Playin' Dirty (Beautifully Dirty #6)

by Paige Steele

  I didn’t want to believe that once again, I’ve been screwed over, so every time I was warned, I either ignored them or just blew it off. I thought Justin wouldn’t do that to me. We had a good thing, I was good to him, he was great to me…you know, we’ve all been there. It sucks, really, really sucks, but there’s nothing I can do about it now, other than move on. First I need my time to cry, get pissed, and then get over that asshole…ME time.

  So here I am on my bed, reading a good romance book, drinking a glass of wine, trying to figure out how the girls in these stories always get their happily ever after. What the hell do they do that I don’t? Why do they get the good guys? Better yet…where the hell do they find them?

  My bedroom door comes flying open, “Get your ass up, Maddie Camp!” Kenna yells, as she comes in my room.

  Before I can even say anything to her, my phone chimes go off.

  Jesse: Hey

  Me: Hey Jesse

  Jesse: It’s Wednesday.

  Me: It is.

  Jesse: Same time, same place?

  Me: I don’t know.

  Jesse: You can’t stay mad at me forever.

  Me: No one said I was mad at you.

  “Who are you texting?

  “Jesse.”

  “Oh, so you’re over being mad at him?”

  “What the hell, why does everyone think I’m mad at him? Did you ever think I’m just mad at myself?” I’m getting irritated.

  Jesse: Ok then, let’s grab dinner as usual.

  Me: Fine, I’ll be there.

  Maybe that’ll shut them all up.

  Jesse - See you then, Cupcake.

  I roll my eyes and throw my phone on the bed as Kenna drops down in the chair next to my desk. He always calls me that, it started back when we went out one night, and I put on my Chapstick. As he came close to me, he said I smelled like a sweet cupcake, and since then it’s the name he uses if he doesn’t say my real one.

  “Because you’ve been home for a week, not talking to anyone. And you and Jesse can’t go a day without talking and now you have.”

  “What?”

  “You asked why everyone thought you were mad.”

  “Maybe I needed ‘me time’, Okay?” I throw up quotes with my fingers as I speak to her.

  “If you say so.”

  “I do. And if I was pissed, I wouldn’t be meeting him tonight for our usual dinner.”

  “Well, that’s good. I’m glad you’re getting your ass out of this apartment.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  Kenna stays and we order lunch together. She ends up telling me all that she saw and knew about Justin, which only makes me want to find him and kick him in the balls, even more than I already wanted to. I’m no longer mad at myself after our conversation; I just have hate in my veins for that man. I mean I’m still feeling like an idiot for not seeing what everyone else did, but hey, a girl can make a mistake…right? Before she leaves, she tells me to look at what’s right in front of me and kisses me on the cheek smiling.

  Staring at my closet after getting out of the shower, I’m trying to figure out what the hell to wear. I decide on a pair of black and white stripped leggings and a black shirt that says ‘The wine made me do it.’ It hangs perfectly off my left shoulder and is longer in the back than the front. After taking a spin one more time in the mirror, looking at my hair and make-up, I’m ready to head toward the door. Slipping my wedged heels on, I finally feel like myself again.

  As I walk towards the bar door, I take a deep breath, rub my sweaty palms down my thighs, and grab the large handle. Standing in the doorway for a minute, I take in Jesse, sitting there with his back to me. As I start to walk, he turns in his seat, causing me to hesitate slightly. He looks around once then his eyes find mine. His dark brown hair has gotten longer on top, so it’s more of the messier style than before, and he looks sexier than I remember. My lips slowly make their way into a smile as my feet start to move toward him.

  Jesse stands as I reach his stool and his grin meets mine.

  “Hello, Cupcake, you look beautiful, as usual.”

  “Thank you. You don’t look half bad yourself there, stud.” And he really does. His faded blue jeans are torn in just the right places and his tight-fitting, red t-shirt shows just how cut he is.

  “Oh yeah?” He gives me a somewhat flirty smirk as his eyes never lose contact with mine.

  “Yeah,” I say to him, as he leans in for a hug.

  He squeezes me a tad differently than before, I can’t explain it or maybe it’s just me. His one hand is on my waist, while the other glides around the back of my neck, somewhat threading my hair with his fingers. To me it seems more meaningful than any other time he’s held me. My arms wrap around the back of his head as mine falls to his chest, standing there for a moment I take in his scent. Damnnnnn, he smells good.

  “I already ordered the usual, I hope you don’t mind,” he says, as he pulls away.

  “I don’t, thanks.”

  He slides out the stool in front of me, and I hop up on it as he sits down himself. I’m not sure where to begin our conversation, I don’t want it to be awkward but it kind of is. I take a sip of the beer set before me and wait.

  “Are we going to just sit here or are we going to talk?” Jesse gets right to the point as he picks up his own beer, swallows down a swig, and faces me.

  “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what to say. I was a bitch for not reaching out to you sooner.”

  “No, you weren’t. I knew you needed to figure things out and take in what happened.”

  “I did, but I’m over it now. So can we go back to normal?”

  “Normal?”

  “Yeah, where there is no awkward silence between us. Where we don’t have the feeling of not knowing what to say.”

  “I miss the girl that is fun-loving, caring, and that doesn’t give a shit what people think of her. You know the one that’ll be crazy if she wants to be. That’s my Cupcake.”

  “She’s here. She’s just feeling like a fool and taken advantage of.”

  “Hey, look at me.” He reaches forward and slowly lifts my face, turning my chin with his fingers until my eyes meet his, then starts to speak again. “Look, Cupcake, there is absolutely nothing you should be feeling other than relief. He was an ass for cheating on you. You are both beautiful inside and out, and any guy would be lucky to have you on his arm.”

  “Thanks, Jesse. You always know the right words to say to make me feel better.” Leaning forward in my seat, I hug him one more time.

  Both of us steer clear of any more conversation that involves Justin. Instead, we shoot the shit about the one thing we both love…dirt bikes. I may not ride them like my best friend, Kenna, does, but I do love to watch them fly around a track. We are heading into the Supercross season soon, so Jesse is going over who’s on what teams and who’s looking good this year. There’s a couple new guys coming up, they’ll be on the starting line for the first time on the Monster Energy Kawasaki team, and they are supposed to be pretty quick off the line. We will soon see, as there are just a couple weeks before the gates will drop.

  “You up for a game of pool?”

  “Lead the way.” He smiles over at me.

  “Are you ready to get schooled, boy?” I say, as I grab one of the pool sticks in the rack, hanging on the wall.

  “Oh, we’ll see you who’s teaching who. Rack um’ up, Cupcake.” Jesse grins as he picks a different stick.

  “You want a piece of this?” I say as I hit the cue ball.

  “Now there’s a thought.” The look on his face is nothing but mischief.

  “Stop distracting me,” I try and say it as serious as possible.

  “Haha. Nice hit there. You really showed me.”

  “Damn it!” A giggle escapes me.

  “Please show me how you do that, exactly. I mean you did it so perfectly.” His playfulness doesn’t go unnoticed as that stupid damn white ball goes sailing by the colored ones on the
table, right into the corner pocket.

  “Oh, stick it.”

  “Oh, I will.” He smirks as he hits the same white ball and it connects perfectly. A yellow-striped ball falls in one of the sides, and then the brat gets the solid green ball in the other side.

  “Shit!”

  “Haha! What’s wrong, Cupcake? I’ll let ya pick what you want…solids or stripes?

  “You’re such an ass.”

  “Hey now, there’s no reason to start calling names. Is there?” he says with a pout and then a smile.

  “I’m going to kick your ass.”

  “I’m sure.” The chuckle he lets out is definitely something I’ve missed over the last week.

  We play the rest of the game of pool, and yes, he beats me. I, of course, tell him, I let him have that one. He laughs back and informs me that I let him have nothing. Our banter, back and forth, continues for the rest of the evening before we call it a night. It seems that we are completely back on track with our friendship, and I couldn’t be happier.

  I wake in the morning with a smile on my face. It’s a new day and a new beginning. As I lie here in my bed, I can’t help but to think of my friends, and where we all were two years ago and where we are now. Ansley, Kenna, and I shared this apartment, while Cooper and Jesse shared a house with the rest of the Yamaha team, and Ryan lived with the Honda team. Fast-forward to now, Cooper bought a house, married Ansley, and now they are expecting their first baby in February. Ryan and Kenna finally realized they were in love with each other, started dating, and moved in together. That leaves just Josie, Kenna’s sister, and myself left, both single and now roommates. She had moved in with us after Ansley moved out. Jesse still lives with the rest of the Yamaha team but I don’t think it’ll be too long before he’s looking for a place of his own.

  Standing in the kitchen, I see the coffee’s already started by Josie and I’m grateful for it. Taking a mug from the cupboard, I pour myself a full cup while I put bread in the toaster.

  “There better be some of that coffee left for me.”

  “Looking good, Jos.”

  “I know right,” she giggles, as she spins herself around on her bare heels, wearing a tank and shorts with her hair still up in a towel.

  “What is your plan for today?” I ask.

  “I’m headed to the mall for a little therapy shopping. You up for it?”

  She needs therapy for shopping if I’m being honest. She just loves to shop, therapy is just her way of saying she wants something new.

  “Actually, it sounds perfect to me.” I could use some time out of this apartment and shopping is always good. “I’ve got a couple of appearances to do for Hyped Energy next weekend, so I’d like to find a new pair boots and tights.”

  Both of us, as well as Kenna, work for the same company, Hyped Energy Drink. Ansley and Cooper’s father own it together, and they are one of the biggest sponsors in the dirt bike and superbike racing circuit, as well as the Freestyle MX shows. Not only do we go to those events, but we do some promotional appearances outside of the racing world, too.

  “I fly out next Wednesday until Sunday for a three-day shoot with two of the guys from the FMX team. Actually, I think it’s Cooper’s friends from college.” She lets me know.

  “That sounds like fun. At least you have a couple of cool guys to do it with,” I state.

  “Yeah, you know how it is standing around a photoshoot with hot guys all day. It’s a rough job but somebody has to do it.”

  The rest of the day we spend going in and out of several different stores, trying on clothes. We come home exhausted from dragging bags around and our sides hurting from all the laughing we did. It’s been a great day.

  JESSE

  Going for a much-needed run was just what the doctor ordered. Clearing my mind of nothing more than the ground beneath my feet and beautiful sunrise before me was completely necessary. Lying in bed last night, I couldn’t think about anything else but Maddie and how beautiful she is. Knowing that she’s free of that asshole, Justin, and is now a single woman, has my mind scrambling. So this morning, I drag my ass up and out of bed at the crack of dawn to start the day with a workout, which I’m hoping will help me focus. Supercross commences in less than two weeks and I know it’s not going to be easy. It’s my last year on a 250 in the lites class before I’ll move up, with the 450 group of riders. Which means I better get my ass in top shape, as well as get my head in the game, and stop thinking with my other head…and Maddie.

  My grandparents are coming over today or should I say my parents. I guess I better explain my upbringing a little. It was a tough one until the age of twelve. You see, my mother gave me up for adoption at birth; I never knew her and I still don’t. When she walked away from me, she chose a life without me, so I’ve concentrated on the here and now and not the past. I was in and out of several foster homes, until four days after my twelfth birthday, when Mr. and Mrs. Anderson welcomed me into their world. They were an older couple, who never had children of their own, I never asked why; it was something they never shared and I didn’t pry. Growing up with them changed my life completely. From day one, I felt like I was home. Shortly after I lived there, I asked to call them Grandpa and Gramma, they were thrilled and agreed right away. It made me feel kind of like a ‘normal kid,’ whatever that meant. At the age of thirteen, I was given my first dirt bike for Christmas; it was a Honda. We used to pack up the truck and trailer and haul it to every local race we could go to. I got better as years went by, and so did my bikes, one after another got bigger and faster, until I was winning race after race.

  They adopted me at fourteen and a half, and I stayed with them until I graduated high school. Two weeks after graduation, I got the one phone call that changed everything for me; Yamaha signed me to a two-year deal, moving me about two hours away from them. But before I left their house, I surprised them by wanting to take their last name. I was theirs and they were mine, we were family, the only one I had ever known to be exact. It was time to seal the deal. I hadn’t been Jesse Craig in so long that becoming Jesse Anderson only felt right. I haven’t stopped calling them Grandpa and Gramma because they’ll always be that to me. They’ve showed me how it is to feel love, real love, not the kind that you feel just because the foster family is getting money for you living with them. When they sold their home improvement store, where I worked at all through high school, to a larger company, they walked out the door together. They had shown me pictures of the day they opened. It was just the two of them when they turned the lock on the door for the first time, so it’s no surprise that they locked it back up together, as well. Watching those two, anyone could see what unconditional love was and what it truly meant to support someone. I couldn’t have done any of this without them by my side. They are everything to me.

  It’s about two o’clock when there’s a knock at my door. Opening it, I see the two people that made me the man I am today and I just smile. I couldn’t be any happier seeing them, and even though their faces have aged, they are still beautiful to me, both inside and out.

  “Hey, you two. How was the drive over?”

  “Hello, dear,” Gramma says, as I go in for a hug. I wrap her up and place a kiss to her cheek.

  “How you doing, Son?” Grampa has referred to me as ‘Son’ since I walked into his house. To me it meant a lot that someone called me, Son, as stupid as that sounds. He would introduce me to others as his and it meant everything. I was always called ‘the boy’ when I was dropped off at the next foster house, so when he called me something completely different, it made my heart ache for their love.

  “Doing good, Gramps. Getting ready for the upcoming season. You know how that is,” I say, chuckling a little.

  “Yes, I do. You gonna to be ready?”

  “I hope so. It’s hard telling, not knowing what the other teams have up their sleeves with new riders. I’ve heard some of them coming up are good. I’ve watched some of their Arenacross races on YouTube, but it
’s hard to say how they’ll do in Supercross.”

  “Well, keep at your training, focus on your race, and you’ll do good. Just like last year.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Oh, honey, you’ll do great. I just know it.”

  “Thanks, Gramma, I can only hope.”

  “Now, what’s that I’m smelling?”

  “Grandpa still has a good sniffer, I see,” I laugh. It was always a joke with Gramma that Grandpa could smell food a mile away when he’s hungry. He would say it was only because she was such a good cook, that’s when she’d hit him with the kitchen towel that hung over her shoulder while she was cooking. She’d tell him he didn’t need to butter her up, she’d still feed him, no matter what, and then he’d kiss her lips and we’d all laugh.

  “Hey, now, what can I say, I just call it like I smell it…something smells good.”

  “Of course you do,” I say smiling. I pat him on the back as we all head to the kitchen together.

  “This time I have to agree with him. Did you prepare this yourself, dear?”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I have.”

  “Now I know I taught you a few secrets here and there, but I didn’t know you had this in you.”

  “It’s was many years of practice with you, and now it’s me living on my own, plus I’m so sick of eating out. We have to do it so much when we are on the road, that I’ve been grocery shopping and cooking while I’m home.”

  “Well, what are we having today?” Grampa says, as he sticks his nose over the pan.

  “Chicken Cordon Bleu with homemade mac and cheese.”

  “Really?”

  “Haha, yes.” The look on his face made me laugh out loud. Clearly he didn’t think I could make that.

  “I tried the mac and cheese recipe we used to make together, Gram, so let me know how well I did.”

  “Oh, I’m sure it tastes great, Son.” My heart still flips when either of them calls me that.

  I tell them to go sit at the table I already set, as I bring in the food myself, even though they insist on trying to help. I direct them to their chairs and tell them to stay put, in a kind and loving voice of course.