A Perfect Ten

by Linda Kage

  “Three against two,” I said. “It’s official. Brandt’s a dork.”

  While Brandt cried, “Hey, that’s not fair,” Caroline and I grinned across the table at each other...until her smile fell. “Oh my God, you really do have a new bruise. Right around your left eye. The one Zoey gave you was around your right.”

  “See, I thought so.” Gamble pointed victoriously. Then he snickered. “Who’d you piss off this time?”

  Brandt’s head snapped up, his eyes huge. He must’ve thought I was going to rat him out. But I just shrugged. “It’s hard to tell. I’ve gotten so many lately, it’s impossible to keep track without, like, a spreadsheet or something. Honestly, I think they’re starting to spawn and have babies together.” Colton giggled at that. So I kept going, pointing at my throbbing eye. “I swear this one’s the great-grandkid of the one you gave me last year, Gam.”

  But Gam wasn’t amused. Narrowing his eyes, the bastard scowled at me. “Why are you avoiding the question?”

  I scratched my jaw and shrugged with clueless abandon. “What question? You didn’t ask a question.”

  “Who gave you the black eye?” he asked slowly.

  Just as slowly, I answered, “I’m not telling. It’s fucking embarrassing, man. Felt like I got slapped by a little girl.”

  An incredulous sound gurgled from Brandt’s throat as he whipped around to frown his offence at me.

  “Did Hamilton hit you again?” Gam asked with a sigh. “You hit on Zoey, didn’t you? That’s why you had to come over here tonight?”

  I slapped a hand to my forehead and groaned. “Oh my fucking God. You are so clueless. Really?”

  “What?” Gam demanded, clearly perturbed.

  Shakespeare stood up suddenly, saying, “You know, Colton. I think it’s time for your bath.”

  I wanted to point at her and tell her hubby, See, even she gets what’s going on here, but I glanced at the kid. “Dude, you still take baths?”

  He blinked up at me. “Yeah. Why?”

  “Why? Because showers are so awesome. They’re like a million little wet fingers massaging your entire body.”

  “Wow.” Gam snorted out a laugh as he sent me a strange look. “Look who sounds all poetic tonight.”

  I shrugged and hooked my thumb toward his wife. “It’s because of Shakespeare. Some of her literature shit is rubbing off on me.”

  She tittered and grinned at Caroline. “I so love that nickname.”

  Gam just sighed. When the phone rang, he pushed to his feet and left the kitchen to answer it. Aspen followed Colton from the room to help him get ready for bed, while Caroline hauled off and smacked Brandt in the arm. “Oh my God, did you hit Oren? In the eye?”

  “What?” he hissed, ducking away from her. “You were crying. I thought he’d made you cry.”

  “He did not make me cry.”

  “Yeah, I figured that out already,” Brandt mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

  Caroline smacked him again, but I lifted my hand. “Hey, hey, hey. Children, behave.” I lifted my gaze to Caroline. “If it makes you feel any better, the younger one hurt me more when he jacked me in the junk.”

  “He...Colton racked you?”

  When I nodded, she smiled softly. “Aww, that’s so sweet that he was looking out for me.”

  “What do you think I was doing?” Brandt demanded, lifting his hands incredulously.

  Caroline scowled and slapped him again. “I guess next time you should know to go for the nuts, too.”

  “Whoa, hey.” I laughed uneasily. “Maybe you all should just leave this area of my anatomy alone completely.” I made a sweeping motion over my lap. “It’s off limits.”

  Batting her eyelashes at me, Caroline asked, “Does that include me too?”

  I was about to tell her she was the only person allowed in that zone when a scream echoed through the house. I flew out of my seat, prepared to see someone else passed out in the hallway. But when I plowed out of the kitchen, with Brandt and Caroline piling after me, I skidded to a shocked halt when I saw Shakespeare laughing and crying and hugging Gam.

  “What the hell?”

  “I got the job!” she screamed and let go of her husband to launch herself at me. When she hugged me hard, I stumbled back a step before catching her and hugging her back.

  “Well, congratulations, Shakespeare.” I patted her back as I untangled myself and passed her to Brandt. “I knew you’d get it, though. You’re a kick-ass teacher.”

  Tears glittered in her eyes as she smiled up at me and hugged the teen. “Really. You think so?”

  “Hell, yes. I hate English, and I was actually acing your class before you had to leave.” I sent Gam a telling look for fucking up my grade. I’d ended the semester with a freaking B because of the boring-ass replacement they’d sent in for her.

  He just scowled back, so I rolled my eyes and then smiled softly as I watched Shakespeare and Caroline hug and dance around. After the women let go of each other, she went back to embracing her husband. When they kissed, Caroline paused beside me.

  “This probably isn’t the best time to have that talk with him, is it?” I said from the side of my mouth.

  She sighed sadly and shook her head. “No. Probably not.”

  My shoulders slumped. Fuck. I was going to have to wait even longer for my Caroline.

  Getting called into work on karaoke night sucked ass. But Lowe decided he had better things to do than bartend, so Pick asked me to fill in for him.

  I’d been planning on spending most of the evening in bed with my woman. Ever since Lake Tahoe, I just couldn’t get enough of her. Each stolen moment felt as if our time together was just getting shorter and shorter. I couldn’t wait to pin her brother down and have that talk already.

  As luck would have it, I had to work with him on karaoke night. I was watching him from the other end of the bar, debating how to broach the subject when Hart sidled up next to me and slugged me companionably on the back.

  “So, how’s Tenoline these days?” He arched a curious brow my way. “Or do you guys go by Caroten? I wasn’t sure exactly how you were shipping it.”

  I snorted and rolled my eyes. “It’s Oreline, motherfucker. And we’re awesome. Why do you ask?” I scowled at him. “You wanting to make a go for my woman?”

  He laughed and shook his hands. “No. No, no, no. I mean, if I really wanted her, I would’ve taken her already.”

  “Oh, you wish, douchebag. You wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

  “I don’t know,” he murmured thoughtfully. “Caroline and I have always...”

  I narrowed my eyes as his voice faded. Jealousy slithered through me, and I just wanted to knock his head against the nearest wall, but a new song started on the Karaoke. I groaned because I was getting burned out by Meghan Trainor’s “All About that Bass.” But then one of the two girls on stage began to sing and even I had to lift my eyebrows, impressed. It wasn’t often that someone who actually had musical talent sang on our karaoke machine.

  I turned back to Hart. “Damn, she’s not...” But my words faded, because he wasn’t listening to me. The guy had that look in his eye. The same look Gamble got when he talked about his wife, or Ham got when Blondie walked into a room. The same look I knew I probably had when Caroline was around.

  I glanced back and forth between Hart and the dark-headed girl on stage who had captured his attention, as she wowed the crowd with her husky vocals. The redhead with her finally leaned in and sang along with the chorus, but she was nowhere near as good as her friend. The ladies did a little dance together, wiggling their asses out at the crowd, and I glanced at Hart for his reaction only to break out grinning when his eyes flared and he grabbed the bar for support. A thin trail of sweat slid down his temple.

  “Hey, bud. You okay?” I had to ask, unable to stop my smart-ass grin. But seriously, I loved this. He’d gotten such a big, annoying kick out of my obsession for Caroline. It was fucking awesome to see the tables turned and watc
h him squirm in the presence of some chick.

  Hart blew out a breath before giving me his attention. His eyes were glazed with shock. “I think...” He paused to lick his lips and transfer his gaze back to the stage where the two girls were finishing up the song. “I think I just met the girl I’m going to marry. Right there.” He pointed toward the stage. “That one. Yeah, she’s going to have my babies.”

  I snorted at his overdramatic proclamation and had to tease. “Who? The redhead?” I actually knew that one’s name. We’d made out a few times back in the dark ages.

  But Hart scowled before I could add that part. “No. The tall, beautiful Latina.” He sent me an incredulous glance. “I mean, did you not just hear her voice? Or see that perfect ass?”

  I started to snicker, but the hugging girls on stage let go of each other just as some guy approached them. Hart’s dream girl leapt off the stage at him, and he caught her around the waist before lowering her enough that she could lean her face in and kiss him. With tongue. Lots of tongue. When they didn’t come up for air within thirty seconds, I had to check Hart’s reaction.

  I nudged my elbow at him. “I think that dude might have a problem with all your marrying and baby-making plans with her.”

  Horror lit Hart’s face as his mouth dropped open and his eyes bulged. Then he glanced at me, absolutely crushed. “That was not supposed to happen.”

  I threw back my head and laughed. I couldn’t help myself. It was about damn time some chick caused him a little misery.

  “Shut it.” He punched his fist into my shoulder, but that only made me laugh louder.

  “Oh, damn.” I had to hold my belly because I was laughing so hard it hurt. “Shit, man. You should’ve seen the look on your face when she kissed some other guy.”

  “Whatever.” He turned his back to the stage so he was facing the back of the bar. “I can’t believe she’s already taken. She has on an Incubus shirt and everything. Seriously, how many women out there are fans of Incubus?”

  “I don’t know.” I scrunched up my face, thinking about it before guessing, “Thousands?”

  “Fuck you, man. This wouldn’t be so funny if it was happening to you.”

  “Oh, I do believe it did happen to me, and you were the first fucker in line to haggle me about it, too. So...humph. Payback’s a bitch, honey.”

  “What’s a bitch?” Gamble asked, joining our conversation.

  “Nothing.” Moody as all get-out, Asher picked up a tray of dirty glasses and marched out from behind the bar to carry them to the kitchen for cleaning.

  Gam arched his eyebrows and glanced at me. I nodded my head toward the stage. “He grew a boner for the dark-headed chick who sang the last song. Felt rejected when she stuck her tongue down some other guy’s throat afterward.”

  “Ah.” Gamble nodded and then snorted out an amused laugh. “It figures he’d go for another singer. She did sound good, though.”

  I shrugged, even though I agreed. When I saw the redhead who’d been on stage with her approaching the bar, I moved in to take her order. Right before I called a greeting, I racked my brain for her name. It’d been something close to Cody, or Jude, or...Jodi! That was it.

  “Hey, Jodi.” Resting my elbows on the counter separating us, I nodded my head in greeting and flashed her a smile.

  She glowered back. “Ten.”

  We hadn’t ended so well. Aside from a little oral pleasure, we’d never gone the whole way, and it wasn’t because neither of us was willing. She’d turned a little testy about doing anything in the dark, so I’d dropped her flat. And she’d been hateful to me ever since.

  “Good job up there.” I tipped my chin toward the stage where someone was now slaughtering a Tim McGraw song. “Who was your friend singing with you?”

  She sniffed and tipped her chin. “None of your damn business. Are you going to serve me, or not?”

  A couple months ago, I would’ve twisted that question around into something dirty and spit back an answer that really would’ve pissed her off. Tonight, I was a good boy and nodded my head obligingly. “Sure. What’ll you have?”

  Jodi gave me her order for three drinks, which told me she was probably buying for her friend too, and her friend’s man. I set the glasses on the bar in front of her and said, “This round’s on the house.”

  “Good.” She sent me another bitter sneer and picked up one glass to down half the contents. “It’s the least I deserve for the way you treated me.”

  “Hey.” I scowled right back. “I wasn’t that shitty to you.”

  “And yet I went away, feeling like a complete idiot.” When hurt streaked across her face, I shifted, suddenly uncomfortable.

  I’d been too freaked out to let anyone see my birthmark all these years, and I’d probably left dozens of women feeling insufficient because of my issues. What an awful fucking self-realization.

  I opened my mouth to apologize when she kept on, “And after all this time, the first thing you say to me is, ‘who’s your friend?’ Well, fuck you, Ten! Fuck...you. You can’t have her.”

  Her voice had risen in volume. Cringing, I glanced around to see if anyone had heard her, and sure enough, Gamble was glancing our way. When his gaze clashed with mine, he lifted his eyebrows, curious.

  Fuck.

  I turned back to Jodi, panicked. “Jesus, Jo.” I lowered my voice and slid my hand along the counter in her direction. “I’m sorry, okay. I swear to God I never meant to put you through something that’s obviously stayed with you this long.” She wasn’t buying my apology, so I sucked in a breath and went all out. “I was going through some personal issues back then, and I had no business trying to mess around with any girl. It never even occurred to me that hiding something I was ashamed of would actually make you feel as if you ever did anything wrong. Because you didn’t. You were fun as hell to hang out with, and I’m just...I’m sorry.”

  She stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding. “Okay. When you put it that way, I guess...I guess I can forgive you.”

  I nodded respectfully. “Thank you. Oh, and for your information, I wasn’t asking about your friend for my sake. I already have someone. I was asking for...a friend.”

  “Then...who?” Her gaze wandered around the bar until it landed on Gamble. She leaned in closer, her eyes widening. “Noel Gamble? The big ESU quarterback has a thing for Remy?”

  Remy? So the love of Hart’s life was named Remy, huh? That was kind of a cool name for a chick.

  I started to tell Jodi no, that I wasn’t talking about Gam, but she went on. “Well, sorry, but Remy’s not into athletes. She likes musicians...and she already has one. So you just tell Mr. Hotshot Quarterback he’s shit out of luck.”

  “Musicians, huh?” I glanced around for Hart, wishing he could hear the dirt I was gathering on his future bride and mother of his babies. But he still hadn’t returned from the back.

  “Yep.” Jodi looked a little smug as she picked up the three drinks she’d ordered and slid off her barstool. “Her boyfriend’s the lead singer of a band.”

  “Fascinating.” I focused my attention across the club until I spotted Remy in her black Incubus tee as she talked to her lead singer boyfriend. My lips quirked. Oh yeah, it would be nothing for Hart to steal her away from that loser if he really wanted her.

  As Jodi started away, I was debating whether I should tell him about the intel I’d collected on his dream woman when Gamble moved to my side. “Struck out, huh?”

  “What?” I glanced at him, my thoughts still distracted.

  He tipped his head toward Jodi.

  Realizing he thought I’d been hitting on her, I lifted my hands. “No. I wasn’t... No! Been there already, didn’t even do that, and have no urge to finish.”

  Gam snorted. “Yeah, right. Whatever, loser.”

  He strolled to the other end of the bar to take an order, and I frowned after him. Shit, he really thought I’d been chasing tail tonight. The ass. Gamble was getting on my nerves in
more ways than one. Not only was he keeping me from being out and open with Caroline, but he wasn’t even noticing how much I’d changed and evolved lately.

  The stupid blind fucker.

  I almost didn’t approach him about Caroline after the bar closed as I’d been planning to do. But then I thought about how much I hated sneaking around. I wanted to be able to kiss her in public, or fuck, even just hold her hand whenever the desire struck. I was damn tired of keeping my distance.

  This ended tonight.

  “Hey.” I caught Gam’s arm as we all began to leave after cleaning the place up. “I need to talk to you for a second.”

  He paused and came back around. “Sure thing. What’s up?” I stared at him a moment, not even sure how to say it. His eyes crinkled with concern. “You okay? What’s wrong? You look pale.”

  I shook my head. “Nothing. I just...I want to say...”

  Gam lifted his eyebrows. “Yeah?” His mouth fell open. “Shit, you are dying, aren’t you?”

  “No!” I groaned and clasped my hands to my head. “No, no, no. That’s not it at all. I just want to ask Caroline out.”

  I blurted the last line, Band-Aid fast, and wow. Immediately, I felt better. Months of guilt and worry just oozed off my shoulders.

  But Gam blinked at me as if I’d spoken a foreign language.

  Frowning slightly, I added, “On a date,” for clarification, because from the look on his face, I could tell he clearly needed some clarification.

  He shook his head, then cracked a grin and pointed at me. “Yeah, right. You’re hilarious.”

  Oh God. Really? “I’m not joking.”

  His smile died. He shook his head again, suddenly confused. “But...you have a thing for Hamilton’s woman.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I told you—every fucking time you suggested that—that I do not have a thing for Hamilton’s woman. I want...to date...Caroline.”

  “And I’ve told you—every fucking time you ever looked at her—no. That’s not going to happen.”

  I stared at him, not sure what to say to that. For some insane reason, I hadn’t expected an immediate rejection. I had thought coming to him openly and honestly would shock him into at least considering it. But this...I hadn’t planned for this.