A Tale of Two Pretties

by Dawn Pendleton

  He growled. “You’re making it very hard to work on anything when all I can think about is my rewards for spying on your roommate.”

  “I’m sorry.” I whispered and looped my fingers through his belt loops, pulling him against me. He groaned and I felt how hard he was for me. I wasn’t about to sleep with the guy, but I loved knowing I could do that to him, especially when he’d had such an effect on me. “Do you want to stop?” I asked.

  “Not in the least.” He kissed me like his lips demanded mine. I purred into his mouth and he groaned, pressing himself against me, his hands roaming down to my hips. I leaned forward as he snaked his arms around my waist. Reaching my hands up, I fisted his hair. I was starting to really enjoy running my fingers through his short spiky hair. And the way he groaned and pressed his hardness into me showed me that he was too.

  A loud throat clearing huff came from somewhere way too close to us. I gasped, jumping back and hitting my ass hard against the wall.

  “Sorry!” A guy stood a few feet from us at the entry of the alley way. He was definitely attractive in a granola way with his baby blue eyes and light brown hair; totally my usual rebound material.

  “Hey, Preston. I didn’t know you were coming by. Darcy, this is Preston, guys’ like my brother from another mother.” Brad smiled and turned toward him, keeping one arm around my waist as if he was staking his claim on me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Sure, I liked him, but jumping farther... God, I knew I would fuck it up between us and step one was getting caught making out in an alley.

  “Hey Darcy, Good to meet you. I didn’t know B-Rad had a new girlfriend…”

  I shook my head fiercely, waving my hands in front of me. “No, I’m not his girlfriend. I just live across from him.”

  “Ouch,” Brad muttered and put both his hands in his pockets, walking away from me toward Preston.

  “Damn dude, you just got friend-zoned, hard.” Preston laughed. “How about I buy you a drink to make up for it?”

  “Dude. I’m the bartender. I’ll buy you a drink.”

  “Ahem!” I took a few steps forward and stared at Brad with my eyebrows raised. “What about me and uh, our thing we were talking about?” I raised my eyebrows. I didn’t know if I actually wanted the info about Mac’s new guy or if I was looking for more kisses. Either way I didn’t want him to leave like that.

  Brad smirked. “Hey, I’m just your friend, who’s going to buy his friend a drink. Have a good rest of your break.”

  “Damn,” Preston muttered.

  “Come on, let’s get that drink.” Brad patted his back and they turned back toward the pizzeria, leaving me in the alley alone and feeling like an absolute bitch.

  ***

  Eleven

  Uncle Tony’s Pizzeria

  Friday

  7:16 PM

  Mac

  The non-date was going well enough. Liam wasn’t really trying anything, which left me relieved. He was a tic annoying, but I was smart enough to realize the reason why. He was just like me. It was as if we were both cut from the exact same cloth, which was unusual in a man. Women were bitches all the time, but to find such a negative guy was rare. It also made me wonder if that’s how everyone saw me.

  After an hour of drinks and inhaling a large pizza between the two of us, I glanced up just in time to see B-Rad guiding my mystery man from the night before into the bar area from the back. I felt like all the air was sucked out of the room.

  “Hey, you okay?” Liam asked, obviously noticing my bulging eyes.

  “Yeah,” I said too quickly, pulling my hair out from behind my ear to cover most of my face, hoping beyond hope that he wouldn’t notice me.

  Under the table, I pulled my phone out of my purse and texted Darcy. She’d been trying to text me all night for details about Liam.

  MAC: 911! I need you to come flirt with Liam so I can get the hell out of here. Just come introduce yourself.

  She didn’t reply, but she looked flaming mad when she pushed through the kitchen door into the dining room. She flashed a glare in B-Rad’s direction and then sauntered over to our table.

  “Hi, Mac!” She smiled. “You must be Liam.” She stretched out her hand.

  “Yes, I am. Nice to meet you,” he greeted her, taking her hand.

  Liam’s eyes were transfixed on Darcy’s breasts, which were all but popping out of her too-small tee. I wondered for a minute why the hell she didn’t have something that fit properly, but then I remembered that B-Rad probably gave her the uniform. Men were unbelievable.

  After a minute or two of chit-chat between Darcy and Liam, I managed to slip away.

  “I’ve got a full day tomorrow, Liam, plus we still haven’t fully unpacked,” I said. My excuses were convenient and absolutely true.

  “No problem, Mac. I’ll see you tomorrow at seven-thirty,” Liam said. I was actually surprised he even acknowledged my presence.

  “I’m off in thirty minutes, Mac. Stay awake cause we need to talk about rent,” she said, giving me a look that suggested I go along with what she said.

  “Sure thing. See you up there. Night, Liam,” I said and then took off, heading toward the back exit. I didn’t want my stranger to see me, though I was pretty sure he already did. He didn’t wave, though, something I thought would make me feel better, but as much as I told myself I didn’t want his attention, I actually did.

  B-Rad caught me as I ducked into the kitchen. “What the hell?”

  I turned at his snapping voice and sighed. “What is it?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you knew my friend–”

  “Stop,” I said, putting my hand up. “I don’t know his name, and I don’t want to. I have no interest in the guy, and I don’t appreciate being interrogated.”

  “You are the weirdest girl I know, Mac.”

  “Is that a compliment?” Seemed more like an insult to me, but what do I know?

  “Yes and no. You’re confusing as hell, even more so than Darcy. At least she tells me how things are, as much as I don’t like it,” he muttered, shaking his head.

  “Aww, B-Rad’s not getting laid? Your little friend isn’t either. I just want to go home and try to get a few things unpacked before I go to work tomorrow. Goodnight, B.”

  I left him standing there in the kitchen while I ducked out the back door. I raced up the steps and once I was in our tiny apartment, I let myself fall onto my bed. It wasn’t my memory foam king-sized, the one I shared with Peter for years, but it was comfy enough. Best of all, it didn’t have any memories of Peter in it. I tried to convince him once to christen the guest bed, but he just wasn’t interested.

  My eyes fluttered closed as I lay there.

  “Wake up!” Darcy yelled.

  I must have drifted off. I opened my eyes and found her just a few inches away from my face. Having her so close forced my eyes shut again.

  “Wake the hell up so you can tell me about Liam,” she demanded, although at a much more normal decibel.

  “Fine.” I opened my eyes again and waited for her to move back. I sat up and she helped herself to the end of my bed, crossing her legs like we were about to have some sort of weird girl time.

  “So how’d you meet Liam and what happened to your mystery man?” she asked, giving me no place to escape.

  “Ugh. One question at a time. First, I work with Liam. I’m training him this week for the mailroom. I’m hoping that means they are going to bump me up as a temp, which would be amazing. But anyway, he’s okay, but there’s something about him that irks me,” I told her.

  “Oh, you mean like the fact that he’s pretty much the male counterpart of you?”

  “What? No way!” I protested, even though I knew it was true.

  “Think about it, Mac. He’s jaded and has wild opinions and he’s kind of an ass,” she explained.

  “Are you saying I’m an ass?” I was offended, but she wasn’t too far from the truth.

  “Well, kind of. I mean, you don’t rea
lly care who you piss off, so that’s asshole-ish, right?”

  “Whatever. Moving on. As far as the stranger goes, apparently your little boy toy knows him,” I said.

  “B-Rad? He’s not my boy toy, but how does he know who the stranger is?” she asked.

  “I’m not quite sure. But the guy knew all about us being new in town and he did ask me about whether or not we’re using Uncle Tony. It was weird. I don’t think he’s related, but he definitely knows the family. He was the tall blonde with B-Rad at the bar,” I explained.

  “You mean Preston? He’s such a cutie! You two would make a great couple,” she said with a wink.

  “Umm, no. I’m not looking for anyone, let alone someone who is so tightly involved with the people we’ve already let in our lives. I didn’t know his name, though. Preston,” I tested his name, liking the way it sounded. It suited him well, too.

  “Whatever. You like him. You aren’t the type of girl to make-out with just anybody,” she laughed.

  I snorted. “Technically, we didn’t make out. Although it was just as sexual, if you ask me,” I confessed.

  She gave me a look and we both burst into laughter, cutting off conversation for a few minutes. When we finally pulled ourselves together, we were more serious.

  “So, we both have similar degrees, what should we do with our lives, do you think?” Darcy asked.

  I thought for a moment. “I’m not sure. I always had a dream of being published, but I know it’s crazy hard to get picked up.”

  “I love to write! I bet if we helped each other, we could each write something publishers would be begging for,” she suggested, and I wasn’t opposed to the idea. I had a great-aunt who was published, and I was willing to bet that she would help us along the way, too.

  “Alright, then, tomorrow, we’ll start planning what the hell we’re going to write and figure out how to get noticed by a publisher, too.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Darcy agreed.

  “Good. Now get off my bed so I can go to sleep,” I snapped, suddenly exhausted by the day’s events. I wanted a fitful sleep so I could begin the next chapter of my life, just as B-Rad suggested.

  ***

  Twelve

  Darcy and Mac’s apartment

  Saturday

  6:00 AM

  Darcy

  As much fun as it was to girl talk with Mac I still couldn’t sleep. My mind wandered to thoughts of Brad and what the hell I even wanted from him. By now, I figured the guy probably hated me and it was only a matter of time before he fired me as a busgirl and kicked me out of the apartment.

  Since the nasty couch was hard to sleep on anyway, no matter how many times I cleaned it or tried to make it more comfortable, I stayed up most of the night trying to find jobs for English majors and that was when I found the ad that changed everything.

  Hours later, Mac’s phone went off with some way random punk song, her usual alarm clock. She rolled over and hit snooze at least five more times before she finally sat up. Once she was fully awake she stepped out of bed and padded to the kitchen. “You and B-Rad better have not drank all my fucking coffee.”

  I winced, knowing she was completely out of sight. “No. He wasn’t here this morning. Coffee is all yours. I’ll make another pot if I need it.”

  Mac emerged from the kitchen holding her giant mug and staring at me with her eyebrow raised. “Do I even want to know what you were doing all night that you need a second pot?”

  “I think you do.” I set my computer down on the couch. “We talked about publishing, but instead of finding a publisher, what if we did it ourselves?”

  “That would be cool, but I bet it’s a pain in the ass.”

  I turned my computer screen toward her and showed her the publishing site I found. “An ad about self-publishing popped up when I was up late Facebook stalking and I decided to research it. I haven’t found out too much, but I’ve always really wanted to write a book and if people can publish books about dino fucking then why can’t we?”

  “You want to write about dino fucking?” She took a large gulp of her coffee.

  “No.” I shook my head. “We can write about anything we want. Find some great cover designers and upload directly to Amazon and people can buy our books then we get great royalties.”

  Mac shook her head before downing the rest of her coffee. “It sounds pretty cool, but I think we’ll have to look more into it. Maybe you can do that today instead of spending all day at B-Rad’s.”

  “I don’t spend all day there.”

  “Please, I’m surprised your happy ass isn’t over there right now, laying on his couch and giggling at his lame jokes.” She walked back into the kitchen, setting her cup down and came out with a small bowl of food for her hedgehog, placing it in his cage.

  “You know that thing is always up in the middle of the night too and you don’t give him half as much shit as you do me,” I said, trying to change the subject off of Brad.

  “That’s because Heath is nocturnal. He’s up at random times during the night. You’ll get used to it eventually.”

  I groaned, the fucking hedgehog was going to be the death of me. “Whatever.”

  “Okay, sweetie, I’m going to hop in the shower and head into work. I’m sure Liam is going to ask me all about my roommate so I’ll make sure to tell him that you have a boyfriend.”

  “B-Rad is not my boyfriend,” I muttered. I didn’t actually even know what he was. If he was even my friend anymore.

  “Whatever you say sweetie,” she called.

  * * * * *

  I thought I could maybe do more self-publishing research when Mac left but it was useless. All I could think about was Brad.

  “What the fuck am I doing?” I muttered and set my computer down. The guy lived right across from me and never locked his door. If I was going to get this twisted over a guy then I deserved to at least be talked to.

  I didn’t even bother changing out of my tank top and shorts that I wore to bed when I got up and stormed over to his apartment. As I suspected his door was unlocked so I opened it, expecting him to be on the couch or at least awake, but he was nowhere in sight.

  “Brad?” I called, wondering if maybe he was in the shower or something.

  A loud groan came from above and I saw movement in his loft. The guy was still in bed. Unbelievable. I was up worrying all night and the guy was still sleeping. If I found Kellie in bed with him I was going to lose my shit.

  “Brad! Get your ass down here!” I yelled.

  “I’m sleeping,” he groaned.

  “Fine, then I’m coming up and you’d better be alone!” I stomped through the apartment and up the spiral staircase until I was at his bed. Only his spiky hair poked out of the top of his blue bedspread onto his pillow. I crawled onto the bed until I was next to him and pulled the blanket off his face.

  “Hey!” I yelled.

  His blue eyes flew open. “What the fuck, Darcy? Is everything okay?”

  “No. No it’s not okay.” I whined. “I haven’t slept at all because I’ve been thinking about you.”

  He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes as the blanket dropped down revealing that he was at least shirtless and I got a full view of the star tattoos and the words Cursed with a Blessing on his chest. “You didn’t seem to care too much about that last night. I thought maybe you might have gone home with that dude Mac was with.”

  I shook my head. “No. She just wanted me to flirt with him so she could get away.”

  “And do you always just flirt with random dudes to get what you want?”

  I raised my eyebrows. “Do you really want me to answer that?”

  “No.” He sucked in a deep breath. “Probably not.”

  I picked at the skin under my fingernails to try and have something to do with my hands. Anything really. “I just suck at this whole being a good friend that’s a girl or a girlfriend or whatever. I’m just the pretty one. That’s what I’m good at: flirting to get
what I want and not much else.”

  Brad grabbed my hand, stopping my movement. “Don’t sell yourself so short. You have a lot more to offer than that.” He rubbed his thumb gently along my knuckles. “I’ve really enjoyed hanging out with you and getting to know you the past few days.”

  “But that’s it, you don’t know me. I suck. I don’t want us to try and put labels on whatever we are and then it all crashes and burns. If we start telling people that we’re boyfriend and girlfriend then there becomes expectations and people will think you’re giving me special treatment at work and Mac… God, Mac.”

  “What about her?” Brad raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m just starting to get to know her again and I don’t want her to think I’m just some huge skank who jumps from one guy to the next. I don’t want her to put any bad labels on our relationship.”

  “Okay.” He nodded. “I can understand all of those concerns. We don’t have to put a label on it, but you don’t have to completely friend zone me all the time or flirt with other guys even if it’s just an escape for Mac.”

  “What about when you flirt with Kellie?” I countered.

  “What? I don’t flirt with her.”

  I rolled my eyes. “She’s always giggling when you’re around and all that stupid shit. It irritates the hell out of me. It’s why she hates me so much.”

  He leaned closer, grazing his lips on my jawline. “There’s nothing with me and Kellie.” He ran his fingers through my hair. “I prefer brunettes who drive me ridiculously crazy.”

  “It’s a good thing I still owe you a few more minutes of make-outage then, huh?” I whispered into his lips, awaiting his kiss.

  “I was thinking...” He slowly moved forward, pushing the blankets off of him crawling forward until he was almost in my lap. “Maybe something else.”

  “I-I-I I’m not giving you a blow job.” I tried to say it firmly but even as I said the words and my eyes flitted down his stomach and the cross tattoos right above his underwear line, I wasn’t so sure.