Chapter Five
“ D id you ever fuck him?”
I gaped at Dre, my throat going to the other extreme and feeling too wide. Too bad he wouldn’t be taking advantage of that tonight.
“What? No.”
“You sure?”
“Of course, I’m fucking sure. How can you even ask me that?”
He shrugged. “Because that was just…. I don’t know. The way he looked at you. Maybe he’s someone you don’t remember?”
“No, I’m pretty sure I’d remember him.”
Dre frowned in a way that told me he wasn’t crazy about my answer, but what the hell? And I was just all-around pissed off. And confused. By what exactly, I wasn’t sure yet. Hence the confusion.
I glared at him, not caring if I started a fight that lasted the rest of the night. “And what do you care if I did sleep with him? He’s not off-limits.”
My tone dared him to challenge me because he had no right. None whatsoever. I never once gave him shit for anyone he’d done during our off periods.
He pulled me into his arms, but I remained stiff. “Baby, I don’t care if it happened before. I care if he wants it to happen again.”
I pushed back on his chest. Part of me knew I was being unreasonable, but I just had an edge about me. Something sharp was chiseling away at my outer layers and it was getting dangerously close to my insides. It was annoying as hell.
“Why would you worry about that? Just because he wants to have sex with me again, that automatically means I’m too weak to say no?”
“That’s not what I’m saying, Perry.”
“Then why care if he wants it to happen again?”
“I thought you said it never happened at all.”
“It didn’t, and that’s the fucking point! Are you accusing me of lying to you?”
He threw his head back. “Holy shit, Perry.”
Yeah, I was exasperating. I knew that. It also felt like I had no control over it. I was outside myself observing the way I was acting, and I didn’t like what I was seeing. But I didn’t care. Kind of like PMS, when you’re throwing that plate across the room, and you know you shouldn’t be doing it, but you do it anyway. Because at the time, you don’t give a shit.
“I asked you a question, Dre.”
“No, I’m not accusing you of anything. Jesus, just drop it already.”
“Good. Because I never fucked him, and I have no intentions of fucking him.”
“Fucking who?”
I swung my head around. “Christa? What are you doing here?”
She kissed my cheek, then whispered in my ear, “When you told me you were going out with Dre tonight, I was afraid he wouldn’t show again and you’d be stuck here alone. I came as soon as I could.”
“Aww.” I gave her a big hug. “That’s so sweet of you, but you could have just called first and saved yourself the trip.”
We rode together so I wouldn’t have been waiting there by myself anyway, but she was a good friend to think of me like that. I glanced at Dre, who didn’t look as pleased as I was that she’d shown up.
“No biggie,” she said, pulling up a chair. “I could use some company anyway.”
I eyed her outfit. Or lack of one. It wasn’t hard to guess what she meant by ‘company.’ She crossed her legs and her itty-bitty skirt disappeared.
“Well, you do know we’re in a sports bar, right? This isn’t Club JoJo’s.” She didn’t blend in too well with the jeans and T-shirts crowd.
“Which you still owe me a visit to, by the way.” She leaned over the table towards Dre and patted his hand. “Don’t worry, sweetie. In light of recent developments, whenever your girlfriend and I go out, I’ll be the only one picking up guys from now on.”
Her enormous boobs were spilling all over the table. To his credit, he barely gave her a glance. I wouldn’t have faulted him if he had; I couldn’t even stop staring at them. “I’m not worried, Christa,” he muttered.
“Good to know.” She patted his hand once more, then straightened. “So, how’d your first official day go?” she asked me.
“Fantastic,” I said loudly. “Thanks for asking.” See? That wasn’t so hard, was it, Dre?
“You’ll have to set me up with all your hot, single coworkers. There aren’t too many eligible men coming into the clinic wanting Botox and fillers.”
I laughed. “Okay, will do.”
“So… fucking who?”
“What?”
“When I first got here, you were talking about fucking someone. Of course, that intrigued me. So spill.”
“No, I was talking about the opposite, actually.” I pointed at the intruder’s table.
Christa squinted, then popped them wide. She licked her lips. “Oooh, him again.”
At that moment, he looked over and smiled. I sharply turned my head, but she continued staring. Was he continuing to stare back at her as well? If so… whatever.
“Yeah, he stopped by our table earlier to say hi,” I said. I wanted to tell her more, like how he now knew my name, but it’d have to wait until later.
Christa smirked. “How thoughtful of him.”
“How full of himself to think he was welcome.”
She painted her lips with her finger. “Well, if you’re not interested, do you mind if I take a crack? Unless this little agreement”—she waved her hand between Dre and me—“is just a passing phase.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. Then I checked over at Dre. He was gazing into his beer.
“I’m kidding!” She leaned closer to me. “So, do you mind?”
“Of course I don’t mind, Christa. But he’s with someone, as you can see.”
“And so were you, but that didn’t stop him from coming over.” She scoped out his table again. “That’s not even the same girl from the other night. She had dark hair. Obviously, he needs to add a honey blonde with highlights to his collection. What do you think, Dre?”
“About what?”
“Should I go for it?”
“I don’t give a fuck what you do, Christa.”
“Damn, someone needs to get laid.” She stood up and squeezed her boobs into place. “I guess that someone will have to be me.”
“Good luck.” As I said it, a funny tickle entered my stomach.
“Speaking of, I should ask if he has another one of those ‘get lucky’ necklaces.”
I was waiting for her to start talking about how that guy gave me one on Saint Patrick’s Day, but she didn’t. She didn’t even know that I went back for it that night and was currently carrying it around in my purse. Which was unusual because I told her everything.
“It’d lie right here”—she rubbed her hand up and down her cleavage—“and draw attention to my tits. I gotta play up my assets, right? Do you know I had someone ask me the other day if they were real? I feel so flattered to have a pair that look good enough to be fake.”
“Have you had anything to drink yet tonight?” I asked.
“No, why?” I opened my mouth. “Oh, speaking of drinks, I need to go up to the bar and get something dumped on me. Then maybe I’ll be lucky enough to have someone offer me some club soda.” She winked, then strutted off in her stilettos.
“What the fuck is she on tonight?” Dre asked.
I shook my head, thinking the same thing. She normally had an outgoing personality—boisterous when mixed with alcohol—but this was something else. Too many things; I didn’t even know where to start.
He dragged my chair closer and gripped my thighs. “Look, Perry. I swear I’m not starting any shit here, but what’s the deal with that guy? I know you didn’t sleep with him, but Christa’s making it seem like she needs your permission and… you know, never mind.”
“It’s fine, Dre. You can ask me whatever you want.”
He sighed. “I only want to know if there’s anything with him beyond the physical.”
I suddenly didn’t feel like fighting anymore. Dre was like me. He wasn’t jealous. He wouldn’t grill me for details about what I did with my time or who I did it with. He just wanted to know what to expect going forward. After Christa’s outspoken display, I could completely understand where he was coming from. She didn’t normally act like this. Dre and I didn’t flaunt anything we did outside of each other and she knew that. But for whatever reason, she was drawing attention, and the only thing that made sense was that she didn’t want me hurt in the end. She’d already made it clear that she had doubts if Dre and I could pull off this relationship.
“No, nothing. He’s just someone we met on Saint Patrick’s Day.”
He stroked my hair and smiled. “Okay.” That was the end of that.
A body wedged between us. Christa. She put her arms around both of us, and when he tugged away, she brought him in until all our faces were nearly touching.
“Nope, stay here. This involves you too.” She pointed to the center of the room. “You see those two guys over there?”
“There’re guys everywhere,” I said.
“By the pool table. One’s wearing a Blackhawks hat and the other’s talking to the waitress. Now he’s picking up a bottle and—”
“Yes, I see them now. What about them?”
“I did them. Both. At the same time.”
“What?”
She waggled her eyebrows at me. “Hot, right?”
“How the hell does this involve me too?” Dre asked, picking up her arm and dropping it back to her side.
“I don’t usually do this, but I’m going to see if they’re up for a repeat. But why wouldn’t they be?” She faced Dre. “What guy wouldn’t jump all over that offer?”
“I know plenty who wouldn’t.”
“Well, all right. Maybe not with another guy, but how about with two girls? Every man’s going to be into that. Right, Dre?”
“I wouldn’t know, Christa. I’ve never fucked two girls at once.”
She laughed. “I’m not saying you have, but there’s no way you’d turn it down if given the chance.” He shot her daggers. “Oh, right. I suppose now you would because you and Perry are this item thing, but before…. ”
“I have been offered before, and I’ve turned it down. Is there a fucking point to all this?”
I was wondering the exact same thing. I sneaked a peek around the room and saw Thor’s ginger for the night talking with some other guy, but he was nowhere in sight.
“Forget the two girls. Let’s just say you were really fucking drunk and were talked into one of the ends of a man sandwich. Would you take the throat, the pussy, or the ass?”
My head snapped back. “What the hell is up with you tonight?” I said.
She gave me a loud, exaggerated kiss on the cheek. Given her mood, I was surprised she didn’t try for any tongue. “Just horny, that’s all.”
No, that was not all. I’d seen her horny on countless occasions and she did not act so… I didn’t even know what to call it other than bizarre.
“How long are you guys staying?” she asked.
“Probably not long at all. I need to get up early tomorrow.”
“Okay, then. Make sure not to wait up for me, and even more importantly, if you hear screaming coming from my room, do not come and check. Unless you wanna take the video.”
She winked and sashayed off, swinging her hips like she was entering a hula hoop competition.
All right. I was done here. “Are you ready to leave?” I grabbed my purse/suitcase and whacked it over my shoulder.
“Hell yeah. I was ready since we got here.”
Dre was frustrated. I was frustrated. The only one in the apartment who had the consistency of Jell-O was Christa.
I covered my head with a pillow, but it didn’t do shit. Our rooms were too close together. Give me a fucking hula hoop competition any day. I’d even judge the damn thing. Just stop the freaking porn star auditions taking place under my roof long enough for me to get a few hours of shut-eye.
I groaned and rolled over. “Getting any ideas yet?” Dre whispered, rubbing his hard-on against my thigh.
I rolled over the other way, my back towards him. “Leave me alone, Dre. I need to sleep. I already told you that ten times already.”
“We should’ve just gone back to my place.”
“And I also told you that I wanted to sleep in my own bed and get ready in my own bathroom in the morning.” Even though she’d warned me, I guess I didn’t take her seriously enough. I wasn’t expecting Christa “Jameson” Nelson to be showing off her mad skills all night long.
“How’s that sleep working out for you?”
I responded by yanking his pillow from under his head and adding it on top of mine. I never asked him to stay the night with me, and I was surprised he even wanted to. Especially since I’d rejected him once again after we’d left Wengo’s. But maybe that was exactly the reason he’d stayed—he was probably hoping to get in some morning sex. Sorry, not happening.
Since I was forced to stay awake, I lay there wondering once again what was going on with me lately. Christa wasn’t the only one acting like a whack job. Even Dre wasn’t the same guy I knew for all those years. Everything was changing, and I didn’t know what to make of it. How long would it take him to regret his decision? He might already be having second thoughts. Since we’d known each other, it’d been rare for me to turn him down for sex, yet in the past three days, I hadn’t said yes once. I just wasn’t feeling it.
Was it possible that my sister wasn’t totally cracked when she called me a commitment phobe?
I heard Dre’s deepening breaths, and for a second I thought he was beating off, then realized he’d just fallen asleep. He was pillow-less and still managed to doze off despite all the moaning and headboard banging. Lucky bastard.
The thought had crossed my mind half a million times—who was the man in the bedroom with her? I knew she never got her threesome because I’d heard her come home, her giggling and a single male voice whispering as they stumbled down the hall. Was it a familiar one? He wasn’t loud enough for me to tell.
Was it him ?
I tugged the covers over my head too, even though I was sweltering. Well, if it was him, I didn’t care. It wouldn’t bother me one bit. In fact, I hoped it was. I’d applaud her tenacity. She wanted something and she pushed through until she got it. I wondered what it’d be like to have sex with a Norse god. I’d have to ask her about it in the morning.
I bet he was just as cocksure in bed as he was out of it. He’d probably given her one of those silly necklaces too. I was sure he handed them out like penny candy, and the women just ate them up. He’d flash those piercing blues and perfect smile and they’d be all over him. Just like Christa. I’d have to ask her if he was worth the hype. Although, if the noises were any indication….
Good thing I didn’t care. Dre made a snorting sound which turned into a low, grating snore that scraped away my last nerve. Not only didn’t he deserve a pillow, he also didn’t deserve a bed. I was about to boot his ass to the floor when he rolled over and the snoring stopped. I had a pang of guilt over how irritated I’d been with him recently. Until I remembered.
He still never asked how my first day went.