A Tale of Two Pretties
A Tale of Two Pretties
Hopeless in Hotlanta #1
Dawn Pendleton & Magan Vernon © 2014
First Edition
Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without express written permission from the author/publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and events are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
First Edition License Notes
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Table of Contents
An excerpt from The Wrath of Sin by Tabatha Vargo and Melissa Andrea
One
Uncle Tony’s Pizzeria
Friday
8:45 PM
Mac
This fucking sucks
. Sitting alone in a pizzeria wasn’t something I planned on. Hell, who plans on ever being alone, anywhere? The reality was, it wasn’t my night, and based on the events of the last two days, I’d say my luck wasn’t about to change any time soon.
My fiancé, well, ex-fiancé, had been sleeping with his secretary for months, apparently, and I found the two of them, her bent over
my
dining room table. The one I’d served him every fucking meal on. It was the second time I found them together and I was shocked, obviously, but then when he informed me I had two days to get the hell out of his house, while his dick was still wet from that stupid bitch, I couldn’t do anything more than stare at him, dumbfounded.
A million rampant thoughts ran through my head, accusations and names to call him, but instead of turning vindictive, I just walked out of the dining room, out of the house, and out of his life. I didn’t need his kind of trouble. Or his love.
Two days later, I still didn’t have a place to live or even a damn car to transport all my shit around. All my shit was still sitting at his place while I searched for a place to live. Life sucked. My parents were nice enough to let me have the guest room, but that situation wasn’t going to last long.
A commotion at the door of the bar drew my attention. A tall brunette with an attitude walked in, glanced around, ignoring the stares from the leering guys around her. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and her mascara was running, but she took it all in stride. Her brown eyes locked with mine and I glanced away, back at my beer.
When she slid into the chair across from me, the old, red vinyl making a
pfft
sound, I looked at her again, surprised she chose my table to sit at, when I was surrounded by tables of college guys. She leaned across the table, took the plastic cup of beer out of my hand and helped herself to a swig.
“Hey, Mac,” she greeted me then wiped the beer that dripped down her chin before plopping it back in front of me.
For a minute, I thought about bitch-slapping her. “Do I know you?” My eyes went from the now-empty cup to her face. She was tall, a few inches taller than me, and lean. She could put away some beer, though. Apparently. She looked somewhat familiar but I couldn’t place her.
“Yeah!” She sat up, curling one leg under herself which made her look like a fucking flamingo. “Remember? We had eighth-period Chem lab together senior year.”
She sounded sincere enough, but I couldn’t be sure. “Right,” I said. “Senior year was a long fucking time ago.”
“Tell me about it.”
“What are you doing here? Did you look me up?” I asked, pouring myself another cup of beer and signaling to the waiter that we needed another cup.
“Nah, dude, I just came in here to blow off some steam and this was the only place that I knew my douchebag ex wouldn’t be at… Or any of my douchebag exes, for that matter.” She looked around appreciatively at the wide array of college guys filling the tables.
The waiter approached, dropping a cup in front of this girl, whose name I still couldn’t remember. When he lingered, I looked up at him, but his eyes were locked on her.
“Do you ladies need anything else?” he asked, still keeping his gaze on her.
“Uhh, no, we’re good,” I answered. I shooed him away and he finally got the message, letting out a low laugh before he turned back to the bar. “What the fuck was that about?”
“Not sure.” She shook her head and poured herself a full cup. “But do you even remember who the fuck I am or what my name is?”
I chuckled. “Nope. Not a clue.”
She laughed, took a big swig of her beer, emptying half of it, and then looked at me. “I fucking knew it. I’m one of those girls who people don’t seem to remember.” She sighed. “It’s Darcy. Darcy Pepper from Chicago.”
“Well, Darcy Pepper, I’m Mac, obviously. I feel you on trouble with an ex. Mine was sleeping with his secretary,” I explained.
“Fuck, dude…that sucks. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I just need to find a fucking place to live, now that he’s kicked me out,” I groaned, dreading looking for another apartment, especially when I was broke as a joke.
“You and me both, bitch.”
“Ladies, I couldn’t help but overhear,” the waiter started, appearing in front of our table again like a stalker. He was tall, covered in tattoos, and I’d seen him around, driving his damn motorcycle to deliver pizzas. He was a winner, working at a pizza place, when he had to be like thirty years old.
“Yeah, ‘cause you were hanging within earshot like a creeper,” I mumbled.
He ignored me, his focus on Darcy. “And I think I might have the solution.” He pulled up a chair to our small table, pushing it as close to Darcy as humanly possible. “My uncle has a studio apartment upstairs that’s super cheap. I mean, it’s small, but I know he would rent it to the two of you.”
I looked at Darcy, anxious to see her response. I never really thought about getting a roommate, although with over six million people in the metro area, it was probably a good decision.
Darcy shrugged. “I’d have to see it first.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” I agreed, glancing over at the creepy guy.
“Of course! I’ll get you girls your bill and then take you up there myself to see it. Be right back,” he said, getting up from his chair and walking away.
“Okay, did we just agree to look at an apartment together? We don’t even know each other!” I whispered to Darcy.
“Who cares? Better than finding some random psychopath from the classifieds and I’m broke as shit. At least it’s something. And I bet if I flirt with him enough, he’ll knock the price down.”
“True enough. I guess we can at least go look at it,” I agreed as he walked back up to the table. “And you better flirt your ass off.”
“Here you are,” he said, setting our bill on the table. “My name is B-Rad, by the way.”
Wait, what?
“Did you just refer to yourself as B-Rad?” I asked.
“Sho’ did,” he said with a wink.
I rolled my eyes and threw a twenty down on the table. We would have to make sure never to come down to this place again, ‘cause this guy was weird.
Darcy stood. “Let’s go check it out.”
“I’ll check you out,” B-Rad mumbled under his breath. Darcy didn’t seem to notice his hot stare, but I didn’t miss it.
Gag me.
***
Two
Studio Apartment above Uncle Tony’s Pizzeria
Friday
9:05 PM
Darcy
How the fuck did I always end up getting myself in these situations? Another new month and I was moving into another apartment with another creeper checking me out like I was fresh meat at the butcher. At least I wasn’t moving in with a new boyfriend and Mac seemed cool enough.
B-Rad led us outside of the Pizzeria to a small alley that smelled like old cheese. I hoped it didn’t always smell like that and I’d have to deal with that shit every day. He pulled a set of keys out of his pocket and shook them before finding the right one and sticking it into a rusted metal door. He jiggled it and it and finally pried it open, holding it for us to see a long, narrow stairwell.
“Ladies, after you,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
“Why thank you,” I cooed, putting on my best flirty voice. I knew the guy was into me. I didn’t want Mac to think I was slut so I had to tone down my usual flirty demeanor, but I really wanted him to give us a good deal on the apartment. I knew if I gave him just enough teasing, he’d play into my hands.
That was how it always worked with guys: they wanted all they could get from me in the bedroom and I kept giving it as long as I had a place to stay. Then when they got tired of me, I moved onto the next one and usually ended up in a situation like I was in now, where I had to find a new place to live.
Mac went up the stairs first and I followed after her with B-Rad behind me. He was so close I swore I could feel the dude’s boner on my ass.
“The door on the left is the studio and the one on the right is my place, so I’d be right across the hall from you ladies if you need anything,” he said as soon as we stopped at a small landing between the two doors.
I glanced over at Mac and she stared at me with her eyebrows raised giving me a look that said “
no fucking way.
” It didn’t exactly sound like a dream come true for me either, but I didn’t want to just turn the guy down cold so I mustered up the biggest, flirtiest smile I could. “That’d be great if we ever needed anything.”
B-Rad’s grin was so wide I thought it was going to fall off his face. He wasn’t exactly bad looking, for someone who was probably close to thirty. Actually, he was kind of hot in his own way. He wasn’t my usual type in any way shape or form. I usually went for the jocks. The typical college frat boys that spent their days in the gym and their nights chugging beers at the fraternity house, but B-Rad was not one of those guys. His black, spiky hair and bright blue bedroom eyes had me giving him a second look and if that wasn’t enough, the slight stubble on his chin and the tattoos snaking down his arms made me think that maybe it was time for a bad boy streak.
No. No. No
. I couldn’t go and fuck him. Yeah, I needed the apartment, but not bad enough to fuck the guy across the hall.
“Okay, ladies, I’ll get this unlocked for you.” B-Rad pushed his way between us, brushing his chest against mine, before turning toward the door. I didn’t want to feel anything, but I let out an involuntary gasp when he touched me.
Mac rolled her eyes. Fuck, now she was never going to want to live with me.
B-Rad stuck the key in the door. “Now the previous owner was a bit of an artsy dude, so he painted the place some weird ass color, but you can always paint over it, no problem. And I can help y’all with that if you need it.”
He pushed the door open and turned on a light switch in the corner. When he said weird ass color I wasn’t expecting bright mustard yellow. There wasn’t much to the apartment at all. Just a small, open space with a white couch directly to the left of the door and a window that looked out onto the street. Mac walked a few feet and looked into an open doorway to a kitchen that had nothing more than a dorm-sized fridge, four-burner stove, a sink, and two cabinets. I wasn’t even sure if the two of us could fit in there.
I turned to my right, my shoes sticking slightly to the beige linoleum floor and saw what I thought was a blue tiled closet. Then I took a few steps closer and realized it was the tiniest bathroom I’d ever seen. It looked like one of those bathrooms in Japan with just a drain in the floor for the shower and a tiny toilet next to it. How the hell was I supposed to get ready in there?
“So what do you think?”
I gasped, turning around to see B-Rad’s blue eyes flashing right in my face.
“Uh, well…” I bit my lip, trying to think of what to say.
The lyrics to “P-I-M-P” rang from his pants and B-Rad shoved his hand in his pocket, pulling out his phone. “Hold on, babe, I gotta take this. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere.”
He slid the phone up to his ear. “Hey, Preston, how you doing?” He turned, walking out of the apartment, leaving me alone with Mac. I let out a deep breath and walked back into the living room where she was standing.
“So, what do you think?” I asked.
“I’m pretty sure B-Rad is a stalker,” she said with a raised brow, pushing a fallen strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “But it’s not bad, depending on how much he wants for it. I’m not taking it for any more than four-fifty, and all the utilities better be fucking included.”
“Yeah, that sounds fair. Think he’ll give it to us for that?”
“No, but if you flirt with him some more, I bet we can talk him down.”
“I’m not fucking flirting with him!” I swatted her on the arm.
Mac rolled her eyes. “Dude, you’ve been flirting with him this whole time. Don’t turn it off just because I noticed.”
“I have not! I’m just friendly…” I bit my lip.
Shit
, I’d been caught.
“Right, and I’m the governor of Georgia…”
“You won't think any less of me if I flirt with him to get the price down?” I blinked.
“Hell no. If he was into me, I’d do it, but apparently, he doesn’t like blondes.”
Or girls that wore yoga pants and graffiti t-shirts to a bar.
I wasn’t about to add in that last part, but I was definitely thinking it.
“But…the bathroom is so fucking small. How are we going to work in this tiny ass apartment?”
“Yeah, I know. But look,” she said, walking over to the tiny hallway in front of the bathroom. “We can put up a curtain here so that we have like a dressing room out here. I bet we could find an old vintage mirror for cheap at a thrift store, too. We could even put up a shelf on this wall to put all our hair shit.” She gestured to the wall and I had to admit it wasn’t a bad idea. I could actually see it all working together.
The door banged open from the main room, smacking Mac right in the head. I gasped, covering my mouth as B-Rad stood there staring at her with his eyes wide.
“What the fuck?” she yelled, grabbing her head and giving B-Rad evil eyes. “You better give us a good fucking deal on this place, dude.”
“Well it’s normally six-hundo a month, but you know, I can probably knock it down to five-fifty. I’m sure Uncle Tony wouldn’t mind.” B-Rad rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes roaming around the room.
“I’m not paying more than four-fifty for this shithole, dude. It’s smaller than a closet,” Mac negotiated.
B-Rad shook his head. “I’m sorry, doll face, I can’t go that low. Uncle Tony wouldn’t like that.”
Mac’s eyes narrowed. “Call me doll face again and I’ll cut your dick off. This place is worthless. You’ll never get it rented out for anything more than what I’m offering.” She glanced at me, her green eyes telling me to turn the flirt on.
I had to think. And think quickly. I needed to get my clothes off. “Excuse me a minute, I need to use the bathroom.” I smiled coyly at B-Rad. “I’ll be right back. Don’t miss me too much.” I winked and made sure to sway my ass as I walked down the tiny hallway to the bathroom.
I closed the door behind me and could still hear them arguing. I was afraid that Mac really would cut off his dick before I got back out there and not only would we not have an apartment, but also a lawsuit on our hands.
I looked down at what I was wearing.
How the hell can I get more naked?
I ran out of Dylan’s house after an argument. He wanted to take our relationship to the next level and I didn’t want to be with a dude who I saw eating his boogers on
several
occasions. I didn’t plan on leaving him after only three months of dating and two months of living together but that was my usual MO. It was just too bad it was the night I was wearing cut off shorts, a vest and a cropped baby doll tee. Not exactly the best outfit for seduction.
Mac’s voice got louder and I knew I had to hurry.
Fuck
. I immediately threw off the vest because who the hell ever got laid while wearing a vest? I took out my ponytail and shook out my long, dark brown hair, letting it fall in waves over my shoulders. If the guy really wasn’t into petite blondes, like Mac seemed to think, even though the girl was gorgeous, then maybe I could get us in for cheaper. I would have fucking killed to be tiny like her, but I worked with what I had.
I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt, making it sleeveless and then tucked the bottom of the shirt right underneath my bra so that my bare stomach was completely exposed. For an extra boost I undid the top button of my jean shorts, showing the slightest hint of my lace panties. If that look didn’t work, then I was completely fucked.
I sucked in a deep breath and opened the door of the bathroom, putting on the biggest, flirtiest smile I could. B-Rad immediately stopped talking to Mac and his eyes trailed to me. Not to my stare, but directly at my chest and bare midriff.
“Four-hundo, but that’s as low as I can go.”
“We’ll take it,” I said.
***