Chapter Five
Dylan
The oysters arrived before I was able to ask Janie my question. She looked as disappointed as I felt as the waiter approached with the tray. Janie, I repeated her name in my mind as she mumbled on about something related to oysters. I couldn’t concentrate on the words as I stared at her pink lips. I wanted to lean forward. I wanted to kiss her. I wanted her to touch me, but she didn’t even seem to notice that I was inching closer and closer to her. She seemed oblivious to my charms and that annoyed me. I wasn’t sure if she was doing it on purpose or if she really was that oblivious. But it was annoying me a lot more than I was willing to admit to myself. She’s not like most women. She’s different. That annoyed me as well. Not that she was different, but that the way that she affected me made me feel differently. I don’t want to feel differently toward any woman. I don’t want to get involved with a woman that is going to make me feel uncomfortable or uneasy. I don’t want a woman that is going to make me feel anything too much. I don’t like it when women push their way into my life. I don’t want a relationship that goes deeper than the surface. And even though I’d just met Janie, I could tell that she was the sort of girl that would twist things up in my life.
I’d managed to get this far in life without falling for any woman’s wiles or tricks. And I wanted to keep it that way. Women think they know who I am. They think they can read me. They think they can look into my deep blue eyes and see my troubled soul and that they can fix me. Suddenly it doesn’t matter to them that I’m an asshole or a douchebag or whatever other term they want to call me. Frankly, I liked bastard the best. It had a regal sound to it. Bastard. I didn’t mind the term. I didn’t find it derogatory. It didn’t stop me from getting pretty much any and every woman that I wanted. All I had to do was bat my eyelashes, frown and go quiet and then wait. Most women ate that shit up. It made them want me more. It made them pounce. What can I say, I know how to work the charm. I know how to make a woman drop to her knees and unzip me with just one look. It never failed. Well, it rarely ever failed.
“So, Janie,” I said, interrupting her. “What’s the plan?” I was pretty sure that Janie was just like the rest. I could get her into bed and fuck her and then move on.
“The plan?” she asked, looking puzzled, her brown eyes gazing into mine. I felt a trickle of something unfamiliar as I gazed at her innocent expression. Did she really have no clue?
“For tonight …” I let my voice trail off as I reached for her hand and started stroking the inside of her palm. She would certainly know now what I wanted. She looked slightly taken aback by my touch and I smiled. She wasn’t used to a man as forward as me. I could tell already. She liked it though. She hadn’t slapped my hand away or given me a weird look. This was going to be as easy as taking a piece of cake from a baby.
“Tonight?” she asked, her face flushing slightly pink.
“Yeah tonight. I would have said last night, but we hadn’t connected yet and I don’t have a time machine.” I grinned at her and she laughed slightly. I could see her studying me and I was pretty sure she was trying to figure me out. Trying to see if I was a nice guy or not. Girls always thought they could read guys minds and intentions just by studying our faces. I wanted to tell them that every guy knew that girls were trying to figure them out and if they cared enough they would try and fake their intentions, long enough to get what they wanted. Some of us didn’t even bother to fake it. We were either handsome enough, rich enough or had enough confidence to not even bother wasting our energy to try and pretend to be nice. Some of the hottest girls I’d gotten were the ones I’d been the nastiest to. And just had no care for at all. Girls hated being ignored. It made them want you even more.
“You’re a regular comedian, huh?” She winked at me as she spoke and I laughed in surprise. She wasn’t just a sweet innocent little thing then. Not if that wink meant anything.
“Well, I can be. It depends on how much you like comedians?” I winked back at her and leaned forward and stared into her eyes deeply as I grabbed her hand. “So, if you like them a lot, I can tell you jokes all night long until …”
“Until?” she said and blushed as I took her pinky finger into my mouth and sucked.
“Until I have you coming and screaming. You won’t have time to laugh then.” I put all my cards on the table and waited for her reaction. This was a lot faster than I had planned on playing it, but I just couldn’t stop myself.
“Oh.” I saw her swallow hard and shift in her seat.
“I hope you don’t mind me being upfront with you. I find you extremely attractive,” I said honestly. “I would like to get to know you better. I would like to see how well we could get on.”
“Uhm, I don’t mind,” she said quickly. “Well, I mean this whole thing is really weird to me, but what can I say. I’ve never really online dated before and I certainly have never met anyone this quickly before.”
“Are you a little freaked out by my forwardness?” I asked her, wondering if I was pushing this too quickly. Maybe I was flirting a little bit too hard with her. I didn’t want to scare her off.
“I don’t know if I would say freaked out.” She shook her head. “Though I have to be honest, I’m not really used to guys that are this forward.” She offered me a weak smile. “I appreciate your honesty, but I’m a bit taken aback.”
“I like to have fun,” I told her honestly. “I want to have fun with you.”
“Oh, I gathered that.” She laughed slightly.
“How does that make you feel?” I asked her, surprised that the conversation was going so well. She was different than most of the girls I was used to. It made me confused. I wasn’t sure how to deal with it.
“I don’t know. Excited, a little bit. Maybe intrigued. Scared.” She shrugged. “I’m not really a hookup kind of girl.”
“I’m not looking for a hookup.” I shook my head. “I want more than a hookup.”
“But you’re not looking for a relationship, are you?”
“I don’t like labels. I don’t know what I want,” I said, though my chest felt tight. No, I didn’t want a relationship. Not at all. I had made that clear. I always made that clear. I wasn’t interested in dating. I wasn’t looking to use a woman though. I wasn’t looking to hurt anyone. I just wanted to enjoy my time with her. I just wanted to be free. However, for some reason I didn’t want to tell her that I wasn’t looking for anything serious at all. I didn’t want to verbalize it to her. Maybe a part of me was scared that she would run if I said the words out loud.
“That’s not unusual for guys,” she said, but I couldn’t tell from her expression how she felt about it all.
“Don’t go lumping me in the all guys label.” I shook my head. “I promise I’m different.”
“Uh huh.” She laughed. “Sure you are.”
“I am.” I laughed as I stared at her bright brown eyes, unable to look away. I was drawn into staring into her eyes as often as I could. They were so vibrant and alive. She was a woman that lived for life. She took risks. I could tell. She had such a great energy. Such a positive vibe. Such a sexy look as well. There was something about her that was addicting. I could already tell that once I had her, I would want more of her. She was a body that I wouldn’t tire of. I wanted her for more than one night. It could get complicated. I didn’t like complicated. I didn’t want complicated. I had to decide carefully what I wanted to do next. “So, do you want to come over tonight then?” I asked before I could stop myself. “I have a rooftop hot tub. We could hang out there and then see where the night takes us.”
“I don’t have a bathing suit,” she said with a light smile.
“We don’t need swimsuits.” I shrugged. “If you’d be okay with that.”
“You mean like skinny dipping?”
“Yeah, like skinny dipping or something.” I grinned. “Whatever you call wearing no bikini in a hot tub.”
“I could always wear my underwear.”
“Exactly. You don’t have to be naked.” I winked at her. “Though if that’s your wish, who am I to stop you?”
“You’re so bad.” She shook her head. “This isn’t me, you know. This totally isn’t me.”
“This isn’t me either.” I gave her an innocent look. “I never hook up on a first date.”
“Yeah, I bet that has never happened to you before.” She rolled her eyes at me and I could tell that she thought the whole situation was humorous.
“You’d totally be my first.” I laughed. “On my rooftop, in the hot tub.”
“You’re awful. You know that?” She shook her head.
“Too much?” I asked, hoping I hadn’t pushed it too far. I liked to be playful, but I didn’t want Janie to think that this was all I was about. I frowned for a second as I realized that I wanted to get to know her better. I really wanted to get to know who she was. Know her likes and wants and figure out what made her tick. And not just in the bedroom.
“I don’t know.” She licked her lips nervously and then stood up abruptly. “Excuse me please, I’m just going to the ladies’ room.”
“Sure.” I stood up and gave her a quick smile. “Do you know where it is?”
“I can find it. Thanks!” She smiled gratefully and then walked away quickly. I watched her as she walked away and I pulled out my phone to see if I had any messages. I frowned as I saw a message from Nate. What did he want? I opened the text quickly to see what he had to say. How’s the night going? was the first text, but that had been followed thirty minutes later with, Update please. Remember this is my friend. Don’t be stupid. I rolled my eyes at his messages and responded quickly. Chill dude, it’s going well. Janie is banging. I’m surprised you haven’t hit that already. I sent the message quickly and put my phone away before Janie got back. I didn’t want her to think that my attention was on anyone, but her. I knew I was pushing my luck, hoping she would come back home with. And I knew that that wasn’t part of the original plan, but she was sexier than I’d thought she would be and I wanted to have some fun. If she was down for it, then what would it hurt?