by HJ Bellus
“Just another payment.” The thick envelope stuffed with bills slaps the dark marble counter.
“Excellent.” She makes quick work of pulling the hundred dollar bills from the envelope and counting them.
My foot taps out a rhythmic beat on the floor while waiting on her.
“This is four thousand, three hundred dollars, Zane, and it looks like we need a payment of six thousand, seven hundred twenty dollars to keep the account up to date.”
“Yeah.” Minor problem, I think to myself. “I’ll get it to you by the end of next week.”
Her shoulders slump. “I’m afraid we’ll need it sooner to avoid the foreclosure process.”
“It’s just a few days away.”
“This next Monday by five. I’m sorry, that’s all I can give you.” She pushes the envelope back to me.
I stiffen into an upright position. “So you can’t even take this and put it on the account?”
“If I do, then you’ll be charged with two past due fees instead of one.”
“Fuck,” I growl. “See you Monday then.”
The anger raging in me gets the best of me as I slam open the door. The sound of the metal handle crashing into the sheetrock soothes me a bit. Then my fist flies into the brick wall of the bank. The pain is numbing and addictive at the same time. My phone rings and then vibrates over and over. I know Rhett won’t take no for an answer.
I pull my phone and send a text, but it’s not to him.
Me: Need company tonight?
I toss my cellphone on the leather bench seat and drive to the pizza place. When I pull in, it’s packed with overflowing customers sitting outside on the deck under umbrellas. I spot Rhett and Oliver tossing back a few beers and chatting. My cellphone vibrates in my hand as I saunter in.
Sheila: Always, sweetie.
Me: Midnight, too late?
Sheila: Not for you.
Sheila: Can a friend join?
Me: Only if I get to spend the night and entertain you two all night long.
Sheila: See you at midnight. Behave and be ready.
The entrance to the joint is packed with all sorts of fucking annoying tourists and rich kids who are home for the summer. With my temper damn near at a boiling point, I decide to hop over the low fence. Tucking my phone into my back pocket, I grip onto the top of the metal railing and leap over it.
“Zane, about damn time.” Rhett waves his beer bottle in the air.
I nod back and weave between the tables of customers. Just the presence of other people my age enjoying light conversations with no worries on their minds makes me fucking stir crazy.
“How’s he doing?” Rhett asks.
“Same.” My voice is flat and annoyed.
“Go grab him a beer,” Rhett orders to Oliver.
Oliver, who seems to have buddied right up to Rhett, jumps up and heads in.
“You okay, man?” Rhett asks.
I nod, but don’t make eye contact.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“Money, money, and money. Grandpa refused treatment today and there’s no money.” I slam a fist down into the metal table. “So, now I get to sit back and watch him die.”
“He’s done fighting, man. Give that to him. He wants you to be happy.” Rhett finally relaxes back in his chair, stretching out his long legs.
“Fucking funny joke.” I mimic his position trying to relax.
“You got me, man. I ain’t going nowhere.”
“Fuck, do I know that.”
“Need money?”
“No.”
Rhett’s always offered money and his parents the same, but I’d never take it. I’m not looking for handouts, just a fucking break in life. My years have been cursed from a young age.
I sit forward to keep my voice low. “Rhett, I’m so fucked up in the head. Last night, I went to a lady’s house and she was hot as fuck and near our age. Just a lonely housewife. I couldn’t control myself with her. I took her on the couch and while fucking her, I let myself feel for a minute what a normal life would be like.”
“You’re right, you are fucked up, but not for the reason you think, Zane. You deserve all those things, but you won’t allow yourself.”
“God,” I growl remembering how good she felt. “It was intense.”
“You need to start dating again, man. Get your ass out of the manwhore scene.”
“Need the money.”
“Stubborn jackass.”
Oliver interrupts us, setting my beer down on the table, and it might be the first time I’m actually happy to see the kid.
“It’s a damn zoo in there.” He plops down in his chair, turning his hat on backwards. “Fresh ass everywhere.”
“Well hell, Mr. All American boy, go tap an ass in the bathroom,” Rhett jokes.
“Yeah, with that blonde hair and blue eyes, you could get one pretty easy,” I add.
“Crazy fuckers.” Oliver tosses back the rest of the beer and continues to scan the crowd.
“I’ll tag an ass in the bathroom,” Rhett pipes up.
“No way in hell,” Oliver taunts.
And it’s as good as done with Rhett. He never turns away from a challenge and especially one that involves tits and a pussy.
“Your pizza, guys.” A big tittied blonde brings over three large steaming pizza pies and I watch Rhett as the wheels turn. He’s found his prey and she will be screaming his name in less than five minutes.
“Thanks,” he nods. “Haven’t seen you around here.”
“New in town for the summer.”
“Nice.” He nods his head up and down appreciatively, causing a cute flush of red to cover the girl’s cheeks.
“If you need anything else, let me know.” Her words catch and each one is bathed in shyness and a bit of curiosity as she turns away from us. Her tiny white shorts do her ass well.
“I’ll have her screaming out my name before we leave.” Rhett winks at Oliver as he stuffs his first slice of pizza in his mouth.
I just shake my head at him, wondering if my best friend will ever grow up or be the hopeless playboy the rest of his life.
I reach for my pizza when out of nowhere a loud crashing sound catches my attention and before I can turn around to what in the hell is going on, brunette hair falls around my face and a soft body falls into my lap.
“Ava!”
I hear a voice yell out.
When the crashing sound fades off into the distance, I peer down to the woman who just fell in my lap. One hand on her plump tit and the other one cradling her up to my chest, I study her as she brushes her long brown curls from her face. When I come eye to eye with the beauty, it’s the same gorgeous woman who walked in on me the other day in the bathroom. She couldn’t keep her eyes off my cock and now it seems both of us are hypnotized together. Conversations and the clattering of trays and plates being picked up from the floor buzz in the background.
I open my mouth to say something, but my words catch in my throat. She’s beautiful and as cheesy and cliché as it sounds, she’s actually more than beautiful.
“You again?” A smirk plays out on her lips.
“Yeah, you again.” I nod down to her.
“Guess the Gods want us to meet.”
“Or you’re stalking me.”
She’s trying to flirt with me, but unless she’s a paying customer, there’s no sense in flirting. My words are harsh and to the point.
“You must be pretty desperate.”
Another female’s voice joins along with Rhett’s.
“Ava, are you okay?” The girl extends her hand and Ava scrambles quickly from my lap.
“The asshole in the red hat shoved me when he was walking inside and then I flew into a waitress.”
I scan her from head to toe, taking my time to admire her short stature and perfectly plump body. Her curves are perfection.
“You’re bleeding.” I grab a napkin and dab it in my water before she focuses on me.
<
br /> “Ouch.” Ava swats my hand away.
“Leave it.” My voice comes out harsh and cruel. “You need to clean it and stop the bleeding.”
Her left kneecap has a large gash in it from her fall.
“I’m fine.” She pulls her knee from my reach.
I place the damp napkin back on her knee, kneeling from my seat to take a better inspection of the wound. “You’re going to need stitches.”
“I’m fine, asshole. Get your hands off of me.”
“What did you do to piss her off?” Rhett asks standing behind her friend who is now kneeled down, applying pressure to her bleeding knee.
I just shrug. “Who pushed you, Ava?”
She winces in pain before pointing him out in the restaurant and then when she realizes she’s talking to me, her arm drops down by her side and focus goes back on her knee.
“Chloe, let’s go. It’s fine.” She tries pushing her friend back, but she doesn’t move.
“It’s oozing blood, Ava.”
A stream of red blood runs down the front of Ava’s shin and my vision blurs to the exact same color, watching it pool on the cement of the patio. I grip the back of the wrought iron chair over and over again trying to calm down, but when Ava’s eyes pool with tears, I blow up.
“Where are you going, Zane?” Rhett hollers out, but I don’t stop.
My Cons pound on the cement with each step; I curl and uncurl my fists down by my side, and then throw open the door to the restaurant.
“Oh shit,” are the last two words I hear Rhett yell before my fist collides with the asshole’s jaw. He didn’t see the first one coming, but I made sure he saw and felt the reign of terror with each blow of my fist and cracking of his face.
I lose track of how many times I pop the fucker in the face. Rhett pulls me off him and has us out of there before the sirens fill the air.
6
Ava
“What did he say to you?” Chloe asks again.
“Basically, that I was desperate.” I rearrange the ice pack on my knee. Thankfully, I was able to talk the girls out of rushing me to the ER over a flesh wound. I’ve fallen off my fair share of horses while growing up to know pain.
“So he was a dick to you?” Darby asks.
“Enough.”
They’ve been at it for the last thirty minutes since we got home and cleaned up.
Darby plants her hands on her hips and tilts her head. “From my standpoint, when you landed in his arms, he stared down at you like he was going to devour you and then he beat the shit out of the guy who knocked you down.”
I don’t admit to either of them that I thought his stare felt the same way and made me way more excited than it should have. Hell, I hadn’t even noticed the throbbing pain while in his arms. I sure got a good look at his gorgeous cock the other day, but it’s nothing compared to his bright blue eyes, strong jawline, and crisp tan.
“He’s an asshole and no way interested in me.” I try to brush off their concern and feel a slight twinge when I do.
“You’re so damn stubborn sometimes, Ava. It drives me fucking nuts.” Darby plops down on the bed next to me.
“I must get it from the good ol’ Senator from Tennessee.”
“You must.” She lays down next to me. “But that’s the only thing you get from your asshole father.”
“Agreed.”
“So, I’m pretty sure Chloe has no idea about tonight. I’ve warned the other bitches to keep their traps shut.”
“I’m pretty sure she’s in the dark and also going to chop both of our tits off when she finds out.”
“My dad’s a plastic surgeon, he can just sew them back on.”
I can’t help the fit of giggles that escape me with her comment. Her words come out so calm and cool, you’d think she’s had her titties chopped off several times in the past and her dad sewed them right back on.
“She’ll have fun, but I’m sure tomorrow morning will be feeling like shit.”
“Ava, your knee feeling good enough to go?”
“Of course.” I turn to face her. “But will you do my hair, Darby?”
I use my best puppy dog eyes and bat my eyelashes at her. Hair is Darby’s passion, but her parents are similar to mine and have their own expectations of what Darby should do or not do. Unlike me, Darby is very vocal to her parents and tells them where they can stick it and just exactly how hard they can stick it.
“So, what’s the plan tonight?” Chloe enters the room and tosses her phone on the bed.
“Oh, little miss, are you done talking dirty to the future hubs?” Darby asks, making room for Chloe on the bed.
“Yeah, but wasn’t too dirty. He was between meetings.” Her voice is sad.
“Something up?” I ask.
“I just miss him and wish this whole wedding bullshit was over.”
“Settle your tits.” Darby sits up in the bed. “Your mom is virtually taking care of everything and we just have the summer to tan and relax here.”
“You mean Ava and me?”
Darby shakes her head from side to side with a growing mischievous smile beginning to spread across her face.
“I thought you were leaving with the rest of the clan,” Chloe says.
“I was, but then figured one last summer with my bitches was exactly what the doctor ordered.”
Chloe flies into Darby’s arms and wraps her tight in a hug and then pulls away. “Wait, you knew this, Ava?”
I just shrug my shoulders and go back to Zane and the whole cluster fuck at the pizza joint earlier today.
“It won’t be the only surprise I have up my sleeve for you either, Chloe, so let’s go get made up to go bar hopping.”
“It better just be bar hopping tonight and nothing else,” she warns.
“Lighten the fuck up. It’s your bachelorette weekend for God’s sakes and I can guarantee you that your future Mister will enjoy the tits put in front of him at his party.”
“Oh fuck off.” Chloe pushes Darby off the bed. “Oh, and can I borrow your red whore dress?”
“Duh.”
The rest of the group joins us and before too long all the oxygen of the room is replaced with hairspray and perfume, leaving it resembling a whorehouse instead of a summer home. You’d think there would be room in this three story, fully furnished house, but nope we all cram into my bathroom and get our hot babe on.
“Seriously, Ava?”
I look up to Chloe with her hands on my hips and I wonder what in the hell is wrong.
“Cowboy boots? You’re not in Tennessee anymore.”
“I like them.”
The rest of the girls join in on harassing me about my short skirt, tank top, and cowboy boots. They do their best to get me in some slutty heels, but lose and I so win.
Chloe and Darby, on the other hand, slut it up mega hard. It’s not odd for Darby to be sporting a fuck me dress and heels with her killer body. She’s not fit and not super thin and has all the right curves. Mother Nature was in her favor. Chloe typically dresses a bit conservative, but tonight she has no choice as the girls shake her into a tiny red dress and pull her hair up high on her head.
“Selfie, bitches.” Darby rounds all of us around the bathroom mirror. We hoist our girls in unison.
“To Chloe,” we all sing in unison.
Three honks break up the selfie session and we all rush down to the long front sidewalk to the bright yellow mini-van taxi.
“Ava, come here.” Darby grabs my elbow, pulling me back.
“Look at this.” She opens her purse and a pool of bills spills over, ranging from ten dollars to one hundred dollars.
“Jesus fuck, Darby, you must be wanting to be bathed in baby batter tonight.”
“Chloe is going to shit herself. We need to get her real liquored up before we hit the strip club.”
“You aren’t kidding.” I’m the last to climb in the taxi and end up riding bitch.
The clatter and screams are deafening
along with a very strong smell of Fireball.
“Here, Ava.” Darby hands me a flask with “Co-Maid of Honor” bedazzled on it with pink and baby blue stones.
“To Chloe and her lifetime of fucking the same guy night after night. Sucking the same dick and tasting the…”
“Enough,” the whole gang hollers in unison.
The shot of Fireball from my honorary flask goes down smoothly, relaxing all of my worries and tensions. It’s not until this moment that I realize how stressed I’ve been. My parents wanting me to hook up with a powerful son of the Tennessee house to this wedding and what I really want.
Streetlights whiz past my view and the chatter streaming from the back of the mini-van provide the perfect opportunity to take a few toasts to myself. The first one for graduating with a Journalism Degree and not succumbing to my parents’ dreams and the second, well who the fuck cares. The liquid goes down smooth and quite tasty. A third shot goes down with a toast to Ava, my soul, and what I dream of.
The taxi ride comes to an abrupt stop in front of a steady stream of blinking lights. An entire street is lit up with the same hue of flashing lights. They’re hypnotizing and when I study them, I become dizzy and feel my stomach somersault even though I’m standing on a solid sidewalk.
Darby tossed her credit card into the taxi and gave him strict orders to wait and when to expect us. She’s always been the planner and pit bitch of us all. When going out with Darby, you don’t ask questions and just drink when she tells you to. In the entire four years, she’s hauled our drunken asses home from downtown to our dorms and later on, our apartment.
Chloe’s face has her hesitation and question plastered all over her features. It’s quite cute really. She’s been this way since our freshman year until she fell head over heels for her lover.
“C’mon, I’m here with you.” Our arms entangle into each other.
“You’re already drunk, Ava.” Chloe’s high heels click in unison on the pavement with the heels of my boots.
“Nope, I’m on the feel good section of my drunk-o-meter.”
“We’re getting old, Ava, one shot and we’re toast.”
I remain silent listening to Darby harass the ongoers passing us on the street. She indulges all their catcalls and honks, responding to some with her middle finger and others with a slap to her ass.