Sweet Ride

by Moores, Maegan Lynn

“Chill, baby. Listen, I’m sorry for doing whatever I did to royally piss you off. Let me make it up to you. How about I take you out for dinner, as a peace offering?” he asks, giving me a crooked grin.

  “Sure, sounds good. Thanks,” I say. I’m actually looking forward to going out and doing something that doesn’t involve me spreading my legs.

  “Awesome. I have a few errands to run, but I’ll be back at seven to pick you up. Wear something sexy,” he tells me, glancing at his Rolex. He then stands, places a soft kiss on my lips, and heads out the front door.

  I walk to my bedroom and head straight to my closet, picking out the red off-the-shoulder dress that I recently purchased at Victoria’s Secret. I love the way it clings to my body and shows just the right amount of skin without looking slutty. I’m actually looking forward to going out tonight. No one’s ever taken me out for dinner before. I just hope Dag will put his inner douchebag aside for the night, so I can enjoy it without any drama. I hang my dress up in the bathroom for later this evening and then head back into the living room. I eat the two chocolate croissants Dag bought me and finish reading Eclipse.

  Dag surprises me with his choice of restaurant. He’s taking me to the Italian restaurant, Vicenza, which of course reminds me of the freaking hot Italian stallion, Jack De Luca. We walk through the doors of the dimly lit restaurant and follow the hostess to our table. Dag orders a bottle of the house wine as I glance over the menu. Holy shit! This place costs a fortune, which makes me think of what Jack said to me. What do I actually know about Dag? He seems to have a lot of money, but I’m not exactly sure what he does for a living. Every time I ask him, he avoids answering my questions.

  We sit in awkward silence waiting for the food we ordered and sipping on the wine the waiter brought us earlier, when someone’s laughter catches my attention. My eyes scan the restaurant and locate where the woman’s sexy laugh is coming from—just behind and to the left of Dag at a table in the far corner.

  I try to control my reaction when I notice Jack sitting at the table dressed in a dark grey suit and white button up shirt without a tie. Sweet Mother of God, I think I just had an orgasm. Then I notice the supermodel sitting at the table with him. The woman’s wearing a taupe-colored backless sweater dress that stops at mid-thigh with a pair of strappy brown stiletto sandals that make her tanned legs look a mile long. Jealousy rips through me like a mother. He’s looking at her with a twinkle in his eyes and a huge grin on his face. He leans across the table and grips her hand for a second, saying something to make her laugh again. If I know Jack, he’s probably telling her he wants to fuck her in the bathroom or something.

  I can’t take it anymore! I stomp over to the table and grab two fistfuls of her sandy blonde hair and yank her backward out of her chair. “Keep your hands off my man, bitch! I scream, pulling her across the floor of the restaurant toward the entrance, ignoring her shouts for help. I toss her out the door and give myself a mental pat on the back. Job well done on taking the trash out, Payton.

  Jack comes up behind me, wrapping his steely arms around my waist, leaning into my body and whispering in my ear, “I was just waiting for you to make your move, and it was so fucking hot. I want to …” A loud crashing sound coming from the kitchen startles me out of my daydream.

  Shit! What am I doing? This is what I wanted when I started this whole fake relationship with Dag—for Jack to leave me alone, isn’t it? The gorgeous blonde with the sensually curvy body lets out another sexy laugh at whatever Jack says to her, and I mentally cringe. I want to be that woman so bad right now it hurts. I can’t be here in the same room with them. I make the decision to leave before he notices me. “Dag, I’m not feeling well all of a sudden. We need to leave, now,” I inform him.

  “Yeah, you don’t look so good. You look a little green,” he says. Yeah, green with envy. “Let’s go the fuck home.” He calls the waiter over, pays the bill, and we leave, but not before I take one last look at the gorgeous couple in the corner. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes, but I force them back. I will not cry over this. This is what I wanted, I remind myself.

  Chapter 6

  Night out with the gang

  Five days have passed since my dinner date with Dag, and I’ve been trying to slowly wean him off me. He doesn’t seem to want to take the hint, though. I’m driving home from the mall when I hear my favorite, and most frequently played, ringtone coming from my cell. I know it’s Ella, so I pull over to the side of the road to answer. “What up, bitch?” I ask.

  “Payton, you’re one of a kind,” she laughs.

  “Someone has to be the life of the party, might as well be me, just like in high school, right”? I ask, knowing full well that I hated every minute of it then, just as much as I do now. I was bad before I met Jack, but after him it got worse because I experienced something that I never had before with a man. When he touched me, it was like my body came alive for the first time, since those assholes in high school ruined everything. I’ll never let anyone know how weak I was to allow that to happen or the effect it had on me. I hated myself for letting it happen and not doing something about it, but I couldn’t and wouldn’t let anything ever happen to my beautiful baby sister and Ella.

  “No, you don’t have to always be the life of the party, Payton, but it makes my day better when I know you’re happy.” If she only knew how unhappy I actually am, she’d be shocked.

  “Well what can I say, happy me!” I say in a sarcastic tone.

  “Payton, what’s going on with you? Is it Jack? Do you want me to get Ryder to tell him to back off?” she asks, clearly not buying my act this time.

  “I’m fine. I just … I don’t know. I’m fine. I just need to get out and do something, I think.”

  “Well lucky for you, Abbi called today and wants to take Harley and Hendrix for the night to give Ryder and me some alone time, but to tell you the truth, I want to go out and act my age for a night. Let’s go dancing. Why don’t you and Dag come out with us, and Ryder can try to get to know him better? Maybe he’ll even like him once he spends some time with him,” she says.

  Fat chance there. I know Ryder will never like Dag. I mean I hardly do. Over the past week he’s been acting more possessive over me, and I don’t like it one bit. I think it’s time to call this whole thing off soon because I haven’t seen Jack since the night at the restaurant, so I think my plan worked. Do not cry, Payton, I think to myself.

  “Fuck yeah. That sounds awesome. I so want to go dancing with you. We can start at Climax and then head over to Pulse.”

  “Check with Dag and call me back.”

  “Okay, babes,” I reply and hang up. I can’t tell Ella that this thing between Dag and me is a lie, so I dial the number that I’m starting to hate see come up on my display.

  “How’s it going, sexy?” Dag asks.

  Ugh. “Hey, Ella called and wants to know if we’d be interested in going out with her and Ryder tonight? You don’t have to, if you don’t want to,” I say, hoping he’ll say no and that he has other plans. “We’re going to go to Climax first for a few drinks and then heading over to Pulse to go dancing.”

  “Works for me,” he answers. Well shit.

  “Okay, we’ll meet you at Climax around eight,” I tell him.

  “Oh no, querida. We’re going to have a bit of fun before we meet up with your friends.”

  “Fine, stop by my place at six, but make it quick,” I say, cringing. He thinks he’s a gift from God in bed, but let me tell you “Little Dag” really is little, and he sure as fuck can’t use it.

  “Oh no, babe. I’m gonna take my time,” he says before disconnecting.

  FUCK. MY. LIFE.

  Yeah, I’m going to have to end this and soon, but first I want to go out and have a good time tonight. Tomorrow I’ll get right on that.

  * * *

  After we have our little bit of fun at my house, Dag and I pull up outside of Climax, and I notice there aren’t many cars in the parking lot. I think
most of them belong to the staff since it’s so early. Good. We can have the place to ourselves and have a few drinks. We make our way inside and head for the bar.

  “Hey stud, can I get a Corona, gin and tonic, and a few tequila shots?” I ask the bartender, Marcus. I know pretty much everyone that works here either through Molly and Amber, but also because I come here frequently for drinks.

  “Okay, I’ll send someone over with them, gorgeous,” he replies.

  “Thanks, babe,” I say and wink at him. I turned around to head over and get a table, which won’t be hard considering nobody’s here yet, and I freeze because Jack’s sitting at a table in the corner taking a swig of a beer. What the hell’s he doing here, and where’s his sexy supermodel? I grab Dag’s hand and lead him over to one of the seating areas with the sexy black leather chairs and the classic wooden tables. The lighting’s a bit brighter now because it’s early and no one’s around, but when it comes time for the boys to come out and play, they turn off the normal lighting and go with something a little sexier to match the mood of the place.

  Ella and Ryder finally show up and we spend a while drinking and shooting the shit while Ryder glares at Dag the whole time. Awkward much? “Hey Ella, come with me,” I tell her, getting an awesome idea in my head. She jumps from the table just as excited to get away from the guys as I am. Talk about tension.

  “What’re you up to, Payton?” she asks, looking around at the back of the club were the girls usually get ready. “Why are we back here?”

  “We’re going to have a bit of fun. Fuck them. They’re ruining our night.”

  “Okay. Let’s do this shit,” she hiccups. Yep, Ella’s pretty well hammered. I love drunk Ella. She’s so much fun, and she rarely comes out to play.

  I set the iPod in the docking station to the song, “Pour Some Sugar on Me” by Def Leppard, grab her hand, and drag her out on stage. I start bumping and grinding into Ella waiting to see if she’s drunk enough to actually do this with me. I can see Ryder sitting at the table with a sexy smirk on his face. If I know Ryder, he knows perfectly well what I’m trying to do.

  Finally, she starts to move and is giving it her all, which is pretty fucking hot, if you ask me. For a schoolteacher that girl sure can move. Taking her hips in my hands from behind, I pull her closer and bend over, wiggling my ass at her. She grinds into me and smacks my ass, which makes us bust out laughing. Then I do the exact same thing to her. I love seeing this side of her. Since she’s had the twins, she doesn’t very often just let go and have wild, abandoned fun. When our little laughing fit is over, we start bumping and grinding each other again.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I notice Jack’s moved over closer to the stage and is watching me. So I decide to put on more of a show for him, letting him see what he can’t have. I begin rubbing my hands all over my body and swaying my hips to the music. I slowly get to the pole and start sliding up and down, twirling, and straddling it. What can I say? I learned a few things when I came here for drinks with my roommates and watched the stripper’s routines.

  After the song’s over, we strut back to the table and sit. Ryder pulls Ella onto his lap, his mouth lands on hers, devouring her with an intensity that I’ve only ever felt with Jack. Why does everything revolve around him? The next thing I know I am being pulled from the table and pushed back into the dark hallway leading to the washrooms.

  “Fucking Christ. That was hot, Payton. I know you can move in bed, but I’ve never seen you move like that on the dance floor. I wanna take you against the wall, like we did our first time. God, you’ve got me so hard,” Dag says hoarsely into my ear. Oh, I forgot to mention, he’s the guy I had sex with while I was working at Pulse. He’s also not the guy I want saying this to me; I’d prefer it to be coming from Jack.

  “Uh … not gonna happen. Ryder and Ella are here. Wait until we go home tonight,” I reply, trying to dissuade him.

  “Babe, I can’t wait. That was so fucking hot. It was better than Debbie Does Dallas, and I love that porno.”

  “Well, go to the bathroom. Not like you’ve never done that before,” I state firmly.

  “Fuck, you can be such a bitch sometimes,” he snarls at me.

  “I know,” I say with a smirk. He turns around and walks through the men’s washroom door. Suddenly, a big, tight chest blocks my vision. Knowing full well who it is, I put my hands on him and grip tightly.

  Jack takes his hands and runs them up the outside of my bare thighs, whispering in my ear, “You’re so fucking hot. I can’t stand watching you with him when you’re supposed to be with me.” The feeling of his fingers on my skin sends a rush to my core, making me wet and wanting. I slowly come to my senses knowing I need to stop this, but I don’t know if I want to stop this.

  “Leave me alone, Jack. I’m with Dag,” I groan out, as his mouth begins trailing feather-light kisses around my neck, and his fingers glide up the inside of my thighs, pushing my skirt up as he goes. He’s making it harder and harder to push him away, but then I remember the night in the parking lot and how all he wanted was to fucking use my body, just like every other guy. I also think back to when I saw him out with that woman last week. God, what a dick.

  “Back the fuck off, Jack, before Dag comes out,” I say, more sternly this time, pushing at his chest. I really mean business this time. I think. Yeah, I definitely mean it.

  “Payton, where are you?” Ella calls out. When her voice echoes out, Jack takes off through another door, back to the bar area. Thank God.

  “I’m here. I just had to use the bathroom. Sorry.”

  “No big deal. You and Dag ready to go to Pulse yet?” she asks, eyeing me like I was doing the nasty in the bathroom. Ugh.

  “Yeah, whenever shit-face decides to come back,” I mumble. I hope Ella didn’t hear that. It just kind of slipped out.

  “What?” she asks. FUCK!

  “When Dag comes back we can head out, I guess.”

  “Okay, let me get Ryder,” she says, walking away laughing.

  Twenty minutes later we’re walking into Pulse: the best fucking dance club in town. And no, I’m not saying that because I work here and I’m drunk! I really mean it. It’s the only place in town where you can really let loose and have crazy, wild fun. That’s what I need after what happened back at Climax. I think I need a bit of fun to try to clear my mind for a few hours.

  Ella and I get a table while the guys get our drinks (I order shots, of course). I don’t want to think straight tonight. I just want to get fucked up and forget everyone and everything.

  After taking my fifth tequila shot I’m pretty well shit-faced. Perfect.

  The music’s booming and I want to dance—so bad. Ella and Ryder went out on the floor a while ago, so I finally give in and take Dag’s hand, dragging him out with me into the sweaty crowd. Over the next couple of songs, I let Dag take over and do whatever he wants while dancing, which of course means his greasy hands are all over me. Not only are his hands all over my body, but his lips are, as well. He starts kissing my neck, collarbone, lips, and breasts over my shirt; wherever he can without being too raunchy.

  I hate knowing that he’s getting too into this, too into us. I know he wants more from me, which would normally fucking piss me off, but I’m so drunk right now, I just don’t care and will deal with it later. I just want to have a good time and dance. I feel his phone vibrating in his pocket against my hip. He takes it out and glances at it then tells me that he’ll be back in a few minutes and to carry on dancing. So I do. I don’t need him to have fun.

  I watch him walk off the dance floor when “I Came to Party” by Deuce starts playing, and I feel a pair of strong, firm arms wrap around my body. I’m instantly aware of whose arms are holding me. Jack’s warm breath sears the skin on my neck as he whispers in my ear while moving our bodies to the sensual beat. “Bella, you’re so much better than him; let me have you. I fucking need you.”

  I gasp as I hear him called me ‘beautiful’ in Italian and
remember the other times years ago when he’d used the same endearment. I love it when he speaks Italian. It turns me on like fucking crazy, and my body instantly reacts. I rock back into him, digging my ass as far into his erection as I can. I love the feeling of knowing that I do that to him.

  “Jack,” I moan, and he turns me around, takes my face in his hands, and plunges his tongue in my mouth.

  “Payton,” he mutters in between hot, hungry kisses. He grips my ass in his hands and lifts me up against his hard body. I instinctively wrap my legs around his waist so that every inch of me is touching his body somewhere.

  “What the fuck?” Dag yells from behind us.

  Cocksucking motherfucker!

  Jack sets me back down on the floor, but doesn’t move an inch away from me. This pisses Dag off, and he pulls on my arm to get me to move away from Jack, but I am so stunned and drunk to realize what’s going on that I don’t move right away. Dag yanks on my arm even harder and shoves me to the ground, charging toward Jack. I feel pain shoot from my tailbone all the way up my spine as I fall on my ass.

  Shit, fucking, shit!

  “Payton,” Ella shrieks, running over to help me off the dance floor. Wrapping one of my arms around her shoulder for support, I watch as Jack angrily stares down Dag.

  “Are you okay?” Ella asks, just as Ryder comes up behind her.

  “I’m fine,” I say, looking back over at the guys fighting over me, or at least Dag’s trying to fight Jack. Jack looks kind of bored. This shouldn’t surprise me; after all, he only wants to fuck me. Why get into a fight over me, when he could have any woman he wants in this club. Then, much to my enjoyment, Jack moves in lightning-quick speed punching Dag in the stomach and executing some kind of super-cool police move, taking him down on his back. Jack has his forearm pressed against Dag’s neck, keeping him pinned to the floor

  “Don’t ever fucking touch her again!” Jack explodes, while Dag tries pathetically to escape Jack’s hold. “She should be with me, not a piece of shit like you. I’ll touch her whenever the fuck I want!” Jack roars. “And if you ever push her again, I’ll fucking kill you! We clear?”