by J. L. Perry
She unwraps the paper on the box, before opening it. She smiles as she pulls out the gold charm bracelet. “See all the charms on it Jazzi?” Blake says. “Look, there is a little cookie, a pizza, a game controller, a birthday cake, the number twenty-one and dad picked the little heart.”
Fucking great, he wasn’t supposed to say the last bit.
She wipes a tear that falls down her cheek. Shit, the last thing I wanted was to make her cry. She wraps her arms around Blake and kisses his cheek. “I love it so much. Thank you. I will wear it every day.” She looks over at me and smiles. “Thanks Mason.” Hey, where’s my fucking cuddle and kiss?
“I got you a present too,” she says as she turns her attention back to Blake. His little face lights up.
“I’ve got one for you too little dude,” Connor adds. “Here, come with me.” He helps him down off the counter. “It’s in my room.”
“Can you get mine too Connor,” Red says. “It’s in the bottom of my wardrobe.” Good, I’m finally going to be alone with Jacinta.
I take two steps towards her. She looks up at me with her big beautiful blues eyes and swallows like she’s nervous. “Happy birthday beautiful,” I whisper as I pull her against me and crash my lips into hers. When I pull away, she’s staring up at me in shock.
“We’re friends Mason, remember? You’re not supposed to kiss me.” The look on her face makes me chuckle.
“I’m allowed to kiss you on your birthday, that’s one of the rules,” I reply.
“Oh, is that so?” She says with a smile. “Are there any other rules you forgot to mention?” She makes me laugh when she narrows her eyes at me.
“Just a few. I will fill you in on them later.” I’m sure I can think of a few more rules that will benefit me down the track.
“You know you really shouldn’t dress like that in front of me if I’m not allowed to touch you,” I whisper in her ear. “I’m finding it very hard to keep my hands off you.”
Her friend comes barrelling into the kitchen before she can reply. She wraps her arms around Jacinta. “Happy birthday bitch,” she says with a smile. “I am going to get you so smashed tonight when we go out, you won’t even remember your own name. I can’t fucking wait. I have waited years to see you shitfaced.”
“I’ll have some drinks with you. But, I’m not getting smashed or shitfaced for that matter. You know I don’t like being too drunk.”
“Oh shut the fuck up Jaz,” her friend snaps. “It’s your twenty-fucking-first birthday! You are getting smashed with me, so get over it.” I’m looking back and forth between them like I’m watching a tennis match. I can’t believe the way they are talking to each other. They smile the whole time though, it’s hilarious.
Her friend looks over at me and smiles. “Hey there handsome,” she says with a wink. “I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Cassandra, Jaz’s BFF.”
“Hi. I’m Mason.” I extend my hand to her.
“Oh, I know exactly who you are,” she replies as she wiggles her eyebrows at me. Jacinta stomps on her foot when she does it, and it makes me laugh.
I like her friend. She’s a bit out there, but also down to earth. Cassandra and Red have completely different personalities, but seem to fit well together.
“What’s a BFF?” I ask. Cassandra rolls her eyes at me like it’s a stupid question.
“Best friend forever,” she replies. “Where have you been, living under a rock?” Jacinta laughs as she passes us our coffees.
“Where are you off to tonight?” I ask. I don’t like the idea of Jacinta getting smashed or shitfaced, as Cassandra put it.
“Cass and Connor are taking me to the club.”
“If I can get someone to watch Blake, do you mind if I come along?”
“Of course you can come handsome,” Cassandra replies before Red gets a chance to speak. I notice Jacinta stomp on her foot again. I laugh. Yep, I really like her! Together, these two are very entertaining.
Blake comes back into the kitchen with Connor. He has a skateboard under his arm and a big smile on his face. “Look what I got dad.”
“Wow! A skateboard.” Connor passes Blake the present Jacinta bought.
“This one is from Jacinta,” he says. I love how my friends treat my son. He needs good people like them in his life.
Jacinta bought him a new X-Box game that he loved, and a huge semi-automatic Nerf gun that holds over fifty rubber bullets. The two we have at home only hold ten bullets each. This is the mother of all Nerf guns.
“Wow dad, look!” he says in amazement. “Thank you Jazzi. You are so going down dad, when we have our next war game.” We all laugh at his comment.
I look down at my watch. It’s getting late. “We need to leave buddy, otherwise you are going to be late for school.” Jacinta wraps her arms around him.
“Have a great day at school birthday twin,” she whispers. Blake smiles up at her. “Make sure you come over after school so we can have some cake together.”
“I will.”
After I drop Blake off at school, I head to work. I’ve been working at the same place since I was fifteen years old. Betty got me the job. I work in a factory that makes car engine parts. It’s not the most glamorous job, but I really like it, and I love the people I work with. I started out on the factory floor doing all the manual labour. It was hard work, but the money was good.
Over the last ten years I’ve worked my way up to Vice President of the company. Considering I barely made it through high school, I’ve done pretty well for myself. Rick, the guy who owns this place, is pretty cool. He’s a lot older than me, but we get on really well. He’s like family to me, kind of like a second father, since my real father is such a cocksucker.
Once I get into work, I call Rob. He’s one of the volunteer cooks at Bridge. He has been working there for over twenty years. Rob’s a great guy, and is fantastic with Blake. The two of them get on really well. I want to ask him if he can watch Blake for me tonight.
Rob looked after Blake a few months ago, when I had to go out of town overnight on a business trip. Blake enjoyed being with him that night, so I know he’ll be okay about staying there again.
I hate leaving him, but I really want to be with Jacinta tonight, so I can keep an eye on her. I’m worried that Cassandra wants to get her so drunk that she won’t remember her name, as she put it. I’ve seen how guys take advantage of drunk girls, I’d hate for someone to do that to Red. I’ll fucking lose it if something happened to her.
I’ve arranged to leave work early today. I usually pick Blake up from school and bring him back here. Today I want to spend some quality time with him, since it’s his birthday. We’re going somewhere nice for dinner, then I’ll drop him at Rob’s later tonight.
****
As we walk towards my bike, I ask Blake if he wants to sleep at Rob’s house tonight. “Okay dad,” he says. “I like going to Uncle Rob’s, he is really funny. Are you going away with work again?”
“No. I’m going out with Jacinta and Connor.”
“I want to go out with Jazzi too,” he whines.
“We are going to a night club buddy,” I explain. “You have to be at least eighteen years old to get inside.” I watch in amusement as he counts on his fingers.
“Oh man! I still have twelve more years before I can go there.” I ruffle up his hair and laugh. Shit, I love this kid.
“How about we go home and get changed. Then we can go to that arcade place you love, before we go out for dinner?”
“Awesome!” he screams. “Don’t forget I have to go to Jazzi’s house first, so we can share her birthday cake”.
“Sure buddy. We can go to see Jacinta first.” I put his helmet on and help him onto the back of the bike.
After we both shower and change, we go down to Red’s apartment. She answers the door and smiles at us. Have I mentioned how much I love her smile?
“Come on in,” she says, as she moves out of the way so we can enter.
<
br /> “How was school today?” she asks Blake.
“It was fun. Everybody sang happy birthday to me, and the teacher cut up the cake so we could all have a piece. My teacher even let me pick something out of the prize box because it was my birthday. I picked a new handball.”
“That’s awesome,” she says as she leads us up towards the lounge room.
“Connor and Cassie have just gone to pick up some drinks for tonight,” she explains. “Cass wants to make us cocktails before we leave tonight.” I’m glad to be going with them tonight. It sounds like Cassandra plans on getting Red drunk before she even leaves the apartment.
Jacinta offers us a drink while we wait for the other two to come back. We both say yes. She walks towards the kitchen to get them. Fuck her arse is fine! I can’t take my eyes off it as she walks away.
Blake’s engrossed in something on the television, so I tell him I’m going to help Jacinta carry the drinks. That isn’t my true intention, but he doesn’t need to know that.
I walk into the kitchen and Red’s back is to me. I walk up behind her and slide my hands around her waist. She jumps and spills some drink on the counter. She quickly spins around.
“What the hell Mason!” she says in an angry whisper. “We’re friends remember, you can’t just put your hands all over me.”
“It’s just a hug. What’s the big deal? Friends are allowed to hug.” I pull her close and rest my chin on top of her head. She hesitates at first, before sighing and putting her arms around my waist.
“You are really making this friend’s thing hard for me.”
“Do you ever hug Cassandra?” I ask.
“Of course I do.”
“Well we’re friends, what’s the difference?”
“There’s a big difference. I’m not attracted to Cassie.”
“So you admit that you’re attracted to me?” I pull my head back so I can look at her. She narrows her eyes at me and I laugh.
“You know it turns me on when you get all fiery,” I confess.
“Oh, you’re impossible.” I crash my lips to hers before she has a chance to say another word.
“Mason,” she says into my mouth. I ignore her. It’s still her birthday and the rules clearly state that I can kiss her on her birthday.
When Connor and Cass get back from the bottle shop, I’m shocked by the amount of alcohol they bring back with them. We sing happy birthday to Blake and Jacinta and have a piece of cake before we leave.
****
Blake and I have fun at the arcade. He doesn’t want to leave, but we have reservations at the restaurant. By the time we get back to the apartment it’s after 7:00 p.m. I pack Blake’s pyjamas, clothes for tomorrow, a few toys and his favourite snacks into a bag. Then I go to my room and get changed for my night out.
It’s close to 9:00 p.m. before I make it back to Red’s apartment. I know they’ll still be there, Connor texted me earlier.
“Hey,” Connor yells when he opens the door. I can tell he’s already drunk.
“Come on handsome,” Cassandra screams from the kitchen. “You have about two hours’ worth of drinking to do if you want to catch up.”
“Where’s the birthday girl?” I ask.
“She wants to finish getting ready,” Connor says, “before she has anymore drinks.”
Cassandra pours me a cocktail from the shaker. I hear Red call out from her room. “I’m not wearing this outfit you made me buy bitch, I look like a hussy.”
“Shut the fuck up Jaz!” Cassandra screams back. “Get your sexy arse out here now, I bet you look hot.”
I almost choke on my drink when Red walks into the kitchen. Fuck! Hot doesn’t even come close to how she looks. Shit, my cock goes instantly hard.
She’s wearing these tiny black shorts, with a black top that only has one sleeve. Her other arm and shoulder are completely bare. I want to run my tongue over her shoulder and up her neck. Hell, I want to run my tongue all over her. There’s a tiny red belt around her waist and red killer heels, which make her shapely legs look longer.
“You look fucking hot!” Cassandra says. “So shut up and come have another drink with your BBF.”
“Connor please tell her these shorts are too short,” Red begs.
“Leave me out of this,” he says as he holds his hands up. Fucking pussy! Shit, if she wears those little shorts out tonight, I’m probably going to be fighting the guys off her all night. This is going to be a long and painful evening. My cock’s already aching for her.
Red looks over at me. I quickly put my head down as I look into my drink. Connor will know there’s something going on between us if I say what I’m thinking. It will also probably earn me a smack across the head. Red snatches the cocktail Cassandra is holding out for her, and gives us all dirty looks.
“You all fucking suck.” I can’t help but laugh. I love my fiery little Red.
CHAPT
ER NINE
Jacinta
It’s around 10:00 p.m. by the time we leave the apartment and head to the club. I’m definitely on my way to be drunk, if I’m not already there.
We are going to the same club Cass and I went to a few weeks back. It feels funny going back with Mason. Especially after what we did last time we were here. That’s all in the past now, we’re friends and that’s all we’ll ever be. It still feels weird though.
A couple of Connor’s friends are here, they are sitting at the table with us. Cass keeps bringing trays full of shots back to the table. Shit, after drinking three of them, I kind of feel like I’m going to vomit. I really need to slow down. Thankfully, next time Mason goes to the bar, he brings me back a glass of water.
“You need to slow down a bit Red,” he says, “otherwise your big night is going to be over before it’s even begun.” I totally agree with him. The problem is getting Cassie to see that. She’s on a one-way mission to get me smashed.
Connor is sitting at our table with a girl on each leg. He’s such a man whore! A few girls have approached Mason, but he’s politely sent them on their way. That makes me happy. I know we’re just friends, but I don’t think I’d like to see him with another girl. What he does behind my back is his business. I’m grateful he’s not doing it in front of me.
A least an hour passes before I have another drink. I still feel drunk, but not as much as I was an hour ago. Connor’s friends seem nice. We are all laughing and having a good time. Cass is already sitting on one of their laps. Such a hussy!
Connor’s friend, Adam, stands and asks me to dance. I shake my head. “Maybe later.”
He shrugs and sits back down. He’s paying an awful lot of attention to me. Every time I look over at Mason, I’ve noticed he’s glaring at him. It kind of makes me smile on the inside, because I can tell he’s jealous.
I’m drinking a cocktail that Connor bought for me. It’s just Mason and I at the table now. We are both watching Cass on the dance floor. She’s dancing with three guys all at once, shamelessly rubbing herself all over them. Mason and I are both laughing at some of the things she’s doing. I could never do anything like that. Well not with three perfect strangers at the same time.
****
Mason
I’m glad that fucker Adam finally got the hint and moved on. I know he is one of Connor’s mates, I have met him a few times. He’s actually a pretty nice guy, but when he put the moves on Red, I wanted to lunge across the table at him. I’m not usually a violent man by nature, I had enough of that shit when I was a kid. I’ll admit I was finding it hard to control the anger I was feeling, when he was all over my girl. Yes, my girl.
She may not know it yet, but she’s definitely mine. I’ve never experienced jealousy before tonight, and frankly I don’t fucking like it. In the past if someone made a move on girl I was interested in, I would just shrug it off and move on to the next one.
Fucking Red and her magical powers!
It’s just the two of us at the table now, we’re watching Cassandra on the dance f
loor. Fuck, I’d give anything to have Red rub herself all over me like that. We are both laughing at her antics. She’s a fucking classic.
At one stage I hear Jacinta say, “Oh my god she is a shameless hussy.” I have to agree. She’s definitely shameless, but damn, I really like her. Cassandra’s a pretty cool chick. She’s like a female version of the old me.
“So where did you meet Cassandra?” I ask.
“I met her when I first moved to Melbourne. We were in the same dance class. We found out a week later that we were in the same class at school as well, and have been besties ever since.”
That explains why Cassandra’s such a good dancer. “So, do you still dance?” I ask.
“Yes. I’ve actually just taken a job as a part-time dance teacher in the studio I used to dance at, when I lived in Sydney seven years ago.” Hmmm interesting. If she can dance like Cassandra, I want to ask for a personal demonstration, but of course I don’t.
“So what type of dancing do you teach?” Are there even different types? Fuck, I have no idea. I’ve never danced before in my life. I fucking hate dancing.
“Jazz and ballet, and next week I am going to start teaching pole dancing classes.” Did she just say Pole Dancing? I clear my throat.
“Did you just say pole dancing?” I ask hopefully.
“Yeah its fun, I’ve been doing it for a few years now.” Well fuck me! The thought of Red dancing on a pole has my cock aching again. I have to make sure I heard correctly.
“Pole dancing, as in strippers?”
“Yes Mason,” she snaps as she rolls her eyes. “Get your mind out of the gutter. I’m not a stripper. I started doing it for the exercise and really liked it, so I kept going. It’s fun.”
“Oh god Red,” I groan as I adjust my cock in my pants. “The thought of you dancing on a pole…Fuck! Can you give a private demonstration one day?”
“Fuck off Mason,” she snaps as she narrows her eyes at me. There’s my fiery Red again. I throw my head back and burst out laughing.