by Fiona Archer
Closing Time
by
C.G. Burnette
Chapter One
Jules
“What in the actual hell have I gotten myself into?”
This has got to be the worst first date I have ever been on…ever. My co-workers are going to get a kick out of this. They’re the ones who pressured me into getting this stupid dating app. I told them it was a bad idea, but who listens to me? Not a single one of them. I will never again swipe left, right, up, or down on one of these apps again. I was already nervous about dating, but decided to give online dating a chance and signed myself up for a nervous breakdown.
But, of course, I pull a me. The me that jumps in before thinking. New haircut for my normally mousy locks, new outfit to accentuate the positive… hell, I even did the whole horrible waxing routine. Ugh, that was one of the most painful experiences ever. But for what?
The worst possible outcome is what happened. Total embarrassment. Being told by some asshole I don’t meet his fucking standard of beauty. I was stood up… By text, from the parking lot.
“I know you're probably at the table now, but I wanted to tell you I'm not coming. I just don’t think this is going to work. You aren’t what I pictured, and I thought that I could deal with it. I can’t. I know this makes me an asshole, but it had to be said. Sorry.”
Sorry is right. Pig. I don’t understand why guys are such assholes. There’s more to women than looks, but whatever. I’m curvy, yes, and a bit sassy, and on every other day but this one, I’d be the first to embrace all there is to me. Oh, but today. If things weren’t going bad enough, enter in the fact that, in my rush to get inside the restaurant, I locked my keys in my car.
I give up.
Bessie, the nickname I gave to my Ford Focus when I bought her, has brought me through some trying times in life. She has helped get me from point A to point B while I save money. She is reliable and safe, and that’s all that matters to me. She would get me out of here, if I could only find the damn key.
Standing by my car, I look up and catch a glimpse of who I thought was Cole walking into Riggs Bar. It’s one of my favorite places to have a drink and hang out with him and our friends. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t pick the Cedar Creek Grill right next to the bar because I wanted him to walk by while I was on this date, or any other date, for that matter. I was hoping if he saw me dressed like a sexy pin-up girl, he’d get jealous. I wanted him to finally see me as a woman in love with him and not the girl who has been his best friend since freshman year of high school.
Don’t get me wrong, though. I most definitely want to fuck him. But I want way more than that with him. Except he doesn’t see me that way. From his emerald green eyes to a body built to drive a woman to sin—her dirtiest sin—Cole Nixon is sex walking on two deliciously muscled legs I desperately want to feel between my own.
I want him. The problem is, he doesn’t want me, except for wings and beer on Saturday afternoons during college football season, laundry on Wednesday, and when I help him find the right shirt and jeans for a date with his latest conquest. I’ve seen the girls he dates. I definitely don’t look like them. Clearly, it’s time for me to accept I’m permanently in the friend zone.
Damn, it sucks out here all by myself.
I dig through my purse one last time, still in complete denial I am this dumb. And I was. Holy shit. Could this night get any worse?
With a frustrated stomp of my insanely high heel, I pull out my cell phone so I can call roadside assistance. Even though Cole has a set of keys to the car, there’s no way in hell I’m calling him to come rescue me.
I start to dial the number when I hear a contagious, familiar laugh. I don’t even have to look up to know who it is. Standing in the doorway to Riggs in a tight-fitted white shirt and dark faded jeans is the sexiest man I know. Cole Nixon. Hell, even thinking about saying his name makes my panties wet. Not just wet. Soaked.
“Well, hey, Jules. What are you doing here?”
What did I say about the night not getting any worse? Oh, I was just asking the universe for this, wasn’t I, when I asked that stupid question in the first place!
“Hello, Cole. Where’s the latest addition to the harem?”
Did I really just say that? I seriously need to work on letting words run past my brain before they exit my mouth. Kill me now.
Cole
I’m standing here, staring at the most beautiful face I have ever seen.
Heart-shaped with a sweet dimple in her chin. Flowing curls around her face that remind me of deep, dark melted chocolate. A smattering of freckles on her cheeks and plump lips made to be kissed, to wrap around my cock while I stare down at her as she takes me deeper and deeper in her throat. Still, it’s her eyes that have always called to me. Gazing into her azure eyes feels like drowning in the deepest depths of the ocean, like searching for and finding forever.
She looks…wow. Fucking amazing. Jules can make a sweatshirt and shorts look good with all her luscious curves, but tonight is different. She looks like a delicious model from the pin-up days. Her simple black dress is anything but boring. It clings to her body, and I want my hands on her hips, pulling her to me. The low cut of the top shows the swell of her ample breasts. Just enough of a peek to entice me to caress her soft skin with the back of my hand. She has a golden glow and my pants tighten as her light floral scent wafts over me. I can barely stand it.
I want to pull down the straps on her shoulders and lick the column of her neck, breathing in the unique scent under her ear. She’s all temptation and secrets under that little black sheath, wearing the hottest “fuck me” heels I have ever seen. I want to unwrap her and discover just what makes her moan, what touches make her wild.
Damn. I’ve wanted her for so long.
She has no idea how I feel about her. Has no idea I’ve wanted her since we were in high school. She’s only gotten more beautiful. Jules isn’t some superficial arm candy. She’s real. She’s everything I’ve ever needed. Beauty… brains… and all the damn sass. She’s sharp as a whip and kind to everyone; she’d do anything to make you smile. Sadly, I’ve put myself rather deeply in the friend zone with her. Hell if I know how to dig myself out. I’m the one who relegated us to “best friend” status, and God knows it’s not even close to what I want with her.
I’m in love with Juliette Acosta. This love I have for her, it almost consumes me. I want everything with her—a home, a family. I want to share her dreams. I want to watch her walk to me in her beautiful white dress and make her vows to me for the rest of our lives. I want her to be my bride. I just have no idea how to tell her. For now, I must settle with being her friend, I suppose.
Fuck.
“The harem? Jules, really. That’s not very nice, is it?” I ask her with a chuckle. “Besides, I’m still saving your spot. I’m keeping it nice and cozy.”
“Sure, you are, Cole,” she says with a frustrated huff and lift of her right eyebrow. “Remember, I’ve seen your dates and their audition reels. I don’t think I fit the description of a Cole Girl.”
Sure, I’ve met a few girls and had a few dates. I’ve had some Sunday dinners with some really great girls. Of course, if I’ve been seeing the same woman for a while, she hopes for more between us. The problem is, I can’t take that last step to be committed long-term to someone who’s not Jules. I wasn’t kidding when I said I was saving her spot in my harem. A harem of one. Jules and Jules alone. No one else.
Just. Her.
“What are you doing here, bestie?” I ask her. Just the word bestie seems to change her demeanor. I watch her eyes shutter, her shoulders slump, and an uneasy smile move across her face. She lowers her head, and a shower of curls hide her reaction. Could I have read her feelings wrong all these years?
“I had a date at Cedar Creek.”
Oh. She had a date. I feel the anger rise, and then the jealousy flows in right behind it, filling my chest. I didn’t realize she was dating again. She’s
never mentioned anything to me, and we talk to each other every single fucking day. With a deep inhale, I try to get my anger under control because I don’t want her to hear how pissed off I am.
“You didn’t say anything, Jules. How did it go?”
She raises her eyes back up to mine and I see the sadness and humiliation. My anger only intensifies, no longer at her, but at the fool who may have hurt her in some way. I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit and watch her cry. I move us from the entrance of Riggs onto the covered porch and pull her into my arms. “That bad, huh?”
“Worse,” she whispers. “Ever been dumped from the parking lot, Cole? It’s a thrilling experience, let me tell you.”
Damn. I squeeze her closer and run a hand down her back. Unbelievable. Some guy is really missing out on an amazing girl. I place a soft kiss on the top of her head and step back from the embrace. She can’t even lift her eyes to look at me, and I feel how dejected she is. But… While it sucks the date was a bust, it only means I still have a chance to get the girl I’ve been longing for.
“Look at me, Jules. Come on, babe. Show me your eyes.”
Slowly, she raises her face, and her blue eyes bore into mine with such anger. “Am I that hideous, Cole? Am I such a fat, ugly girl I deserve to be dumped before I even get a chance to show someone who I am on the inside?”
When is this beautiful woman going to see herself the way I see her? But, hell, I’m just as bad as the guy who stood her up. I’ve never given her a chance to show me all of who she is on the inside. I’ve made her “one of the guys” instead of letting her be her true self. I should have stopped playing games with her long ago, and simply made her mine. I’m not going to ruin this chance. I have to get us out of the friend zone, once and for all.
With a sigh, I gently take her face in my hands. Hot tears glitter in her eyes, and her lashes are wet. She doesn’t need my words to assure her, but I’ll give them to her anyway. “Jules, I see one of the most incredible people I have ever known. I’m sorry about tonight. He was a douche, babe. Besides, his dick was probably little and he was a two-pump chump,” I joke with a shrug.
She gives me a watery chuckle, and I wipe the tears away that had fallen on her cheeks. “You look fantastic, by the way. Come inside and have a drink with me. Let me show you off.” I watch her debate whether to come in or call it a night and hold out hope she will want to spend the evening with me.
“I don’t want to interrupt your date,” she says quietly.
“Well, if you call having a drink with a beautiful girl a date, then I guess you and I are about to have our first.” I hold my hand out to her. “What do you say?”
She hesitates for a moment but takes my hand. “Well, since I locked my keys in the car anyway, I suppose I can call roadside assistance and wait inside with you.”
This is just too good to be true. I’ve got the extra set of keys to Bessie at my place just down the block from the bar. “No need for that call, Jules. We’ll have a drink and head back to the apartment and get the extra set.”
With a smile and a tug of her hand, I start my first date with my best friend.
Jules
When we step inside Riggs, Cole still has his hand in mine. We walk up to the bar and he pulls out a stool for me, but once we’re seated, he takes my hand again with the biggest smile on his face. For the first time all day, I feel lighter, and I don’t think about the asshole who dumped me or my keys locked in the car.
One drink leads to two. In between the drinks, we talk about nothing and everything. We talk about how his day had gone with the new project he was on at work. We remember and laugh about our senior prank on our English teacher who everyone hated. I mean, who assigns a shitty last-minute paper to a bunch of kids with senoritis and then makes said paper mandatory to graduate? Mr. Gates was really mad about his car.
“Gates wasn’t just mad about his car, Jules. Oh, my God, I thought he was going to have a coronary,” Cole says with a huge belly laugh. “I don’t know what was funnier. The shaving cream all over the car or how red his face got when he tried to open the door and his hands kept slipping from all the lube!”
I put my hands over my mouth to keep the obnoxious cackle from leaving my lips. The lube was all me, of course. When it came to pranks, I was the best back then. We decide to move to an empty table as the night dwindles on.
As we share more laughs, Cole moves closer and closer. Our voices are a bit more hushed than before at the bar. He twirls a lock of my curls and places it back behind my ear, lingering there for a few seconds longer than he needs to. He holds my hand and touches my cheek with a gentle smile, and I find myself nuzzling into his touch. I close my eyes, and a content sigh escapes my lips.
“Well, beautiful. How’s our first date going? I know it’s not as fancy as Cedar Creek, but maybe, someday, we could try it out. Together?” he questions with a hopeful glance.
Wow. He really did mean that this was a date. Surely he is just doing all this to be nice. To make the fat girl feel better about herself after being totally mortified. I look into his emerald gaze again, and sure enough, there is that same hope filling his expression. I ask him with a whole lot of skepticism in my voice, “Cole, are you for real or are you being a good best friend?”
Cole straightens in his seat and shakes his head with a rueful grin. “Jules, if you only knew.”
Cole
If she only knew. It’s time to tell her, but damn, not here at the bar. There should be romance and candles. She deserves flowers and a moment so special we’d remember every detail as we told the story to our grandkids.
“If I only knew what, Cole?” she urges me. Her eyes are wide, and she’s breathing a bit heavily in anticipation of what I’m going to say. For a moment, all I can do is take her in until she lifts her eyebrows, as if asking me again what I meant by my hasty statement.
You know what? Fuck the place. I want this to be special, but it can’t be about the location. It just has to be me.
With a deep breath, I open my mouth to tell her the truth. “Juliette, if you only knew how—”
“Well, well, well. Look who’s here this late on a school night.”
We smile at the same time and turn our heads to the sound of a husky, friendly voice. I guess I am saved by Whiskey. Jonathan Walker, one of our best friends from high school and college, and the guy we fondly call by the booze that goes down smooth. Though she smiles at our crazy friend, Jules is obviously flustered and frustrated I’ve not answered her question.
All in due time, beautiful.
“Heya, Whiskey.” She greets him with a wave.
“Hello there, Juliette. Are you here with Romeo?” he asks with a grin from ear to ear. I turn to her with my eyebrows lifted the same way she had just done with me. I watch a sweet blush rise on her cheeks. It makes my heart skip, and I laugh softly.
“Oh, you know Cole, Whiskey. He’s always very charming. I’m going to head to the bathroom. You guys want anything from the bar while I’m up?”
We both tell her no thanks, and I stand as she gets up to head to the bathroom. I feast my eyes on her as she walks away from us and can’t ignore her incredible ass in her tight pin-up dress. I watch her put more of a swerve in her hips, and I grin. She knew I was watching her, and I wanted her to know I was watching. I am so hard for this girl, have been all night long. I need to get her out of that dress and get my hands all over her—show her with my actions just what my stupid mouth can’t seem to say.
“You’re in love with her. Aren’t you, Nixon?”
I face my friend and give him the answer, the truth I have been scared to say out loud to the one person who should hear it. “Jules is everything, Whiskey. And God help me... I love her.”
He ponders me with a faraway look. Then his eyes harden, and he becomes very serious. “Listen to me, Cole. If you love Jules nearly as much as I love Cassidy, don’t let this night get gone without you telling her the truth. Believe me, you will regr
et it.”
Damn. How could I have forgotten? “It’s been a year, hasn’t it? Have you heard from her?”
My friend’s face falls, and the sadness he has carried on his shoulders seems to weigh him down. “No, we haven’t talked, but we agreed to meet a year to the day we broke up. Right here. That will be tomorrow night.” His head drops to his hands for a brief moment before he shakes his head and stands.
“I have to go. I don’t know why I thought being here would help me get some control. Getting drunk the night before seeing her is not a good idea,” Whiskey laments as he pushes back his sandy locks that are definitely a bit too long and a whole lot shaggier than I have seen in a long time.
“Dude, stay. Have a drink with Jules and me. You don’t have to go. Like you said, it’s late. Have one and then we’ll get out of here.”
Whiskey shakes his head at me, and I know then he’s not going to stay. “Cole, thanks. But no. Just don’t screw this up. Get your girl. Anyone can see you’ve been into her since we were kids. Why do you think the rest of us stayed away from her?”
My mouth drops as he pounds my fist with a chuckle. Looks like I didn’t hide my feelings very well, did I?
“Yeah, Cole. It was always that obvious. It’s closing time, my friend. Go get your girl,” he says, answering my unspoken question before walking away.
That’s it. There’s no way in hell I want to go through what Whiskey is right now, being without the girl he loves and just rambling through his life. Even though he has been successful in his chosen career and has the adoration of a legion of women, he only wanted one, and she’s moved on.
I’m lost in my thoughts when Jules sits back down. “Is Whiskey gone already? He just walked in?”
She sits across from me. Her face… It's the face of the only girl I’ve ever loved. Her ocean blue eyes are filled with concern, and she still has a bit of a pink blush on her cheeks, either from the wine she has been drinking or the Romeo comment earlier. My heart is full, and my nerves are turned up to eleven. I try to swallow down the panic. Funny how she makes me feel like a fifteen-year-old asking for his first kiss.