Obsession (Stalker #1) (7 page)

“Why do cabs always smell like ass, for fuck’s sakes?” Kim says, exiting the cab and adjusting her breasts. Yup, right there, out in the open because she just doesn’t care, and that’s why I love her. All the girls are fluffing their hair and making sure they have all their shit before we go inside.

There’s a line, but Kim knows the bouncer so we just walk right in and head to the bar. The only way to grab the bartender’s attention is to fan your money out for them to see. I order two Amaretto Sours for Dallas and me, leaving my change for the bartender. Nikki and Nat order some fruity concoction for themselves, while Kim gets herself and Amanda free drinks from the random dude beside them. Kim really knows how to work it, so she doesn’t pay for anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if she finds her latest conquest tonight and leaves us. She’s a free spirit and does what she wants, when she wants.

Amanda is itching to get her groove on. We head to the dance floor to check out the action. I have a super nice buzz going and I want to dance.

Grabbing Amanda by the hand, I say, “Let’s boogie, bitch!”

She grins and we’re off with everyone following us. I down my drink and slap the glass on a passing table. We are not wallflowers, by any means, and don’t care who’s watching us. The six of us usually have a crowd of dudes around us who think they are Rico Suave and try to dance with us. We form our own little circle, feel the music, and let our freak flags fly. The Club 279 crowd is a little older, so there isn’t a bunch of nineteen year olds running around all over the place acting like idiots. The twenty-five and over crowd are more our scene and this place will play some kick ass tunes from the nineties, which, if you ask me, is one of the best decades of music, including the seventies. My ma raised me on seventies classic rock and used to quiz me. No joke.

I’m in my own little Abby world with my arms above my head and swinging my hips. Suddenly, I feel hands placed on my hips from behind. I try to shake them off with no success, and I think whoever it is takes it as an invitation to grab on tighter.
Oh, hell, no you don’t!
I whip around to find I’m staring into a chest. This dude is tall. I look up, but it’s dark inside, and I’m buzzed. I can’t see that great.

“Look, asshole, I’m going to need you to remove your hands from me before I fucking break them.” Yeah, I’m a bad ass and am practically a trained ninja. Not really, but I can usually handle myself. I can see he has dark features, his hair is dark, eyes seem dark, but I can’t be certain of anything because he is so tall. “Are you grinning at me?” I don’t feel his hands anymore, but this fucker is surely grinning at me and I don’t like it. “Why do men think it’s ok to just go up to random girls they don’t even know and put their hands on them? For fuck’s sakes!” Is this guy mute? More grinning and still no words. “Fuck this. I’m out, freak. D, let’s go to the bar,” I holler over my shoulder. Dallas sees me and knows I need out of here and grabs my hand. She whisks me away from the asshole and leads me to the bar.

“Abby, who the hell was that?” Dallas yells in my ear.

“I guess he thought he could touch me and I’d be down with that,” I shrug.

“Fucking asshats everywhere. I’m almost sick of the bar scene, Abby. I’m just kind of over it.”

Dallas fans out her money to get the bartender’s attention. Apparently, she didn’t need to. Two Amaretto Sours are placed in front of us while the bartender leans over to inform us the drinks have been taken care of.

“Uh, by whom?” Dallas asks.

The bartender tells us they are from some guy down at the other end of the bar. We don’t see anyone we know. Dallas thanks him; we grab our drinks, head to a table and park it. We are near the dance floor so we can see our friends tearing it up. They are awesome bitches. Kim is dry humping who I think will be her conquest tonight, while Amanda, Nikki and Nat have their own little circle with a crowd of guys watching them. They might as well be drooling. Like I said, we attract attention when we are out. I smile because I love my girls and I’m feeling good. My thoughts travel to Jake and all the things he said and did to me. I’m practically butter. I want him like a crack whore who needs her next fix. I’m lost in thought when Dallas throws the lime at me from her drink.
Bitch…

“What the fuck, bitch?” I glare at her.

“I see you’re lost in thought and I’m guessing you’re thinking about Jake and his ginormous dick, but it’s girls’ night, and we are here to have fun. Even though I’m kind of sick of it.”

The bartender from before arrives at our table with two more Amaretto Sours for us. What the fuck?

“Ladies, from the same gentleman as last time,” he smiles.

“Who is buying us drinks?” I ask Mr. Smiley Bartender.

“I told you, the same guy as last time. I don’t know his name, but he tipped me large to make sure you always had a drink.”

Dallas is staring at Mr. Smiley. “Who does that? Does this sound normal to you?” She sounds serious. “What does this guy look like?”

Mr. Smiley is looking agitated, and I know this because of where I work and can sniff out agitation like nobody’s business. It’s part of my ninja skills.

“I don’t know. He looked like a guy. I didn’t stare into his eyes or anything. I suppose he was tall, maybe six feet or so, and was in all dark clothes and had dark hair. Is that satisfactory, detective?”

I don’t like his attitude. “Hey, bartender, watch it. Don’t you think it’s kind of weird that someone would ask you to do that?”

He shrugs. “Look ladies, to keep your drinks flowing, he gave me two hundred dollars. Why would I say no?” He’s right; nobody turns down an easy peasy two bills to keep our drinks coming.

“Listen, if the gentleman is around, please tell him thanks, but that it’s too much and we can’t keep accepting his anonymous drinks. It’s weird.”

“Well, as fun as that sounds, he has left. He left after he asked me for that favor, and since I’m not a cop, I’m not chasing him down,” Mr. Smiley informs us.
Wow, this guy is an asshole.

“You don’t have to be an asshole about it! Obviously, women need to keep their guard up when they’re out, don’t you think?” He shrugs and leaves. “Thanks for all your help, dick!” Dallas shouts.

“Dallas, the guy is gone and we have free drinks, so fuck it, let’s drink!” I raise my glass in cheers to her. “Cheers, bitch.” We gulp our drinks and our friends come over to the table. They look beat and everyone seems kind of done.

“Are you guys done? Wait. Where’s Kim?” I look around trying to spot the blonde bombshell.

“She left with the dude she was dry humping earlier,” Nat replies.

“Of course, she did,” I say and shake my head. I do worry that Kim may find herself in a bad situation one day. “Dallas, can you get Justin to pick us up now?” She nods her head and whips her phone out and starts texting. This is when I get the brilliant idea to text Jake. I’m feeling frisky and I’m drunken texting. Fuck it.
Go big or go home.
I whip out my phone and start texting.

~
Jake, this is a drunky text and I wanna come over. Need address. STAT!!!

Amanda snatches my phone away from me and looks at it. “Not bad, no spelling mistakes or anything. It’s pretty late, Abby. Do you think he’ll even be awake?”

I look at her and scrunch my face up. “Shit, I wasn’t even thinking. He’s probably asleep by now.”

On cue, my phone chirps in Amanda’s hand, and she gives me a huge smile. “My bad. I guess he’s up and waiting.” Amanda hands me my phone and I see Jake’s address. A huge smile spreads across my face.

“Dallas, you and Justin need to take my ass there! Let’s roll on out, bitches.”

Before we head outside, Dallas checks her phone to make sure Justin is almost here. September can be rather chilly in Toronto, and we are all decked out in skirts. Nikki, Nat and Amanda are heading to the twins’ apartment and staying the night. We all go outside while the twins and Amanda grab a cab.

I see Justin’s huge ass truck roll up and I grab Dallas by the hand. “To the Batmobile! Take me to Jake’s, please.” I smile at Dallas. She shakes her head at me and it makes me wonder; why is everyone always shaking their heads at me? We climb into the truck and Dallas tells Justin we have to drop me off at Jake’s place. Justin pulls out of the narrow road and we are off.

I light up a cigarette because I’m nervous. I haven’t drunk texted anyone in a long time. I’m going to Jake’s house and I’m so excited I could pee.
Shit, I really do need to pee. How many drinks did I even have? Four?
I shrug to myself. I’m not sure, but since I don’t drink often I’m totally feeling the effects. Combined with the pot, I feel fucking fantastic. And a little hungry!

I hear Dallas and Justin talking up front, but can’t make out what they are saying because the radio is on. I poke Dallas in the shoulder and tell her to make sure our girls got home safe. She sends out a mass text to them all asking them to check in. I hear her phone chirp and she says Nikki, Nat and Amanda are all safe and sound. We probably won’t hear from Kim until the morning.

Before I know it, we are at Jake’s house and it’s the cutest little bungalow I’ve ever seen. It’s not a ginormously big house or anything, but it has a certain charm to it. Oh my shit. Jake is outside having a smoke and I see he has a drink in his hand. He’s waiting for me. Justin and Dallas hop out and I follow suit. Dallas is a nosy witch and I see her speed walking up to Jake.

“Hiiiiiiii, Jake! Nice to finally meet you in person. I’m Dallas, Abby’s cousin and we’ve talked a few times on the phone. This dude here is Justin. You don’t need to worry about him though because he’s my fiancé.”

Jake stretches his hand out to Dallas. “Nice to finally meet you, too, Dallas. Justin, thanks for bringing my girl here safely.” He winks at me and I feel all giddy.

“Ok, well, now that everyone knows everyone, and I’m all safe and sound, I think you guys can go now,” I say, staring at Dallas with a look that clearly says ‘get the fuck outta here right now.’

“Right. Call me tomorrow, Abby. Jake, super nice to meet you. Justin, let’s go.”

I park it beside Jake on his front step and light up a smoke. I watch Dallas and Justin get in the truck and drive away.

“Jake, is it too late for me to be here?” I ask, inhaling my cigarette and blowing out the smoke, making little O rings as I do.

“Abby, you made my fuckin’ night, babe. I’m not sure what made you want to come here tonight, but I’m glad you did. Let’s finish our smokes and head inside before you freeze.”

Pffft, like I’m gonna freeze when he’s making me all warm and tingly
. Jake stands and grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. I look up into his eyes and his hazel greens are starting to look dark as fuck again. Jake crushes his mouth to mine. I’m shocked and make a whimper. He cups his hands to my face and kisses me like nobody’s business. He tastes like rye and cigarettes. This might be my new favorite flavor.

“God, Abby, you don’t know what you do to me. I feel like I have zero self-control around you. Let’s go inside.” Jake shuts the door behind me, whispering, “Shhh, we have to be quiet, ok? Izzy is sleeping.”

Shit. Shit. Shit. How could I forget he had Isabelle over? “
Rut roh,” I say, using my Scooby-Doo voice and giggling.

“Shhh!”

“My bad, I’m sorry, Jake, can you point me in the direction of the ladies room, please?”

Jake guides me by the small of my back and points me towards the hallway, telling me it’s the last door on the left. Off I go to refresh myself. Uh, this looks like a bedroom to me and not a bathroom. I walk in a little further and see a walk in closet which leads to his en-suite bathroom. Wow, what a nice bedroom for a single guy. Tall, dark wood furniture with a king size bed with dark gray bedding. I walk through the closet into the bathroom and shut the door. I finally pee and it feels sooooo good.

After I finish up, I turn on the taps and look at myself in the mirror. Holy hell, I look like I’ve been hit by a bus, for fuck’s sakes. My make-up is all smudged and my hair is poofed out a bit. If I wasn’t under the influence, I would have noticed what a nice bathroom this is. I wash my hands and use the water on my fingers to do damage control on my hair. I flip my hair upside down – bad fuckin’ idea because I crack my head on his counter.

“Fuck me!” I curse.