Breene, K F - Jessica Brodie Diaries 01 (16 page)

Yeah, I’ll just focus on my date
with a God running around to distract me. Super easy.

“C’mon, you guys.” Candace led the
way into the heart of the ant hill—the critters being guys instead of ants—and
to the largest grouping of males. I searched every face I passed, then the
faces I wouldn’t be passing, in secretive, fervent glances. No William.

I did a quick glance behind,
pretending to check on Randall, and scanned the way we’d come. Then the
banister. Then what I could see of the stairs, stage, and floor below. Still no
William. I didn’t see Moose, either, which hopefully meant they were busy and
absent.

“What’s that sigh for?” Randall
asked as he pushed into my side. He was acting like we’d been dating for a
year, rather than a few hours.

Which was cute. But not making me
comfortable. I was still damaged goods in my headspace, but I couldn’t explain
why. Correction—I didn’t want to explain why--but it was making things slightly
awkward, for which I felt guilty.

As we stopped in front of a team of
guys, all having stopped what they were doing to glance at the new vagina on
scene, I said, “Hi everyone. I’m Jessica, and this is Randall.”

Eyes swiveled to the man at my
side, then back to me, some having lost their interest, some having gained
determination. These guys were single and in need of someone to chase.

“Let me make the introductions of
these clowns,” said a familiar baritone behind me.

My stomach heaved, then dropped
away. I almost needed to put my hands up and scream as if on a roller-coaster.
I gave a mighty jump, jolted, and let go of my beer all at the same time. The
bottle skittered across the floor and bumped up against a pair of shiny, black
dress shoes.

Then it just got worse. His scent
wafted by my nose, making me remember a thousand little moments. My groin
pooled wet and my knees went wobbly, barely able to support my body. A shot of
fear was called up from that night, replaced by his eyes and a solid feeling of
comfort. Of safety. I nearly reached forward to clutch onto him, but just in
time I saved face and grabbed Randall instead.

“Did you see her jump?!” someone
shouted.

The background filled with laughter
and pounding on tables.

But I didn’t hear any of it. I’d
met his eyes.

The world came to a crashing halt.
He was done up and looking good! He had on a crisp white button-up shirt that
did wonders for his pecks. It was stylish, trendy, and fit him nicely. It was
nothing compared to those eyes. Fire lit them up as they held me, penetrated
me, invited me to fall in and get lost deep, deep down within their depths.

And I wanted to. I wanted to let
go; let him suck me in.

Yeah, focusing on Randall would be
a cinch…

His smile faltered as he looked
down on me.

“Earth to Jess!”

I looked away in a haze.

Ty was holding a new beer, an
intrigued look on his face. Everyone else was still laughing, except for
Randall, who was looking at his shoes.

Get a grip, Jessica, you boob!

“You remember me, of course,” I
said to Ty, coming out of it and swiping the beer. I then juggled it a minute
in my numb fingers. “I’m the clumsy one that tries to swan dive off stairs.”

“Yeah! How the hell did you even
get up here?” He laughed.

All this must have happened in a
split second because the boys behind me were still laughing and making jokes
about William scaring me. Little did they know, and they would never know, that
it was his presence that had the effect, not the suddenness of his appearance.

“Shall I introduce you around?”
William asked in a hushed, deep voice. It vibrated my bones and liquefied my
skin. I paused with my eyes closed, soaking up the feeling.

It was damned unfortunate his
pedestal was so high.

“Sure, why not,” I said, marveling
at how unaffected I sounded.

He nodded, a small crinkle forming
between his eyebrows, and started with the names. My sober brain was too busy
worrying about the layout than the names, however, so I didn’t pay much
attention until it came to Adam, which I greeted with a smile and a wink since
I knew him.

He returned my smile. He looked all
clean and pretty, too. In fact, all these guys were lookers. Each a different
size and stature, and none so well built as William or Adam, or so huge as
Moose, but all would turn my head if I saw them walking down the street.

“Well, make yourselves
comfortable,” William finished, turning to me but sparing a glance for Randall.

“Thank you, garçon,” I waved him away
like I was rich and he a servant.

He leaned back with a delighted
laugh, watching as I escaped with Randall in tow. I needed to stay the hell
away from him.

As I settled Randall on a small
square, pleather stool, Adam walked over, which surprised me because I didn’t
think he was much of a talker. He must’ve felt closer to me after...

“Howdy Jess!” Adam said, taking a
stool across from me and a too close Randall.

“Hey Adam. How’s it going?”

“Not bad. You?” He emphasized the
"you" in such a way that I knew he was asking about the last time we
saw each other.

I glanced at Randall in a,
hopefully, subtle signal for Adam to shut it, and said, “Really well, actually.
Randall and I are just done with dinner and looking for shenanigans.”

Adam glanced at Randall then back
at me. “I hope you gonna show us some of yer
California
moves tonight!”

“Californian moves don’t really go
with Country music I’m afraid.”

“Nah, don’t reckon they would. Good
thing there ain’t gonna be no country. We got us some hipity-hop, or pop, or
some damn thing.”

“Well, then, you better clear the
dance floor because I am going to Tear. It. Up!”

William took a stool next to Adam,
damn him. My stomach did a summersault, making me inwardly groan.

“Do I hear someone has moves?
Because I need a little competition.” William took a swig of his beer.

I snorted and looked out, toward
the dance floor, which I couldn’t see. “Competition? Honey, you are outside
your element here. A little fox trot? Maybe. Country swing? I’ll give you that.
Hip hop?” I looked back. “Bitch, please, this is my house!”

Everyone started laughing,
including Randall.

William’s eyes twinkled, focused on
me like a predator. “Are you challenging me to a dance-off?”

He was great at playing serious; I
was having a hard time keeping my face straight. I brought my hands to my h*ps
and squared my shoulders, keeping my ankles crossed. I was trying to be tough,
not flash them.

In the same stage whisper I said,
“Yes. Yes, I think I am...”

Adam stood, hands lifted.
“Everyone, we have a dance off!”

Laughter and clapping filled the
area. I stood, William shadowing me, Randall confused and forlorn. I’d get to
him in a minute. No one was going to try and compete in the dancing circuit on
my turf.

I put up my hand for quiet, waiting
for most of the guys to gather around. “We have to establish rules.
California
versus
Texas
, boys and girls.
Such a thing might have been done in the past, but never like this. Never.
Like. This.”

The crowd erupted in laughter. I
did not tear my eyes away from William. He was having a hard time keeping his
face straight.

I continued. “I need rules. I need
guidelines. I want to beat this Lone Star boy fair and square!”

William opened his mouth for a
rebuttal, but was overshadowed by, “Here’s your order, honey.”

The moment was shattered by the
snotty waitress. Adam stepped around William to keep all the guys from reaching
hands in, and William started orchestrating delivery, taking the waitress
further into our area, and into the middle of the crowd of guys.

I sat back down, letting my knee
glance against Randall’s. “Hey Randall, how ya holding up? Wanna join a
dance-off?”

He gave me a half-hearted smile. “I
never knew in a million years that I would be drinking with Davies. You seem to
know him.”

“Oh. Well, yeah. Actually, I met
him in the oddest of circumstances.” I gave him a rundown of my artful dive
into a stand of dog food. By the end of the story Randall was laughing with me.

“But,” Randall continued, “you seem
to know him pretty well, now.”

“Well, I saw him a couple months
ago at the rodeo. I met him and his friends there.”

Randall nodded, thoughtful. He was
about to say something else when Candace came over with Ty and pulled up a
stool. She was all smiles and happiness.

“Hi Randall, again.” She giggled.
“Have you been here before?”

“No. I don’t go out much.”

“Oh. In case you missed it, this is
Ty.” Candace put her hand on Ty’s knee.

“How’s it be, Randy? Glad you could
join us.” Ty shook Randall’s hand.

“It’s Randall—I don’t really like
being called Randy.”

Ty’s face dropped a little, then
went right back to a smile. “No sweat, man. You need a beer?”

Randall was imploding again. He
wasn’t kidding when he said he was shy. Luckily, I had a cure for that. It was
called a shot, and after two or three, a guy had no more edges. Or inhibitions.
Neither did a girl. Tricky situation.

“Uh, guys, I am going to take
Randall down and get us a drink. We missed the last call with the waitress.”

Ty shook his head and stood up.
“Willie got you drinks. Willie! Hey WILLIE, you deaf f**k. WILLIAM!”

William turned away from some guy
with a smile and noticed what Ty was after. He gave a nod and one finger.

“At least it is the pointer finger
he’s giving you,” I pointed out.

“At the moment.” Candace laughed.

“All set,” Ty said, back to
relaxing.

“You know, Ty.” I began, putting my
empty bottle to the side. “It would’ve been a lot easier if you had just walked
the three steps over to get the drinks yourself...”

William showed up behind Ty with
two drinks and a grin, “This little fu—ah, sucker prides himself on being the
laziest man alive.”

“Except in bed.” Ty’s eyes gleamed.
Candace giggled.

I stood up to grab the drinks.
“Gentlemen, gentlemen, do you kiss your mothers with that mouth?”

William looked bashful and Ty said,
“Shut the f**k up you nosey bitch!”

William was holding a beer and some
sort of champagne cocktail. I hesitated, my hands hovering close to his. My
eyebrows raised in question.

“I heard somewhere that you loved
champagne, and this place makes the best champagne cocktail around.” He winked,
handed over the drinks, and wandered off.

I really tried to look away from
that perfect ass of his.

“Right.” I sat down and handed over
Randall’s beer, then had a taste of my drink. The champagne was quality and the
flavor burst in my mouth.

“This is goooooood,” I said to
Randall, offering him a taste.

He shook his head slightly and had
another sip of his beer.

“Party pooper.” I bumped him with
my shoulder. He lips curled, but he glanced at Ty and Candace, currently
canoodling, to make sure he wasn’t noticed.

I got up and pulled Randall up with
me. “C’mon. You’re coming with me.”

“Sex in bathrooms is strictly
prohibited,” Ty called after us.

Randall doggedly followed me down
the stairs, offering his arm. At the bar I yelled for two Lemon Drops, an easy
shot with a slight energy kick because of all the sugary alcohol. I threw a
twenty and stared at the ten and bills that I got back.

“I gave you a twenty,” I yelled as
our shots arrived.

“Which is why I have you twelve
bucks back…”

Not to look like the fool he
thought I was, I leaned over to get the shots. That shut him up, proving he was
dumber than me. At least I could still think when I saw pecks.

Although, I had yet to see
William’s.

“Whoa—“ Randall took a shaking shot
glass out of my hand.

I silently told the Cosmos to shut
up.

“Drinks are cheap here!” I said as
I licked sticky alcohol off my hand.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“Lemon drop. They’re good. You’ll
like it.”

“I don’t do shots.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t do shots,” he said again,
louder.

“Well, tonight you are. You need to
relax and have a little fun.”

He was mid-protest when I lifted
his shot to his mouth, and mine to my mouth.

“No saying no to you.” A smile
twisted his lips.

“One. Twoooooo....” I waited a
second for him to gear up for it. “Three!”

Usually I wouldn’t count it out
like a high school freshman, but clearly baby steps were needed.

He licked his lips, which had sugar
on them, and smiled. “Not bad.”

“Ready?” I asked, about to step
away.

“So...how come you are so familiar
with Davies?”

Why wouldn’t he just let this go?

“He helped me out of a tight spot.
That’s it, end of story. Nothing more to report. Back to you, Jim.”

“You seem pretty friendly with
him.”

“I am friendly with them all. Why,
what are you getting at?”

“N-nothing. It’s just crazy that
you live in a mansion—”

“—pool house—”

“—with a really wealthy woman—”

“—which I rent from—”

“—and you are buddy-buddy with
Willie Davies and his band of silver spoon boys.”

“Look, Randall, I’m not sure what
you have against money. Personally, I like it. I wish I had some. But I was
raised middle-class, and spent the last million years as a broke college
student. I am not used to the privileged life, but will gladly hob knob with
those that are if they are cool people, which they all have been. So get over
your issues ‘cause they are not with me.”

My scowl could wilt flowers. And
apparently men. His mouth was fused shut and his eyes were droopy. If he wasn’t
being such a douche, I would feel bad.

I was about to apologize when he
leaned in and smacked his lips against mine.

What was with this guy and kissing
at random, nonromantic moments?

I pushed him back. “I’m going back.
You coming?”

He nodded and followed like a hurt
puppy. I was running out of stamina for this first date, and unlike at the
rodeo, when it was time to go, I was absolutely going. Nothing good came from
hanging around just to be in William’s shadow. Especially with all the single
boys around. They would smell Randall and my issues like a lioness would a lame
wildebeest.

After we braved the stairs, I
stopped by the small bar on the upper floor. The bored bartender stared at my
boobs.

I yanked up my top and said, “I
need a round for the boys in the back.”

“Who?” His eyes were trying to
ferret out my covered br**sts. If he wasn’t behind that bar, I would stare hard
at his groin and squint, as though trying to find something small and hidden.
Even up the scrutiny.

“The large group of guys in the far
back of the VIP area. Davies and his crew.”

“Oh, them. Yeah, what are they
having?”

What I wanted to say: “Did you not
fill their order? You can’t remember ten minutes ago?”