Chapter 43
ELLIOTT
Chaos
You busy?
No.
You wanna be?
August has been staring at me for way longer than any person should. Seriously. It’s starting to give me the creeps, but if I let him know, he’ll only end up doing it more.
After a ridiculous amount of time, he adds the last two glasses to the dishwasher and closes the front to start the cycle. “You’re smiling.”
That’s why he was staring? Here I thought maybe I’d gotten some of the teriyaki chicken I inhaled in the office in the middle of my shift on my face. “I’m always smiling.”
“Yeah, but this one’s different. This one oozes male pride. You’re like a peacock, strutting with his feathers all aflutter.”
He is such a dumbass.
“You got laid, didn’t you?”
Like I’m going to tell him. But he’s right.
I am smiling and I can’t seem to stop. After pancakes, I spent all day in bed with Loren and it was one of the best days of my life.
I was this close to calling in sick tonight but didn’t want to let August down.
So here I am. Working. Daydreaming about a girl waiting for me back at our apartment.
Our apartment. Feels weird to call it that, but that’s what it is. Mine and hers. After what happened, I never thought I’d be happy sharing my space with another person again. But here I am. Happy.
So fucking happy.
A couple of regulars find their stools, but most of the Saturday night crowd are newcomers, people swinging by for a drink before heading into the city.
I make a couple of margaritas, a few simple whiskies on the rocks, and a couple of shots for a pair of bros with Greek letters printed on their sweatshirts even though they look way too old to be part of a fraternity. Maybe it’s like an Old School thing?
Wonder what Loren is up to right now. I bet she’s curled up on the corner of the couch, her hair piled in that sloppy bun, watching some romcom that makes her giggle.
That girl has a great laugh.
Something cold splashes against my fingers. When I glance down, I find the bottle of vodka tipped a little too far, spilling all over the counter.
“Shit.”
August whaps my arm on his way to finish slicing lemons. “Get your head in the game before you pour all our money down the drain.”
He’s right. I’m at work and need to focus.
It’s just so hard when all I can think about is Loren wrapped up in my sheets. I hope she’s in my bed when I get back tonight. If she isn’t, maybe I’ll slip into hers.
Unless she doesn’t want me to.
But she will, won’t she?
Maybe I should text and ask, just in case.
After I rinse off my hand and clean up the spill, I pull out my phone, but before I can text my roommate, the front door swings open, and Loren steps into the bar.
My whole body comes alive, like opening the blinds on a sunny, summer morning. She waves, taking the barstool beside one-eyed Joe.
Don’t worry. He has two eyes. It’s just that the left one gets squinty when he’s had a few too many drinks. That’s when we know to stop serving him and call a ride share.
Damn, Loren looks good tonight. She’s wearing a blue dress that I would like to see on my floor later. The heels though, those can stay on. They make her tanned legs look long enough to wrap around me twice.
August gives me a knowing smile and a not-so-discreet thumbs-up. If Loren notices, she doesn’t show it as she hangs her giant purse on the hook under the bar.
“I hope it’s okay that I came out tonight,” she says, playing with the gold earrings dangling from her earlobes.
Is she kidding? “I’m fucking thrilled you’re here.” Now I don’t have to be distracted wondering what she’s up to.
“Really? I spent twenty minutes sitting in my car, second-guessing myself.”
I hate that she’s been in such shitty relationships that she doesn’t realize how great she is. That she doesn’t realize the guy she’s seeing should want her around.
If I had a choice between hanging out with anyone else in the world and hanging out with Loren, I’d choose her every time.
August waves me over to the register, and I tell Loren I’ll be right back. Hopefully, it’s not the cash drawer again. That thing has been giving us trouble all week. “What’s up?”
August tucks a twenty into the slot and then tosses four ones onto the bar in front of some guy who ordered Jager shots.
The drawer slots back into place without catching once. Guess he didn’t bring me over here to fix it after all.
He leans a hip against the bar and folds his arms, wearing a knowing smile. “You fucked Loren, didn’t you?”
My teeth snap together. “Try again.”
His grin grows. “You made sweet, sweet love to your very attractive roommate.”
Still annoying, but at least saying it like that doesn’t make it sound like what Loren and I did was seedy. Not that I will ever tell August any of this. “That is none of your business.”
“And that is a yes. Good for you, man.” He claps me on the back and then moves on to the next guy at the bar, a young man with a mustache and a beanie that’s so small it doesn’t even cover his ears.
Good for you…
I glance back to where Loren is scrolling on her phone.
Is it good for me? Or am I going to jump down her throat about being in a committed relationship too fast and scare her away?
It doesn’t take long for the vultures to start circling. Two guys over by the pool table nudge each other, then nod toward Loren. If one of them gets up the balls to talk to her, I might have to ask him to leave.
One with a goatee takes the first step, and as much as I want to waylay him, that isn’t fair to Loren. For all I know, she might want to go out with other guys.
And I might want to accidentally murder them.
When he props himself against the bar right next to her, she smiles, giving him the time of day. Then she says something, and he returns to his game of pool.
How do I ask what he wanted without sounding like a jealous asshole? I mean, I am a jealous asshole, but she doesn’t need to know that yet, does she?
Loren has a few drinks, and I find myself drifting over to her whenever I can. August seems to be on board, because he really takes up my slack with the customers. Before I know it, he’s flicking the lights, and everyone is settling their tabs before shuffling out the door.
August and I finish up in record time, and when he tells Loren goodnight, he insists I give him a fist-bump.
“He knows, doesn’t he?” Loren says under her breath, her lips tilted into the sexiest smirk as she twists back and forth on the stool.
I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I am one grateful S.O.B. What truly baffles me is how I ever resisted her in the first place. “Yeah. I hope that’s okay? I didn’t tell him, but he figured it out the moment you walked in.”
Her brows lift. “How?”
“I got distracted staring at you.”
Her hand folds over mine, tracing the veins on the back of my hand. “You got distracted, huh?”
“Mmmhmm. Very distracted.”
“I guess it’s okay that August knows…as long as you don’t mind me telling Meg.”
“Tell her whatever you want.” As a matter of fact, I’d prefer it. That means she wants someone close to her to know she and I are…whatever we are.
“Good. Because I already did.”
“Oh, yeah? What did you say?”
“That you’re a sex god and all other men pale in comparison.”
I laugh, but she doesn’t. “Wait. Are you serious?”
“Yep.”
Damn, this girl is good for my ego. “A sex god, huh? Has a nice ring to it. You’re probably dying to jump my bones again, aren’t you?”
She extends her foot, twisting from side to side, the low lights reflecting off the glossy black shoe. “Why else would I have braved a Saturday-night crowd in these heels?”
Why, indeed?
I catch her by the waist and nod at the bar. “Sit up there so I can get a better look at you.” She lets me help her up, and I settle myself between her knees, making her skirt slip higher on her thighs. “This dress is something else.”
Her white teeth dig into her lower lip. “You should see what’s under it.”
My stomach flips over itself. “Show me.”
With her eyes locked on me, Loren slips the straps on the dress she’s wearing down her shoulders, revealing a flesh-tone bra that is nothing short of transcendent. “Is that what I think it is?” I can’t even find the right words because that scrap of lace makes my mouth water.
She holds her hands beneath her breasts the way Vana White used to back on old school Wheel of Fortune. “Elliott, meet sex bra. Plain and unassuming, but it makes my rack look phenomenal.”
“It really does.” Don’t get me wrong, her rack is phenomenal so she doesn’t need the help, but fuck me, I might. Someone throw me a buoy; I’m about to drown.
She hooks a finger through the beltloop on my jeans, dragging me against her. “Well? Are you just going to keep standing there or are you going to touch me?”
Loren doesn’t have to ask me twice. I can’t get enough. My hands are itching for her skin, my throat is dry, and there’s only one thing that’s going to quench my thirst.
I grip her knees, urging them wider. “Open up, Chaos. Let me see what else you’re wearing under that fine dress.” She spreads her legs, revealing a lace thong that matches the fabled sex bra.
I grab the closest stool, dragging it so I can sit down in front of her and throw her long legs right over my shoulders. She lets out a shocked laugh, her smile wide and eyes hooded as I catch her hips and urge her closer, until her ass rests on the edge of the bar.
Only then do I look up, wanting to be sure she’s comfortable with where this is about to go. “Yes or no?” I nod toward her panties, the patch covering her center darker from where she’s soaked through the delicate material.
Her teeth scrape across her bottom lip. “If you want.”
“I want.” I really fucking want. “But do you want?”
Still biting her lip, she nods.
I hook my finger beneath the damp material, tugging it aside, exposing her glistening flesh.
“Look at all this.” My fingers sweep through her wetness, opening her wider, searching for her clit.
The moment I find it, she lets out a ragged gasp.
“Right there? That’s the spot, isn’t it?
” I press the pad of my thumb flat against her, rubbing in slow circles, not needing the confirmation but wanting it all the same.
Her legs quiver where they’re draped over my shoulders. “Yes. Right there.”
I ease forward, breathe her in, and replace my fingers with my tongue, lapping at that spot until she’s tearing my hair from its roots and grinding against my face.
I know plenty of guys who hate going down on a woman, but I think that’s only because they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing. I flick her clit with my tongue, spelling out my name like a subliminal message, letting her pussy know who it belongs to now.
The harder she grinds, the harder I work, and when I suck her clit into my mouth, holding the suction for as long as I can, she screams my name. I slip two fingers into her tight little slit, working her into a frenzy until she’s pulsing around my fingers, drenching me and the bar.
“I… I can’t…” Her head falls back, and after one final squeeze, she lets go of my head, staring down at me with fire in her eyes. “You are…”
“Amazing. Epic. Phenomenal.”
Her huffed laugh hits me right in the heart. “Full of yourself.”
“No, Chaos.” I bring my hand to my lips and lick her from my fingers, one by one. “I’m full of you.”
I should probably grab the bleach and give this place a good scrub before we head home.
Home.
I might have been living in that apartment for the last twelve years, but it hasn’t been home in a long time. Now it’s a place I’m looking forward to going back to every night, knowing she’s there.
I help Loren fix her dress back over that spectacular bra and then offer her a hand down off the bar. She does this adorable little shimmy as she tugs her skirt back into place.
Her hungry eyes fall to my very obvious erection, a coy smile tilting her lips. “What about you?”
I slide a hand down, cupping the globe of her ass and whisper, “Chaos, that was all for me.”