BeForeplay (9 page)

She peeks her head around the fridge door and
gives me the 'come on, really' look. "I'm sure he's just tired.
Look, you're both adults. Just remember what I said about him.
Okay?"

I nod. "So what all are we making?"

"I thought we could do some finger foods, the
crab and some pasta salad. Danny said something about a barbeque on
Sunday, so we'll do real food then. Can you make the salsa, dill
dip and your baked sandwich?”

“Sure, but--”

“I bought a tube of bread dough for it, I
knew you wouldn't have enough time to make your own.” She knows me
too well. “While you make that, I'll chop and dice everything for
the salsa. I think that will be enough. Also Danny is picking up
the cake I ordered."

"WHAT?" I look at Tasha and her eyes are
tightly shut with her shoulders scrunching up almost to her ears.
Oh yeah, she realizes she fucked up. "I can't believe you ordered a
cake! Why didn't you just ask me to make one? My cakes are the
bomb! You know you can't buy that kind of love and flavor from a
bakery."

She opens her eyes and her shoulders drop.
Looking at me sheepishly she says, "I know but I didn't know if you
had the time. I forgot about it until last night so I just ordered
one this morning. How about you make one for Sunday? Would that
make you feel better?" Now she's grinning at me.

"Yes, it would,” I say like a five-year old.
“You know you can't cheat on me like that. That’s the ultimate
betrayal and you damn well know it!” I pause for effect and
continue. “I'll let it slide this time but don’t let it happen
again." I bump her with my hip and give her a big smile.

Chapter

2

Finally! I've been keeping an eye on the door
so I could see her the minute she got here. I don't want any of my
friends to try and snatch her up before I get the chance to.
Clarity came with a little help from my nap. I'm not looking for a
relationship so we can fuck while I'm home. What's the harm if
she's game? None. If she does go crazy I’ll be across an ocean
where she can’t get to me. She’s walking towards us and as she gets
closer I notice she has a bruise on her cheekbone. What the fuck
happened? "Hey, Sidney. What happened to your cheek?"

"Um…well I'm a bit of a klutz." Her cheeks
turn pink. "When I was putting my shorts on I caught my toe and
tripped, I caught myself from hitting the floor but I did it by
catching the side of my face on my dresser." Now she's chuckling
and you can see she's embarrassed. She waves to her cheek and says,
"This is nothing. You should see some of the things I've done to
myself." We all laugh. She looks straight at me, "Are you going to
introduce me to your friends now that everyone knows gravity wreaks
havoc in my life?" They all chuckle again.

I give my head a little shake to get my
thoughts back on track. "Sorry. These are my cousins I was telling
you about.” I point to each of the guys as I introduce them.
“Jacob, Jeremy, Jesse, Josh and Joel. Guys this is Sidney, Danny
and Tasha's friend and neighbor."

Oh my god! Sam's cousins are cootchie
puckering gorgeous just like him. Tall, muscled and tatted. Yum!
Notes to self: Jacob: 6'4, short dark brown hair that’s messy
spiked on the top in a faux hawk, bright blue eyes, full lips.
Holy Hell!
He has muscles on top of muscles. Jeremy: 6'3,
light brown hair, blue eyes. You can tell they’re all related.
Jesse: 6'3, dark short hair with darker blue eyes. He’s almost as
bulky as Jacob. Josh and Joel: 6'3, messy dark hair, both have blue
eyes. Their tattoos are peeking out from their shirts more than the
others.

I shake everybody's hand. I know it seems
weird but that's just me. Human contact is a personable thing and I
like it. To me when you touch someone you can get a feeling of
their personality by the vibe they give you. And let me just say I
get a damn good vibe in my panties from them all but especially
Jacob.

I turn to Sam and give him the bottle of
Johnnie Walker I bought him. “Welcome home and thank you for your
service.” He gives me a hug and kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you so much. You didn’t have to but I
appreciate it.”

“You’re more than welcome.” I notice his hand
stays on the small of my back after the hug.

I look back to the rest of the group. "Sam
tells me you guys live around here." I know I’m an idiot but it's
all I can come up with because my underpants have melted and are
now running down my leg along with my brains.

Jacob answers me. "Yeah. We all live and work
together. I have a PI business. Myself, Jeremy and Jesse are all
Bail Enforcement Agents also." He clasps Sam on the shoulder. "We
were just trying to recruit Sam here to come work with us when his
enlistment is up. We do a lot of business catching skips and I
think he would like that best. I mean chicks dig bad asses. Right,
Sidney?"

Sam scoffs at Jacob. "Hey Jackass quit trying
to hit on her. You haven't even given her time to take y'all in.
You guys together are a little intimidating with your size." He’s
just as big as they are and it makes me laugh to myself.

Jacob grins and looks me up and down while
saying, "Nah, I can read people. Sidney's not intimidated. If she
was she wouldn't have shook our hands and stuck around talking to
us."

I look him straight in the eye. "You're
absolutely right, Jacob, on both counts. If you guys will excuse me
I’m going to see if Tash needs any help. It was nice meeting you
all." I walk away heading for the coolers, I need a drink. I need
my vibrator more than a drink right now but it would be rude to
whip that out in the middle of a party.

I turn and glare at Jacob. "What the fuck?
You scared her off quicker than you do the girls you're trying to
hook up with." We all crack up. "Thanks a lot, bastard.”
Wait!
“Are you trying to hook up with her?"

"No, I'm not. I've watched you waiting for
someone and when she walked in you were done looking. Not hard to
figure out you're interested,
bastard
. Bro code, man. Do you
even know anything about her?”

"Yes, but not much. She lives next door,
strips, her stage name is Cherry and she doesn’t have any family.
Her parents were killed in a car accident. Oh, you should see her
baby." Damn that car is fucking impressive.

Jacob's eyes widen. "She has a baby?"

"Yeah, her baby is a 1970 Chevelle with a 454
4 speed. And to quote her 'as bad ass as they come'. She calls it
her baby. That car can haul ass. When you sit in it you can’t just
hear it but can feel it rumbling from the power. I kid you not, I
chubbed up. I've never seen a chick love a car like she does hers.
Hell, I love it. You should ask her to see it.” Just talking about
it, all I can think of is getting behind the wheel and putting the
pedal all the way to the floor.

Jacob snaps his fingers in my face. "Sam, pay
attention! I'm asking about her not her fucking car. Just be
careful you know how you and strippers work out.” They’re all
laughing. “She is quite the little package though. On second
thought you'd better stay away. Maybe I should ask her out."

"Fuck you, you bastard!" They can laugh all
they want at me. I won't have the same problems I had with the
other stripper. I leave for a different fucking country in two
weeks. "I'm going to find people that are nice to me and are happy
I'm home."

I walk around socializing with everybody
enjoying myself. All I can think about is getting Sidney alone. I
wonder if she’ll let me come home with her after the party and if
not if she has plans for tomorrow. I wouldn't mind hitting the
beach for the afternoon.

I look around for her and
son of a
bitch!
I thought Jacob said 'bro code' and shit. He has his arm
across her shoulders and she's got her arm around his waist with
her head back laughing. Damn she's beautiful. I walk up to them,
"What’s this bastard telling you to make you laugh like that?"

Sidney puts her hand on her chest as she
tries to calm down from laughing. "Oh my god! He was telling me
about a skip he had."

"He likes to embellish. Don't let him fool
you."

"Isn't that what makes a story all the
better?" She smiles at me.
Gorgeous.

Jacob asks me, "Are you not on our time yet?
You seem a little grouchy."

I shoot him a look. "Nah, still a little jet
lagged I guess." I turn and look Sidney in those beautiful blue
eyes she's sporting. "Hey, Sid, I was thinking of going to the
beach tomorrow, you up for it?"

"Sounds like fun but I'm busy ‘til late
afternoon." She pauses like she's mulling something over then looks
at us all and says, "I'm having a couple of friends over tomorrow
around 6 for dinner and to play some drunk pool volleyball, you
guys are welcome to come join the fun. I'm making Mexican food to
go with the margaritas. And a Mexican fruit cake for dessert. I
promise you'll have fun."

"That sounds like a blast. You guys in?"
Jacob asks me and his brothers.
What a bastard
. I’m
seriously ready to kick his ass for cock blocking.

There goes that sideways glance again. I
think Sam is irritated with Jacob for some reason. They all say
yes, they’ll come tomorrow. Then Josh and Joel proceed to ask if I
have any hot single friends. I inform them, “In fact I do have some
single friends but I don't know your taste in women so you’ll have
to judge for yourselves tomorrow.” They high five each other and
move on to another group of people. "So I assume the rest of you
all have girlfriends since you didn't ask about any single friends,
please extend the invitation to them as well. The more the
better."

Jeremy says, "I think Misty will be off work
by then. I'm sure she'd like to come. Thanks, Sidney."

“You’re welcome.”

This time Jesse speaks up. "Well, I don't
have a girlfriend because I have a boyfriend. I don't know what
Jacob's excuse is." He flashes a big smile when he's done
speaking.

Jacob scoffs at him. "I haven’t had the time,
dickhead."

I look at Jesse and put my hand on his
forearm so he knows I mean it. "I'm sorry if I offended you,
Jesse." I give his arm a light squeeze. "You're welcome to bring
your boyfriend."

He puts his hand over mine and gives me a
squeeze back with a smile and tells me, “I took no offense.” I
never would have thought he had a boyfriend. I know it's wrong but
you just don't think of big tattooed guy as being gay. Oooh! I
wonder what his boyfriend looks like.

I like these guys. They seem genuine. I can't
wait to hang out with them some more. I’m not good at guessing ages
so I ask, "How old are you guys?"

Sam answers for everyone, "Jacob is the old
man he’s 28, Jeremy and I are 26, Jesse is 24 and Josh and Joel are
21. How old are you?"

"I'll be 24 in a few months. I need to tell
you about a rule I have for my parties." They all look at me
curiously so I continue. "If you're going to be drinking at my
house you have to have a designated driver, call a cab or stay the
night. I have plenty of room but it depends on how many people stay
if you get a room or not. Some wind up on air mattresses and the
couches. If you do stay you get a big breakfast in the morning." I
lean in like I'm telling a secret, they all lean in too. I say in a
low voice, "I think that's why everybody likes to stay." I
straighten up again. "Well, I've got to be up early tomorrow so I'm
heading home for the night. It was nice to meet you all, see ya
tomorrow. I'm the house on the left side if you're facing Danny's.
Just remember my mailbox is the cement dolphin." I give a little
wave while starting to walk backwards and telling them
goodnight.

Sam says, "I'll walk ya home, Sid."

I stop walking. "You don't have to. Did you
forget this is a gated community?” I laugh. “I think I'll be safe
getting home. If not I know self-defense!" I turn and start walking
away again. I hate when people think I'm weak.

As I'm walking I start thinking back over the
night, maybe Sam was asking me on a date to the beach. I turn him
down and then invite his family over for DPV (drunk pool
volleyball). Was he trying to get me alone by asking to walk me
home? What do I do, laugh and tell him I know self-defense. I’m
such a dork! How embarrassing. Oh well, Tash said he's a manwhore
and I'm not looking for that. He also leaves in two weeks. I'm
ready for a relationship. I wouldn't mind going out with Jacob but
he said he doesn't have time for a girlfriend. That’s really too
bad because I wouldn’t mind climbing that hunk of a man.

"Damn dude you just got shut down by a
stripper!" Jacob seems to be the fucking comedian tonight.
Bastard
.

Tasha walks up with a smirk on her face and
asks me, “Who's the stripper.”

I am so busted, fuck! “Sidney.” She throws
her head back laughing, howling like a fucking wolf. She's laughing
so hard everybody else joins her. She's bent over from her antics
and wiping tears from her face. What the fuck is so damn funny?
Nothing, that's what. They're all on my shit list now. Me, Sam
Fucking
Jericho, getting turned down by a stripper is
NOT
funny.

"Wh....wh...wh...why would you think Sidney's
a stripper? Oh god!" She can barely catch her breath.

"I heard the guy at the liquor store call her
Cherry and ask if she was going to the strip. Is she a bartender
instead of a stripper?"

Tasha grabs my arm and is holding on for dear
life. She can't seem to control herself. When she catches her
breath, again, she says with the most mischievous face, "Sam, I
love you but you are such an ass. Have you seen Sidney's
baby
? She takes it out to the
strip
every now and
then to race. The color is how she got the nickname
Cherry
.
And by beating most of the men and their toys they bring out. You
are such a dick. I can't wait to tell her you thought she was a
stripper!” They all start laughing again.