Up for Grabs (Up For Grabs #1)

by Heather Young-Nichols

  ***

  As I was getting ready for my date, Cain said he’d pick me up at seven, Ava yelled out to me that it was time to take out the trash. One of her many colorful ways to tell me Kendra arrived, probably with Adam. Ava didn’t have anything against Adam other than he was dating Kendra. Pre-K days as she called it, Adam was a welcome guest. I think she might have even had a small crush on him freshman year.

  Kendra and Ava were never going to be besties and constantly butted heads in the slum freshman year. They sort of got along when they had to but tended to be like oil and water. The smallest thing could set one of their tempers blazing which happened pretty often.

  The hatred came when Ava started dating Jared at the end of last year and found out he’d hooked up with Kendra a few months before. This wouldn’t have been an issue except that Ava had already been working hard to get Jared interested and insisted Kendra knew. High school drama, I swear. But that’s Ava.

  “Yowza, where are you headed tonight?” Adam let out a slow whistle.

  “This looks ok then?”

  “Flannery!” Kendra stood with her hands on her hips and an expectant look on her face. “Hot right, Hot Lesbian?”

  I hadn’t noticed Casey, who sat with her long perfectness—hair and body, on the floor near the chair. She and Ava were friends in high school and she was another Freshman dorm refugee. For some girls, having the resident lesbian checking her out wouldn’t make her uncomfortable. I balked every time someone asked if it bothered me. Girls are picky. If the lesbian approves, I have a winner.

  “Completely hot, Flannery. So hot that I feel sorry for the dude,” she smiled her perfect teeth at me.

  “Just the look I was going for.” I went with the same type of outfit I wore to the party. From skinny jeans to my hair. My scoop neck top alluded to what I had hidden underneath. Now, I didn’t have quite the offering Kendra did, but I’d look pretty silly at five foot one, thin, with giant breasts. I was proportional.

  “So…” Kendra’s voice took on a sing-song quality. “Who’s the guy. Anybody we know?”

  “You know I’m going out with Cain.”

  She jumped up and down clapping her hands like a kid on Christmas morning.

  “We were going to see if you wanted to go out with us tonight. Because we feel bad that you sit home alone all the time.” I threw the remote at her. Unfortunately, she jumped out of the way. “I don’t suppose we can compete with Cain Dorsey.”

  “No. No, you can’t.”

  As luck would have it, a knock on the door sounded before I had the chance to get rid of the dynamic duo. Kendra made it there before I did. At some point, I’d have to find a way to pay her back for all her “protectiveness” as she called it.

  “So, Cain Dorsey, what do you have planned for our little girl tonight?” Kendra asked before letting him in.

  “Or do we not want to know?” Adam piped up from the couch.

  At least he was close enough to me that I landed a well-placed pointed-toed kick (hot black boots with a heel, thank you) to his shin. He groaned as his hands covered the area and held on. He also bit his lip in what I hoped was an effort to not cry like a girl.

  “God damn it, Flannery,” he growled.

  “Ah..” The smile in his voice made me smile as well. “Nothing over the top. I’m thinking we’ll board a private jet for Vegas, get her a gig as a showgirl to make Daddy some money, and get hitched if time allows.”

  Kendra cocked her head to the side. “She’s too short to be a showgirl but as long as you have her back for class on Monday … ”

  “Kendra, God, go away.” I gave her a push to the side. She let me and I got my first look at him. The boy knew how to dress his body even in just jeans and a leather jacket. His jacket was totally him. “Don’t mind her. They’re still trying to get her meds right. Come in.”

  Cain stepped passed me and yes, I took a look at him from behind. And forgot what I still needed to do before I could leave. The view was so good. He was talking to Adam who introduced him to Ava and Casey while I stared like a creeper. I told the room I needed to grab my coat and I’d be back. Inside my room, I took a minute for a pep talk. I’d been on dates before, even college dates. No big deal. Yes, I found him more attractive than any of the others but hey, it was bound to happen. And yes, most of those other dates were miserable disappointments but I couldn’t think about those. I needed to manage expectations about this one.

  Feeling better, and a little more confident, I headed out.

  Chapter Four

  Horrified. I became horrified when I joined the others to find our twosome turned into a foursome. We would drive separately and meet at the restaurant. It had already been decided Kendra said.

  No. Just no.

  “Wait, what?” No way. Not happening. In what world did either Kendra or Adam think I wanted them around for a date?

  “We were talking and decided to double. At least for dinner.” Adam slid his arms into the sleeves of his coat.

  “No.” Any further explanation shouldn’t have been necessary. Yet, I looked to Kendra to be the voice of reason. I gave her the good “please don’t make me murder you in your sleep” look.

  “Hey, Adam.” She kept her eyes on me but spoke to him. “I think I’d rather get take-out.”

  “And do what?” Our heads snapped to him at the same time. I can’t really say what he saw on our faces but it sure did the trick. “Yeah, ok. Sounds good. Later, Flan.”

  I gave them a full minute head start before Cain and I left my dorm. Small talk filled the time as we went downstairs to tuck ourselves inside his car. An Audi, I discovered, not that I cared one way or another. I don’t think I’d ever seen a boy’s car as clean and I wondered if he’d cleaned it because he was picking me up or if he was naturally tidy.

  “Can I just say thank you for getting rid of those two?” His presence took all the oxygen out of the car.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I really didn’t want them coming with us.” As he drove, I caught him glancing over at me quite often. Each time, my stomach warmed and flipped like a pancake. If he could make me feel these things while driving a car, I couldn’t imagine what more would be coming when he actually put some effort behind it.

  “Why did you agree to it then?”

  “I thought you put them up to it. Like you’d be more comfortable.”

  I laughed as I picked up his hand of the seat beside his leg and held it between both of mine. “You do remember that just last night I was alone in your bedroom with you, right?”

  “Point taken.” While his eyes went back to the road, I watched a smile creep across his face.

  He didn’t let go of my hand when I went to drop his back into his lap. Instead, he gripped mine tighter and laid the both of them on his right leg.

  My romantic history was pretty sparse. I’d dated a couple of guys in high school. One became a semi long-term boyfriend when I was sixteen. He hung around for six months then moved on to Brittney Durn, the girl who put out. Andy finally figured out I wasn’t going to let him ride me so he went on to ride her. High school boys sucked.

  Since I came to college, there’d been a couple guys, some good dates and a few heavy make out sessions, but nothing that lead to anything serious. On either side. Given that, it was weird how comfortable I already was with Cain. Enough to have told him the shame of my conception.

  When the car slowed in a neighborhood I’d never been in before, I realized I must have zoned out because I didn’t remember how we’d gotten there. Slowly, he pulled his car into a spot on the corner, backing into a space like a pro. Apparently, we’d arrived wherever he’d decided to take me, but honestly, all we passed were empty buildings.

  “Uh, where are we?” I asked, pulling my jacket tighter to my body as I came around to meet him in front of the car. He hit the alarm, making me jump from the noise.

  “Jumpy?” I shook my head. “Seems like you are.” We started away fr
om the car. His smirk frustrated me, like he had some great secret and I wanted to know what it was.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “You’ll see.”

  He took me across the street where a long line of empty buildings sat in a row. At least they looked empty. They could double as crack houses for sure.

  “Uh, I’m pretty sure that homeless guy is peeing in the alley.” I pointed next to the building I thought we were headed to.

  “Hey, be nice to Toby.” He yanked my hand a little harder to keep me with him.

  Cain pushed the door open to an empty room then brought me through an interior one. The place was gross. Dilapidated, dusty, and left empty to the world for at least a decade. It even had a weird musty smell hanging in the air. The smell that old things had. What the hell?

  Inside the other room, we found a circle of chairs with people, six or seven of them, sitting looking anxious.

  “I wasn’t expecting new comers. I’m Dr. Moreland. Welcome.” The man stood offering us a couple of the empty seats.

  “What the hell is this, Cain?” I started to wonder what I’d gotten myself into. It looked like AA or something. “What are we doing here?”

  “Don’t get upset, Flannery. But I notice when you interact with Adam that there might be a bit of an anger issue.” The corners of his mouth twitched.

  “What are you talking about?” I’d long since dropped his hand and teetered on the verge of bolting. Though I wasn’t sure where’d I’d go since I had no idea where the hell we were.

  “With Adam. There’s lots of kicking and slapping. I thought it might do you some good to get your feelings out.”

  “Physical violence is never the answer, Flannery,” the good doctor started. “We can help you learn to use your words.”

  “Using my words isn’t an issue.” I turned back to Cain. “Are you fucking serious?”

  His mouth slit open in a huge smile, the corners almost touching his ears. “No. Let’s keep going.”

  I slapped his arm at the teasing. It wasn’t meant to be hard but it turned out to be. He feigned being hurt but I knew better, and I couldn’t help but notice again how firm those freaking muscles were.

  “Thanks, Brian,” he called over his shoulder as we continued through the building. His stupid grin remaining on his face the entire time. At the back of the building we came to another door. He knocked and I listened as the rusty old thing opened from the other side. A boy, he looked like a waiter, stepped aside while beckoning us in with his arm and a smile. I thought about warning him that this better not be some sort of weird initiation because I would definitely not be drinking the Kool-Aid. Then decided against it wanting to see where this date was going.

  We stepped through to a very dim hallway that made me squeeze Cain’s hand, pushing myself as close to his back as I could get without tripping him or myself. The hall emptied into a restaurant playing soft music wafting through speakers in the corners. The most delicious smell wafted in the air, sort of a cross between apple and freshly baked bread. I could’ve stayed there all day.

  The waiter led us to a private table in what looked like a separate dining room. But only the ours had been set up for anyone to dine at. Once we were seated, the boy introduced himself as Eric, then left with our drink orders.

  I took a long gulp of the water already sitting there and nothing ever tasted so good. My throat dried out completely along the way.

  “So, what was all that about?”

  “What?”

  “Anger management.” I folded my arms over my stomach and sat back waiting for his answer.

  “I … well … ” he shifted uncomfortably.

  “Because that was freaking funny. You planned it right?”

  He visibly exhaled. “Yes. I meant it as a joke. I thought you’d get it.”

  “Oh, I get it. I can be kind of rough on Adam. It’s because he’s like my brother. But don’t worry; I won’t be as physical with you.” I tipped the glass back once again taking a nice long drink. Cain settled on my throat watching me swallow.

  “I’m pretty sure I’d be fine with anything you’d want to do to me.”

  I choked on the water. Coughing and sputtering as I tried not to let it spray out of my nose or mouth. It really wasn’t attractive but Cain enjoyed watching me almost die. Searching frantically, I found the restroom and headed right for it. A few more hard coughs was all I needed to settle down then I looked myself over in the mirror to make sure nothing had been thrown out of place. My eyes were watering. I needed to do a little clean up with my mascara, but other than that I was good. One last check for confirmation and I could go but an older man walked in surprising the crap out of me.

  “Hey, young lady, I think you might be in the wrong restroom. Unless your one of those boys that dress like a girl. Have to say you’d be the prettiest one I ever saw.” The sign on the door did say Men. Oh, lord.

  How could I respond to that? My face burned but my tongue wouldn’t form any words. My natural talent for witty retort had its limits even if this was the first time I’d found the ceiling. Embarrassing. Instead, I hauled ass out of there and walked slowly back to our table.

  I hadn’t taken time to notice we were in an Italian restaurant or look at a menu, but as the table came into view, a pizza on a stand had appeared along with salad on plates in front of each of our seats. I wondered if Cain ordered while I was gone or if it, like everything else, had already been planned out.

  “I hope you don’t mind. Adam said you like anything on your pizza so I ordered for us earlier,” he said as I sat back down then shook my head in response. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. How did you know that doctor’s name?”

  “Oh, that’s Brian. He’s a friend of my brother’s and he has group there every week. I told him we were coming through.” So, he has a brother. “Flannery, really. You look … I don’t know. Embarrassed maybe.”

  The heat in my face flared up. “So, when I went to the restroom after you watched me practically choke to death—”

  “I was fairly certain you’d live.”

  Even with my little show before I left the table, he made me smile. “Well, apparently, I didn’t check the labels properly and ended up in the men’s room.” The loudness of his laughter caught me off guard and echoed through the empty dining room. “Oh, that’s not the best part. This old guy came in and thought I was a … transvestite.”

  His face contorted to one of disbelief. “Is he blind?” I shrugged. “Flannery, there is nothing about you that would make someone think you’re a guy. He must have been joking.”

  Looking up at him through my lashes, I released a sly half-cocked smile. “He was totally joking.” I giggled. “Please, I’m totally hot.” I rolled my eyes at my own joke.

  “Got that right,” he said under his breath.

  From there we enjoyed the dinner he planned and talked. Cain told me a little more about his family. He had a sister in addition to the brother he’d mentioned earlier. Both older. His sister, Adele, was married and pregnant with her first kid, which he confided that the thought of being an uncle excited him. I could picture him spending weekends teaching his niece or nephew the finer points of soccer. “Although those recreational league games might get kind of tense,” he said.

  His brother, Jackson, worked with their father but Cain didn’t say what they did. Jackson wasn’t married yet and the brothers were kind of close. Cain didn’t say too much about his parents other than he had them and they were still married.

  Then the conversation turned to me. He already knew the biggest thing, that my mother was kind of promiscuous as a teenager and a big drinker. When the two mixed, she got me. And although she always said I was the best thing she ever did, not knowing my father bothered her more than me. I mean, sure it’d be nice to have a name but it wasn’t something I gave too much thought on. I wasn’t missing anything because I didn’t know there was anything to miss. So, obviously, I wa
s an only child and had never asked for a brother or sister in my entire life. I was honest with Cain about … well everything, but specifically that I didn’t know if the lack of desire for a sibling was due to enjoying being an only child or because money had always been tight and I couldn’t imagine another mouth in our house.

  “So, you didn’t have a lot of money?” It was curiosity asking, not judgment. I could tell by the quality of his voice. I’d heard the other through school and knew when people were being stuck up.

  I shrugged. “Still don’t. It’s not like we’ve ever been homeless or anything. We always have somewhere to live even if it’s a crappy little apartment. I have food and clothes. That’s all I really needed.”

  It looked like another question lingered on the tip of his tongue. One he wasn’t going to ask because he was too polite or too afraid of offending me. Probably the same one most people asked.

  “I studied a lot and got a kick ass scholarship that pays for school, if that’s what you’re wondering about.”

  “Is that why you stayed on campus over Christmas?” I cocked an eyebrow at him. “You told Adam in class.”

  “And you remember?”

  “I did tell you all I’ve thought about for weeks is kissing you, right?”

  He’d paid attention to everything I’d said since we met? I was thoroughly impressed.

  Chapter Five

  After paying, instead of heading back through the darkness the way we came, we used the front door which meant a little walk. The air was brisk which meant I could fold myself into Cain’s body while we walked. Turning the second corner, he stopped, pulled me to him, then pushed me against the brick wall until there wasn’t a sliver of air between us.

  Taking my head in his hands, his thumbs gently traced my cheekbones until his lips covered mine. Softly at first, then with a sense of urgency I hadn’t encountered with anyone else, ever. My lips parted, allowing him to gain entry, and all I could taste was the after dinner mints we’d both had. His fingertips brushed my hairline sending shivers down my spine. Then he pulled away. I didn’t want him to pull away.