Chapter Three
I walked into Liam’s music shop and eyed the electric Fender guitars on display. One was creamy white with metallic strings. I’d played a few times, but I preferred the sound of an acoustic. It was much easier to hide my inadequacies when the music wasn’t being projected through a speaker.
“Yo.” Liam left the counter and joined me in the showroom. “What brings you in?”
“Just thought I’d stop by and see if you wanted to get lunch.”
“I’m not hungry, but I can always go for a beer.”
“Beer. Lunch. Same thing.”
Liam locked up the shop, and we walked to the deli just a few shops over.
“This is my favorite spot,” Liam said. “They make their chips in the store, and they’re the bomb. Like kettle chips, but better.”
“I know,” I said sarcastically. “We’ve been here before.”
“Oh, yeah.” He snapped his fingers. “Sorry, I’m not sure how I forgot that.”
“Because you’re an idiot.”
We ordered our food and took a seat in one of the booths. Liam claimed he wasn’t hungry, but he immediately shoved half the sandwich in his mouth like a T-Rex and swallowed it whole. He had dirty-blond hair that was far lighter than mine and an athletic build. He’d just shaved that morning, so his small beard was gone.
“How’s the shop?”
“I’m getting by. That’s how it’s been for years.”
“No ups or downs?”
“Christmas is always a good season, but other than that, it’s pretty much the same. The thing with musical instruments is they’re so expensive that people only buy what they need, like, once every few years. So sales are hard to come by. But if I do sell a drum set or a guitar, it’s a big sale.”
“Gotcha.”
“But I’d rather barely get by doing what I love than make a lot of money doing something I hate. That’s just me.”
I didn’t care for working for COLLECT. It was all phone calls, business meetings, and doing the payroll. It definitely wasn’t exciting. The best part of my day happened when I went downstairs to the lab and spoke to Rae. “I know what you mean.”
“So are you going to get a job or anything?”
I shook my head. “I doubt it. I might do electric stuff for COLLECT to help out my brother here and there, but other than that, no.”
“See?” He shoved another piece of his sandwich into his mouth, taking a few minutes to chew it. “We’re the same. We don’t work hard—we work smart.”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“So, did you leave a woman behind?”
I’d mentioned Rae a few times to him, but I always said it wasn’t serious. I never told him how I screwed everything up like the damn idiot I was. “No.”
“What happened to that one chick you mentioned?”
I threw a chip into my mouth and felt it crunch between my teeth. “Damn, these are good. I haven’t eaten chips in forever.”
“I know, right? If I weren’t looking for Ms. Right, I’d eat this shit every day.”
“For Ms. Right, huh?” I waggled my eyebrows. “Looking to settle down?”
He shoved a handful of chips into his mouth and took forever to chew and swallow. “I’ve been thinking lately…I’m thirty. I’m kinda at the end of my fun phase. All the good chicks are getting scooped up. I’ve got, maybe, five years left before I just look like an old, single weirdo. So I need to find a good catch while there’s still some good fish left.”
I nodded in agreement. “I see your point.”
“What about you? Are you thinking about getting married and junk?”
“And junk?” I asked with a laugh.
“Yeah. A wife. A picket fence. Little brats running around. You know the drill.”
From the way he described commitment, it didn’t seem like he was looking forward to it. “You don’t make it sound that appealing.”
“It’s better than being alone, right? My married friends tell me they felt the same way I do. But once they found the right woman, there was nothing else they wanted more. So, I’m gonna put some faith in that and start looking for Ms. Right.”
I was just relieved we changed the subject from Rae. But when I thought of forever, she was the only woman I pictured myself with. Unfortunately, I’d realized what I wanted too late. Six months came and went. I was stupid for waiting around that long.
“So?”
His question brought me back to reality. “So, what?”
“Marriage a possibility for you?”
“Are we gossip girls now?” I asked with a chuckle.
He shrugged and kept eating. “It’s something I think about a lot. I think all guys think about it at some point in their lives. I’m guessing your answer is no?”
Relationships were too difficult for me. I wasn’t even sure how I had anything great with Rae. I never really let my walls down for her when I should have. And like I feared, I ended up hurting her when I tried to avoid it. I wasn’t fit to be a husband, not even a boyfriend. I was too fucked up in the head, too depressed, and too hopeless. “It’s not for me.”
“Not ever?” he asked incredulously. “You’re gonna be a fifty-year-old guy picking up chicks at bars?”
I smiled and pointed at my face. “I’ll always have the charm.”
“Okay, what about when you’re sixty?”
I shrugged. “I think I’ll still have some talent then.”
“Okay…seventy?”
That was my limit. “When I’m seventy, then I guess I’ll go back to jerking off. But I’ll probably have arthritis, so maybe it’ll hurt too much.”
He chuckled before he grabbed a few more chips. “See? That’s when you’ll need a wife.”
“She’ll probably have arthritis too.”
“But she’ll do it anyway—because that’s what marriage is all about.”
***
Liam and I walked to the bowling alley in jeans and t-shirts. Even though it was after eight, the humidity of the city was still unbearable. I usually stayed indoors during the hottest time of day just to beat the heat.
“I hope my sister has some sexy friends. If she doesn’t, I’m gonna turn around and walk out.”
“You will not.”
“You bet your ass I will. If they’re gross, I’m taking a hike.”
“Gross or not gross, a blow job is still a blow job.”
Liam shrugged in understanding. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I’ll lower my standards for the evening.”
“And what makes you think your sister has ugly friends? In case you haven’t noticed, she’s a beautiful girl.” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could think twice. At least I didn’t admit I wanted to nail her.
Liam didn’t seem to care about the compliment I just gave. “I guess that’s true. Girlfriends seem to be about the same level.”
“So we should be good.”
We walked inside and headed to the lanes. The sound of bowling balls speeding down the lanes and colliding with the pins filled my ears. I was immediately brought back to another time when I went bowling with Rae and her friends. She and I had just taken our relationship to a new level of exclusivity.
I forced the thoughts out of my head.
“They’re over there.” Liam walked with his hands in his pockets, checking out the girls since they were all looking at the screen and entering their names. “Ooh…they’re all cute. What are the odds?”
The blonde was dressed in washed-out jeans with holes in the knees. She wore a t-shirt with a zebra on it with lots of gold bangles and necklaces. Her hair was in spirals, and she looked like a model for H&M. The other had olive skin with jet-black hair. She wore black leggings with a pink sleeved shirt that only covered one shoulder. They were both lookers—but they paled in comparison to Austen.
“Why the hell didn’t my sister tell me about this before?”
“In her defense, she’s been trying to get together with you since she moved here.”
“Don’t take her side, alright? I deal with that enough with my folks.” He walked down the steps and raised his arms in the air. “The party has arrived, ladies.” He walked right up to the girl in the pink and extended his hand. “Liam. I’m a musician.”
She smiled and shook his hand. “Madeline. I’m a dancer.”
“Ooh…” Liam rubbed his hands together. “Like…a topless dancer?” He couldn’t keep the hope out of his voice. “The kind that knows how to work a pole?”
I didn’t have a clue how Liam picked up ladies. His moves were abrasive and suffocating. Apparently, women found him charming.
“Ballet,” she said with a distinct British accent.
“Ooh…” Liam cringed when he realized he’d shoved his foot in his mouth. “That’s cool too…totally cool.”
She chuckled then turned to me. “Madeline. And you are?”
“Ryker.” I shook her hand and didn’t ask if she was a stripper. It was pretty easy. “Nice to meet you.”
The blonde came next, her bracelets making a quiet clicking sound when she moved. “Jenn. Which one of you is Austen’s brother?”
“That would be me.” Liam raised a hand like a student in a classroom. “Growing up with a woman has really taught me about women…their needs and their feelings. You know, I’m pretty sensitive.”
Somehow, I found the strength not to roll my eyes and walked over to Austen. Liam was busy making an idiot of himself to the girls, so I knew our conversation wouldn’t be overheard. She was in jeans and a skintight t-shirt, the curves of her body obvious and beautiful. “Hey, Stone Cold.”
She turned away from the screen and scrunched her eyebrows like she didn’t have a clue what I was saying. “Excuse me?”
“You know, Steve Austin. The wrestler.”
She released a loud laugh when she finally got my joke. “Stone Cold Steve Austin…I’ve been called by a lot of names but never that one.”
“You seem pretty badass, so I think it fits.”
“Badass, huh?” She typed her name into the line on the machine. Instead of putting her first name, she wrote Steven Austin.
I grinned from ear to ear. “I’m glad you’re embracing it so well.”
“Sometimes things just click.” She typed in the names of the rest of the crew. “And what name should I put for you?”
“Ryker always works.”
“How about…” She typed in Hawt.
I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t get it.”
“Sound it out.”
I said the word out loud then realized it was a play on the word hot. “Oh…gotcha. That’s awfully generous.”
“Especially after I write this…” She typed in her brother’s name. “Chicken Butt.”
“Hmm…I never really thought he looked like a chicken.”
“But he smells like one.” She typed in a sixth name. Jared.
Another guy was joining us, and I immediately wondered if it was a date she’d brought along. A momentary flash of jealousy washed through me, but once I realized how misplaced it was, I shook it off. “Who’s the sixth guy?”
“My bestie. He’s in the bathroom.” She hit the start button, and the lanes unlocked.
A good-looking guy who was as tall as I was came down the stairs in jeans and a t-shirt. It was obvious he worked out—daily. He had a nice smile, stubble along his jaw, and shoulders that rivaled mine.
Please be gay.
“Liam, right?” He shook his hand. “I’m Jared. Looks like we’re up against a bunch of girls.”
“I hope you’re good at bowling because I’m not,” Liam said. “But I don’t mind going to a strip club, so I guess it’s fine.”
“It’s a dude strip club,” Jared explained.
Liam immediately cringed. “Oh…then we better win.”
Jared came to me next and shook my hand. “Jared.”
“Ryker.” I quickly dropped his hand, feeling threatened by the guy when I didn’t know him. He didn’t seem gay, so that made me automatically dislike him. Austen referred to him as her best friend, but he was straight? What was that about? “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. Any good at bowling?”
“I’m okay,” I answered. “I’m sure I’m good enough to beat them.”
He chuckled. “The girls are pretty good, actually. We’ll have to step it up.”
***
Austen was awesome.
For a petite woman, she had a great arm on her. When she didn’t roll strikes, she got spares. She had the highest score of all of us, and the rest of the girls had great scores on top of that.
“We’re getting our asses handed to us,” Liam said. “But you know what? I don’t care. Makes them so much hotter.”
“Madeline is small, but she’s pretty strong,” Jared said. “She’s a dancer, so her core is unbelievable.” He eyed Madeline sitting at the other table, his eyes glued to her face.
I couldn’t tell if he was into Austen or not, but it seemed like he had a thing for Madeline.
And I was relieved.
At the end of the game, we lost by fifty points.
It was embarrassing.
“Hell yeah.” Austen did a dance in her bowling shoes, throwing her hands in the air and shaking her hips. The girls jumped in, dancing around and having a good time. “We kicked ass, ladies. Now it’s time to head to the strip club.”
Liam leaned toward me and whispered under his breath. “Do we seriously have to do that?”
“Yep,” Jared said. “I’ve made Austen do it. But, between us, I think she liked it more than she should.”
I smiled when I pictured Austen sticking one-dollar bills in women’s G-strings. And, of course, I got hard too. “I’ve never been to a male strip club. I guess there’s a first time for everything.”
***
I turned my cash into one-dollar bills at the bar then returned to the table where everyone was sitting. I tossed my stack of bills onto the table as I sat down, a male stripper working the small stage right in front of us.
Madeline raised her arms in the air and released a scream. “Work it, baby.”
“I wish I could dance like that,” Austen said. “He works his hips better than I do.”
I pictured her in only a thong dancing just for me. I sat on the couch in my living room with all the lights off while she gave me a private show. Naturally, I was a sexual person. But Austen pushed the boundaries of my sexuality. She ignited my imagination, making me fantasize things because I couldn’t have the real thing.
“Alright, boys.” Jennifer rubbed her forefinger and thumb together. “Work those bills.”
Liam stared at the male dancer then dragged his hands down his face. “I don’t want to touch him…”
“We made a bet,” I reminded him. “We have to keep it.”
“But his skin is all sweaty and shiny.” He stopped his hands at his chin and stared at the beefy man still dancing to the techno music on the nearby platform. “And his G-string is so small. Ryker, don’t make me do it.”
“He’s not making you do anything.” Austen sipped her drink as she leaned back in the red armchair. “We’re making you do it. You know if we’d lost, we’d be at Mickey’s Topless Dancers right now.”
Jared sighed. “They’re right. Let’s get this over with.”
I wasn’t as repulsed by the situation as I thought I might be. Austen seemed to always bring a smile to my face, so I found the situation comical. Besides, I was so secure in my masculinity and sexuality that I could touch a naked dude and still think about fucking Austen without any problems. “You’ll be fine, Liam.”
He leaned toward my ear and spoke over the music. “The things we do to get laid, huh?”
I left the couch and walked to the guy dancing right at our table. I grabbed a hundred bills and tucked them into the thin piece of string keeping his junk in check.
The stripper turned to me, wearing a grin. “Thanks, sexy.”
Now I was a little grossed out, but I played along and gave him a thumbs-up before I returned to the table.
“You can’t do that,” Austen said. “You gave the guy all your cash.”
I shrugged. “He earned it. You just said he’s great with his hips.”
Austen shook her head, but the irritated look in her eyes was forced. The playfulness still shone underneath.
The other guys shoved their cash inside the G-strings of the other dancers. Liam stood five feet away and leaned his body in the opposite direction as he tried to place the cash inside the man’s underwear. He cringed and looked like he was about to vomit.
Madeline laughed. “Your brother is quite the character.”
“He’s a weirdo,” Austen said. “A great brother, but also a weirdo.”
“Jared seems to be doing alright.” Jenn stirred her drink and watched their friend move around platforms, handing out cash like candy.
Instead of watching them, I turned back to Austen. Under the glow of the lights, she looked hypnotic. Even dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, she was sexy. I pictured her on her back on my bed, her legs wrapped around my waist. My thoughts got carried away with me, and I pictured her tits shaking every time I thrust into her. I pictured the shape of her mouth as she moaned for me. Explicit thoughts rushed through my mind, and my cock was so hard in my jeans it was borderline uncomfortable.
Austen met my look, holding the straw of her drink in her hand. “What?”
I hadn’t blinked in nearly a minute. I was absorbed in my fantasies, picturing the sweet sensations we would feel once our bodies were combined. My stare was obvious, and I quickly looked away. “I was looking at the dancer behind you.”
“I sure hope not,” Austen said. “Because that gaze was pretty intense.”
I smiled but kept my eyes off her face. “What can I say? I’m an intense guy.”
The guys continued to drain their cash by handing it out to the dancers on the floor. When they were finally finished, they came back to the seats, clearly relieved all the touching was over.
“I’m going to the bathroom to wash my hands,” Liam said. “I don’t want to accidentally touch myself later when a dude was the last thing I touched.”
“Me too,” Jared said. “My hands smell like money.”
“I’ve gotta pee, so I’ll hitch a ride.” Jenn set her drink on the table.
Madeline followed behind her. “Make sure no one drops anything in my drink.”
“You got it.” Austen gave her a thumbs-up.
They left the table, leaving the two of us alone together.
She crossed her legs and stared at me, mirroring the intense look I just gave her a moment ago. The seats beside her had been vacated, and I moved so I could be closer to her. The music was loud overhead, and the only way we could hear each other was by yelling.
The second I was next to her, I felt the same heat I did last time.
She turned her head and stared at me, her lips red and her eye makeup dark. Her hair was curled, and I pictured the way it would look across my pillow as she lay underneath me, her legs wrapped around my waist. “In case you didn’t notice, I was eye-fucking the shit out of you just now.”
Heat seared all the way down my spine, from my neck down to my waist. When women were forward with me, I didn’t always find it arousing. Sometimes, it seemed desperate. But in Austen’s case, her confidence was the sexiest thing in the world. She had no problem saying what was on her mind. She didn’t care about repercussions or rejection. She was immune to it. “How ironic. I was doing the same thing.”
“So, we were eye-fucking just now? In front of everyone? That’s pretty dirty.” She leaned toward me like we were sharing a secret. Her perfume somehow entered my nose and took precedence over the stench of cheap booze and sweaty strippers.
“Or not dirty enough.” She slipped her hand over mine on the armrest, her soft skin brushing against my knuckles. She came on to me with complete confidence, holding herself like a queen who deserved everything her heart desired.
Jesus Christ.
She interlocked our fingers and stared at me with her beautiful blue eyes that continued to fuck me where I sat. “I say we take off and head back to my place. I’m tired of all the looking and no touching.”
My zipper was about to break because my cock was so hard. I wanted to press my mouth into the valley of her breasts and taste her everywhere. I wanted to dump a bottle of scotch on her skin and lick it up. I wanted to fuck her in every place she would allow me to.
My body reacted on its own, and my hand dug into her hair and pulled her face to mine. I crushed my mouth against hers and kissed her far too passionately for a public place. My mouth was on fire, but I loved the burn.
Her tongue darted into my mouth and danced with mine. Her warmth breath fell on my skin and made me come alive. My hand was still interlocked with hers, and I squeezed it as I kissed her harder. I pulled her bottom lip into my mouth and gave a slight bite.
When she bit me back, I knew she liked it.
While I was stuck in the moment with her, I knew everyone would be back at the table at any moment. And if Liam saw me making out with his sister, he wouldn’t be too happy. I’d lost control, but now I had to get it back. I broke our kiss and pulled my mouth away, feeling the numbness in my lips. My mouth ached to be pressed against hers once more.
She grabbed the front of my shirt and yanked me back toward her, her mouth dangerously close to mine. “Let’s get a cab.”
I grabbed her hand and pulled it off my shirt even though I liked the way she gripped me. I could tell she would be awesome in the sack, wild and adventurous. Now I hated myself for ever befriending Liam in the first place. He was the biggest cockblock on the planet. “Austen, it’s never going to happen.”
She rolled her eyes so hard they nearly disappeared in the back of her head. “So you eye-fuck me then make out with me, but you’re going to leave me hanging? I thought good men always finish the job.”
“You seduced me, and you know it.”
“Yeah? So what? When I want something, I take it. That’s obviously not the case for you.”
“Whoa, let’s dial it down with the insults, okay?” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was almost upon us. “I always take what I want. But Liam is my friend. There are rules about this sort of thing.”
“I think rules are meant to be broken.”
Could she be any more perfect?
“I’ve asked you out once, and I made my move. If it’s not going to happen, then I’m going to move on. So, what’s it going to be?”
I watched her lips move and yearned to kiss her once more. I wanted to steal her breath away and never give it back. “I slept with a friend’s sister before, and it didn’t end well. He and I aren’t friends anymore, and she and I didn’t work out. I learned my lesson.”
She tilted her head to the side as she regarded me. “No two situations are alike, and you know that. But if you really don’t want to go down this road, I respect that. But don’t expect me to wait around. I’m not the kind of woman to wait for a guy to change his mind.” Like she meant it literally, she left the chair and walked off, trailing into the shadows of the club and disappearing.