Seth
I draw my fourth whiskey and Coke to my lips. I swear each swallow rests not in my stomach, but on my eyelids, making them heavier. I stand at the over-crowded bar, away from Jackson and Selena’s make out session. Now I know how they feel when I attack Olivia in front of them. Still, I’m not going to stop. I kiss Olivia whenever the hell I feel like kissing her and I guess Jackson is the same. A loud eruption of laughter explodes from my table and I glance over my shoulder. Darryl shifts in his chair and tugs on his white button up shirt, as if he’s trying to loosen it. He’s having fun and it’s just as much his and Jackson’s night as it is mine. I turn from the bar and my head spins a little. I smile. I haven’t felt this good in a while and the three shots I took before my whiskeys are just starting to settle in. This whiskey will definitely have to be my last one.
I walk towards the table, holding my drink low. About ten feet away, I’m stopped in my tracks by a short woman and my eyes automatically zero in on her huge fake tits that protrude out of her tigh
t, red tube dress.
“Hey,
you,” she purrs. “Remember me?”
Fuck, she knows who I am, but I’ve never seen her before.
I lift my gaze to her bright, cherry red lips and finally a pair of bright blue eyes masked by too much smoky makeup. Her small hands run over my chest and down my biceps, feeling as much of me as she could. Normally, (and by normally I mean before Olivia) I’d probably take this girl home—I’m not an idiot, she’s gorgeous in that fake kind of way. Unfortunately for her, there’s only one pair of thighs I’d like to slide between tonight and every other night for the rest of my life.
“I was wondering when I was going to run into you again
,” she adds, squeezing me for extra measure.
“Uh
…” I chuckle nervously. “Look, Samantha-”
Her drawn on ey
ebrows pull in close. “Nicole.”
Shit.
“Nicole…”
It still doesn’t ring any bell
s. “Right. Listen, I’m only here for a drink with my friends.”
Her hands glide back up my arm
s and down my chest before curling around the hem of my jeans. I analyze her for a moment, trying to link her face to her name…I can’t. Instead, I’m distracted by the way she looks. There was once a time I was into that whole ‘porn star’ look…I can’t say it does too much for me now. Her index finger sweeps a little too low and I snatch her wrists with my free hand and move them away from my body. Even in the dim club, I see her eyes flare. She likes the challenge. Nicole shrugs out of my grasp and inches closer, making me more frustrated than aroused. I’ve been trying to be a better person for Olivia, in terms of my promiscuity, and right now I feel like I’m doing something wrong. It’s a feeling that twists at my stomach, I hate it and this woman is testing my patience.
“I’m sure your team can wait
…come with me. I won’t take up too much of your time. Let me take care of you.”
Nicole rakes her teeth over her bottom lip and I sigh. Not out of defeat, but out of boredom. I’ve had girls
of every kind and every shape—more than I’m willing to admit—and this girl is attractive, but I’m not going to risk my relationship with Olivia for her. Let’s be honest for a second, how good is this girl in bed really if I couldn’t even remember her name or her face?
“Thanks, but I have a girl at home who takes care of
all
my needs.” With a tight smile, I attempt to step past her, but she sidesteps and blocks me. I clench my glass tighter and expel a gust of air through my nose.
“Believe me,
I can make you forget all about her.”
Nicole’s words strike a chord inside me and
I narrow my eyes at her. There’s no doubt in my mind that her over-used mouth can show me a good time. She can probably suck my dick well and have me coming in minutes, but I don’t want it. I don’t want
her
. Nicole touches me again. Her long fingernails slowly stroking a silver button on my steel grey shirt. “What do you say?”
She really doesn’t want to know what I have to say. I grit my teeth together against a
copious amount of bad names and hurtful words. “I say you try your luck elsewhere, sweetheart.”
She step
s closer, her body almost pressing against mine. The distinct smell of cigarette being masked by an expensive cherry perfume has my nose twitching. “Sorry, darling. I’m after a ten tonight, nothing less.”
And here I was thinking only men rated women on a scale of one to ten.
I lower my head to her ear and as my breath blows over her skin, I hear her breath catch.
“No, thank you.”
Her hands fall away from me and I’m finally able to push past her. I don’t dare look over my shoulder for fear of inviting her into my personal space again. I saunter over to the table and drop into an empty seat. Darryl and the rest of the team have left, leaving me alone with Selena and Jackson.
“Who was that?” Selena asked.
I look up at her and she’s trying really hard to be calm, but I can see the anger in her posture. Her arms are crossed tightly across her chest, covering the cut out that exposed the majority of her breasts. I’m sure if this were a manga cartoon, she’d have one of those little exasperated squiggles on her forehead. I smile at the thought.
“Nobody.” I’m not sharing shit with Selena. She talks way too much and Olivia doesn’t need to hear about this. Not because I’ve done anything wrong, but because what happened in the past (
if
it happened in the past) needs to stay in the past. I can’t confirm nor deny if I had sex with that girl. I don’t remember her face and I know it makes me look like a total asshole—believe me—I feel like it, but it is what it is. I won’t take full blame for being a using asshole, though. They
let
me use them and on most occasions they approached me for sex. I merely took what was offered. Sue me.
“Didn’t look like nobody to me. You two
seemed pretty comfortable.”
Jackson groans. “
Selena, let it go. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
Of course, she ignores Jackson’s advice. “
And
she keeps looking over at you from the bar.”
I draw my cup to my lips and take a long sip. Selena grows more agitated with every second I don’t respond. When she’s fully arched up, I lower my cup and speak.
“It’s a free country. She can look at me all she likes, and as long as she doesn’t touch, I’m sure Olivia won’t mind.” I place my glass on the table. “Like Jackson said, I did nothing wrong. I turned down an invitation for sex, yet you’re looking at me like I had a quickie in the bathroom.”
“I’m not looking at you like anything. I’m just worried for—”
“Don’t be,” I interrupt, letting my frustration get the best of me. “Let me worry about Olivia. I look after her better than you ever did.”
Her eyes widen and she takes
offense to what I said by scoffing at me. She angles her body towards Jackson, waiting for him to defend her; instead, he looks at her and shrugs his shoulders. With another scoff, Selena flicks her curly blonde hair over her shoulder and sits back in her seat, crossing her legs as tightly as her crossed arms. Jackson leans forward in his seat, resting his elbows on his jean-clad knees and his seedy, drunk gaze rolls onto me.
“To the bar?”
I nod my head, wanting an excuse to get away from Selena’s condemning glare. She takes a long, hard gulp of her beer before pulling out her cellphone. I contemplate demanding her to tell me what she’s doing, but I let it go. I have done nothing wrong tonight and overreacting will only make it seem like I’m guilty. The only thing I’m guilty of is never wanting to see Olivia hurt or doubt that I’m faithful to her.
I push off of my chair, abandoning m
y current drink. At the bar, Jackson hands me another beer and I hesitate for a second before I take it and bring it to my lips. I know I should stop. The more I drink the more I lash out…and Selena has already got on my nerves once tonight. I have so much pent up inside me that I want to say to her—that I want to blame her for—and I don’t think Olivia or Jackson will appreciate it if I let it all out.
I don’t think there’s a nice way of calling someone a mess…
I grin into my beer bottle right before I take a long sip. I can’t wrap my head around Selena. She’s this out of control woman who has no goals in life and only aspires to drag people down with her. I suppose she has to have some other side to her that no one sees. Why else would Jackson stick around? I know for a fact he likes easy going, submissive girls. He likes girls that can break easily and cave at his every whim, and Selena doesn’t seem like that kind of person. She’s too stubborn and bitchy to go along with Jackson’s shit. Then again, who knows who Jackson and Selena really are? They both seem to have lots of hidden shit they keep to themselves. Jackson with his ex-bitch-whore and Selena with her dad—or whatever, her story still remains a mystery to me.
“Don’t worry about Selena
,” he tells me. “You know how she is about Olivia.” Jackson rolls his eyes and pulls at the blue collar of his shirt.
“For someone who claims to be so protective of her, she sure put Olivia in some shit situations.”
He takes a sip of his beer. “Yeah, but Selena is her best friend. They’re allowed to do stupid shit and make bad decisions. Fuck, we did—we still do.”
“But Olivia is—”
“Human. I know you love her and you’re getting married and all of that crazy shit, but she’s still human. She’s curious, and impulsive and known to make bad decisions at times, but she has history with Selena. They grew up together and they’re best friends. Don’t belittle Selena because you see her as a threat.”
A threat? I don’t see Selena as a threat, do I?
No. Selena is not a threat…she’s just trouble.
I’d never do anything to force Selena and O apart, but Selena needs to realize that I’m not going to step to the side and let her force Olivia into stupid situations—and she also needs to realize that I’m not like Blade. I appreciate what I have. I know Olivia is one in a million and I wouldn’t fuck that up, not even for all of the cherry-lipped, big breasted women in the world. Trading someone you love for something you lust is like trading a grilled chicken salad for a bag of potato chips. Sure, they taste good while you’re eating them, but when it’s finished, you feel sick and you’re still hungry. Meanwhile, the guy with the chicken salad is satisfied, he feels good,
and
he’s nourishing his body with real nutrients. Blade took his chicken salad and traded it for a bag of chips because he’s a fucking idiot. Now, I have the salad and I won’t trade it for anything—chips, cake, chocolate or otherwise. If only Selena would stop trying to convince herself that I’m scouting for chips.
I slam the last of my third—fourth? “Second.” I say out loud in an awkward, kind of slurry tone. “Now I remember. This is my second beer.”
Jackson chuckles as my head violently rolls. “Five. You’ve had five beers, mate.”
Either I’m hearing things, or Jackson’s voice is slurred
, too.
Fuuuuck. I need to go home.
Selena appears at Jackson’s side and she wraps an arm around his waist. He leans a lot of his weight on her and she groans under the pressure. “It’s seven beers for the both of you. Time to go.”
Selena stumbles with Jackson across the club floor. I look ar
ound…the club has wound down and only handfuls of people litter the room instead of throngs. I follow behind the others, proud with how straight I’m walking. In front of Selena and Jackson, Darryl is being carried out by another one of my teammates—Aaron, our towel guy. Compared to them, I must look sober and when I think about it, I’m not that drunk, just heavily tipsy.
I snap my attention to the left as a heavy arm hooks around mine. I glance down, only to see Nicole, hanging off my arm. “Leaving so soon, honey?”
I feel my body sag into itself.
How’d I not see this coming?
I was hoping she left hours ago.
“Who’s place, mine or yours?”
I free my arm from hers and stop walking. I’m too tired for this shit now. My eyes are heavy, I can barely keep them open and my head is dangerously close to toppling off my neck.
“
I
am going home to my
fiancée,
alone.”
She smiles.
I’m not going to get out of this, am I?
“Seth Marc, settling down. When we met, you didn’t even ask for my name and now you’re settling down.” She shakes her head and sighs. “How ironic.
Anyway
, it’s almost morning and I live the next street over. Go home to the other woman in the morning. She doesn’t have to know.”
In front of, us Selena snaps around, leaving Jackson to keep his balance on his own.
“Didn’t you hear him? He said he has a fiancée.” The growl in Selena’s voice triggers Jackson and puts him on edge. He sobers and grabs her wrist, holding it tightly. Selena isn’t exactly a ‘let’s talk it out’ kind of girl, apparently, and I’m way too tired and tipsy to break up a cat fight.