by Marie James
“What do you want me to tell you? You like the girl. You had to have known it would happen eventually.” I know he’s doing his best to make me comfortable with everything I’ve done.
I lean back over with my arms over my legs, head hung low, trying to work through all of this in my head. “I don’t want a relationship, man.”
“Does she? Has she given you any indication that she wants to tie you down and start dating?” Ah my voice of reason.
“No.” I tell him because it’s true. She’s been the one to get up and leave both times we’ve been together.
“So…FWB.” He says flatly.
“Friends with benefits?” I wonder if she’ll go for that. She told me she doesn’t do the repeat thing either, yet she showed up both times I asked her. She doesn’t seem to mind leaving when it’s done, so maybe she’d be okay with meeting up for sex periodically.
I smile over at him like he has just solved world hunger. “You know, I think that may work.”
He stands up and claps his hands on his thighs. “Well, now that’s settled, let’s finish this workout. I’ve a sleeping beauty to wake up from her nap.” He winks at me and walks towards the rack of free weights.
Less than an hour later I’m in my truck and decided to send Alexa a text before I can talk myself out of it.
Chapter 16
Alexa
I’ve kept myself busy with work the past few days in an attempt to not respond to Garrett’s text.
Garrett: We need to talk.
That’s it. Nothing more. I didn’t respond and he didn’t send another one. I figure if I ignore it then he’ll forget whatever it is he needs to talk about. I know deep down that I’m prolonging the inevitable. He broke his ‘once only’ rule and is obviously regretting it. Now he wants to make sure I understand that it’ll never happen again, which I get, but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.
Thursday and Friday were crazy! I enjoyed almost every part of it. I still cringe when I think about Lacey. I’ve decided that girls are still not my thing. I’m freaking out because Garrett is the first guy in a long time that has made me want to beg for more, and Alexa Warner does not beg; she has guys begging for her.
I’ll fulfill my last obligation at Ampere with the wet t-shirt contest and then I’ll stay away from him. It’s my only recourse because I’m sure that running into him after he tells me what he needs to say will only wreak havoc on my self-esteem.
The smell of peppermint and lavender hits my nose as I make my way through the spa. I see the back of a client’s head as she leaves a massage room, pulling the door closed behind her. I put a professional smile on my face as she turns towards me.
“Mallory!” My smile turns genuine when I see her. I love this girl. Her dad is a super successful business man in Denver and she frequents Elite Spa regularly. I also know she likes to go out and have a good time! “Hey, girl” I stop in front of her and give her a quick hug.
“How have you been, Alexa?!?” She seems relaxed and her face has the tale-tell signs of a massage which include the little lines running down it from the hole in the table.
“Great. You?” I return her question.
“Awesome…hey? What are you doing this weekend? We haven’t been out together in ages!” Her eyes are bright and I’m actually surprised that she doesn’t have plans with her long time boyfriend Samuel.
I can’t help to grin when I get ready to tell her what I’m doing on Saturday. “Actually I’ve volunteered to help with a breast cancer fundraiser event.”
“I love volunteering! Want me to tag along?” I know she’s telling the truth. She has the kind of lifestyle where she spends her time with various non-profit organizations. I think it’s her way of giving back since she’ll never really have to have a job even though I know for a fact that she’s a college graduate.
“Well,” I try to stall. I know she’s somewhat of a party girl but I’m slightly uneasy about admitting my plans to someone who’s ultimately a client first. Fuck it! “It’s actually a wet t-shirt contest at the new club Ampere in LoDo.”
Her grin’s contagious. “Well, maybe I can help somehow without actual participation!” She blushes a little.
“I take it Samuel would be pissed if you participated in a wet t-shirt contest?” She groans and my smile falters.
“I don’t care what he thinks.” She looks down at her hands. “We broke up a couple of months ago.”
Crap. Now I feel like shit bringing him up. “I’d love for you to come along.” Maybe having a friend there’ll prevent Garrett’s need to talk with me.
“Yay!” She claps her hands together and I get the feeling she hasn’t gone out much since she and Samuel broke up. It wouldn’t surprise me; they were all but connected at the hip. “Meet up outside the club say nine-ish?” She glances down at her watch and starts to back away, obviously late for another appointment but trying not to be rude.
“Sounds great! See you then!” I give her a quick wave before she turns around fully and heads towards the front.
My run in with Mallory has lightened my mood considerably and I’m actually looking forward to Saturday. I’m doing my best to convince myself that it is because I’m ready to hang out with her when I know it’s because I’ll get to see Garrett, even if it means we’ll have to have his little ‘talk.’
***
I decided dark wash blue jeans and a cute top were best for tonight. I’ve seen wet t-shirt contests before and I know that the participants are given a very thin, white cotton shirt to wear; I figured it would be easiest to do in jeans.
I’m shifting my small duffle from one shoulder to the next when I see Mallory climbing out of a cab. She’s smoking tonight in a tiny, little black dress. The pair of bright red heels she has on says she may be looking for trouble. Yep, she hasn’t been out much since her break up. She doesn’t look desperate but she does have that look that says she wants to be noticed. Well, I can tell that’s going to happen!
“Alexa!” She exclaims as she makes her way over to me quickly.
After a quick little hug we make our way to the bouncer who unhooks the velvet rope without a word. I hear her gasp when she steps inside.
“I take it you haven’t been here before?” She shakes her head but the look on her face would’ve sufficed. She’s in awe, which is pretty much the same reaction I had the first time I stepped inside. I’ve been to practically every bar and club in Denver and Ampere is one of, if not the most, luxurious.
“Let’s head to the bar so we can grab a drink. I need to stow my bag and check the scheduling time for the contest.” She walks slowly beside me, her eyes raking over the magnificent décor and the tesela coils that are firing off all around the room and under the sunken dance floor.
We belly up to the bar. Johnny, the bartender lifts his head back, letting us know he sees us and will be right down here.
“Fuck.” I hear Mallory whisper.
I look over at her, prepared to ask her what’s wrong but notice the huge smile on her face. I follow her line of sight all the way to Johnny. I have to admit he’s hot. His caramel skin and double tattoo sleeves are incredibly sexy; an opinion which is more than agreed upon by Mallory if the way she’s eye fucking him is any indication.
When he starts to make his way over to us, I see her dip her head, a light hint of pink on her cheeks. She’s shy! That’s incredibly cute.
“Hey, Alexa. What can I…?” His words falter when his eyes land on Mallory. His shit eating grin can’t be contained. He clears his throat and begins again. “What can I get for you ladies?”
He makes eye contact with me and I wink at him, letting him know that I didn’t miss that little event. “Well, I’m participating in the contest.” I heave my bag up and sit it on the bar. “I’m hoping you can stash this back there for me until I’m done.”
“Sure thing,” he says and grabs the bag. He takes it into a small room behind the bar, testing to make sure the lock
is engaged when he comes back out. “You ladies thirsty?” He asks as he slings a bar rag over his shoulder.
I look over at Mallory who’s apparently still rendered speechless. “Mal?” She looks up at me, cuts her eyes over to Johnny and then back to me. “Long Island Iced Tea?” She agrees with a tiny nod of her head. “Go ahead and add a few shots of Patron to that. I need to build a little courage before I climb on stage and show my goodies.”
“You got it,” he replies, already mixing our drinks.
“Do you know what the schedule looks like tonight for this little fundraiser?” He grins at me and checks his watch.
“Garrett’s around here somewhere, but I think he wants the participants in their shirts and walking around to advertise the event in about fifteen minutes.” He explains, setting the mixed drinks in front of us and reaching for the shot glasses.
“Advertising?” What the hell is he talking about? “I just figured we’d go up, get wet, and be done.”
“This contest is going to be a little different. Per usual, the cover charge tonight as well as the profit from drinks will be donated, but Garrett’s managed to think of a way to bring even more donations in.” He doesn’t elaborate further, but taps the bar with his knuckles and moves over to the next customer, giving me his own little wink.
I guess I’ll just have to wait and see! I always run a tab, but throw a twenty down on the bar for a tip.
“Let’s go find you a table up close.” I grab her hand and tug her towards the sitting areas. “I know you have nothing better to do than sit, drink, and stare at tits all night!”
“Well,” she says glancing back at the bar. “I can find a seat closer to the bar.”
I can’t help but laugh. “You want to be closer to the drinks or closer to Johnny? I can assure you the bottle and drink service is excellent here.”
She looks back one more time and tries to pretend she’s indifferent when her behavior says the opposite. “He’s quite the hunk, isn’t he?” I tease, tipping my head back towards Johnny.
“Yeah, he’s pretty freaking hot!” She fans herself in exaggeration.
“Well he wanders around the club chatting it up when the late shift bartenders show up. Maybe he’ll stop by our table later.” Her face lights up in hopeful anticipation.
I get Mallory a table, make sure she’s situated, and head out to find someone in charge, knowing that’s going to be Garrett. I walk past the guys setting up the stage for the event and notice the empty bar pitchers. Odd. I find Garrett talking to the DJ’s assistant and wait for him to finish.
When he turns and notices me his face lights up. I can’t help but smile back at him.
“Hey! I’m glad you made it.” He steps forward with his arms up like he’s about to hug me but then he stops and lowers his arms as if he changed his mind. Ouch. “I didn’t know if you were coming since you never responded to my text.” There’s no malice in his tone, but I do hear a mild hint of disappointment.
“So, Johnny said to meet up with you to get our shirts.” I’m doing my best to resist the urge to lick my lips at the sight of him. “He also mentioned some shit about advertising for the contest and I have to tell you, I’m not walking around here topless. A wet shirt is going to be bad enough.”
The smile on his face drops and he looks a little pissed. “I would never ask women to walk around my bar half naked. That would be classless much like, I don’t know, maybe letting someone you don’t know grope you up and down on a dance floor.”
His mentioning my actions from Friday night is a low blow and really pisses me off to the point that I just want to turn around and leave. The fact that this is supporting breast cancer research and I lost my grandmother to the disease is the only thing keeping me here. I choose not to acknowledge his comment and hold my hand out. “Shirt?”
“What size?” He inquires as he turns to a box overflowing with white shirts.
“Small.” I tell him with no emotion in my voice.
He reaches in, shifts them around a bit, and pulls out his selection. “Extra small it is,” he jokes with a smirk and hands the shirt over. “There’s a little changing area around back and small lock boxes for anything you don’t want to get wet.”
“And the ‘advertising’ entails what?” I prod using air quotes on the offending word.
Other girls have shown up and the DJ’s helper has begun to hand out shirts as they tell him what size. I notice the others all get the exact size they requested; I bristle.
“Ladies,” he shouts drawing the others attention to him. “This contest is going to be a little different than others you may have seen. We’re hoping to bring a lot of money tonight. If you don’t mind, I’d like for you to get your shirts on and mingle around the bar for the next thirty minutes or so.” He pauses as other women begin to arrive. “The amount of water your shirt will be getting wet with tonight is going to be based on the number of water shots the patrons buy.” He holds up an oversized shot glass for everyone to see. “Each shot is twenty dollars. The patron decides where his purchased shot goes! The more you ‘advertise’” he uses the same air quotes I did a few minutes ago and smirks over at me, “the more money you’ll raise for breast cancer research.”
I want to curl up and die. His idea is excellent. This is what I get for jumping to conclusions before hearing him out.
“At eleven we’ll cut the donations off and do the contest here on the stage.” He points behind him. “Then we’ll decide a winner by approval of the crowd.”
“What do we get if we win?” I hear someone yell from the back of the crowd and I want to slap her for expecting something during a fundraising event.
Garrett chuckles and shakes his head back and forth like he expected someone to ask. “The donations raised through the contest tonight will be donated in the winner’s name.” I smile at the murmur of approval that runs through the crowd.
We all start to make our way behind the stage to get changed and Garrett softly grabs my arm as I try to sneak by him unnoticed. “I can’t wait to get you wet tonight, Angel.” He whispers in my ear and holds up a rather large stack of money.
I grin at him and shuffle to the back, my panties already well on their way to being soaked.
Chapter 17
Garrett
I finish handing out t-shirts to those that want to participate tonight. We end up with eighteen participants, which is more than I’d hoped for. My eyes followed Alexa all the way behind the stage. I’d wanted to wait for her to come out so we could talk briefly, but a disturbance across the club called me away.
Everything was calm by the time I made it to the door but I needed to make sure that whatever happened has been handled and we’ll have no other issues. “What’s going on Mike?” I inquire walking up to my door man.
“Some guy, who apparently started his night super early, tried to push his way in.” He answers. “I persuaded him to get in a cab and told him to come back when he sobers up.” He smirks at me and I know it’s more likely he shoved rather than persuaded the man to leave.
“Think we’ll have any more trouble from him tonight?” I only ask because I remember the story from a few years back about an angry patron who was forced to leave a bar, came back at closing time, and killed a woman as she was leaving. It gives me cold chills just thinking about one of my patrons getting hurt outside of my establishment. I know that club ended up shutting down.
“Nah. He was slumped over half passed out by the time his ass hit the seat,” Mike assures me.
“Alright, man. Let me know if you need me.” I slap him on the back and walk back into the club.
I can’t help but smile when I see all of the white t-shirts flowing around. The words “Save the Ta-Ta’s” are printed on the section that covers the belly because it wouldn’t make any sense to cover up what the guys are making donations for. The saying’s courtesy of one of the waitresses, apparently it’s a phrase people are familiar with. The backs of the shirts al
l have a number on them as a way for the patrons to identify who they want to put their donations towards.
The wait staff has extra duties tonight but they didn’t seem to mind. They’ve all been given a small clip board with the correlating numbers of the participants. They’re taking donations and adding tallies. They drop the money off in a big glass jar at the bar; marketing says people like to see the money they donate for as long as possible. I’ve positioned extra security at the bar in case someone decides to get stupid and tries to take off with the jar. The tally sheets are dropped off each time they make a money drop so a running count can be kept.
The line at the door tells me we’re already at capacity which is perfect for tonight. It isn’t surprising that there’s a much larger percent of men tonight than women. The jar is filling quickly as the participants continue to make the rounds. I’ve turned in a wad of cash for Alexa. Ian had mentioned that Lorali told him a few weeks ago that Alexa had lost a grandmother a few years ago to breast cancer and I want her to win. My water shot purchases are for her benefit as well as mine. Her tits speak for themselves so the wetter her shirt is, the more likely people will vote for her and I just want to see her tits. It’s win-win really. Being the generous fucker that he is, Ian’s also agreed to match the t-shirt contest donations, effectively doubling the donation that’ll hopefully be in Alexa’s name.
I look at my Omega and realize it’s close to eleven. I step closer to the DJ booth and twist my fingers in the air, telling Chavez to make an announcement for the participants to head to the stage. He lowers the music and asks them to make their way as I head over there as well. He announces that after the next two songs the contest will begin.
I look into the group of woman and do not see a head of red hair. I look over in time to see Alexa step away from some beefed up asshole and his hand slides down her ass. I resist the urge to go beat his face in. She walks within a few feet of me, an extra shake to her ass and I can’t hide the growl that rumbles from my throat as my dick tries to punch out of my pants. Fucking temptress.