Chapter 8
Nick
Chris and I are sitting in a booth with two high school friends at Clutch, a new club.
It’s supposed to be one of the hottest spots.
The bar is packed, and the music is pretty good—loud as hell, though.
Hot, scantily dressed women are waiting for a rich sap or a wannabe baller to buy them a drink.
They’ll shake their asses for them once or twice on the dance floor to make them feel good.
They’re more artificial than a Twinkie, but unlike the Twinkie, their shelf life is ten years from the day they turn eighteen.
By then they’ve partied so hard to try and catch a man with all the nips and tucks they look like they’re about fifty going on sixty.
Looking around the room, I scan the crowd on the dance floor to see if Cat is here yet.
She was supposed to be here an hour ago with Ava, who has probably changed outfits a hundred times by now.
I know Cat’s not high maintenance; that is one of the things I like about her.
She always looks good in whatever she wears.
At twenty-four, she can pass for seventeen without makeup.
I would love to see her face first thing in the morning as she’s waking up after I’ve made love to her, lips full and swollen from my kisses and the taste of her on my lips, mmm…
I’ve got to stop this line of thinking, or I’ll never be able to get up from this booth.
I might never get the chance to know if she finds out about this fucked-up situation with her sister.
First thing tomorrow: research paternity test options.
“Nick, did you hear me, man?”
“What?” I didn’t. Shawn and Matt were debating about which girl in high school had the hottest body and who got the most girls.
“Get the fuck outta here, man; that shit didn’t happen,” Shawn yells over the music.
Matt raises his hand and tips his beer bottle to his mouth. “Nick, tell this guy he didn’t get to Megan Jordan first. You were there when we hooked up in the bathroom at that party. She was all over me, dude.”
“Chris, you know I hit that, you’re my witness!” Shawn says.
“No one’s saying you didn’t. I’m just telling you I got there first,” Matt says, putting the bottle down.
Neither one of them got there first. They don’t know I had sex with her months before they even had a chance to touch her.
We had a thing going where we would hook up in random places; it lasted for a month, until she started getting too clingy.
She wanted to tell me which girls I couldn’t hang out with—and Cat was one of them.
I wasn’t having that shit. That’s why she gave it up to these two; she was trying to make me jealous after I dropped her ass.
I have no doubt she would have eventually made her way around to them.
Me dumping her speeded up the process. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a desperate woman.
Chris laughs and finishes off his drink before answering.
“Man, I didn’t smash her, so I don’t care which one of you got there first. You’re talking about old ass from high school that probably looks like the crypt keeper now.
Look at all these fine-ass women in here.
You guys can keep talking about Megan, but I’m going to get me another drink and that fine-as-hell girl dancing over there. ”
I watch him make his way through the crowd. He’s right, the girl on the floor looks attractive, at least from the back. He better enjoy himself before my cousin gets here.
Shawn asks if we want another drink from the bar since he’s headed in that direction. We shake our heads. “Nah, I’m good for now.”
“Gentlemen, I see a damsel in distress that needs my immediate attention.” Shawn takes a shot of his Patron and grunts. “As an officer of the law, I’m fully qualified to handle that.”
I watch him walk off, leaving me and Matt at the table.
“You the man these days, I hear your legal expertise is in high demand,” Matt says over the music with the empty beer bottle in his hand.
“I’m not doing bad.”
“Understatement. Own your success, I’m happy for you. When we were young we did some crazy shit. I never thought you would follow in your father’s footsteps.”
“Well I never really thought about it. It wasn’t my intentions to become a lawyer. I took a law class freshman year and I liked it. The only reason I was so good at it was because I was a paid intern every summer and one weekend a month at my father’s law firm, whether I liked it or not.”
“Yeah, I remember that—you hated it. Every chance we got we rubbed it in your face; while we were hanging by the pool by noon every day, you were slaving away in an office, running errands and shuffling paper.”
“Yeah, I remember that, but look at me now.”
“I’m going to admit it, you the man. So do you get extra perks from your female celebrity clientele? You can tell me.”
“Nah, it’s not like that, strictly business. I don’t date my clients; too complicated.”
“Nick, you haven’t changed since high school. I think that’s the reason you got so many girls.” Still holding the bottle, he grins, pointing to me across the table. “You never talked about the girls you hooked up with, but we knew you did.”
“Not my style. I leave it up to the discretion of the woman. What about you, what have you been up to?” I don’t hear a word he says, because from across the room I see Ava.
Then I get a good look at Cat, when she steps up beside her in an emerald green backless halter dress barely covering her breasts and her ass.
What the fuck is she wearing? I can’t believe she came out on the street dressed like that.
“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” I don’t wait for him to respond. I bolt up from the chair and cross the room to her before some dumb ass tries to talk to her.
She barely has any freaking clothes on. I’d be surprised as hell if she doesn’t catch a severe case of walking pneumonia.
“Where the hell are the rest of your clothes? Did you forget them at home?” I swear if she leans over tonight in this thing, her breasts are going to drop out and stand at attention.
“Well, hello to you, too. You look nice. Do you want a drink, rum and coke, a beer?
That’s what you should have said.”
She’s smiling up at me sweetly while she’s talking, but I know she’s upset. I don’t care. She obviously doesn’t know the power of her body and the effect a dress like that has in a room full of men, especially me.
“Don’t get smart with me.”
“You’re not my father.”
“Did he see what you left the house in? I’m sure he would have said the same thing.”
“I don’t need my father’s permission or yours to wear whatever the hell I want to.”
“Is that so?” I say, looking at her from head to toe.
“Yes, it is. If I want to wear this dress up around the crack of my ass in nothing but the thong I have on, that’s my business.”
I’m so pissed off I can’t talk. If I do, the next words out of my mouth are going to set fireworks off with us staring each other down the tensions so thick.
“I think she looks hot,” Ava offers.
“Of course you would. Look at what you’re wearing; it’s worse than what she’s wearing!”
“Wow, Nick, really?”
“Really, Ava.” Cat puts her hand on Ava’s shoulder to stop her from saying what she really wants to say to me, and tilts her head to the side.
“There’s no need for you to be rude, Nick. Before we all get into a big argument, why don’t we go join Chris and your friends?”
Moving out of the way, I let Cat walk in front of me to stop anyone from trying to talk to her.
I’m even more horrified at the back of the dress.
I can’t believe she left the house like this.
Pulling Ava against me so only she can hear, I fall back a little from Cat.
“Why the hell did you let her out of the house wearing that? I know you told her to wear that dress.”
“Cat does have a mind of her own. I can’t make her wear anything. If she’s wearing this dress it’s because she chooses to. And like I said, I think she looks good.”
“Do not bullshit me, Ava. I’ve known you your entire life, and I know an Ava outfit when I see one.”
“She tried it on, I told her she looked drop-dead gorgeous. It enhances her curves and shows off all of her best features.”
“Her best features would be her eyes or her mouth. I’m telling you, if I go to jail tonight for beating some guy’s ass, I’m blaming you.”
“You’re a full-grown man with considerable knowledge of the law. If you beat someone’s ass in here, that’s on you. But, I will bail you out, because I know when you’re passionate for something, or someone in particular, you have a fierce temper which overrides your common sense.”
Cat turns around, her eyes on us. “What are you talking about?”
We both look at her and at the same time and say, “Nothing.” She looks at us like she knows better and turns back around.
“I just don’t want to see a drunk dickhead getting the wrong idea with his hands because she’s in that dress calling attention to herself, and I know Chris doesn’t want to see that either. ”
“Okay. But she’s not a teenager anymore; she can handle herself. She doesn’t need you to protect her from having a good time.” Ava smiles, patting me on the shoulder, and walks up next to Cat.
I run my hand through my hair, take a breath, and force myself not to look at her exposed back in her very revealing dress.
I want to run my hand across every flawlessly smooth inch of skin and run kisses down her back while my hand glides up under that short dress, touching her wet, hot flesh until she moans my name.
See! This is exactly what I don’t want another guy thinking.
Damn this dress and Ava. She doesn’t need me to protect her from having a good time, but who’s going to protect her from me tonight?
We reach the table, and Ava sees Matt. He stands up and they hug. “I haven’t seen you in
Years, but you still look the same, hot as ever.”