Chapter 15

Grant

Another Friday night, another night out. After the events of the day, all I wanted to do was go home and prepare myself for what I was sure was going to be a pretty spectacular night with Kendra. God, after seeing her earlier, the last thing I wanted to do was go out. I couldn’t believe how I had opened up to her, telling her how I really felt. It was a gamble, but one I thought I needed to make. And, luckily, she seemed to really appreciate it. I was sure that starting from then, our relationship was going to change.

Usually, I only went out to try and pick up girls or to get wasted. Since neither of those were on my mind, I would have liked to stay home. But Jack was insistent that I meet him at Hot Damn. If it were anyone else, I would have said no without hesitation, but as he claimed it had to do with work, I really had no choice. I just wished he had chosen somewhere a little more appropriate.

“I need to thank you by the way!” Jack shouted in my ear as we settled at our table in the VIP section that overlooked the dance floor below.

The club was packed that night, too. At least twice as busy as when I was there the previous week. And the club goers were of a different stock, too. On Fridays, Hot Damn catered to a more exclusive clientele. These were the type of people that had money to burn. It was evident in the fancy clothes they wore and the expensive drinks they bought. Once upon a time, I would have felt extremely out of place in a crowd like that.

“Oh yeah?” I shouted back. “And why is that?”

“Sally! That waitress from that shithole café you took me to.” He had a satisfied smile on his face, and I didn’t need him to finish for me to get the gist of how the story ended. But, true to form, he did anyway. “We went out for drinks last night!”

“I’m glad to hear it,” I responded, hoping that my short response would curb his urge to provide details. It didn’t.

“Hoo boy, I tell you. When was the last time you had a twenty-year-old pussy? She was doing things I didn’t even know existed. My fingers still smell like—”

“Jack!” I cut in. “I really don’t need to hear it.”

“Oh, right,” he said, chuckling to himself as he took a drink. “I forgot she makes your coffee. Trust me, if you knew what she got up to, you would probably go somewhere else—”

“Jack!” I shouted again, trying to stop myself from smiling. As perverted as he was, he was still my best friend. And, as much as I hated to admit it, his stories were always entertaining. “What did you want to talk about?”

“Fine, fine,” he relented, leaning back in his chair as he took a more serious tone. “I wanted to find out how the first week at Luscious went. I’ve had a butt load of people asking me about it. They want to know when I’ll be opening a club themed around it.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised. I knew there was some interest in the store, but I had no idea it would take off so quickly. “It was a solid week. It picked up near the end, too, which I think means that next week we should start seeing a more consistent flow.”

“Good to hear,” Jack said with a satisfied smile. “You and I are going to make a lot of money together. But for now, let’s have a little fun and–oh wait. I forgot. You aren’t allowed to have fun, are you?”

“What are you talking about?” Was he talking about Kendra? That’s impossible. How could he possibly know what happened earlier?

“I ran into Loren earlier today. She told me that the two of you were getting serious. Hot and heavy was the terminology she used, to be exact.” I could tell that Jack was really enjoying himself. He knew that wasn’t the case but delighted in teasing me, nonetheless.

“What? You’ve got to be shitting me. Did she really say that?”

“Every word.” He laughed as he went for another sip of his drink, only to find it empty. As this was unacceptable, he leaned back in his chair, indicating for the bartender to fill it, post haste.

“You know that’s not true. We went on one date. And didn’t even have sex. In fact–ah, never mind.”

“What?” he pushed.

“Well, I didn’t want to tell you before because I knew how you would react, but I’ve actually been thinking about seeing Kendra again.”

Jack’s reaction was exactly what I had been expecting. He was halfway through swallowing his beverage when he choked the rest of it up, spitting it onto the table in shock. “You’re joking?”

“Do I look like I am?”

“But why? I thought that—”

“It was meant to just be a revenge thing. I told you what she did to me in high school. But I don’t know. After the other night and seeing her every other day in the store, I can’t get her out of my mind. You know what I mean?”

“Magic pussy. We’ve all been there.” Jack nodded his head as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

I shook my head at this, not agreeing at all with his conclusion. “No, it’s not that. It’s more like, lately, it just feels right. It’s hard to explain, but it feels like when we were back in high school. All I wanted back then was to be with her. And now, I finally can. I think she wants the same thing, too.”

“You’re sure? She’s not going to use you up and spit you out again?”

“No. Definitely not. She’s changed. I’m sure she has.”

“Okay, then,” Jack said, smiling as he raised his glass in a mock toast. “To that, I wish you the best. Salutations and good luck. With a woman like that, you, my friend, are going to need it–and hold up just a minute! Look what just came through the front door.”

As always, Jack’s attention was disturbed by a pretty little thing. On more than one occasion, I would be in mid conversation with Jack only for him to push me to the side at the first sight of an attractive woman. And that moment was no different.

Smiling at his boyish nature and eager eyes, I humored him by swiveling in my seat to see who could have possibly grabbed his attention so irrevocably. It didn’t take me long to notice. Half the men in the club were staring at her. Me though? I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw.

“Sorry, Jack, I’m going to have to ask that you leave that one alone.”

“What?” he blurted. “You just told me you were all but in love with Kendra. Now you’re calling dibs on this one, too?” He actually looked a little mad about it.

“I’m not calling dibs on anything. That’s Selena. She works at Luscious.” She was the woman that managed to stop the club dead. I had always thought she was attractive, but somehow in the atmosphere of the club, she looked electric.

I turned back to look at Jack who was still staring, dumbstruck. All I could do was laugh as I got to my feet. I considered telling him again to keep his hands off, but knew that it would do no good. Instead, I patted him on the leg as I made for the exit.

I had no desire to hang around the club, now that we had discussed what needed to be discussed. Judging from the way that Jack was throwing down drinks and staring at every woman that walked passed, I had a pretty good idea where the rest of the night was going.

Maybe another version of me would have hung around for a little fun. But that was an old me. It was getting onto ten P.M. by that time, and I needed to be home. Kendra would be heading to my place soon, and I wanted to be there before she arrived.

It was an odd feeling. I had never had such a desire to see someone before, as I did now with Kendra. Every time I had dated a woman in the past, I had always put myself first. But this was different. I just hoped she felt the same way.

--

She was late. One hour late to be precise. At first, I didn’t mind so much. As I hurried back from the club, I all but rushed through the process of getting ready. I worried that she would call me and ask where I was. Or that she would turn up, and I would still stink of sweat and cigarettes from the club.

But as I showered and changed, I began to loosen up. I popped a bottle of champagne and selected the perfect playlist for the night. Then, I began to think about how perfect the timing actually was. But then, as I settled into waiting, my mood slowly began to change.

The date was going to be a simple one. She was going to come around, we were going to have a few drinks, some laughs, and hopefully, catch up on old times. I wanted the night to be free from the constraints of work, and maybe even free of the baggage of our checkered past. But with every minute that passed, with me sitting on the couch staring at the clock, I realized that wasn’t to be.

When she finally did call me, asking me to let her in, I was livid.

I could tell straight away that she had been drinking. It most likely wasn’t in excess, but there were traces of it on her breath. She also stumbled slightly as she entered my apartment, just enough to indicate that she was a few drinks deep.

“Sorry, I’m a little late,” she said as she entered, leaning up and kissing me on the cheek.

I hesitated, wondering whether it was worth pointing out that an hour wasn’t a little. But I decided against it. She knew how late she was. She was clearly just trying to pass it off as not that big of a deal.

“Where were you?” I asked in a steely tone. I didn’t want to be, but I was furious with her. And not just because she was late, but because she was acting as if it were no big deal. As if leaving me waiting was the smallest atrocity in the world to commit.

“Drinks. With co-workers–oh. Is that for me?” She spotted the two glasses of champagne on the dining room table and strolled across the room to pick one up.

As angry as I was, she still looked insanely hot. She wore stiletto heels, most likely the ones from work. And she also wore the same black pencil skirt from work, although she paired it with a tucked in white blouse, rather than the corset. Her curves were on display, and I hated the fact that I wasn’t the only one who got to enjoy them that night.

“By co-workers, you mean Brody,” I said, my voice bitter. The moment she said she’d gone out for drinks, my mind went to Brody. The kid. I couldn’t help it, but I knew that he was there. And I knew that he would have spent the night flirting with her.

“Amongst other people,” she said in an offhand manner as she picked up her drink.

“So, it wasn’t just the two of you?” I asked, trying to control my temper. I had to remind myself that she was here, now. Even if she’d gone out for drinks, she had left them to be with me. But even still, I struggled to control myself.

“No. Not even for a minute.” If she was lying, she was doing a good job of hiding it. She took her drink in one mouthful, swallowing it with a smile on her face. Once it was done, she strutted across the room toward me, shaking her hips as she did. “So, what now?”

Reaching me, she stopped but a foot away. Biting her lip, she looked into my eyes. Despite my rage. Despite my anger. Despite how sure I was that I wasn’t getting the full story, there was only one thing on my mind. There was only one thing that I could think of doing in that moment.