Learning to Heal (17 page)

“Yes and No.” He takes a gulp of his beer. “There’s no smoking in here so that’s good. But she might get tired easily so just keep your eyes on her.”

I nod my head, feeling better, and look for her in the crowd.  

“So who’s the dick she’s dancing with?” Jax asks me. I follow his stare and see Trudy walking out toward the dance floor to bring Jazz a water.

“He’s a good friend and the drummer to the new band Janet hired.” He just nods his head, still staring daggers Ryan’s way. “Don’t worry. He’s a good guy and has been involved in MMA stuff most of his life. He’ll protect them.”

Right about that time I see a tall guy with a black faux hawk and tats covering his arms walk up to the girls. He grabs Trudy from behind and starts to dance. Before I can get my feet going, Jax is there and shoving him off of her. The guy has at least an inch on him, but he doesn’t back down. The music dies and the crowd makes room for a fight. I’m standing beside Jax and soon David is too.

“What the fuck, dude? You got a death wish?” Jax is in his face ready to kill, but the guy just laughs coldly. I see a lip ring catch the light and a tattoo of a black, demonic claw on his neck. It looks so real like it’s tearing up his flesh, just as evil as this guy who’s obviously jonesing for a fight.

“Whoa, whoa!” Ryan pushes his way between the two and turns toward the guy. “Lyric. Not. Tonight. We need you to play. Not fuck up this gig.” The big guy looks like he could eat Ryan for breakfast, but he actually seems to take his words into consideration.

“Besides that, I can’t have you knocking the shit out of my future brother-in-law.” Ryan looks toward Jazz. “Ain’t that right, Betty? You gonna marry me now, right?”

Jazz laughs and you can feel the tension leave the room with the sound. When she gains her composure she addresses the question. “First, buddy, you need to buy me some food ’cause I’m friggin’ starving. Then we’ll discuss marriage.” She winks and I walk over to her. Jealousy is a bitch and I’ve learned I don’t like it. I hold her close and turn back to the commotion.

After a stare down with Jax, Lyric shakes his head and sticks his hand out around Ryan. “Sorry, man. I had no idea she was taken.”

Jax visibly relaxes and accepts his hand and shakes it. “Well she is.” He looks at Ryan and smiles. “And apparently so is my sister.”

Janet comes and breaks up the party and tells Ryan and Lyric they have ten minutes until show time.

I grab Jazz and take her back to the table and away from the crowd. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good. But I’m not the one that was grabbed. Trudy was. But I know she was ready to kick the guy’s ass.”

She’s probably right, but I know for a fact that Lyric is nothing like Craig. From what Ryan told me the other day, he’s the lead singer and founder of their band Lyrical Obsessions, as well as a badass MMA fighter. Supposedly he did a lot of underground matches in his hometown of New Orleans, but he only trains here. I’m sure his cold stare alone could probably bring down most people in the ring. I’ll just keep that to myself for now. Ruining her birthday is not part of my plans for tonight.

An unwanted face is sitting on David’s lap when we return to the table. Chanda sneers her bright red lips in our direction until she sees me watching her. Then she smiles like the friend I’ve always known. “Well did you two decide to actually date or are you just going for seconds, Mason?”

“Excuse me?” Jazz and I say in unison. David turns and looks at Chanda and something happens that I never saw before. He stands up and deposits her loudly onto the floor.

“What? Did you fuck her too?” Chanda hollers at David’s back as he walks away.

He turns back around and looks at her like she’s worthless. “No, Babe. That’s you. Just a Fuck. She’s my sister.” He continues on his way until he reaches a group of Trudy’s friends and wraps his hand around one girl’s waist. And it’s not just any girl, but Elle from Trudy’s dance team. Then he kisses her and she doesn’t argue. It’s about damn time. He’s been pining for her almost as long as I have been pining for Jazz.

Chanda’s face is red with embarrassment when I face her again. She has to realize she can’t come into our circle of friends and attack one. But that’s always been her problem. She doesn’t think before she speaks or does something. A side of me sees my friend from years back and feels the urge to help her, but after what she just said about Jazz I won’t. The girl on the floor isn’t the one I used to know and has never been the same since she returned home.

After she stomps off, I sit down and Jazz lands in my lap. I’ve never been good at reading girls, but I hope this is flirting. Soon the innocent flirting vanishes as the band starts to play and she’s dancing against me. I groan from the friction of her ass against my erection. She has to notice what she’s doing to me. After another song starts up, her hips begin to twist. I grab her by the waist, desperate to stop this torture. I put my head on the back of her shoulder trying to control my thoughts before I bust a load in my pants. “You have to stop that,” I breathe into her ear.

“Stop what?” Her voice sounds so innocent and maybe even breathless. I can’t help but imagine her yelling out my name as I sink into her. Beating off to her vision is getting old, but if it’s what I gotta do, I’ll do it. “This?” She swivels her ass on my dick again, so I grip her hips tighter. I haven’t paid one bit of attention to the band and what they sound like because I’m getting my very first lap dance. Even if it’s an unofficial one. It still counts in my book.

“Mmm hmm.” I look around but everyone is absorbed in the music. Thank God! My hips thrust up on their own and I feel her breath hitch.
Hell yeah
! She’s affected by me too. “You like that?” I don’t know anything about talking dirty, but I feel like I have to or I’ll bite my own tongue off.

Lifting my head, I place a kiss on the side of her neck and taste her
peaches ’n cream
skin. I want to eat her up. My hips thrust again as she pushes down on me. My hand reaches the hem of her shirt and I feel a war inside my body raging on. Should I touch her skin or wait for her permission? Luckily she answers my unspoken question before I just do it and feel like shit when the lust-filled haze fades. She takes my hand and slides it under her shirt. The feel of her warm skin above her black tights is amazing. I’ve dreamed of feeling her skin for so long, but it’s softer and smoother than I imagined. I kiss her neck and feel her hips shift again. “If we don’t stop, baby, I am going to ruin my jeans.” I continue to thrust my dick against her ass. My hand inches up and I can feel the swell of her breast right above it begging me to touch and squeeze it. To claim it and her. However, the applause breaks through my brain and I know the band is done as well as our little session.

I’m breathing hard and fucking stiff as a board. “I need to go to the restroom.” I watch her hair move with every breath I exhale as I remove my hand. She stands and straightens her shirt while I adjust myself. Everyone is talking about the music as they find their seats, so I discreetly make my way to the restroom. After splashing cold water on my face, I stare at the black pupils in the mirror. What the hell just happened? I hope this isn’t just part of our agreement. I mean we had a chance the other day and nothing happened. I feel like we’re more than friends and definitely more than friends with benefits. If that is all she wants, then I can’t do this. No matter how much I want her … I love her more than that.

My mind is so fogged up with Mason that the whole evening is a blur, even the cake and birthday song sang by the Adonis called Lyric. I usually eat up the attention, but not tonight. My panties are so wet from Mason that I can’t help but wait for the night to end. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s staying with me so I can get what I’ve been wanting for weeks. I even used my birthday wish on it—a heated night of sex with the Mason that’s been showing up since Thanksgiving Day. Geez! If anyone knew the thoughts that were running through my sexed up head and how I continuously have to cross my legs to alleviate the ache, they’d think I’m a nympho. 

       Sneaking a peek at him as I blow out my candles, because I can’t help it, I see he’s looking at me with more heat than what’s coming off the wick. I’m so affected I have to brace my hands on the table and lock my knees, determined not to fall. The cheers going around act as temporary distraction. Key word: temporary. I can’t get the feel of him against my ass out of my brain or the calluses on his fingertips against my bare stomach. Who knew a few months ago I’d be lusting after my friend? I sure the hell didn’t. But then again, I was so absorbed in another relationship I never noticed how Mason has always been around when I needed him.

After I blow out the candles and get a few hugs, I hear a voice I haven’t heard since last semester. “Happy Birthday, Barbie.”

I turn at the feminine squeal and see my friend Cory from my English class and the only reason I actually passed. She was always helping me when she saw how frustrated I’d get. I never had to ask her and I’m grateful. Like I said before, I suck at school.

She’s one badass girl and so different from Tru and me, but she fits into our duo. They’ve only met a few times at lunch but they seem to have hit it off, especially when she learned about Trudy busting Ashton’s beak. Ashton is my brother’s ex and the biggest cunt around South Alabama. She likes to judge anyone that’s different from her. And Cory is definitely different in every way possible. If she were anything like Ashton we definitely would not be friends. Luckily for me that’s not the case.

She’s so pretty and her style enhances her features and her brash personality. She’s from New York and I love her accent and constantly get her to repeat words like coffee. It’s so funny. Of course she’s taller than me, but who isn’t? She loves black and her hair is silky and so black it almost looks blue. It reaches her shoulders and her bangs kiss her forehead tenderly but allows her green eyes to pop, especially with her black eyeliner. She loves to wear black netting up her arms and shows off her small midriff and tiny waist. I swear she can’t be bigger than a size one. Tonight she’s rocking the black and nets as usual, but she has on a black, Star Wars sleeveless shirt that says “JEDI. So back the fuck off” on the front in white letters. It’s ripped right under her breast and falls above her belly button. Her black pants are rocking a huge Yoda belt buckle with shiny bling and her favorite black knee high boots that have buckles down the side. She calls them her “don’t fuck with me” boots. You would think she rides a Harley and is part of
Sons of Anarchy
, but she’s a geek through and through. And I can’t help but love it. The chick has an addiction to anything Sci-Fi. Her whole dorm room is dedicated to Hans Solo and his posse. Considering my pink addiction, nobody would ever see us as being friends but we are and it rocks.

I give her a happy squeeze. “Thanks, girlie. I didn’t know you were still in town. Figured you’d be celebrating at Time Square instead of here with us southern folk.”

“Well, I decided to stay warm this New Year’s instead of freezing my tits off like other idiots. And I mean my family.” She gives a fake shiver and grabs her boobs. “Besides, I only have so much to spare and it’s not a whole lot.”

We laugh and soon Tru joins in and gets the same New York Cory welcome. “Oh my God, Cory! You totally missed it. I thought Jax was about to lay out some guy that had his paws all over Tru”

“Aww, man! I always miss the testosterone filled fun.” She fake pouts before she grabs a drink from a passing tray. The girl gives her a look, but then see’s Tru and changes her mind. Tru is now in charge of all waitstaff, and the girl knows who to push and who to step away from. “So who was the guy wanting his ass kicked?? Cory looks around and I join in trying to find the tatted up adonis with a bad attitude.