“What are all those for?” I playfully rolled my fingertips down his arm, seductively biting my lower lip.
Quinn looked down. “I’m a stagehand for bands when they come into town. I work at a few venues in the area. I freaking love what I do. I have an interview with Regicide Assisted next week to be their head roadie.”
Not the answer I was expecting. Quinn’s hotness went from an eight to a freaking ten in two seconds flat.
“I’ve never heard of Regicide Assisted before. Any good?”
Quinn’s lips twisted into a lazy smile. “They’re one of the best all-female bands of all time. Their drummer, Fallon Dunbar, is a freaking beast. You’ll hear of them sooner than later. Mark my words, those chicks are going places.”
“Sounds amazing.” I brushed our lips together. My primal desires spiked and it was time to stop delaying the inevitable. Hopping off the counter, I grabbed Quinn’s hand. “Let’s get a little more comfortable. Shall we?”
I left a trail of clothes behind, waggling my hips as I made my way over to my couch. Quinn took the hint and quickly followed suit. Within a matter of seconds we were naked on the soft dark leather beneath my favorite blanket, making out like a couple high schoolers under the bleachers.
Quinn’s bulge pressed uncomfortably into my stomach. Shifting, I grabbed his thickness to stroke it, rolling my thumb over the head gently and playing with the pre-come that had bubbled up at the tip. Kissing down my neck, Quinn moaned. “Fuck yeah. That feels so good, babe.”
Without any finesse or warning, Quinn’s fingers roughly filled me, making me cry out.
“Like that, baby?”
How could he think that would ever possibly feel good?
I ignored it and decided to hope he would get that I wasn’t moaning for a reason. After a few pumps and odd flicks, he finally pulled out and started to lightly rub my clit.
I shifted more to start to position myself to take his length into my mouth when I was met with a shot of warm gooey terribleness right in the face, eye, and hair.
“What the hell?” I shot up and yelled, feeling my hair mat to the side of my face. I grabbed his shirt from the floor and wiped my eye and cheek.
“It’s been a while.” He shrugged and tried to kiss me again.
“I think that ship has sailed, scooter. You came in my fucking hair!” I hastily put my jeans and tank top back on and chugged the rest of my beer.
“I think I should go?” Quinn pulled away from me, rolling off the couch to start throwing on his clothes. A big splooge stain was smeared down the right side of his button-down, under his armpit.
I couldn’t have been more relieved. “If you think that’s for the best.” I tried to fake a puppy dog face, but the smirk that perked up my lips was too hard to stifle. We both knew that his performance had been a horrifyingly hysterical event, that I was dying to tell everyone about it in the morning, and that we were never going to see each other again.
“I’ll call you?” He glanced up at me as he slipped on his dress shoes. I pulled the blanket off the couch and around my shoulders to walk him out.
Why was that even a question? Fuck no!
“Sure.” I followed him to the front door and caught myself cringing as he leaned in for one last quick peck before he was out of my life.
Two
A terrible buzzing shook my pillow repeatedly until my eyes finally fluttered open.
What the hell? It’s four in the morning!
I clapped to make my nightstand light blaze and burn my eyes as they tried desperately to focus on the text after text that started to come into my view.
Mags: Fuck him. I am so freaking done.
Randy: Cali wake the fuck up, Mags just left!
Randy: Fuck! I think she’s really pissed this time. She said she was calling off the wedding.
Randy: Cali, please you have to help me!
Mags: Randy is an asshole, the wedding is fucking off!
Randy: I think she’s on her way to your place, please tell her I am not an ass and I was not flirting back with the damn waitress.
Mags: God damn him, I fucking hate his lying, stinking guts!
Mags: I’m in the car, I can barely see in all this rain. I’ll be there in 5.
Thunder crashed outside my window. Being ten floors up, it felt like I was right in the middle of the freaking storm. The windows shook as a beating started on my metal front door.
“Jesus, Mags. Give me a second,” I shouted from across my tiny one-bedroom apartment, scrambling for my robe and tying my matted blonde hair into a loose bun that was still damp from the long scrubbing I’d given it only hours before—getting jiz out of hair had been harder than I’d thought it would be.
I opened the door to see the puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks of my best friend. She stood in my doorway wearing ridiculously soaked fluffy blue slippers, one of Randy’s old Go Army shirts, and basketball shorts. Her makeup was everywhere and so was her long dark hair.
“God, Mags! You look deranged.” She shoved past me, sniffling as she huffed her way into my kitchen and went right for the fridge to grab the bottle of pinot she’d left a few nights before after one of our Netflix binges, which mostly consisted of drooling over Hook in Once Upon A Time.
“I’m telling you, Cali. I don’t know what I was thinking putting this damn ring on my fucking finger.” She downed the first glass and emptied the rest of the bottle, then trudged to my dining table to sit with pouting lips. I was still standing in the front doorway, wide-eyed at how big of a train wreck Mags was. I hadn’t seen her this bad since the night she and Randy had taken a little time off and we’d booked a cruise for spring break. My cheeks flushed and I giggled out loud by mistake when I thought about what a great time we had on that ship.
“What?” Mag’s eyes shot to mine, eyebrow raised.
“Nothing.” I shrugged, heading to the linen closet in the hallway. “So are you going to tell me what happened?” I put a towel around her shoulders and took the seat next to her.
Mags stared down at her red wine for a few seconds before diving into her rant. “Randy thinks he’s so slick and every time we’re out he hits on anything that moves.”
Randy was a nice guy and completely innocent. What Mags thought was flirting was just his way of being polite; the fact that she couldn’t see that was beyond frustrating.
“I don’t think he meant to flirt with her, Mags. You know how he is, nice to a fault.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. If he really loved me, he would watch himself and not instantly soak the panties of every girl he meets.”
“Do you want to stay here tonight?”
She nodded, toweling off her hair. “You think I am overreacting, don’t you?”
I wrapped my arms around her. “Of course I do, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. I have that job interview in the morning. You can hang out here while I’m in my meeting and then we’ll relax for a bit. Just let Randy know you’re safe, please?”
“Fine. But I am still mad at him.”
“Yeah, I know. I wouldn’t have expected anything else from you.”
Following me to the bedroom, Mags threw her sopping slippers into the bathroom. “Oh, how was the guy Vero set you up with?”
My stomach churned at the thought of Quinn. “All I have to say is that ejaculation is surprisingly hard to wash out of hair.”
My bestie busted out laughing as she grabbed dry PJs from my drawer. “That bad, huh?”
I nodded. “I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“You better tell me all the hilarious details tomorrow.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes and hung my robe back behind my bedroom door.
Mags and I climbed onto my king sized mattress that was way too big for my room and watched the lightning dance outside my window for a bit before finally falling asleep.
* * *
My interview went by in a whirlwind of nerves and awesomeness. I was hire
d on the spot to be a sales rep for an import/export company dealing in everything from sundries to chocolate to fine watches. With an international business degree, I couldn’t have asked for a more interesting and fitting job for only being a few weeks out of college.
I shot off a text to Mags.
Cali: I’ll be home in ten. Want to head to Charlie’s for a bite to eat and a celebratory drink?
Mags: Yay! You got the job! YES!!
Cali: Yes ma’am. No more waiting tables and slinging drinks for this chick. See you soon.
Walking into my apartment, I had to do a double take when I saw a tall, handsome, tattooed douchebag sitting on my couch talking to Mags. She was dressed in my favorite jeans and one of my old sorority shirts. Leave it to my best friend to grab the only pair of jeans I liked my butt in.
“Walker? What are you doing here?” I tried my best to tone down the bitchiness in my voice, but he brought it out in me hardcore.
He got up from the couch to give me a hug. It was so odd that Walker thought I remotely liked him, but I had to play nice; he was Randy’s best friend and one of the core members of our friend group.
“Randy asked me to come by and check on Mags. You know how stubborn they both are.” Walker’s drawl was thick in the morning. If he hadn’t been such a womanizing asshat, I could have seen myself falling hard and fast for his southern charm and military ruggedness.
There was a half-eaten box of donut holes on the coffee table with a paper cup that said Cali on the side.
“Thanks for the coffee, Walker. That was sweet of you.”
He grabbed his keys and wallet from the table and flashed his killer half-smile that lit up his emerald eyes. “Of course. See y’all later? It’s ladies’ night at The Saloon. Might be fun?”
Mags shrugged it off and I waved goodbye to Walker as he made his way out my front door. “I’ll text you about tonight. It all depends on if the lovebirds kiss and make up by dinnertime.”
Walker chuckled. “You know they’ll be fine by then. They always are.”
Mags called over from the couch. “Thanks again, Walker.”
He leaned on the doorframe. “Don’t mention it. See y’all later.” With a wink he was gone.
“So to Charlie’s?” Mags got up from the couch to fold the blanket Quinn’s bare ass had rubbed all over the night before. Just the thought of the hot, sticky mess made my skin crawl.
I threw my purse back over my shoulder. “Yup!”
Three
With a victorious grin plastered on my face, I popped a fry into my mouth. “There is nothing better than a greasy cheeseburger and a frosty mug full of sweet beer to top off this awesome afternoon.”
Mags’ phone had put her into a trance as she finished reading a text.
“Everything ok?” I had to nudge her to snap her out of it.
Her eyes were glossy as she glanced up at me. “Oh, yeah. You know, just still fighting with Randy.”
“What’s going on now?”
She sighed, pushing a few French fries around her plate. “He’s just pissed that I didn’t come home last night. We are still packing up the apartment to get ready for the move in a few days and he’s just stressed. We both are. Enough about that; I want to hear all about your interview and your date last night.”
I rolled my eyes. “Fine. The interview was an interview, nothing too exciting to report other than my boss’s right-hand man looks like Channing Tatum in fifteen years. Total hotness.”
“Oh, that is exciting!” Todd, our bartender chimed in, leaning on the bar to eavesdrop on our conversation.
Todd was wearing a skintight fuchsia button-down like usual, continually willing to wear anything that screamed, “I’m gay. Get the fuck over it!” His jet-black hair was uniformly messy like always. As long as we’d known him, Todd had continuously been too skinny, shaped just like a stick figure.
“I wanna hear about your date too.” Todd put two new beers in front of us and rested his elbows on the bar, waiting for story time.
“Fine. But it wasn’t pretty.” I shifted in my seat to get closer to them so I could keep my voice low while I told the embarrassing tale. “He was hot as heck and a complete jerk. We got sloshed after a nice dinner and went back to my place. One thing led to another and while we were on the couch letting things heat up, he got a little too excited and it went everywhere, even in my fucking hair!”
Mags busted out with a hefty chuckle, nearly spitting out her beer as Todd gasped, throwing his hand over his gaping mouth.
“Oh, honey, that’s awful!” Todd giggled as he got called over to the kitchen to grab food for another one of his patrons.
Mags’ smile continued as she eyeballed me.
“What?” I barked, playfully shoving her shoulder.
“I don’t think blind dating is for you.”
I shrugged. “It’s not that easy to find someone, Mags. You’re one of the lucky few that finds her Prince Charming during the first week of freshman year.”
Mags’ face twisted into a frown as she finally rattled off a text back to Randy. “You’re right, Cali.”
“Did you apologize yet?”
Mags nodded and waved over to Todd. “Can I get one of these to go?” She pointed down at her burger.
“Peace offering?” I asked.
“Something like that.”
And just like that the wedding was back on and the lovebirds were singing their mushy, happy tune again.
We grabbed our checks and jammed out in the car to a worn-out CD from The Hysterics that we’d grabbed at the Bonnaroo Music Festival a few summers back. They’d quickly turned into our favorite band right when the lead singer had hopped on the stage with just an acoustic guitar after the crowd begged for an encore.
I hugged Mags in the parking garage next to her car. “Go home, have some hot make-up sex, and then talk your hubby into coming out with everyone tonight. It’ll be fun.”
She threw her purse and to-go bag in the passenger’s seat. “Since when do you want to hang out with Walker?”
“It’s not hanging out with Walker, it’s hanging out with all of my friends. And besides, I’m heading to the bar to tell them I quit, so I am definitely going to need a drink after that.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll be there with boots on.” Mags giggled and hopped into her car.
As I got into the evaluator, I sent a text to the fifth member of our group, Mitch.
Cali: Please tell me you’re going out with us tonight.
Mitch: Don’t you work tonight?
Cali: I got a new job. So are you or not?
Mitch: Yeah, Cali, don’t worry. I will be there to buffer you from Walker and keep the peace between Randy and Mags.
Cali: You’re the best Mitchell Rebel Katz.
Mitch: Yeah I know. I get off shift in a few hours. I’ll talk to you then.
Mitch was the glue that kept our group together and sane. Walker and Randy were both in the Army and Mitch usually kept Mags and I company while they were gone for training and other military crap I knew nothing about. Their first deployment was inevitable, we just had no idea when it was actually going to happen. It was one of the reasons Mags and Randy had decided to get married right after she graduated from college.
* * *
In my boots and cutoff jeans, I pulled open the heavy wooden door of The Saloon. Whiskey and cigarette smoke burned my nostrils as I weaved around the packed bar trying to find everyone. All of a sudden, I was scooped up from behind by my waist, feet dangling in the air and the sound of Mitch’s voice trying to yell over the music, “Mags! Found her! I found Cali!”
I playfully struggled in his arms, whipping around to throw my arms around one of my best friends in the world. Mags, Randy, and Walker weren’t too far behind and right as Walker put a drink in my hand, Mags’ and my favorite line dancing song came on. We handed our beers off to the guys and darted to the middle of the wooden floor to boot stomp to Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne.<
br />
By the end of the fast-paced song, we were sweating and panting as we giggled off the dance floor.
As he handed me back my beer, Randy shouted, “Thanks for everything, Cal. Mags told me you made her see clearly again.”
I shoved his shoulder. “Don’t mention it. Besides, who can ever deny making sure true love finds a way?”
He laughed at me and hugged me around my shoulders. It was palpable what a good guy Randy was and how much he cared about everyone. It was also so freaking shocking that he and Walker were as good of friends as they were.
Walker was a two-timing, womanizing bag of dicks that had no respect for anyone except himself, and I felt like I was the only one that saw through the fakeness of his coy smile and good looks.
“So how does it feel to be out of the bar business for good?” Mags beamed at me as Randy wrapped his hands around her middle.
I took a long swig. “Fucking fantastic!”
“Can you believe we’re all growing up?” Walker chimed in, handing each of us a shot.
I smelled the straight Jameson, shivers immediately radiating down my spine. “Whiskey? Really?”
Walker winked and held his shot glass in the air to make a toast. “To Cali and her new job, and to us, the five best friends!”
Cringing, I let the warm amber flow down my throat. After a cough and a terrible burning sensation, my belly got warm and I was ready to keep the night going.
“So how did everyone take it when you quit?” Mags and I grabbed seats at a table next to a pool table to let the guys play a round of cutthroat.
“Not well. Vero is going to be the only full-time bartender since I’m not there anymore, and they are going to have to move someone from the floor to behind the bar. Carlos was pissed about the short notice but he knew for a while that there was a good chance I was going to get this new job and was going to have to quit like this. He should have been better prepared.”
Mags downed the rest of her beer and pulled her hair into a low ponytail. “They’ll get over it, just like when I left last month to take the job at the hospital. Turnover is so high in the bar business.”
The Crashing Series Page 38