Chapter 15 Night Out #2
“Sorry, boss’s orders.” He threw up his hand, and before I could argue further, he walked off.
Jodie’s perfectly crafted eyebrow shot up. “Well, looks like someone’s made quite the impression.”
I grimaced. “I don’t think so—it’s probably just an employee thing.” I looked back across at Karson. He lifted his head at precisely the same moment, as if we’d prearranged to meet at exactly 9:15.
His gaze struck mine, stealing the breath from my lungs, and I felt my blood heat up. I dropped my eyes to the table and tried to pretend he wasn’t still looking at me.
Jodie leaned into my ear. “An employee thing, huh? And yet I don’t see him staring at Grace like that.”
I flashed my eyes to hers, the heat blossoming on my face. “What? No, don’t be silly.”
Georgie frowned. “I wouldn’t mess around with either of them. I don’t think he killed that girl like everyone says,” she paused looking at me, “I assume you’ve already heard?” I nodded. “But they’re both bad news.”
I couldn’t help but ask, “How so?”
She leaned in. “They’re assholes. I saw Karson ram a guy into a wall once, and he almost choked him to death. Ethan had to pull him off. If he hadn’t, I think Karson would’ve killed him.”
He had a temper, but it didn’t make him a killer.
“They are assholes,” Jodie agreed, peering up at them under her long lashes. “Hot assholes. And every girl loves a bad boy.”
“What about the good guys?” BJ protested.
Jodie waved her hand. “Good guys are for marriage and having families with. But we’re far too young for that bullshit. The bad boys are for fun.”
Georgie gave her a subtle elbow in the side and looked pointedly at my ring. Jodie grimaced.
I choked down a mouthful of drink and pretended not to notice.
A tall blond guy dressed in a black fitted T-shirt with bulging arm muscles flashed me a smile. I smiled back to be polite and took another sip.
“You know, Amy, you’re going to have to be careful,” Georgie said, watching him. She shot her drink down like cordial. “Out in the real world, you’re hot. But in Church Heights, your hotness-scale escalates.”
“Yes.” Jodie sat her drink down and leaned forward, oddly excited again. “What’s your favorite sort of ice cream?”
I thought it was a strange question, and I shrugged. “Depends on my mood.”
“Okay, but if I asked you what you wanted to eat today, what would it be?”
“Mint chocolate chip.”
“Right, perfect.” She nodded, like that was an appropriate choice. “And why would you choose mint chocolate chip?”
“It’s sweet and leaves a fresh taste in your mouth.”
“Ah-huh.” She set her drink down. “Imagine that you have an ice cream store that only sells vanilla. Everyone likes vanilla, and there’s nothing wrong with vanilla, but it gets boring.
Church Heights is like that.” She spread her arms out, indicating the room.
“The girls in it are vanilla.” She paused to see if I followed her, and when I looked like I did, she added, “And you, Amy, are mint chocolate chip. Everyone will be lining up to taste the new flavor.”
“And that’s where we come in,” said Georgie, matching Jodie’s excitement.
“We will be your wingmen. That guy you smiled at, Johnny, is a no-go. He’s a fail between the sheets.
His body feels great beneath your fingers, but that’s where it ends.
” She leaned forward, put one hand on the side of her mouth, and said in a hushed voice, “He has a really, really tiny dick, and wouldn’t know a clitoris if it jumped out and slapped him in the head. ”
I threw a hand over my mouth to capture the horrified laughter which escaped my lips, glancing across at Johnny, who stood by the dance floor. He was looking at us like he knew we were talking about him, but from his smile, he had no idea the conversation was not in his favor.
I chuckled. “You guys are hardly vanilla.”
“Well, obviously we didn’t mean us,” Jodie said, sitting back and crossing her legs.
“We’re more like chocolate,” BJ chimed in, grinning.
“With nuts and cream,” Georgie added.
“We’re the whole fucking banana split,” Jodie said.
After that, the rest of the night went well.
Georgie loved to talk, she could talk with a mouth full of bubble gum under water.
She provided most of the conversation. I’d found out they were all born here, went to school together, and had been lifelong friends.
Georgie was in her last year of nursing, with just the practical stage to finish and a final exam.
She had a boyfriend called Jeff. He was away on a basketball scholarship but would be back soon for a few weeks.
Jodie lived with her excessively wealthy parents.
Both were lawyers, and she drove a red Porsche and wore designer clothing.
She didn’t know what to do with her life yet, but her parents wanted her to be a lawyer.
She didn’t want to do that, but studied it slowly by distance to keep them happy.
She had a boyfriend, Trent. They’d dated on and off for about six months.
He was away studying and would be back soon as well.
Despite my initial reservations, there were no more awkward moments with BJ.
He’d come home to help care for his sick grandmother, who’d passed away a few months back.
He’d stayed to be with his mom, who’d taken her mother’s death hard.
He would go back to his studies next year. He wanted to be a cop eventually.
I glanced up occasionally at Ethan and Karson.
It seemed a never-ending bevy of women would come and go.
There was a lot of flicking of hair, eyelash batting, and seductive smiling.
It was obvious Ethan reveled in the attention.
Karson was a lot more reserved. His face often held an expression of annoyance more than anything.
One particular girl swaggered up beside Karson.
She rested her on her elbow on the bar, head on her hand, and had dropped her chest forward more than would be normal, allowing both men a view down her cleavage.
She twirled her brown hair between the fingers of her free hand, smiling, her eyes darting between both men. Neither seemed impressed.
“She needs some lessons.” Jodie followed my gaze. The girl flicked her hair like a bad actress.
“Yeah, do you think it’s going to work?”
Jodie shook her head. “Doubtful, she’s a five at best, and I give her a generous three for her flirting skills.” She swirled the straw in her drink and sat back.
Karson looked down at her, a gleam of something cold in his eyes, he said something. The girl blinked and moved away, a dazed look on her face.
“Come on, let’s dance!” Georgie shot down the last of her drink.
The girls danced with a wild abandon, which was kind of contagious, and I had more fun than I could remember having in a long time.
We danced until it was getting late—for me anyway—and I was ready to head home.
I glanced toward the end of the bar. I’d have to thank Karson for the drinks before I left.
Ethan was playing “Eeny Meeny” around the room.
Eeny—his finger pointed at a tall blond; Meeny—over to the blond’s black-haired friend; Miney—to the brunette from last night; Moe—over to someone behind the pool table.
Finally, his finger stopped. It was pointing at me.
I couldn’t believe the nerve of that man, and I almost turned and walked out, but I thought he needed to be knocked down a peg or two.
His eyes sparkled expectantly as I walked toward him.
I popped a little hip swagger into my walk, trying my hardest to give him a sexy look—which, in all honesty, I’d never been that good at, but I prayed I wasn’t as bad as the girl from earlier.
It appeared to be working. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Karson watching.
He frowned, his eyes drilling holes into my skull.
When I reached Ethan, I leaned into his ear.
He smelled good, too good. Sweet like cotton candy, and with a hint of something woody.
I had to resist sniffing in his scent and lowering my lips to his flawless neck, just to see if he tasted as good as he smelt.
I kept my teeth behind my lips and purred in a voice full of poison and honey, “Not even in your wildest dreams.”
Karson bit back laughter.
Surprise flickered across Ethan’s face, then he broke into a breathtaking smile.
“I take that as a challenge, and I love a challenge as much as I love a happy ending.”
What a cocky prick. I couldn’t believe I’d actually found him attractive. I folded my arms across my chest.
“Oh really? I heard there’s a new game of children’s trivial pursuit out—perhaps you should give that a go.” I glanced at Karson. “Thanks for the drinks, Karson.”
His lips still twitched as he nodded.
I turned and walked away, a little smile of satisfaction on my face at having rejected the ass. BJ, Georgie, and Jodie were all staring at me as I approached. They couldn’t have heard what was said, but they seemed to have worked it out, and they all wore huge grins on their faces.
“See? Mint chocolate chip,” Jodie said.
“Amy, I think I love you—it’s about time someone said no to him.” Georgie said, shooting him a hard glare.
“I think we should drink to that,” Jodie said. She had four shots lined up ready to go. I’d already had four drinks, including a shot about half an hour ago. One more and I couldn’t drive home.
I held up my hands in surrender. “No, sorry, I’m out. I’m going to head home. You guys enjoy, though. Thank you for inviting me—it’s been fun.”
BJ sat his drink down. “I’ll walk you to your car.”
I didn’t want him walking me out. Even though I didn’t get any impression that he wanted more than friendship, I didn’t want any awkward goodbyes to contend with.
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine, BJ. My car’s just down the road.”
“BJ, Amy will be safe. Nothing ever happens in Church Heights, seriously,” Jodie said, rolling her eyes. “Well, unless you count the missing hikers.”