by HJ Bellus
My head spins faster on its axis with all the new information and before Darby opens her mouth again, I stop her with a wave of my arm. “Why does any of this matter?”
“Rhett told me that he thinks Zane is really into you.” I wait for her I got you point of the finger or smartass smile but it never comes. “I’m dead serious, Ava; Rhett was all sorts of torn up about it last night because Zane never gets attached to anyone.”
“Why doesn’t he get attached?” The question comes out like instinct.
“That’s the part he wouldn’t tell me.” Darby and Chloe both plop down on either side of me, fully mum-ifying my body in the blankets. “He clammed up and all of a sudden quit talking about Zane. I do know they’re best friends and that Rhett can fuck like a champion thoroughbred.”
“Darby.” I try to swat her shoulder.
“The asshole had me up all night and every time that I thought it was the last time, he had me screaming his name all over again.”
“TMI, totally,” Chloe declares, covering her ears and humming “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”.
“Oh really, Chloe?” Darby perches up on an elbow. “After we got home and settled in and before Rhett rocked my world, I do recall walking in on you giving the future husband a FULL beaver shot via FaceTime.”
“Jesus Christ and for the love of all things holy, where in the hell was I?” I sit up in the bed and eye the two whores down.
“Passed out in bed,” Chloe answers, shrugging a little.
“I think the cock in the face action was a bit too much for you, then Captain Obvious Hot Pants rushing to your rescue.”
“Don’t forget her hand down Captain’s pants.”
“Okay, shut up. Both…both of you enough.” My stomach turns and I feel sick.
“Every God damn person in that club wanted to be you, Ava.”
“Shut it.” The vision of another woman stroking Zane is enough to make me lose whatever is left in my stomach. Both of my supposed best friends continue on, ignoring my warnings.
“Okay, get your ass up, Ava,” Chloe’s more than hyper voice vibrates throughout the room.
The lush comfort of the blankets does its best job to eliminate their voices. “Leave me alone I need sleep.”
“It’s five PM and we are hitting the local bonfire.” Rustling around in the bed is my first sign that these sluts aren’t giving up. “C’mon Ava, it’s the summer of Chloe fucks the same man for the rest of her life,” Chloe finishes with a giggle.
I do believe last night loosened her up a bit. She doesn’t seem concerned or preoccupied with the wedding details and all the arrangements.
“You’ve been fucking him since our sophomore year of college.”
“She’s right,” Darby adds.
“Ava, please.” The sheets rustle more, destroying the comfort of my cocoon and it’s Chloe’s voice that finally gets me.
“Fine, assholes.” I throw back all of the blankets. “Give me an hour.”
The bed bounces and I know that I finally have it all to myself. I fumble for my cellphone and set an alarm for thirty minutes from now.
“Just no boots,” Darby adds, then the slamming of the door is the last sound heard in my room.
My eyes drift shut and those blue eyes attack my dreams once again. Zane, you’re a dirty boy that I shouldn’t want and for that reason I want all of you even more.
Everything goes black until my alarm goes off and instead of nuzzling down deeper into the tunnel of blankets and ignoring my growling stomach, I toss off the blankets and try to sit up, putting two feet down on the wood floor. My phone goes off again and when I pick it up, my head spins even faster.
Unknown: Ava, I’m really sorry about last night.
Me: Who is this?
Unknown: Zane
Me: You mean King Asshole
Zane: Yeah, I was really a dick to you and I’m super sorry.
I don’t even know how to respond or message back, so I toss my phone on the bed and head for the shower. The sound of the rushing water slapping the marble floor doesn’t even begin to mask my loud friends downstairs. The last word I hear is “shots” and my stomach lurches.
Clearly the bitches have nursed their hangovers and are ready for part two of wild summer nights. The shower does the trick of waking my ass up and making my pounding headache disappear, but does nothing for my hunger. I need a greasy burger right now.
I make quick work of drying my hair and scrunching it up with some curling gel and then just slap on some eyeliner. My stomach doesn’t give up on its protest for food and when I slip into my tiny white jean shorts and toss on my favorite “Band Perry” tank a novel idea hits.
Me: Want to make it up to me?
Zane: Huh?
Me: For being a major asshole
Zane: This is the part where I say???
Me: You say of course I do
Zane: Fine
Me: Can you pick me up at 1021 Emerald Loop
Zane: Be there in five minutes
His reply floors me. I sure in the hell thought it would take a lot more than that to convince the man, but then again he’s probably betting he’s going to get a piece of ass.
“Hey.” I bounce into the kitchen stuffing my phone into the purse hanging from my shoulder. “I’m going out and will meet you at the bonfire.”
“Spill, bitch,” Chloe demands.
“Yeah.” Darby joins forces with her. “Just an hour ago you were a dying whore in pain.”
“Got a second wind.” I toss a set of the house keys on the island. “I’ll meet you guys at the bonfire.”
“You’ll what?” they all reply in unison.
“Since you heifers ate without me and are fully charged for tonight, I’m going to grab a burger and the invite is not open.”
“Rude,” Darby sings out.
The sound of their footsteps follow me through the house until I reach the front door and when I open it, Zane’s out front in an older truck. His signature V-neck shirt hugs his chest perfectly. My hands itch to touch his chest again. There’s no way to pick up on his mood with his eyes hidden by a sexy pair of aviators. And of course he’s sporting his snapback backwards.
“Be careful, Ava.” Darby catches my wrist and whirls me back to her. “I’m serious. I didn’t get too great of vibes from Rhett last night.”
“I’ll be fine. He’s just driving me to get a burger.”
This conversation could go on and on with both of us talking in circles, so I just jog down the steps until I come face to face with Zane.
“Jesus, Ava.” His growl is sexy as fuck as he tucks both of his hands in his pockets. “Could your shorts be any shorter?”
I shrug and offer up a friendly smile. “Maybe, but I need food now.”
He opens the door for me and I feel his eyes boring holes into my ass as I climb in. “Thank you.”
He shuts the door without a word and rounds the front of the truck with his jaw clenched. Zane begins driving without saying a word. The tension is evident on all of his features from his white knuckles on the steering wheel to the tensed muscles in his forearms.
“Can we start over?” I finally break the ice.
Zane lets out a smartass snort and keeps his stare forward. “Sure.”
“By all means, don’t get too fucking excited over the thought of it.”
“You need a greasy burger.”
“Yeah.” I study his features as he continues to drive in silence.
He eventually pulls into a dive of a restaurant in a neighboring town. The sign to the place is so weathered that I can’t even make out the name of it.
“Are you trying to kill me?” I ask, hopping from the truck.
“Best hangover burger in town.” He holds his hand out to me. “Trust me, Ava.”
When my fingers lace with his, I want to trust him more than anything. But my gut screams other warnings that trust is the last thing I should embark on with Zane. Our hands fit togethe
r perfectly. Zane opens the swinging cracked glass door with his free hand and lets me walk in first.
He guides us over to a corner booth. “It’s tradition. We always sit here.”
“We?”
He points to the tabletop where he and Rhett’s names are carved out with rows of tally marks under their names.
“I’m sure I don’t even want to ask what those stand for.” I point and slide into the side of the booth with Rhett’s name.
“Each tally mark is for how many women we’ve fucked.”
My eyes grow to the size of golf balls. “That’s a healthy list.”
I begin twisting my fingers together under the table, studying the different shapes they make, and realize this has to be the dumbest idea I’ve ever had.
“Do you really think I’m that big of a whore?” Zane glides his hand over the top of the table. “Look at me, Ava.”
“Well, you haven’t given me any other way to think.”
“The marks are for each time we’ve eaten here, Ava.”
Before I gather my thoughts, a grandma looking waitress interrupts us.
“The usual, Zane?”
He nods to her. “I’ll take a Coors Light and she’ll have…”
Zane stares me down and it takes me a few awkward moments to break my stare with those ice blue eyes. “Mountain Dew, please.”
“Be right back, kids.”
When she exits back into the kitchen, silence settles over our booth. I have a million questions that I could pepper him with, but when I go to open my mouth, I realize they’re petty and would only start up an argument.
“Ava, this is me trying.” Zane sits back in his booth and folds his arms over his chest. “Long story very short and to the point, my grandpa raised me and now he’s dying of cancer. The fucking shit has destroyed us. We’ve been so close to losing everything several times from the hospital bills and him not being able to work anymore. I took up stripping to keep shit afloat.”
It’s my turn to reply, but he’s left me speechless and dumbfounded.
“He’s refused his last treatment and only has days left to live. I work construction during the day and on the weekends, well you saw it.”
His words grow pained as he speaks each one of them. I try to help guide the conversation. “Where are your parents?”
“The state pen serving life sentences for murder.”
Well, I will just keep my mouth shut from now on. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. It was the best thing to ever happen to me. If they’d raised me I’d be in a cell of my own. I had Rhett and my grandpa growing up. It was perfect.”
“But now he won’t get any more treatment?”
He shakes his head in defeat. “The treatment may have bought him at most another year, but it kills his body. Fuck, it’s already destroyed his spirit.”
Reaching over the booth, I grab his hand and drag it to the center, cupping it in both of mine. “So, you’ve had all of this on your chest?”
“Yeah.” He nods. “The reason I don’t date.”
“I don’t get why that would be the reason.”
We both remain silent as the waitress sets down our drinks, but I don’t let go of his hand.
“I’ve been one hundred percent focused on making money and keeping the small farm.”
“Your grandpa is a farmer?”
“No, it’s just his love. He was actually a long haul truck driver. Rhett’s family helped out a lot when I was younger and then our high school years well, we turned that house into a club when he was out on the road.”
“Ha, real hard to imagine that.”
“My grandpa thought I’d been dealing drugs.”
“Why?” I squeeze his hand a bit tighter hoping like he doesn’t shy up on me.
“Late nights. Drugs were the main reason that got my parents locked up. Killed for drug money. Was just supposed to be a robbery, but went bad. I couldn’t have my grandpa thinking I was mixed up in the same shit.”
“So you told him you’re a stripper.” I waggle my eyebrows to lighten the mood.
“Yeah,” he chuckles. “He told me to stop and to start living my life.”
He picks up his longneck and takes a long drink of the beer.
“That’s why I texted you, Ava.”
“To ask me on a date?”
“I do believe you asked me out.”
An over exuberant smile spreads across my face. “I’ll take it and I hope you take your grandpa’s advice because I’d love to ask you out on another date.”
“I’ll have to check my schedule.”
“Asshole.” I swat his hand and scoot back, letting the waitress place our plates in front of us.
“I do have a manwhore rep to live up to.”
“Holy shit! Now this is a burger.” Both of our plates are over-flowing with a bun the size of Texas, oozing cheese with a sunny side up egg placed on top of the burger.
My stomach growls, reminding me just how hungry I am. Zane wastes no time picking his up and taking huge bites out of it. I follow suit. If I die from the burger and shady establishment I’m in, I’ll die a happy and satisfied girl.
His burger vanishes in a matter of seconds as do his fries. There’s no keeping up with him and I’m pretty sure I’ve moaned out loud a couple of times while enjoying the taste.
“What about you? Since you now know the fucked-up history behind me.”
“Me?” I ask around a bite of burger.
“Yeah, you.”
My willpower has disappeared and I take two bites before answering him.
I slide my plate in his direction. “Well, you pegged me correctly. The rich girl in town for the summer living off her parents’ dollar.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“There’s more to you, Ava. I’m sure of that.”
The last droplets of Mountain Dew wash down before I respond. “Well, my daddy is the great US Senator of Tennessee. My mother is a walking and talking campaign for him. And they have one child. I’m pretty sure they only had me to boost the votes that year.”
“Smart people.” Zane finishes off the other half of my burger.
“Jesus, do you have a hollow leg?” I point to the two empty plates.
“Something like that. You still in college?”
“No, graduated this year.”
“In?”
“Are you writing a damn book, Zane?”
“If you’re going to be the first girl I ever date, I should know if you’re a serial killer or not.” He shuffles out from his side of the booth and then slides right into mine. His strong arm wraps around my shoulders and he pulls me into him. Now this is a place I could get used to.
“I majored in journalism to my parents’ dismay. Not a prestigious enough career for them and so you know they have a healthy list of approved men for me to marry. Everything in my family is campaign, public image driven.”
“So, I take it there’s not a construction worker by day and stripper by night on their list?”
“Nope.” I shake my head side-to-side, letting the loose curls fall over my shoulders. Zane’s hand runs through them. “But it is sure as hell on my list.”
“Ava.” Zane cups my cheek with his free hand and stares down at me. “I can’t quit stripping just yet.”
“Okay.”
“It’s not because I want to keep going, but I need to keep making money just in case anything else happens.”
“I get it.” I sit up straight, facing him. “I’ve been to a few strip joints and let me tell you, you gave the show of a lifetime.”
I don’t give him a chance to heckle me about my interpretation of his performance. My lips brush against his, relishing the fact he’s not running away from me. Zane only reacts by gripping onto my hair. I dart my tongue out and run it along the seam of his lips, taking in everything about this moment. The fact he opened up to me and has agreed to me asking him out on dates.
My patience runs thin when he curls his lips into a smile when my tongue outlines the border of his lip. And in the same moment of time, both of our mouths crash together. Our lips move in unison as we devour each other. Zane is quick to pry his tongue between my lips and performs his lazy trail with his tongue around the inside of my mouth. He swallows my moans of approval and holds me to him when I push my body into him as far as it will go. My hips begin to move, trying to release the pent-up need for a release. I need his fingers in me again, working me over.
I have to force myself to pull back from his lips. “Let’s pay now and get out of here.”
It takes no convincing before Zane is on his feet and rushing to pay the bill. I follow him and wrap my arms around the front of him, pressing my front to his back. I try to snag the check from his hands.
“I asked you out. I pay.”
“Bullshit.”
“Zane.”
He cranes his neck enough to make eye contact. “I’ll make you pay in other ways.”
“I won’t argue.” I squeeze him even harder.
It’s more than an attraction with him. The first time I ran into him or more like walked in on him, I saw the lost look in his eyes. His attitude was all a defense mechanism and now that I know why, it makes me want him that much more. It’s a war I’ve entered and by damn I’ll win, showing him he is worthy of being loved.
He whirls around towards the door and I remain cemented to his back, taking each step with him.
“So this is what dating is like? Having a hot ass woman on your back.”
The outside breeze hits both of our faces as we step outside.
“On, in, behind…yep all of those things.”
Zane catches one of my forearms and twirls me in front of him. He has me lifted up and clutching to my ass before I realize what’s going on.
“Looks like I landed a naughty little girl.”
“You did.” I catch his bottom lip between my teeth and tug back. Zane lunges forward, pressing his lips to mine. It’s not a slow sweet kiss, but a possessive one that sends me reeling with each of his movements.
He pulls back and opens the passenger side of the truck. “Ava, I’m going to do this, but what’s mine is fucking mine.”