Chapter 14
Red and fucking neon.
That was all I could see from the wet asphalt as I gripped the wheel like it was my only lifeline. Every mile out of Monticello felt like I was being watched, yet I knew no one dared to go where I was headed.
Don’t fuck this up. Just one drink. One damn night with a...lady. One goddamn drink and just do it. Ugh, who was I kidding? I couldn’t do this.
I was contemplating turning around, and more than a few times I pulled off to the shoulder just watching the rain pelt my windshield, but I kept moving forward because I knew Jerry stuck his neck out for me on this one, and I couldn’t chop it off with cowardice.
The bass blasted through my car and up my ass before I even opened the car door.
It was a low, awful, thumping against my ribs.
Cigarette smoke from outside mixed with the smell of cheap perfume and stale beer leaking from the club doors, and I sighed, swallowing hard and trying to give myself a pep talk.
It isn’t that bad, Jed. Stop being a judgey prick.
A quick glance at the bodyguard, and I shook my head.
Yeah, it’s bad. It’s so fucking bad. What the fuck am I doing?
My priest’s robe or my collar wasn’t on my body, but I felt them on my body like a cage.
“You been here before, pretty boy?” the meathead said, eyeing my simple jeans and sweater with a weird look on his face.
“Uh. I’m from around here. Thanks.”
“Hmm. Looks familiar, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
Fuck! What would Jerry say?
“You probably recognize me because I fucked your mom.”
Ooo. Not good. Thanks, Jerry.
The burly man practically chest bumped me, his beady eyes boring into mine with a cold smirk.
“A-ha. Good one. Go on in. I’ll warn my mama.”
I breathed a sigh of relief when I felt his massive hand slap my ass, shoving me forward through the doors.
People are fucking weird.
I walked inside, ducking my head, and trying to locate the bar. The lights bounced off the chrome poles, glitter dusting the floor like tiny shards of broken glass. The women were in sequins, moving like predators or prey.
I couldn’t tell which, and I didn’t care to find out.
My nerves twitched as I scanned the strobed area for the damn alcohol. Every glance from a passerby felt like recognition, and I pushed faster to get to the bar top across the way, but some joke was going on that I couldn’t hear.
Dammit.
People kept staring at me, their eyes roving over my body like a slab of meat. I wasn’t used to wearing form-fitting outfits. My robes made me look like…well, a saint.
Please don’t notice me. Please don’t notice me. Don’t make eye contact. Don’t do anything stupid. They can’t know who you are.
Dawn’s friend had called the parish’s line before I left. She told me what she was wearing, and I tried to recall that awkward conversation.
“I love red. I’ll be in a tight little red number. Or do you like black? Maybe blue? What do you think, Father?”
“Uh…any color I’m sure is fine.”
Did she have to call me ’Father’ when we were…?
“Oh, you are so sweet! Dawn was right. I knew you were a good man. Ya know, I must say I was a little surprised about the whole thing, but well, I’m not disappointed Father.”
I was literally cringing each time she said that damn word, and finally, I cleared my throat. “Perhaps it would be more prudent to call me by name. I am Jedidiah. And you?”
The female giggled and gasped on the other line, and I sighed.
“Oh, of course, Father Jedidiah. Of course. I’m Ramona.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
“Just Jed, lovely to make your acquaintance, Ramona.”
The girl giggled again, and I felt uncomfortable.
“I think you can call it more than acquaintin’, don’t ya think, Daddy Jed?”
No…she…did…not…
“Uh…”
Her giggles went silent, and the awkward tone grew in the line’s static.
“Um. So ya know what you’re doin’ right? I mean, you know that peaches are um, bruisable fruit?”
Is she asking me if I know how to have fucking sex?
“I mean, I like a little bit of roughness, but like be gentle with certain parts of my fruit, okay?”
I cleared my throat again, trying not to think about Ayakashi’s bruised light skin.
“Yup. You got it.”
That whole conversation was painful, and I couldn’t imagine the actual meeting being any better. The bar was finally cleared of the ruckus, and I all but bull rushed to the counter. The man behind it chuckled and chucked a paper in his hand after cleaning a mess left behind by a fallen cup.
“Some people are fucking too much, am I right? I mean, take a hint, bitch,” he grumbled, pouring straight whiskey into a shot glass and shoving it over to me.
I didn’t know what the fuck he was on about, but I nodded my head and tipped back the whiskey in one straight shot.
“Oh, a live one, I love it. That cunt couldn’t keep up with someone like you, I guarantee it. Here’s another.”
I nodded again and accepted the refilled shot, tipping it back and the three others that followed. My vision was a little blurry, and I tried to shake my head to rid the haze.
It didn’t work. It just made me more dizzy.
Red. The girl said red.
That was fucking hard to see when the damn lights were red, so everything from the floor to the dancers to even ourselves was covered in a hazy red hue. Why didn’t I tell her to wear fluorescent yellow so I could see this chick?
A caution cone was a fucking omen that was why.
“Hey! Daddy Jed? Is that you? Hi!”
I squinted at the female running up to me, tipping another shot back, and grimacing at the burn. The bartender shook his head at me when I reached my hand over for another, and I growled. The woman’s perfume was suffocating the air around me. It was like a flower mixed with acid.
“So good to finally meet you, baby. Can I call you that? Is that allowed? I mean, I thought since we’re gonna ya know—” She stopped herself, dragging her eyes over to the bartender in an obvious gawking stare down.
When he raised a brow at her odd behavior, she put her hand next to her mouth and mouthed ‘Fuck me’ with an exaggerated wink.
The bartender looked between us a few times as I forced a smile, and he shook his head, pouring me another shot.
“Thanks, man,” I said, throwing it back and allowing the haze to consume me.
Maybe if I kept it up, I wouldn’t hear the lady anymore. I vaguely heard her order some food and figured shoving grease down my throat would aid the buzz.
I tried to focus on Janice…Judy? Fuck, I couldn’t remember.
She noticed me looking, but I still tried to act normal. My hands were all but trembling, so I shoved them deep in my pockets. She pressed closer to me, laughing, and doing some weird thing I assumed was flirting.
“Here, try these, they are amazing, oh my god—I mean oh em gee! Oops, sorry.”
When she shoved a cracker in my mouth, I almost choked on it. I couldn’t stop seeing one fucking woman with her mouth wide open waiting. And it wasn’t this blonde moron. My pleading look didn’t get me more alcohol, so I grumbled and continued watching my date.
When she laughed, I heard the acolyte’s soft yet husky tone.
When she touched my arm, I felt the soft, pale skin under my fingers. But not my dates.
Fuck me. I am a mess.
I barely felt it when she dragged me from the bar, leading me outside the club altogether. My body was shoved hard against the scratchy concrete, and the woman’s mouth was a hot lashing.
She kissed my neck, tracing her lips down my collarbone. My brain short-circuited.
Focus, Jed. Focus on her. Not the lights. Not the crowd. Not the whispers. And definitely not the damn holy woman in your church.
“Jed…are you okay?” she said, breaking the kiss. Her voice was sharp and pouty. “You’re kind of…drunk, and I know that makes men sometimes all loosey goosey, but it needs to be hard to go inside me, silly boy.”
I shook my head, trying to clear the ongoing lull of the liquor.
I’d overdone it, and I wasn’t thinking straight.
My hand reached out and gripped the bitch by the throat, flipping her body to smash into the stone wall I had just been pressed against.
“I’m. Not. A. Fucking. Boy.”
The woman squeaked in surprise and nodded eagerly, gripping my dick before I could stop her, her hands slamming down my pants and pulling my cock to the point of rug burn.
“Ow. Stop,” I slurred.
Goddamn stop, stop, stop.
“What?” she frowned, rubbing even harder, her spiky nails stabbing into my skin. “I thought you wanted this, Daddy Jeddy.”
“I…” My world was off its axis. Spinning like a goddamn top, her face and hands blurring to a point of haloed light and then…
“Ah! Did you seriously just puke on me?”
Oops…
“This is the worst one-night stand of my life. I don’t care if you’re a hot priest, I am out of here.”
Great. Just great. You fucked it up before it even started. You idiot.
I stumbled toward the alley farther away from the club, breathing hard and trying to get air before I vomited more bile onto the ground. Whiskey burned in my veins, while my shame was painted on my cheeks.
What a fucking mess.
Cold rain and wind hit me in the face, sharp and biting. My sweater did nothing to prevent the chill. I was still reeling from the girl, from the embarrassment, from the liquor, and from the constant thought that someone was watching this, ready to destroy my name.
“Come on. Just like old times, right?”
My eyes snapped to the far side of the alleyway, a group of thugs holding down a woman in the dark, her jeans ripped off her legs, and her face covered by her dark hair.
They were going to rape her. If they hadn’t already.
No!
Jed. You jumping in to save a rape victim didn’t go so well last time.
Fuck off.
I ignored the demons in my head, or maybe the angels. Either way, something inside me snapped. My body reacted before my brain could catch up, and I barreled forward.
“Hey!” I bellowed, not caring if anyone heard me.
Fuck it. I hope they did because this wasn’t about me anymore.
It was about her, so be it if I were found out. “Get the fuck off her!”