500 Days

by Jessica Miller

  She missed her last shot and now it was my turn. Time to win this. I was just about to sink the eight-ball when Mr. Hawk slid his hand over Alex’s ass. I fumbled with my stick and missed the shot. Damn it. If this idiot made the shot I was screwed. Rachel slipped her hand in my back pocket and flashed me a sexy smile. My muscles loosened, relaxing.

  Hawk-man sunk the eight-ball. Son of a bitch. “Well, look at that, we win.” Alex’s smile was prizewinning. “Nice knowing ya, Casper.” She waved as if to say, ‘buh-bye’.

  “He didn’t call the shot,” I said, grasping at straws. I couldn’t let them have this. I couldn’t let her walk out of here with this guy. I may not want her, but no way was I gonna let this guy try and take advantage of her.

  “What are talking about?” Alex asked annoyed.

  “He didn’t call his shot. It doesn’t count.”

  “You’re really that much of a sore loser?” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  “You’re gonna stand there and tell me if Rachel or I wouldn’t have called our shots you would have let that pass.”

  “Yes.”

  “Bullshit.” I pressed my palms down on the edge of the table. “One more game. You and me. No bullshit.”

  “Fine,” Alex said, grabbing her cue stick. “But this time, no crying like a baby if you lose.”

  “Don’t worry sweetheart. I don’t plan on losing.”

  “You break.”

  Halfway through the game I noticed Rachel and Lincoln were getting bored. I gave Rachel some money and told her to get us some drinks and shots and not to worry, the game would be over soon. Alex laughed. Lincoln offered to help Rachel, which I was glad. One less distraction I had to worry about. I circled the table looking for my next shot. I called it. “You’re never gonna make that,” Alex taunted. It was a bank shot into the side pocket. She leaned up on the table, teasing me.

  “Are you trying to distract me?” She slid down to her elbows and rested her chin on her hands. From this angle I could see directly down her shirt. Damn. She smiled. I shook my head and took the shot, missing. I cannot let that happen again. Satisfied with herself, Alex stood up, and walked the table looking for the perfect mark.

  Twenty minutes later, we were down to the final ball. My palms were sweating. I needed to make this shot. I called it and closed my eyes for a second. I pulled back the cue stick and followed through. I opened my eyes just in time to see the ball go in. I tried really hard not to rub it in, but I could not keep the smile off of my face. Alex looked mortified. I couldn’t tell which bothered her more. That she lost the game or she lost the bet, maybe it was both. She hung up her cue stick and walked back to the table crossing her arms. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  “Can’t I at least enjoy my win for a moment?” I sat back on the table, proud to have won this game, because honestly, for some reason I couldn’t explain, I can’t bear to see her walk out that door with that scumbag.

  “Do not make this anymore torturous than it already is.”

  “Am I really that bad?” Before she could open her mouth I stopped her. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

  She grabbed her purse. “You might want to tell your new friend you have other plans.”

  “As should you.” She glared at me, clenching her purse tightly under her arm. I got up and only now noticed neither Lincoln nor Rachel had returned since they went to get drinks over a half-hour ago. Puzzled, my eyes searched the bar. I found the two of them cozied up in a corner together. “Well, it looks like they already saved us the trouble.” This just got better and better.

  Alex frowned, clearly upset that she got ditched for the voluptuous redhead. “I have to tell Declan I’m leaving.” We walked back to the table to find it empty. “What the hell?”

  “Wow, dissed by the guy at the bar and your friend. You’re on a roll.”

  She spun around. “May I remind you that you were also left behind?”

  “Yes, but I’m not going home empty handed. Shall we?” I gestured to the door. She stomped off, leaving me unable to wipe the smile from my face. I walked her to my car and noticed a bit of admiration in her eyes at the beauty before her. That changed the second I stood beside her. I opened up the door for her and she barely batted an eye at my generosity. I stifled an eye roll and almost ended shutting the door on her. The anger that crossed her face was enough to make me smile again. I walked around to the driver side. Alex was combing her hand over the dashboard, taking in the aesthetics and cool leather beneath her.

  “You like?”

  “It’s okay,” she said, turning her head toward the window. I started the engine and shifted to drive without another word. I didn’t really have a plan. I wasn’t even sure why I actually followed through with the bet. One minute I wanted to punch a wall because she was so aggravating and the next all I wanted to do was protect her, touch her fair, smooth skin. She had a way of getting to me. I just hoped I didn’t regret this.

  When we arrived at my house, I didn’t even bother this time to open the door for her. If she expected me to be a dick well then that was what she was going to get. I was halfway to the door before Alex was even out of the car. I heard her mumble something under her breath making me chuckle to myself. Greyson was in the living room entertaining a few friends. Alex entered making Greyson drop his remote. He looked at her and then back at me, shell shocked. I moved in close to Alex’s ear and pressed my hand on her lower back. I felt her flinch slightly. Part of me should have been happy, but another part of me was sad that she was repulsed by me. I led her past the still shocked Greyson and back to my bedroom closing and locking the door behind her.

  She looked so tiny, fragile, and she was also trembling. She encased herself in her long arms for comfort. For some reason she seemed scared and I didn’t want her to feel that way. “You don’t have to be nervous. I already told you I don’t want to sleep with you.”

  “Why not?” she asked, a little surprised with herself for just spitting it out.

  “Alex look, you’re beautiful and you know it,” the shift in her stance and the slight blush in her cheeks made me think she wasn’t told that very often. “In any other circumstance I would have tried to get in your pants, but for the fact that you seem to annoy the hell out of me, it’s not worth it.”

  She whipped her fierce green eyes on me. “I’m not worth it? So you’re basically calling me trash.”

  “I didn’t say that. I said you annoy me.”

  “Calling me annoying is not any better. God seriously, you are the biggest asshole ever. You don’t even know me.”

  “This coming from the girl who claims she knows me. You’re very quick to pass judgment yourself.”

  “Why am I even here? Why would you want to spend time with someone you find annoying?” She was ready to bolt. I could see it in the way she positioned herself.

  I stood up and blocked the path to the door. “I wanted to know more about the girl with the attitude. I feel there’s something else underneath all that rage. Nobody has that much anger for no reason which makes me believe someone did you wrong, so you’re taking your hostility out on the wrong people.”

  “Nobody did me wrong. I just don’t like guys who feel they can have anybody they want. You act like you’re god’s gift to women. You’re just like every other guy who is looking for self-gratification.”

  “You talk big but I bet you’re just a scared little girl who doesn’t know what she wants so she takes everything out on everyone else.”

  “Screw this.” She made a move for the door, but I stopped her.

  “You lost a bet,” I reminded her.

  “I cannot even begin to understand why girls throw themselves at you.”

  “Because they know they will have the best night of their lives and it feels good to be wanted.”

  “How do you think they feel after you ditch them in the morning or kick them to the curb when you’re done? I’m sure they feel very wanted then.”
>
  “Most girls know from the second they leave the bar with a stranger that there is nothing more guaranteed then a night of sex. If they’re expecting anything else then they shouldn’t be going home with someone they just met.”

  I could see it in her face she was trying to come up with a reason to say I was wrong, but was having a hard time finding fault in my logic. “It still doesn’t make it right to use girls the way you do.”

  “Who says they’re not using me?” She tilted her head to the side giving me a look that said she didn’t agree. “Okay, so tell me Alex, how many one night stands have you had? Do you stay or do you slip out before they wake up?” When she didn’t speak I knew my answer. I was slowly learning we were a lot more alike than she would like to admit. “I believe that makes you a hypocrite.”

  She scowled at me. “I am nothing like you.”

  “Prove it.”

  “I am not sleeping with you.”

  “I never said that. Sit,” I gestured to the bed. She looked around for another option and found a chair in the corner. Damn. When I knew she wasn’t going to make a bolt for the door I took a seat back on the bed. We sat for a while in a standoff silent contest. I knew if I wasn’t the one to say something we would probably sit here in silence for the rest of the night. I wouldn’t mind. She was beautiful, in that girl-next-door kind of way. She had this kind of sex appeal that she didn’t even know existed. Even her brooding was sexy.

  “Tell me about yourself.” She turned her head refusing to look at me. Her knee bounced up and down like crazy. She examined her nails making it a point she was not going to talk to me. “You know we can sit here all night and have a staring contest or you could actually talk to me. You know, like, have a conversation. It’s something that people often do.”

  She scowled at me not appreciating the sarcasm. “What do you want to know?” she asked, straightening out her skirt. She was uncomfortable talking about herself. I would have to tread lightly to keep her from wanting to tear my head off.

  “You have a thing for old classics. As much as you would like to deny it, I noticed you admiring my car.”

  “My brother Jaxson works in the automobile shop downtown. He always liked tinkering around with cars.”

  “So you have two brothers?”

  “Four, actually.” Her body shifted and she seemed to relax a little. “My eldest brother Jack is in the marines. Jasper, as you know, owns the tattoo shop down town, Jaxson is my twin, and Jacob is the youngest who just graduated high school. He’s going to move in with Jax and Jas at the end of summer and go to school here.”

  This was the most I ever heard her talk without her flinging insults at me. It was kind of nice. “I noticed there seems to be a theme there. All your brother’s names begin with a J, but not yours.”

  “My mom let my dad name all the boys, but when I was born she stuck claim on getting to name me. She told me the reason she went with a different letter was because she wanted me to stand out in a group of boys.”

  “But they still named you Alex, which no offense, is a boy’s name.”

  “Alexis, my full name is Alexis. Everyone just calls me Alex for short.”

  “What do your parents do?”

  Her expression changed and something told me this was a sensitive subject. She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt before she answered. “It’s just me and my brothers.” I let the subject drop, detecting this was not something she wanted to talk about.

  “You go to school at CU?”

  “I’ll be a junior this year.”

  “It’s funny that I never saw you.” The campus was fairly large so it was quite possible we just never crossed paths.

  “That’s probably because I attend school for an education while you’re too busy looking for your next conquest.”

  “You really think I’m just this giant man whore?”

  “You have yet to prove me wrong.”

  “Okay, you’re right. Considering my current reputation I can understand why you would think that. I love women yes, but that’s not all I think about.”

  “Okay, what’s your major?”

  “Undecided.”

  “How am I not surprised? What year are you now?” She laughed, shaking her head and thinking she had me figured out. “You gonna spend the rest of your life in college so you can live out your glory days?”

  “Actually, I was pre-law my first two years. I switched to undecided because I was tired of having people dictate my life.”

  “And you still don’t know what you want to do?” Her tone was a little less sarcastic this time. I shrugged my shoulders. I never really planned ahead. I was more the type to just fly by the seat of my pants.

  “I’ll figure it out eventually, but why not enjoy what I can while I’m young.”

  “So you have no plan. Whatsoever?”

  I shrugged. “Plans are for people who have nothing better to do.” She made a disapproving noise in the back of her throat. “You’re one of those people who have their whole life planned out, don’t you? You know exactly what you want to do. You know where you want to work, live, how many kids you want to have. You have the perfect plan for your future.”

  “You are so far off it’s not even funny,” she said. I could feel her defensive walls building back up.

  “Care to enlighten me?”

  She crossed her ankles and tucked them underneath the chair. “Just because I know what I want doesn’t mean I have my entire future planned out. I know for a fact that plans don’t work. They’re often broken by unforeseen events.”

  “You speaking from experience?”

  She kept her lips tight and I had a feeling I was wading in dangerous territory. “You gonna tell me next you had a hard childhood and life isn’t fair, blah, blah, blah.” She changed the subject. A tactic I’ve used several times to take the heat off of me or when I didn’t want to talk about something.

  “No, but I’m going to tell you you’re more predictable than you think you are. You have this standoff attitude so you don’t have to worry about anyone screwing with your master design.” She crossed her arms angrily. I knew I had her. “You’re one of those girls who grew up with the perfect upbringing. Parents still married, happy childhood, support from family to go for your dreams. Everything in your perfect existence was handed to you on a silver platter.”

  “It’s obvious you know nothing,” she spat.

  I felt her walls closing, but I needed to know more. I wasn’t going to let her walk out of here, not yet. “Then why don’t you tell me?”

  “That so-called family you talk about doesn’t exist. I grew up without parents. I was raised by my brother Jack because our dad was killed when I was eight and my mom wasn’t around. I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the next day, but I do know I’m not going to live my life in fear of the unknown. I know what I want. I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. I really was an ass. I noticed her eyes were a little wet, like she was fighting the urge to cry. Fuck.

  She stood up abruptly. “Take me home.”

  “Alex I –”

  She held up a hand to stop me. “Just please take me home.”

  I did as she asked not wanting to upset her more. We rode to her place in silence. She practically jumped out of the car before I even pulled into the parking lot. “Alex wait,” I grabbed her arm to keep her from bolting. I shifted so I was facing her. She gave me the look of death. I let go of her arm, but she stayed. “Alex, look, it’s obvious we don’t get along.”

  “What tipped you off?” she said sarcastically.

  I bit back the insult on my tongue and tried to contain my anger. “What I’m trying to say is, I have a feeling Colton and Declan are going to be inseparable. So for the sake of our friends and my sanity, I think we should call a truce. “

  “I kind of like the idea of driving you crazy.” A small smile spread across her lips. I couldn’t help but ch
uckle a little. “But I agree with keeping the peace for our friends.”

  “Agreed. So no more insults or arguments?”

  She bit her lip, unsure. What I wouldn’t give to be nibbling on that lip right now. I shifted in my seat. I must have had one too many shots. “Maybe just not as many insults,” she said. “I can try to pull it back but you kind of make it hard.” I raised a brow at her. She shrugged.

  “Okay, minimal insults.”

  “And when this doesn’t work out we can go back to hating each other?”

  “Yep.” I held out my hand. “Deal?” She hesitated slightly, but shook my hand. Alex got out of the car and headed inside without another word. This was going to be the hardest truce of my life.

  Chapter 8

  Alexis

  I received a text the second I locked the door behind me.

  I’m sorry but Colt and I thought the only way 4 u n Casper to get along was 2b forced 2 spend time 2gether.

  I didn’t even respond back.

  I was so pissed at Declan I could barely form a single coherent thought. I stormed straight to my room and threw my favorite black and white checkered clutch across the room. Despite my truce with Casper I was still not happy about having my night ruined. I was half tempted to tell Casper screw the truce. Declan could just deal. There were plenty of other fish in the sea and one date was not going to seal the deal on their relationship.