Chapter 8

Christopher

 

The final day of regular practice was here. One last day to work out all the kinks the girls hadn’t managed to master before the formal dress rehearsal tomorrow. The dress rehearsals were always my favorite. All of the outfits would be backstage and the makeup and hair stylists would be trial-running how long it took them to get the girls up and running. The fashion designer would approve or deny the aspects he liked, then he would have the final say in how the show turned out.

It was always a long night when the divas of the fashion world were involved, but we were paid very well so it usually didn’t matter.

Thankfully, the regular practice was going well. None of the girls were tripping over their fucking feet anymore so there hadn’t been any massive stumbles. The girl in the wrist brace could take it off during the runway show, which was good. Otherwise that brace would have cost her the job and I would have been scrambling trying to find a girl to take her damn place at the last minute.

All that drama aside, watching Jessi was a thrill. As the only plus-sized model on the stage, she stood out from the rest. I’d always thought Jessi was gorgeous. From the first time I met her when she was sixteen, up until now. She had embraced her curves instead of trying to starve them off her body. She rocked them with a confidence that tugged at my cock and a fire that burned my gut. Curvy women had always been my type, but Jessi was beyond anything I’d ever seen before. Hips that swayed widely and smooth thighs that sloped in all the right places. A thick ass to grab handfuls of and tits I could sink my entire face into.

Fuck.

Watching her walk across that damn runway was more than I could take.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t invite her back to my place to indulge in her body. I had plans with her brother, Justin. The two of us had been best friends since we were little, and he’d been itching to get me out for the last month. But the more I watched Jessi walk that damn stage, the more willing I became to blow him off for his fucking sister.

So I left before I got a chance to talk with her.

“Hey, man! Finally. It’s getting harder and harder to pull you away from those women,” Justin said.

I embraced my friend before the two of us sat down at a table.

“Whatcha drinking?” I asked.

“A Manhattan.”

“No more rum and cokes?” I asked.

“Gotta switch it up every now and again. You still slinging back beers.”

“Always,” I said with a grin.

“So—how’s the show coming along? Any hot ass women you can set me up with?”

“I’ve been good, how are you?” I asked.

“Come on, you know I’m joking. Skinny’s never been my type.”

“You and me both, brother.”

The two of us clinked our drinks before I took the first pull from my beer.

“I’m glad you’ve been good. And that you’re fucking back in town. How long are you here for?” Justin asked.

“Hopefully for a while,” I said. “I have no intention of leaving.”

“Good. I’ve missed my wingman.”

“Not getting enough pussy without me around?” I asked.

“I’m doing fine, but it’s no fun when I’ve got no one to brag about it to.”

“Ah, so I’m just another one of your props.”

“Says the guy surrounded by clothing props for his career.”

“Hi there.”

The soothing voice caught my attention as I whipped my gaze around to look at the woman it was connected to.

“Hello,” I said.

“I’m Charlie. I um—couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. You say you work with models?”

My eyes scanned her body as Justin grinned out of the corner of my eye.

“I can’t do anything about your career,” I said. “I’m just out having a drink with my buddy.”

“Oh, no. I’m sorry. It’s nothing like that. It’s just—well if you’re surrounded by all those girls all day, but you’re here with your friend, I figured that was prime nice guy status.”

“Nice guys your thing?” I asked.

“I’d like them to be, if I could luck up enough,” she said. “Here’s my number, if you’d like to call me sometime.”

Then she winked at me before she turned and walked away.

“It’s so easy for you, isn’t it?” Justin asked.

“It’s really not,” I said.

“She walked right up to you. Out of the blue. That’s about as easy as it gets.”

And right on time, another woman walked up to my side.

It was like that all night. Justin and I would laugh and get a good conversation going, then a woman would come up and introduce herself. It happened so often I thought Justin was putting me on. Paying these women in drinks to throw me for a loop or some shit. But whatever the hell was going on tonight with these girls, I wasn’t interested.

I had my sights set on one woman.

And nothing was ripping me away from her again.

“Which number would you like?” I asked, as I fanned out the sheets of paper.

“You’re an honest-to-fuck dick,” Justin said.

“You put them up to this, didn’t you?” I asked.

“Not one of them.”

“Justin, I’m holding nine different numbers.”

“I didn’t talk to them, I swear!”

“You’re a terrible liar,” I said.

“Okay, I talked to three of them. But that was it! Three! The other ones—those are on them.”

“What? You think I can’t get a woman on my own? Six of these numbers says I can.”

“Six of those numbers says that women follow a pack mentality. The first three were the ones I had talked to before you came walking in twenty minutes late.”

“I’m sorry that I have a job that interferes with your drinking hours.”

“Apology accepted. Now, I want that last number you got. I’m going through a redhead phase.”

I slid the number to my friend before I got the girl’s attention. I pointed to Justin and he waved, and we watched as the girl’s eyes lit up with excitement. Justin made a show of sticking her number in his pocket and she grinned, her cheeks blushing before he turned back to me.

“Guess she’s okay with the backup friend.”

“You’ve never been the backup friend,” I said.

“And anyway, what gives? In any other scenario, you wouldn’t have gotten to the third girl before you had one of those women out the door.”

“Just not feeling it tonight. Been a long day.”

“Of watching hot ass women walk up and down a stage. Have you met someone? Is there something you aren’t telling me?” he asked.

“Maybe. Sort of. It’s not really a big thing, but I like spending time with her.”

“Are you settling down on me, Chris? Did turning thirty do something to your libido?”

“My libido’s fine, thank you very much. But sometimes, there’s just that woman you can’t shake.”

“I had that happen one time,” Justin said. “Kept her around for an entire weekend. Best weekend of my life.”

“Then why are you still single?”

“Because her husband kept calling her.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“What? I didn’t know she was married. She didn’t have a ring on her finger, she certainly wasn’t dressed like she was married.”

“How’s a married woman supposed to dress?”

“Yep. Turning thirty did something to you,” he said.

“Sorry, I don’t like sleeping with married women.”

“Apology accepted again,” he said with a grin. “So? What’s her name?”

“Who’s name?”

“Your flavor of the month this month. The woman that’s ruining the plans I had for us tonight?”

“Not important,” I said.

“Oh come on. If we aren’t gonna pick up any women tonight, the least you can do is fill me in on some of the wonderful details of the one you’re sporting around for now.”

“You’ve got the number of a nice redhead in your pocket. Who the hell said you couldn’t leave with her right now?”

“Because I’m with my best friend, that’s why! It’s taken me four weeks to get you out somewhere with me. And no woman is going to ruin it.”

“Even though you keep harping on mine.”

“Point taken,” he said.

In reality, I had no idea how I was going to tell him I was fucking his sister. Hell, I had no idea how I was going to tell him I’d had a prior relationship with his sister. Justin was protective as fuck over Jessi, and the last thing I needed was for my best friend to beat my fucking face in. I saw how he got when men were around Jessi. There was some pimply asshat that invited her to prom her senior year of high school and Justin about jumped down the poor guy’s throat. And that was just for asking her to prom.

He’d kill me if he knew I was fucking around with his sister.

“Okay. Change of subject,” Justin said. “My father’s having this album release party tomorrow night. You in?”

“Hell yeah I’m in. I’m always in for your dad’s parties. After work, though. Tomorrow night’s dress rehearsal night with the designer. Sometimes that shit ends around eight, and I’ve been part of some that have gone until midnight.”

“Oh shit. Well, damn. Okay. I’ll text you the address. Just come by whenever you can. And dress nice. You know the drill with these things.”

“Should I come ready to be your wingman at that thing, too?” I asked.

“Nope. Because if I play my cards rights, I’m hoping that petite little redhead will be on my arm tomorrow night.”

“You do you the best way you know how and have no shame in your game,” I said.

“I’ll drink to that.”

We tapped our drinks together again as I relaxed into my seat. It was nice being out with Justin again. Before shit exploded in my face, we used to do this all the time. It was our Friday night ritual. Drinks, women, we went our separate ways, then we’d have breakfast Saturday morning and talk all about our nights between the legs of the gorgeous creatures we’d left with the night before.

Justin was still stuck in that world, which was fine. But I had graduated to other things.

To a woman no one would ever find in a place like this.

“Earth to Chris. Hello?”

“Sorry. Long fucking day. What was that?” I asked.

“I asked you if you’d talked to your mom since you came into town.”

I clenched my jaw as I felt my gaze harden.

“Shit, Chris. You still haven’t resolved that thing with her yet?” Justin asked.

“What she did was wrong. Everything about it was batshit crazy. That woman threatened to ruin my career over that piece-of-shit man. Of course I haven’t talked to her.”

“Fine. Okay. Sorry for asking. But I’m worried about you, if I’m gonna be honest.”

“There’s no need to worry,” I said.

“What happens if you come across her in town?”

“I’ll nod my head like I do every other stranger, then go on with my day.”

“You’ll just—treat your mother like a stranger.”

“She treated me like a common criminal. Compared to that, ignoring her is a damn favor.”

“Point taken. But still, she’s your mom,” he said.

“And I get where you’re coming from. Your family is wonderful. Your mother and father have a wonderful marriage and the two of them are really in it for the long haul. Not all of us are fortunate enough to have that family dynamic. It isn’t anything you can fix and it isn’t anything that’ll ever change.”

“I see why the girls like you now,” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“They like a guy they can try to fix. You’re just broken enough to draw them in with their desire to patch up your life.”

“Do you think about anything other than sex?” I asked.

“Do you?” he asked.

I laughed at my friend as a smile crossed his face. Justin was the biggest fucking horndog I knew, but he had been there through everything. I owed him so much more than I could ever communicate to him, and I was glad he wasn’t angry that I dropped off the face of the planet for a time.

Especially since Jessi still was.

“I’m glad you’re back man,” Justin said. “To Friday nights and Saturday morning breakfasts.”

“Here, here,” I said.

Then we threw back our drinks, ordered some more, and shot the shit until the bartender signaled last call.

Just like old times.