by Bella Claire
“Sure,” I whispered, sitting back on my heels and watching him finish zipping up his uniform. It was pitiful that his toned body didn’t even do anything for me anymore.
He swept in for a quick kiss. “See you later, baby girl.” I sat on the bed until the door shut forcefully behind him, the walls vibrating in his wake, and I let out a sigh of relief to finally be alone.
Sure, Derek was a nice guy, but things had just become repetitive with us. I could tell he felt the same and was eventually going to tell me to pack my shit, but he hadn’t mustered up the courage to tell me yet. Sadly, I knew I was going to be all right with it. I’d been saving money from my diner job to get my own apartment when the time came.
I rolled on my side to try and get a few more minutes of sleep before my alarm went off. As soon as I got comfortable and had drifted back to sleep, the damn thing blared in my ears.
“Figures!” I grumbled and slammed the alarm clock’s button off. Time to get up.
“Excuse me, Miss,” an impatient older woman called as I started past her table. Her wrinkled face was scrunched up in disgust.
“Yes, ma’am, how can I help you?” I smiled, trying to maintain my customer service facade even though this was the last place I wanted to be today.
“I haven’t been helped yet. It’s been way over five minutes since I’ve seen anyone, and I’m clearly ready to order my food,” she snapped at me, raising her voice.
“I’m sorry, let me go find your waitress, and I’ll let her know,” I apologized, and I stormed off toward the back. I knew just the place to look for her waitress.
As I opened the back door and stepped out to scan the alley, I finally spotted the tramp. “Sam, get your ass back in here! You have a customer who is ready to order! Also, she’s pretty pissed off, so you’d better be nice, or you won’t be getting a tip.” Sam was my best friend, so I was the only one allowed to talk to her that way. If you weren’t me and decided you felt the need to talk down to her, you would have bought yourself a busted lip at the very least. She was gorgeous with all the right curves, but man, did she have a temper on her!
“I’m coming. Can’t a girl just get a good make-out sesh in before having to get off her break?” She smiled innocently, batting her eyelashes before starting toward the restaurant, making her long rainbow-dyed hair bounce with each step. Sam always oozed confidence, which was justified because she knew she was beautiful. I swear, sometimes she even had a glow to her.
“Sure, you can, on your break. Your break was over fifteen minutes ago, though. Who was that, anyways?” I watched the man run around the corner out of sight, and I narrowed my bright-blue eyes back on her as she passed by me. She stopped just in front of the diner door I was holding for her.
“Oh, well that was the new boy that just got hired next door in the food mart, Jackson. Isn’t he cute?” The heat that rose in her cheeks proved she was embarrassed about being caught. I rolled my eyes and chuckled at her expense.
We walked to the kitchen so Sam could get her pad and pen to take the old woman’s order. She suddenly stopped and jumped right in front of me. “Listen, we have been so busy busting our asses here at the diner, so why don’t we let off some steam tonight at Busky’s?” The excitement of possibly going out was laced throughout Sam’s voice, making it impossible to turn her down.
“Sounds like a plan to me. Why don’t you come to the apartment around eight? We can have a few shots before heading to the bar,” I said with a smile. Her excitement was contagious. If she showed up early, we could be gone before Derek got home and I wouldn’t have to worry about sneaking out or what Sam would say to him. She didn’t keep it a secret she was not a fan of him.
“Let’s kick ass and get this damn shift over with!” She bounced in place, causing her black skirt to hike up and show off her model legs.
For the rest my shift, I continued to wait on my customers. It felt like the time dragged on, so when it was finally time to clock out, I was ecstatic. I hurried to wipe off my tables and then ran to the back to hang my apron, before rushing out the door to get ready.
When I finally made it to the apartment, I bounded up the stairs so fast I almost tripped over my own feet.
I undressed out of my work uniform, deciding to wear my red skinny jeans, a black off the shoulder shirt, and black high heels to give my five-foot two-inch frame some height. When I looked in the mirror, I noticed the rose-red jeans made my ass pop and gave my legs some length.
I had finished up the last flick of mascara and stepped back to admire myself when I heard the cab pull up, and even if I hadn’t, the horn blowing a thousand times would have done the trick. I had no doubt Sam paid the driver extra to do that. I hurried to answer the door before the neighbors called the cops. Luckily, I opened it right as Sam was raising both hands to start making a beat on the door. I glared at her before throwing the cab driver a dirty look over her shoulder, causing him to cease all horn honking immediately.
“Your carriage awaits, my princess. Are you...? Damn, girl, you look hot!” Sam looked me up and down, giving me a once over.
“Thanks, so do you.” Sam had on her usual fishnet stockings, black shorts, and one of her favorite band shirts, which she cut to hang in strips vertically across her back.
“All right, let’s go get drunk.” Sam did a fist pump in the air as she made her way to the car. I grabbed my black clutch from the couch before following her out.
The cab ride to the bar was an interesting one. She flip-flopped between talking about how excited she was to get laid tonight and trying to talk me into taking a guy home to her house. “Haven, come on. Derek would never have to know. It’d be our little secret, pinky swear. Maybe you’d even see that things could be way better if you had a bigger sausage to fill your bun if you know what I mean.” Sam’s expression was hopeful as she held her pinky finger up in between us, while I just shook my head at her words. She hated Derek, and he felt the same about her, so she would have been thrilled if I cheated on him.
“You know I can’t do that. We may not have the best relationship, but I’m faithful.” I shrugged.
“Well I hope next time you see that beanie weenie of his, you remember that at least your best friend offered to find you one bigger and better.” She rolled her eyes and sighed disappointedly.
I’ve never been a one-night stand kinda girl, but that had never stopped Sam from trying to turn me into one. The one night I did try it out, Derek and I were on a ‘break.’ I woke up with all my cash gone and some of my jewelry missing. The jewelry wasn’t a big deal because it was cheap. What made me mad was that they had the audacity to steal from me after we had just hooked up. I mean come on, that’s just rude.
He was an out of towner, so sadly it was pointless to even look for or report him. Plus, I hadn’t wanted Derek to find out.
“We’re here! Let the party begin!” Sam snapped me out of my thoughts as she hollered so close to my ear that it started to ring. She reapplied her cotton candy pink lipstick then threw open the door. The walk to the entrance was a short one. The building was older with aged brick that had holes in it, and the whole parking lot was nothing but gravel. The sign over the door was flashing its neon blue lights advertising its name–Busky’s. Some people would say it was a hole in the wall place, but we loved it.
As we strode in, I immediately hated how crowded it was. I glanced over to the bar and noticed two bar stools had just been vacated, so I quickly linked arms with Sam and headed straight for them. Before we were fully seated, Sam had already started making flirty eyes with the bartender. He winked at her before finishing with his customers and then headed toward us with confidence. His barreled chest showed through his tight black shirt that made his ocean-blue eyes and sandy hair stand out.
“So, what will it be tonight, ladies?” He directed his question toward Sam, making me roll my eyes.
She placed her hand over his and leaned forward to show off her cleavage. “I think my friend an
d I will start with a four horseman each.” Our goal was to go ahead and get a good buzz. Her flirting may aggravate me sometimes, but my wallet sure as hell never complained. Men were always buying us drinks, sometimes even more than we could consume.
“You got it, baby.” The bartender smiled before heading off to get our shots. Judging by the way they seemed familiar with each other, it would probably be safe to say they’d slept together a time or two.
While waiting for our shots, Sam tried again to get me to see the error of my ways. “Haven, I love you, and you’re my best friend. You would be much better off without Derek and we both know it. Just end it, you can stay with me till you can get on your feet,” she pleaded, almost sounding desperate, “You’re better than him. He’s a scumbag, and you have a very bright future in front of you.” As she finished, her bright hazel eyes shone with excitement, like she knew something I didn’t.
“I want to have a good night, let’s not talk about this for one night, okay?” I quickly shut the conversation down before it could get started. Her expression turned to one of total sorrow, making me feel guilty that I’d hurt her feelings.
“He’s about to crush your heart,” she started, but before she could finish, the bartender was back, placing our ordered shots in front of us, plus an extra one each. He put his tanned finger over his mouth before sending Sam a wink. She blushed before blowing him a kiss. I chuckled at their exchange and picked up a shot in each hand.
After throwing the shots back and slamming the empty shot glasses down on the bar, we ended up getting a couple rounds of fireball. I always enjoyed the burn of the shots going down; it felt good and always made me feel like I was coming back to life. Once we had a good buzz and were in better spirits, Sam decided it was time to head to the dance floor. Grabbing my hand, she dragged me to the middle, smiling sweetly at me as we melded into the people and began to move our bodies to the beat of the music.
We had been dancing for about ten minutes when I felt a hand land on each of my hips from behind and a body started to sway to the music with me. I discreetly glanced over my shoulder, making out a tall man with golden skin before I continued dancing. A smile caressed my lips as his fingers tightened on my hips.
Whoever this mystery dance partner was, his body fit perfectly with mine. My hair cascaded down into my face, so I tossed my long wavy blonde locks over my shoulders to get it out of the way. The movement pulled the hem of my ebony top up, exposing a slim line of skin. His fingers slid up just a fraction, the rough pad of his thumb testing the softness of my skin, causing my eyes to drift down toward the hands on my waist. I could see he was tan and could feel his hard muscles flexing against me as he rocked back and forth to the music. I dropped my arms and twisted in his hold to stare into his crimson eyes.
The man looking down at me was all of six feet tall. He was definitely one of the sexiest men I had seen in a while. Especially with his black form-fitting shirt hugging every curve and contour on his body like a cotton glove. Desire pulsed between my thighs as I tried not to drool. The stranger smiled when he caught me looking.
“Well, hello to you, too, beautiful. My name is Gage. Are you going to keep checking me out, or are you going to tell me your name?” He bent slightly to whisper seductively into my ear. When he pulled away from me, he ran his fingers through his short chocolate-colored locks.
“Oh, uh, Haven.” I blushed, finally finding the confidence to make eye contact with him again, only to become entranced with his blood-colored eyes. “My name is Haven.”
“Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl. Almost sounds like Heaven to my ears.” The purr in his voice had me melting into his muscular frame as we continued to sway on the dance floor. I couldn’t tell what kind of reaction he was trying to get from me, but I felt pulled to him, almost as if I needed him. I tightened my arms around his neck, drawing myself closer, and inhaled his smoky scent.
“I guess it could sound that way.” I giggled, but shrugged my shoulders at his odd statement.
“Well, that must make you an angel then, huh?” His eyes bore into me with the question. I could feel his intensity bearing down on me, making me antsy. He studied me deeply, as if he could figure out all his unanswered questions by just looking at me.
“I wish. Could you imagine? Being an angel and having wings would be pretty cool. You could fly anywhere in the world!” I smiled, thinking about the new life I could have, but his smile wavered. “You don't think so?” I asked, confused. Obviously, that wasn’t the answer he was looking for. His eyes softened, a smile spreading across his face with ease.
“Maybe you are an angel and just don’t know it yet.” He quirked his eyebrow, teasing me.
Suddenly, I could hear someone calling my name. When I heard it again, I realized it was Sam yelling for me, trying to find me in the crowd.
I stepped out of his arms, my whole body screaming at the wrongness of it. I didn’t have time to think about it closely, I needed to find Sam and figure out what was going on. “It was nice dancing with you, Gage. I’m going to grab another drink now, so I’ll see you around.” I turned and disappeared into the crowd before he could protest, finding Sam at the edge of the dance floor. My fingers wove between Sam’s as I pulled her through the crowd toward the bar.
We got another drink before Sam started to tell me about the guy she had been dancing with. Even though I could hear her talking, I wasn’t really listening because my thoughts had wandered back to my conversation with Gage.
“Are you even listening to me? Earth to Haven!” She waved her hand in front of my face snapping me back to reality.
“Oh, yeah. Sorry, Sam. So, you danced with a guy?” I cleared my mind and tried to appear interested. She looked dumbfounded, and I suddenly felt bad for not listening. I picked up an extra straw to fiddle with and tried to listen intently.
“No! Well, yes, I danced with him, but that’s not all I said. It’s Jackson from earlier, and guess who’s gonna get lucky tonight? This girl!” She smacked the bar with her palm in excitement.
“That’s great, Sam. I’m proud you’re actually hooking up with a guy for more than one time.” I bumped her shoulder and laughed hysterically, letting her know I was joking.
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Very funny, Haven.”
I watched the people continue to dance and wondered where Gage had run off to. Even though he was a little odd, he had made me feel alive. I had to admit he was stunning, and a night with him was very tempting. I could vaguely make out Sam ordering another drink before a guy caught my attention as he ran up to her.
He came up and grabbed her hand for another round of dancing. He had vibrant fiery-red hair that made his pale skin stand out in comparison. His eyes were sweet, and I could tell he was really into Sam. Poor fellow. I quickly connected the dots and realized that it was Jackson.
After Sam was dragged away, I scanned the crowd until they landed on a set of familiar piercing eyes. His heated gaze made me shift subtly on my stool. Gage started heading my way, and I debated about making a dash for the exit. The decision was taken from me as he pulled out the bar stool next to me and sat down.
“I’ll have whatever she’s having,” he hollered to the bartender as he pointed at my drink. He shuffled his hands subconsciously when he turned to address me. It was then I saw worry in his gaze and was startled to see this handsome, confident man worried.
“There’s something about you, Haven, that I’m having a hard time putting my finger on. Are you as innocent as you’re supposed to be?” My brows shot up in disbelief, making Gage notice my reaction.
The bartender came and brought Gage’s rum and coke, just like mine, and started a tab for him. He looked back and forth between Gage and me before reading the situation and giving us an encouraging smile. When he took his leave, Gage quickly continued. “I would like to get to know you better, even though I know I shouldn’t. I mean, that’s even if you’re interested,” he said, mumbling the last p
art and turned to look into his glass.
He leaned in closer as if to tell me a secret, and I felt myself gravitating toward him. Confusion settled in when I couldn’t remember why I needed to keep my distance, then it dawned on me. Shit, I had a boyfriend, even if he was a douche.
If we kept this up, Gage would be taking my ass home if I didn’t put an end to it. As much as I was sure I would thoroughly enjoy that, I still had to think about Derek. This situation was eye opening, though, and had made me realize I’d have to make a decision, and it may not be one Derek would agree with.
“I’m not sure what you mean, but I think I’d better get going,” I said as I slid off of the stool. I didn’t like the mixed feelings I was having toward him. Part of me wanted to stay and figure out what he meant, and the other part was telling me to run as fast as I could.
I looked over the crowd one last time to find Sam. Once I found her on the dance floor, I pushed through the wall of people to get to her. The amount of men that tried to grab me to dance was beginning to piss me off, and I found myself swatting hands left and right.
Finally making my way to Sam, I yelled to her that I was heading home and going outside to wait for my cab. She gave me a thumbs up and continued to dance with Jackson. I pushed my way back through the crowd toward the exit, but before I could make it all the way out the door, I glanced back to see Gage one more time. His eyes were curious, and he stared with a determined expression from his bar stool. Something told me this wasn’t going to be the last time I saw him, and despite my efforts, I looked forward to it.
I walked up to the front door as I was trying to find my keys in my clutch. Since I’d left way earlier than expected, I had hoped to spend some quality time with Derek. I hated to admit it, but I felt a little guilty for fawning over another guy when were still together. It might not have been the best relationship, but I was loyal.