by Lucian Bane
“Yessss,” she said, drinking down half her beer and setting it on the side of the game table as she shuddered from the taste.
“You don’t like beer?” he asked, laughing.
“So sorry,” she whispered, glancing over his shoulder, not wanting to offend the old man.
“Well what do you like, I’ll get it.”
She gave a squint, peering at him. “I don’t really drink enough to have a preference.”
“Are you joking?” He looked genuinely curious.
She shook her head. “I drink on occasion. I just don’t make a habit of it.”
“That explains a lot.” He brought the mug to his mouth and she watched him tilt his head back. Those thick neck muscles covered in tattoos moved as he swallowed, making her long to feel them with her fingers and lips again. And tongue. She spotted a small area of unmarked skin and decided the blank space begged for the hickey she wanted to give him.
She grabbed her own beer and downed the rest. She may not like to drink, or like the taste, but she definitely liked the effect. And needed it if she was going to survive him. The more buzzed she was, the less she worried about.
He set his beer down, a low raspy breath escaping him. “What do you want to drink?”
She remembered she kind of liked margaritas but she doubted the place had anything but the straight stuff. “Give me something hard and quick.”
“Hard and quick.” He shook his head with a grin while her heart hammered. “I don’t want you drunk,” he warned.
“Trust me, neither do I,” she straight up lied.
He went back to the bar and returned with a shot of something dark brown and a new beer for him. “You get only one of these.”
She took it and put it to her nose for a whiff, pulling away sharply, making him laugh. “Holy moly.”
“You want hard and quick, that’s it.”
She nodded, sniffing it again. “I do like hard and quick,” she muttered, pinching her nose with one hand. She tossed her head back, sputtering and gasping when she finally took a breath of fire. “God bless AMERICA,” she wheezed, her eyes watering. “What in the hell was that?”
“Jägermeister,” he laughed.
“Jager-what?”
“You should be good to go now.”
The second he said it, her head swam warmly and she steadied herself with a hand on the game table. “I’m fine. I got it. That’ll be all for me, yes.” She turned her attention to the table and pointed. “Put ‘em in the slots. The quarters.”
He angled his head at where she pointed, putting the quarters in.
When he took longer than normal, she went to his side and looked. “You gotta shove it in now.” The dozen little balls released with a clank and filled the metal tray before him.
“Shove it in, got it.”
She giggled at his sexual innuendo, loving that he was joking. About that, even more. “So, you put a ball here,” she demonstrated, placing at the hole. “Then you let it go and it falls onto the table. Then we use these stick men to help hit the ball into the hole.” She turned the rod handles on his side, making the men move. “That’s your hole,” she pointed on the right, “and that’s mine. Whoever hits the most balls into the hole, wins. Which will be me. Got it?”
“Yeah, I got it,” he laughed, grabbing his glass of beer and drinking as she returned to her side of the table.
“Normally you play with four people,” she explained. “One at the back, one at the front. So you’ll have to play both roles. You have an edge on me there.” She winked at him when he eyed her and he gave her the sexiest smile.
“Got it,” he said, putting a ball into the little opening. “Ready?” he asked, eyeing her.
“Oh, I’m ready.”
He released the ball and they both got busy trying to hit it. Then suddenly, bang! Bones slammed the ball in!
“You lied!” she cried up at him. “You do know how to play!”
He busted out laughing. “I swear, I don’t. It was luck.”
“Okay, now mark your point.” She demonstrated how to slide one of the pegs on his side. “And hurry up, put another one,” she said, getting ready. “I’m gonna beat your ass if you beat me.”
He put another ball in and this time the struggle was real. They fought for the ball with the front men then she jumped to her back men when he got through her fierce defenses. She laughed when the ball slowly rolled past his men, to hers. “You better get ready to cock-block me,” she warned loudly, wiggling her ass as she positioned her man. She gave her wrist a hard flick and the ball shot across the table into the hole with a little bang!
“Shiiiit,” he muttered, looking at the hole while she jumped up and down in loud triumph.
“One to one!” She slapped her little peg down, marking her score. He got another ball ready and she switched to her front men. “Wait!” She reached across the table for the ball. “My turn to pitch it.”
He handed it to her, making her wrench it out of his hand. She put it at the opening, watching him. “You got your game face on,” she noticed, making him smile while he stared at the hole, waiting for her to pitch the ball in. Instead of letting it drop out, she shoved it, making it shoot onto the table.
He jumped in surprise and she laughed like a loon as they maneuvered their men to capture the ball. It slowly rolled toward his man and she squealed, grabbing his stick from her side, preventing him from moving it.
“You’re cheating!” he yelled, getting a hit anyway. She ran to her back man where he got control of the ball this time.
“Don’t lose it Bonesy, don’t lose it!” she yelled, trying to intimidate him.
He flicked his wrist. Bang!
She gasped, putting her hands on her hips as he hooted and hollered his victory. “You little shit,” she cried, as he marked his score. The song Another One Bites the Dust came on and she burst out laughing when he sang it to her. “That’s it, your ass is mine, put the next one in.”
They played the rest of the balls, getting louder and sillier as they went. “YES!” he boomed, slamming home the last ball and doing an obnoxiously vulgar victory dance that made her howl in laughter.
“Loser drinks,” he said, pointing at her.
“I thought you didn’t want me drunk!”
“One more. You can handle it.”
“I want a rematch,” she called after him. “Two out of three.”
He returned with two of those same shots she’d had, and handed her one. He held up his next to hers. “To the loser.”
“To the next loser,” she saluted. They both downed it and he chuckled as she did a painful dance the second she got hers down. She pointed to the game table, shaking her ass to the music. “This time, the loser has to dance,” she announced.
“Ohhh, good, I want to see you dance.”
Laughter ripped out of her. “NO, I’LL BE WATCHING YOU DANCE,” she yelled way too loud.
She’d never seen Bones have so much fun and she’d never been more proud of herself. Until he won the second time. “Ohhhhhhhhh,” he cried, pointing at her. “Time to cut a rug!”
She laughed her way to the jukebox and he followed, pushing her out the way. “Winner gets to pick what you dance to. And no peeking, it’s a surprise.”
“No fair!” she laughed, trying to see over his shoulder. He kept wagging his arm behind him, blocking her from coming too close. “What are you picking? Better not be something stupid.”
He finally turned and put his back to the jukebox, that handsome face lit up with a smile.
“Oh lord, what did you pick?” She cackled loudly when the song blasted in the air. “Strokin!” She nodded as she strutted to the center of the small floor, leading with her undulating pelvis. “You just picked my song baby!” She waited for the right beat then started the only line dance she knew. Several steps in and she had him laughing with her exaggerated gyrations. He hooted and hollered appreciatively when she slapped her ass every time she did the
little jump spin.
“Come on,” she called to him. “I’ll teach you.”
“Noooo,” he shook his head.
Several people entered the store at the front, and Winter dashed over to stand next to Bones, not wanting to be seen doing all that.
“You ready?” he asked, looking down at her with a grin. “I have some place to show you.”
THE NEXT CHAPTER
“Ohhhh,” she said with an eager smile. “Let’s ditch this joint.” She hooked her arm in his and they walked to the little store at the front. Bones stopped at the counter for some alcoholic beverages to go and Winter threw some gum onto the counter then a couple bags of chips, in case they got the munchies.
They left the store and she felt like two kids on their way to commit devious acts. She didn’t care what they did, as long as she did them with Bones and he had more fun.
Not fifteen minutes later, he turned down another road and drove slowly. Judging by the sun, it was getting close to dusk. “Do you have a hidden cabin in the woods Mr. Psychopath?” she joked.
“I wish,” he said as the road opened to a huge lake.
“Ohhhhh, wow,” she gasped seriously. “This is beautiful. Is this where you and Reggie fish?”
“Yep. It’s our favorite spot.”
“You both like it?”
“Yep. He likes to fish, I just love it here.”
“I can see why.” And he took her to it? Their special spot? That had her giddy.
He parked the truck next to a long dock.
“Is that where you fish from?”
“Usually, yes,” he said, putting the truck in park. “Or there,” he pointed. “Under those trees, the fish bite good.
“Do you ever swim here?”
“In the summer, yep.”
“Wow, it’s so pretty,” she murmured as he dug through the bag and pulled out one of the small bottles of whisky.
“Peaceful,” he said, his tone soft as he opened the bottle and drank from it like a man wanting to forget. All while he stared at the thing he couldn’t stop remembering. He handed the bottle to her, finally looking her way.
Feeling it was an invitation into his private world that he never let anybody in besides Reginald, she took with a smile and drank a few swigs. “Mercy,” she squeaked, handing it back.
“We used to play Truth or Dare,” he said, smiling out at the lake. “Reginald would always choose Truth and I’d always choose Dare.”
She shot out a laugh. “Shocker, that one. Oddly enough, I know the game but have never played, thankfully.”
“No way,” he said, angling his eyes to her.
She shook her head a lot. “Nope.”
“Why thankfully?” he wondered, drinking another swig and handing it back to her.
She took it, taking a very small drink this time. Already she was getting too close to drunk. “Cause I know what kind of trouble it can lead to,” she sputtered, handing it back.
He laughed, taking it. “This is true,” he admitted, before going quiet.
She could literally hear the seconds drag by like a ton of metal bricks in the silence. “Okay, fine,” she finally blurted, her words a little slurred. “Let’s play. But I’m not doing Truth, I know that’s actually harder than Dare.”
“Hell no, it’s not.”
“Oh yes it is, to me it is,” she assured.
“That’s because you never played with me.”
“And that’s because you never played with me,” she said back.
“Okay, let’s make a rule. You can’t pick the same one more than three times in a row.”
She pursed her lips in squinty consideration. “Okay, deal. But no crazy Dares!”
He laughed at that. “Come on, you can’t set limitations when you play Truth or Dare, it takes the fun out of it.”
She begged to differ with several choked sputters while undoing her seatbelt and turning to face him. “Okay, how about I trust you not to play too cut-throat?” She tucked her dress over her knee, enabling her to sit in the unladylike position.
He considered her offer, tossing his head side to side a little. “Deal. I can go for that.”
“Dear God, I do not trust you, what am I thinking?”
His musical laughter burst out as he released his seat belt. “You are very brave.”
“More like very stupid,” she said, watching him slide his hips lower on the seat as he got comfortable. She swallowed down the fear and excitement that suddenly raced through her.
“I’ll even let you go first.” He propped his elbow on his door, aiming a grin at her.
She wagged her finger. “That smile spells pure disaster.”
He gave another deep laugh and Winter realized she could stand to hear him do that all night long. She might even be willing to do a few things she wasn’t comfortable with to get them. Who was she lying to, she was very comfortable doing anything and everything to him.
“Truth or Dare,” she began, her heart racing already.
“Dare, of course.”
“Shit, now what,” she muttered, loving how he laughed again. He turned and put his back against his door, waiting with a look that had her breathless. He loved being challenged, that’s what lit his handsome face. But what the hell was she supposed to challenge him with? She looked around for ideas.
“Uh, oh,” he said when she smiled.
“I dare you to turn on the music and dance on the hood of the truck for me.”
“Ahhhh, that’s simple.”
She gave wide eyes as her giggles flowed out. “Is it?!”
He turned on the radio and found a station, angling devious eyes at her. So, in Truth or Dare, he became invincible? Is that what she was seeing? Interesting.
“That,” she cried, hearing a good dance song.
Instead of opening his door, he rolled down his window and pulled himself out then climbed on the hood of the truck. Winter grinned as she peered at him through the windshield. She suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and covered her mouth when he began dancing like a goddamn stripper! He only gave her ten seconds of hip grinding and cock grabbing before he climbed back in the truck, laughing at her shocked expression.
“You dance!?”
“Nah.”
“Nah nothing, that was fucking… dancing!” She’d nearly said hot.
“Your turn,” he said. “Truth or Dare.”
“Truth!” she blurted incredulous. “Truth three times in a row, you can bank on that.”
“Of course.” He grinned while angling a sudden sneaky gaze at her. “How old were you when you lost your virginity?”
“The consensual kind?” His sexy smile faltered and she blurted, “Sixteen,” before the mood was ruined. “To my next-door neighbor. It was one of those pity things. He thought I was the prettiest girl in the world and he was this little skinny kid. It was his fifteenth birthday and he asked if I would be his first.”
He was back to smiling. “And you said yes,” he muttered, like he couldn’t believe she was that dumb.
“He was a nice kid!” she cried defensively. “And he was sweet to me. We were friends and I didn’t mind.”
“Did he know he was your first?”
“Noooo,” she gasped. “He thought I was this hot experienced girl. I didn’t want to ruin it for him.”
He shook his head looking at her. “How was it?”
“Terrible! He had an orgasm two seconds after he started, but he did a good job kissing me, I have to give him that much.”
“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, like he’d heard enough, which made her laugh happily. To hear him jealous made her heart race.
“Your turn,” she said. “Truth or Dare.”
“Dare.”
“God, why do the Dares seem harder for me than you?”
He shrugged. “Make it harder.”
“If I knew what was hard for you.”
“I’m sure you can figure that out.”
“I can?”
/> “If you thought about it.” He angled his gaze to her and her heart sped up at what he implied.
God, she couldn’t dare him to do anything to her. But maybe she could dare him to… “I dare you…”
“What,” he urged, when her mouth remained stuck open.
“God, I can’t do it.”
“Do it,” he all but ordered, smiling.
“What if it’s too much?”
“It’s not. Come on, it’s just a game.”
Another dare came to her and she gushed, “I dare you to sing to me.”
“That’s it?”
“No, but I chickened out,” she squealed.
He handed her the bottle of whisky. “Fear killer.”
She regarded it and snatched it from him, drinking more. The burn in her stomach and throat made her gasp several times.
“What do you want me to sing?” he asked.
“What do you know? Do you know any Adele songs? Hello From the other Side?”
“Nope,” he said. “But I know, Oh Mac Donald had a farm, E-I-E-I-O.”
Her laughter shot out and he kept singing, all the way through the cow, the pig, and the
horse. “Okay, okay, that’s good,” she said.
“Truth or Dare,” he demanded.
She bit her tongue on Truth, feeling a little more courageous. “Dare.”
“Ohhhhh,” he said, straightening in his seat. “I dare you to dance on the hood. Naked.”
Her jaw dropped. “I trusted you!”
His laughter shot out. “Big mistake.
“I can’t do it naked, no, that’s…” she looked around. “Somebody could be out there watching.”
“Okay, you’re right,” he said. “I’ll compromise. Without your panties.”
“Oh my God,” she muttered. He handed her the bottle of whisky and she shoved it back. “I’ll likely fall off the fucking truck if I drink another drop.”
“I’d catch you,” he said, laughter in his tone.
“You’re the one drunk,” she muttered, pointing at him.
“Come on. Chicken.”
“Ohhhhh, you did not just taunt me.”
“Oh, I did.”
“Well, get ready.” She took off her heels and decided to get out the way he did, rolling down the window. Halfway through her treacherous journey to the hood of the truck, she howled at how hilarious she felt. “You made this look sooooooo easy,” she squealed. She could hear his breathless laughter as she made her way toward the hood having to pass a little on the windshield. God, it better not break, how embarrassing that would be. “Don’t look!” she yelled when she felt the air on her ass as she carefully crawled on all fours.
