At first hesitant in my steps away from the door the
blonde was not too far outside, I soon blew off the idea. I slid my hand over
my jaw, getting myself back on track. I was looking for a sure thing, and if
she wasn’t it, I’d find another girl in that town who was.
Games
T
he house we pulled up to was only a few blocks
out of town, but hidden by forest. Josh led us through the yard, past a large
pond, and toward a steel structure in the back.
Under the overhang of the building sat a mix of quads and
dirt bikes. I eyed the smaller bike in the back. Oliver would have a blast on
that. He was still too young to put on my bike.
“Feel free to take one up the mountain tonight,” Josh
offered, opening the door. “The girls love it.”
It didn’t sound like a bad idea.
When we stepped inside, I felt like a kid playing in a
massive fort. The concrete floor was covered with an enormous black rug, with
mismatched couches and a beat-up old recliner lining one corner of the room.
Past that, in the back corner, were a couple old
refrigerators, a keg tap, and a sink that mirrored the one in Katherine’s
laundry room. A group of girls in short dresses and tall boots were talking
around the pool table in the other corner. This wasn’t a swanky club from the
city, but it’d do.
Caleb took to the place right away, strolling over to a
group of guys calling out his name. They were all yelling out that it had been
too long since they’d seen him. I made my way to the makeshift kitchen with
Josh. He opened the vintage fridge and handed me a beer.
“Joshy!” A girl dressed in an oversized flannel men’s
shirt and nothing else ran at him.
I looked back at the other girls, wondering why. There
was heat pumping in the building, but it wasn’t that warm. He lifted her up,
kissed her once, then swatted her ass when she ran off again.
“Welcome to the local
bar.
” He held up his fingers,
making quotation marks. “It isn’t much, but it works for us.”
“One hell of a poker table you got there,” I said,
walking toward the center of the room. It wasn’t the standard frat-house table;
it would’ve set him back a few months’ pay from that diner.
Caleb walked over with the group of guys, introducing me
before we took a seat at the table. I sat across from Caleb; it was our
routine. We never sat close during a game. If something was up, we knew each
other’s tells, so we always sat where we could see them.
After the guys took a few shots at Caleb for his
elusiveness on why he’d skipped town a couple years earlier, the cards were
dealt.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” a girl asked, walking
up behind Josh and putting her hands on his shoulders, sliding them down over
his chest. They appeared more intimate than friends, but his unaffected
reaction told me he’d had his fill of her.
She had a pretty-enough face—one of the prettier ones
there—but she was no angel. I shook the thought away as soon as it hit.
“Mackenzie, this is Caleb and Logan. Guys, this is
Mackenzie,” he threw out casually.
Her eyes grew wide. “Oh my God! You’re Luke’s older
brother, right?” she squealed, directing a broad grin at Caleb.
“That’s me. How do you know Luke?” Caleb asked, lowering
his cards.
“We went to school together.” She ran her thumb over her
bottom lip, flirting with him. “I remember you. You were a senior, and one of
the hottest guys in town.”
She wasn’t shy, nor was she his usual type. The girl was
all bones. I rearranged my cards in my hand. When I glanced back up a moment
later, Caleb was patting his leg for her to sit.
“You gonna be my beer wench tonight?” he asked, moving
her hair to the side.
“I’ll be whatever you want tonight,” she purred.
And he was set. Good for him, but one look around the
room left me coming up blank. The girls there were just that—
girls—
barely
legal, not for me. The rest had been around the block a few too many times. I
liked my girls with a touch of class—not so rough around the edges. Still, after
a few more drinks, one of them would do.
Within the hour, the smack-talking college kids sitting
around us were out of money and on the couches, welcoming more girls as they
straggled in. Their seats were quickly replaced by more local guys Caleb went
to school with.
“So what’s going on with the paper?” asked the guy who
grabbed the seat beside me. “It’s all my dad’s bitched about the past week.”
He’d been eyeing the table for a while from across the room. I only noticed
because of the overly tight polo shirt he was sporting. It had to belong to a
chick.
Josh stared down at the cards he was shuffling, not
paying attention, and another guy sitting beside him piped up. “My grandma’s
looking for a buyer. Problem is, none of them are good enough.”
“Good enough?” Polo Boy screeched. “To run the fucking
Tribune
?
Hell, you should buy it, Josh. Sell that rotting diner and move up.”
“Fuck you, Mark!” Josh snapped.
Mark? No way the blonde had ever dated this putz!
But was this really the same Mark that Josh had been
referring to? The town was small enough to have me questioning it. I tipped my
head to get a better look at the guy. He played the jock look for the girls,
but there was no denying he was nothing more than a cocky little boy.
“Sorry, man. I’m just saying—” Mark started.
“Well, don’t,” Josh cut him off.
The tension was thick in the air, and I was unsure why it
was such a sore subject. Crass or not, the diner was a shithole.
“You’ve been running that diner for what—two, three years?—with
no success,” Caleb said gently. “It needs a lot of TLC, and your dad wouldn’t
want that burden on you.”
“I’m not selling it. It was his life.” Josh narrowed his
eyes at Mark, then began dealing a new hand, making it clear the subject was
closed.
Mark seemed happy enough with changing the topic.
“Gotta admit, Caleb, I didn’t expect to see you back,” he
said, staring down at his cards. “I just ran into your brother a few weeks ago.”
“And how’s he doing?” Caleb asked after a drawn-out
pause.
Mark’s head shot up. “Maybe you should call him sometime
and find out yourself.”
Caleb didn’t reply, still focused on the game. The hand
went quickly—one by one they folded until just a few players were left. These
guys didn’t have the backing for a real game.
“Where you been, anyway?” Mark asked, staring over at
Caleb.
“Away.”
“No shit, but anywhere in particular?”
“I’ll raise you,” Josh said when Caleb added to the pot.
“What’s with the questions?” Caleb asked, finally locking
stares with Mark.
Things were getting heated quickly. I wasn’t sure what
their past was, but Mark looked at least a couple years younger than Caleb, so
they didn’t seem like school buddies. Caleb was an easygoing guy; it was one of
the reasons we got along so well. He was usually the one to defuse shit, but I
could tell when he was past his limit.
If Caleb wanted to put this Mark prick in his place, I
wouldn’t mind helping out. Hell, I’d enjoy it—and it had nothing to do with the
sweet blonde. Mark was just a douchebag that talked too much, and as I sat
there watching the aggravation roll off Caleb, I was prepared for anything.
“Does your dad know you’re in town?” Mark pressed,
oblivious to the tension in the air.
“Do you mind? I’m here to play some poker, not chit chat,”
Caleb bit out, his voice strained. Yeah, he was about to lose it.
“Well, you got my girl on your lap over there, so I’m a
bit distracted,” Mark hissed. “I fold.” He threw his cards on the table.
Josh laughed, choking on his beer before spitting it out.
“Dude, if you laid claim to every girl you fucked, no guy in the tri-state area
would get any.”
Caleb placed his cards down and collected the pot. He
then opened his arms, indicating Mackenzie could get up, which she did.
He looked over to Mark with an easy smile. “All you had
to do was say so.” He leaned forward, grinning. “But for the record, your
girl
came to me. Might want to keep that in mind.”
I smirked and sat back in my chair, taking another swig
of beer to finish off my second bottle. I held it out at my side, where some
girl was there instantly to replace it with another.
Caleb made a show of scanning the room, his gaze landing
on the girl wearing the flannel shirt and no pants. She was the only one half
dressed. When he crooked his finger at her, she walked over with an extra
bounce in her step. “Let’s deal, already,” Caleb said, kissing her ear.
The game continued as more people filtered in and out of
the building. There were a few new faces, including one girl in particular I
caught Josh exchanging glances with as the night progressed.
“Baby, can you go grab me a beer?” Mark asked Mackenzie,
squeezing her knee. She’d been sitting on his lap since she’d left Caleb’s,
Mark unaware of the fact that her bare toes had been working their way up and
down my outer thigh. With him in the chair beside me and her sitting facing me,
I’d also noticed quite a few suggestive glances she’d thrown my way.
Taking his girl outside and fucking her until she was on
her knees, unable to walk back to him, was looking more and more like a great plan.
“Sure,” she said, looking to me before standing. I shot
her a wink and watched her sway her hips as she crossed the room. I was about
to follow her when Josh’s loud cackle broke out.
“Shit, I almost forgot, Mark. Guess who we saw today,
looking fine as always?”
“Who?” Mark looked bored as he threw his cards down,
folding first.
“Your old ball and chain.”
Mark rolled his eyes, leaning forward and resting his elbows
on the table. “What was she up to?”
“Didn’t talk, just admired.”
“She was always good for that.” Mark snickered.
I threw down my cards to fold, irritation heavy in my
veins.
“I’m sure it was more than that pretty face of hers that
kept you entertained.”
“Obviously not, since he spent every weekend here,” the
guy beside Josh interjected with a chuckle.
“What can I say? I needed more than a sweet girl looking
to settle me down.”
“Can we stop talking about her already?” Mackenzie reappeared,
shoving the beer into Mark’s hand but not moving to sit back down.
“Aw, you still jealous, Mackenzie? Don’t be. Unlike
Cassie, we all
know
you’re a good lay.”
Cassie? The name didn’t suit her. I tilted my head to the
side enough to gauge the expression Mark was fighting to hide. Something told
me it wasn’t her who was bad in bed, but him who didn’t know how to please her.
It was a shame I’d missed my chance to show her what a real man could do with
her sweetness.
“You should have brought her up here a few times back
then. I’m sure a few of the girls could have taught her some moves.” Josh looked
up at Mackenzie. “Right, baby?”
Mackenzie scoffed, her hands planted on her hips as she
marched away, kicking the back of Josh’s chair when she passed him.
“Cassie will never have any moves worth checking out, so
might as well leave her alone,” Mark said.
“Come on, she couldn’t have been that bad. Tell the truth:
Cassie Clarke is a little hellion in bed. You just didn’t want to share.”
Caleb looked up from his hand for the first time since
they’d started yapping about her.
Mark shook his head, laughing. “I’ll say this: The girl
gives decent head, but—”
Caleb’s fist slammed down on the table, startling
everyone except me. They all shut up, staring at him for an explanation.
“We’re here to play cards, so shut. The. Hell. Up.” His
head moved slowly from Mark to Josh, pinning them in place. “Another fucking
word about Cassandra, and I’ll rip your God damn tongue out! Understand?”
“Yeah…sorry,” Josh stuttered, visibly shaking. “I didn’t
mean any harm. She’s a good girl.”
“Damn right she is, so not another word about her!”
Caleb knew her—knew Cassandra. That was a name better fit
for the sweet blonde. I smiled down at my cards, enjoying the fact that maybe
our paths would cross again. And if they ever did, I’d be sure to take my time
showing her all the reasons she needed a
man
in her bed. After Mark,
she’d appreciate an all-nighter from me.
After Caleb’s threats, the table remained relatively
quiet for a while. As the night wore on, I knew Caleb had a plan in motion
—
what it was, I wasn’t sure, but I knew it had
to do with Josh.
The girl Josh had been exchanging glances with all night
walked past me to the kitchen area, and I watched his eyes follow her. He had a
thing for her, and I had my in. She was about his age, shorter, and blonde with
dark roots. No angel, by far. When she walked past again, I grabbed her hand
and pulled her into my lap.
“I need a good-luck charm,” I murmured, nuzzling her
neck. “You look just the part.”
The moment I twisted my arm around the girl’s waist, my
thumb caressing under her bra, Josh’s attention shifted from the game to her. I
caught the slight upturn of Caleb’s expression.
“What’s your name?” the girl asked, situating herself
further on my lap, running one hand around my neck while a finger on the other
raked over my stomach.
“Does it matter?” I asked. My eyes were on my cards. Another
shit hand.
“I guess not.” She leaned back into my chest, and I
caught the hard stare Josh set on her. I had his attention.
“Josh, let’s go,” Caleb complained. “You’re up.”
Reluctantly, Josh pulled his gaze back to his cards. “Get
me a beer, Liv,” he ordered.
Liv was apparently the girl’s name, because his words
caused her to stiffen for only the slightest second before she replied, “No. Get
your own damn beer.”
The corner of my mouth turned up. Josh didn’t say another
word. Liv had some attitude. It was a turn-on.
Mark stood the moment the hand ended.
“I’m out,” he said, paying the pot. “See you around,
Caleb.” His words were rich with sarcasm as he walked to the couch where
Mackenzie sat moping. He took her hand to help her up, and she wrapped herself
around him.