldn’t even remember most of it. When I started thinking about the wedding, my heart started to palpitate. What if she did come? What if she found out about everything? What if Sean left me because of my past? His parents would never approve of my more than humble beginnings. I put on Sean’s boxers and t-shirt then grabbed my computer before I walked outside. I leaned against the wall next to the door and opened my computer.

  I was never good at expressing my emotions verbally. Instead, I wrote them down in the form of a story. When I was really over something, I deleted the file and moved on. There were countless files in this folder. Instead of deleting them, they kept piling up. Other than my novels for my editing company, this took up the most space on my computer. I started to type and thought about nothing else.

  There was no one in the hallway. The elevator light would bleep as it moved up and down the floors but the doors never opened. I never felt more alone in my life. I was in a building full of thousands of people but I felt like I was standing in the middle of the desert, my computer as my cactus. How much did I have to drink? I’m glad Sean wouldn’t see me like this.