3. Chapter Three
Applying one final coat of lipgloss, I can”t help but grin. Tonight my boyfriend, Justin, is taking me for dinner and then to the hottest club on campus. He went off to college a few months ago and since school is now over for the summer, this is the first time I”m getting to see him properly. He”s usually too busy with basketball playoffs and training. To surprise him I even brought a fake ID as I don”t want to embarrass him if I get carded in front of all his college friends.
I grab my handbag and take one last look at myself in the mirror, admiring the way my ass looks in my new jeans. Thank god the gym squats have paid off.
My phone pings letting me know my taxi has arrived so I rush out the door, almost bumping into my sister in my rush.
“Sorry,” I laugh.
“You will be,” she teases back.
I rush out and hop in the back of the taxi. “365 Munro Boulevard, please.”
The whole way over I fantasize about what Justin is going to do when he sees me. Sure we chat over the phone, but it’s not as much as I”d like. And we Facetime, but mostly in the evenings after practice. But we were inseparable last year before he went off to college, and it”s been months since I saw him in person so I bet he”s just as excited as I am.
“$22.50,” the driver says, snapping me out of my daydream.
“Sorry, keep the change,” I say, handing him $25.
I run up the cobbled path to his door and knock a little too loudly out of excitement. I wait a few minutes but no one comes. So I knock again, this time louder. Perhaps he”s upstairs?
A shout of “come in”” sounds from inside, so slowly I push the door open. Perhaps he”s got a surprise waiting for me inside.
I make my way inside and notice most of the lights in the hallway are out, but I can hear noises from one of the rooms. I walk in and, well, he definitely has a surprise waiting for me, just not the kind I would like.
Inside are Justin and three other friends sitting on the floor in their gym shorts playing FIFA.
“Hey baby I missed you,” I say, wrapping my arms around his neck, and placing a kiss on his cheek; but instead of embracing me, he moves his head away so that he can still see the TV.
“Babe, I”m playing. Sit down, I”ll be with you after this game,” he grumbles.
I make my way over to the recliner and wait…and wait.
“Babe, it”s been three games, how about you sit the next one out?” I beg as I again move to try and get his attention by running my hands through his hair.
“Stop being so needy, I”ll be with you in a minute,” he snaps while pushing my hand away.
One minute turns into one hour, and one hour turns into three.
Justin finally stands up, and I stupidly assume it”s to finally come see me, but no. He gets up, walks to the kitchen, and returns a few minutes later with a beer for himself and his friends, but nothing for me.
“I”ll go get my own then,” I snap.
As I walk into the kitchen I bump into his older sister, Lexi.
“Hey Lex.,”
“Oh hey. Freckles? Didn”t even know you were here.”
“Yeah, I was supposed to be going out with your dumb brother, but the moron is too busy on his Xbox with his friends to even acknowledge me,” I say, trying and failing to hide the sadness and frustration from my voice.
“Well, that”s because my brother’s an asshole, screw him. Carly and Molly are upstairs, why don”t you come join us for a bit?” Lexi offers.
“Nah, it”s okay; I don”t wanna cramp your style.”
“Nonsense, I could do with a change anyway. Molly”s complaining about work, and Carly”s broken up with yet another love of her life,” Lexi laughs as she rolls her eyes dramatically.
“Well, you do sound like you need saving. Poor you.” I tease.
“Here, take this,” she says, handing me a bottle of prosecco, “and I”ll grab the glasses.”
“Hey bitches, you remember my brother”s girlfriend,” Lexi hollers as she swings her bedroom door open.
“Damn! Freckles grew uuuppp!”
“Someone got a ‘lil bit sexy!” Carly says, slapping my ass as I walk past.
“We’re heading into town soon, you should join us.” Molly offers as she takes a glass of prosecco, and offers it to me. “Oh shit, you”re not old enough are you?”
“Well actually…” I say, reaching into my jeans pocket and pulling out my fake ID and waving it in the air. “According to this, Stacey Daniels is 21 today,” I laugh.
“Let me see,” Lexi says, snatching the ID out of my hands.
“This is pretty good actually, where did you get it?” She asked, looking up at me with interest.
“My friend’s older brother makes them for cash, so I paid him $30 for it.”
“Well then it seems a waste not to use it,” Carly says with a wink. “ You owe it to Stacey to celebrate her birthday in style.”
For the next hour we drink, chat and have fun. After some persuasion, the girls got me to agree to let them give me a makeover to make me look older.
“All done,” Molly says, stepping back to admire her handwork.
“What do you think?” she asks, guiding me over to the full length mirror on the back of the bedroom door.
I barely recognize the person staring back at me. My long blond hair cascades down my back in loose curls, and my usual minimalistic makeup has been transformed into smokey eyes and dark red lips. And they”ve dressed me in one of Lexi’s short red dresses. Unfortunately while Lexi is relatively small in the chest department, I”m a little more filled out. I wouldn”t exactly say huge. But in this dress, my C cups look more like DDs.
“I can”t wear this, Justin will kill me,” I gasp, trying to pull up the tight fabric, hoping to hide my now huge chest. What do I have to lose? Maybe this is what I need to do to get his attention?
“Screw him, I think you need to show my brother what he’s been missing.”
“You’re right, fuck it,” I shrug.
“That”s my girl,” Lexi says, clapping her hands.
“Now down your drink we gotta go,” Carly says, thrusting yet another full glass into my hands.
“One last finishing touch,” Lexi says as she opens her wardrobe and removes a shoe box from inside. Rummaging around she finally shouts “Got it!” before walking over to me and pinning a big 21 TODAY badge to my chest.
“Now we can go!”
I walk downstairs and stand in the doorway of the lounge. “Hey Justin, I”m going out with Lexi and her friends, do you want to join me?”
“Fuck’s sake, I’m busy,” he snaps, not even turning his head to look at me.
“Fine, then I”ll go without you,” I snap back, slamming the door behind me.
We make our way to one bar, where we meet Lexi”s long-term boyfriend, Brett and a couple of his friends. “Wow, is that you Freckles?” Brett says, looking at me wide mouthed.
“Nope, for tonight it”s Stacey,” both Lexi and Molly giggle.
“Well then, since it”s Stacey”s 21st, I think we need to celebrate properly,” he laughs, throwing his arm around my shoulder.
“Alex, the birthday girl needs a cocktail,” Brett proclaims to his friend who heads straight to the bar then returns a few minutes later with a huge fishbowl and eight straws.
Together we down 1…then 2…then 3 fishbowls, before two of the guys say they have to leave.
“Let”s move on to another place,” Carly suggests, “I know a bar with the hottest bartender.”
“Cause that”s exactly how I choose my bars,” Brett grumbles.
“Come on grumpy pants, it”s just round the corner,” Carly laughs, poking her tongue out at him.
Once inside we waste no time finding a huge booth in the back.
“I”ve got an idea, truth or dare,” Lexi says cheekily.
We play a few rounds, Carly is made to rub a bald guy”s head, Brett is made to find another random guy to swap shirts with, and his friend Alex gets made to get the number of some old cougar. But now it”s my turn.
“You”ve gotta get the hottest guy in here to buy you a drink,” Lexi challenges.
“Fine.” I look around and there aren’t many options. There are a few guys in their mid-twenties near the jukebox, but I quickly decide not to approach them. I”m not shy by any stretch of the imagination, if anything, my friends would say I”m too confident and flirty. But it”s one thing being flirty with the dumb guys around school, it”s a whole different thing doing it with grown men.
I scan the room some more and spot a couple of possibilities, and am just about to make my way over to two guys sitting a few tables over when Carly suddenly shouts, “Him!”
I look to where she”s pointing and he’s the hottest guy I”ve ever seen sitting alone at the end of the bar. Wow, he looks like he”s just stepped out of an episode of Sons of Anarchy. I take in the short brown hair and the way his black t-shirt clings to his broad shoulders. I shuffle slightly so I can get a better view. It’s then that I spot the tattoos covering both arms and hands and what appears to be another one, peeking out the top and covering part of his neck. I feel butterflies forming in my tummy from his whole dark and dangerous vibe.
“No way!!! He”s a psycho.” Lexi exclaims.
“Yeah, but he’s a fucking hot psycho.” Molly agrees.
“Seriously, he”s a dick. I”ve seen him around, he”s far too much for a girl like you.”” Brett tries saying but it just frustrates me.
“What do you mean, a girl like me?” I snap, feeling the booze making me even more argumentative than usual.
“I just mean you”re nice, he”s not. He”ll eat you for breakfast,” Brett laughs trying to lighten the mood. But it only eggs me on more.
“Fucking watch me!” I demand, as I slide off my seat and straight towards him.
As I get closer, all the sounds of the bar disappear, and all I can hear is the sound of my blood thumping as my heart pounds in my chest. This was a mistake. He looks even more dangerous in person.
My stubbornness refuses to allow me to back down though so instead I sit myself down in the empty seat beside him.
“Hey handsome, what”s your name?” I say in my most seductive tone.
If looks could kill, I would have been cremated on the spot, judging by the fiery hatred in his eyes when he first looks up at me; thankfully that look soon morphs into a very different sort of heated look.
“I”m Stacey, how about you buy me a birthday drink?” I purr, trying my hardest to sound confident and sexy. When he doesn”t answer right away I tap my fake birthday badge for extra effect.
“Well since it’s my birthday, maybe you should buy me one.” he replies back with a cheeky smirk. Damn, those dimples make my knees feel weak.
I feel myself blushing at his gaze so I turn my attention to the bartender “Shots!”
“$2 each or four for $5?” he asks. Shit, what do I say? I never order shots. How many are too many? Should I order more or less?
“I”ll take eight then,” I say while biting my lip nervously, deciding to just take them back to the group and run.
The bartender makes the shots and hands them to me on a tray. I hand Mr. Sex On Legs one and then rush off before my own legs give way.
“That will be $10 then please,” the bartender calls as I try to leave. Shit! I forgot the dare.
“He”s paying,” I reply, poking my tongue out at the guy, internally cringing at my own awkwardness, as I walk away.
“OMG!” The girls all squeal when I make it back to the booth.
“Damn girl, you got bigger balls than me,” Brett says, seeming genuinely impressed.
“Yeah, we weren”t joking about how nobody messes with Gabe Scott and lives to tell the tale,” Carly and Molly both say in unison.
“Damn, you must be some sort of siren or something,” Alex jokes before Brett pushes him playfully. “Dude, that fantasy geek shit ain’t cool.”
We all go back to our game but I can”t take my eyes off the guy at the end of the bar. “Earth to Freckles, or should I say Stacey?” Lexi teases.
“It”s your turn.”
“Dare,” I say definitely hoping and praying it will give me another reason to go over to see Gabe.
“I dare you to go back to Gabe and kiss him on the cheek,” Lexi challenges, and I can see from her face she doesn”t think I’ll do it.
“Fine,”” I say standing again, but as I begin to make my way over, I see him head outside so I follow. When I get to the doorway I see him sitting with his back to me, smoking a cigarette. Shit, what do I do now? I make my way over slowly, and the more I watch him the more I’d give anything to press my lips to his. Instinctively I bend my head down, preparing to kiss his cheek. But as I get closer he looks up at me, and all my confidence disappears.
Shit, he”s just caught me staring like a creeper. What can I do now?
Without thinking I take the cigarette from his mouth and put it in my own. Tasting the mint and smoke on my tongue, desperately wishing it was his tongue I was tasting instead. I look down and he”s just staring wide-mouthed, looking like he”s ready to eat me whole.
“Sharing is caring cutie ” I add with a nervous smirk before quickly removing the cigarette from my own mouth and placing it back in his, like some sort of cartoon character about to be eaten by the big bad wolf.
Turning I make my way back inside running straight into the girls who are all watching from the window.
“Oh my god girl, do you actually have a death wish?” one of them says as they all shake their heads in surprise.
“Anyway, our Uber is here. Some of us have work in the morning so we”re heading off. Grab your shit and let”s go,” Molly says, linking arms and leading me back to the booth.
I get my stuff and join the rest of them in the Uber, but it takes all my strength not to turn back around and tell them I wanna stay with Gabe. But I can”t. I have a boyfriend. Lexi’s little brother to be exact. I remind myself. But damn, how is it that I”ve felt more in the last hour than I have the whole time since Justin got back home? Someone as hot as him couldn”t be interested in boring old me though, could he?