by M Dauphin
"I mean, he's good looking yeah. They're coming back! Not a word about it, Charlie."
"Wouldn't dare." I smile. Maybe she'll finally be able to get laid. When Frankie goes a long time without sex she turns even bitchier than she normally is.
"Frank," Travis's voice says and I scoot over to give him room. "And for you, Blue, Cherry Wheat." The mug clanks when he sets it in front of me and he chuckles, kissing my temple.
"You would. If I hate this I'm kicking your ass." I laugh and bring the glass to my nose, smelling it. "You're lucky tonight," I take a swig of the Blue Moon.
"Thank you, Perv," Frankie says.
"Ha! Perv!" Jeff blurts and I slightly startle, not prepared for his loud voice. Travis's hand clamps to my thigh. "You're fuckin' funny and cute. Those lips real?" he asks and my eyebrows shoot upward.
"All natural," Frankie purrs and I roll my eyes. "Wanna touch em?"
"This is a time I wish I drank," Travis mutters and I feel him shift to face me more.
"This is a time I'm happy I'm blind." I laugh, bringing my hand to his cheek and tracing his jawline.
"You want me to describe it to you?"
"No," I blurt.
"Come on, Blue, you love when I describe things to you. So, Frankie has managed to get her top even lower, just a few more centimeters and we'll have nipple. And right now Jeff's boner is practically lifting the table while he gently," he whispers the word and moves closer. "Softly," he breathes in an attempt at a disturbing, sultry voice. "Strokes her lips that are always yapping more than anyone likes to hear. She's single. Successful. And ssssexy," he whispers against my ear.
"Stop!" I blurt, hating that this entire thing is turning me on. "Frankie, Jeff, hands above the table and off each other!" I inch away from Travis and shudder before taking a huge gulp of my beer.
Travis starts to laugh then says, "Frank, you're a fucking perv."
"You're a fucking perv, Perv! You've probably got a chub just looking at these ladies!" She cackles and I groan, ready to head home. "Why aren't you drinking anything, Perv? Too good for us?"
"You're not drinking? It was your idea to come here." I cock my head at Travis and wait.
"Well." He shifts.
"That lame ass don't drink!" Jeff blurts.
"I don't drink and drive," Travis corrects him. "I'm driving, Chuck. I'm not going to drink tonight."
"I live right around the corner. You guys can crash at my place." I slide my hand to his lap and push closer to him, leaning up to his ear and whisper, "Drunk sex would be crazy fun." I slide my hand between his legs and rub him, nipping his earlobe.
His hand grabs my wrist and he turns toward my ear. "If you could see what I'm being tortured with right now, you wouldn't have done that." His sentence finishes at the same time I hear Frankie's carried out giggle she only does when she's trying too hard to get laid.
"So grab a drink and focus on me," I whisper, pushing my lips to his cheek. "Please. Let loose for once."
"I can't leave Jeff on his own or he'll show up at his ex's and get the cops called on him again." As he says that, Jeff whoops out what's probably his version of a mating call and I smirk because I think Jeff has become Frankie's problem tonight.
"I have a feeling we won't need to worry about Jeff tonight, Travis. It's been too long since Frankie's been laid." I grin and laugh when I hear Jeff curse and mutter something about Frankie's tits.
"I've stayed over four nights this week, Blue. You sure you're not sick of me?"
"Gus likes when you stay over." I shrug. "I guess it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." I grin and his deep chuckle does something to my brain that makes my stomach flutter and my heart turn to mush.
"Yeah? So, I should stay for Gus's sake then, huh?" His nose circles the shell of my ear and I turn my head to kiss him until a loud slap hits the table and I jump.
"Alright, pussies! Let's get shots!" Jeff demands.
"Shots!" Frankie belts out.
"Shots, Blue," Travis mutters unenthused.
"SHOTS!" I yell, laughing as Frankie keeps chanting her 'shots' song.
By four rounds of shots and however many other drinks Frankie's had, she's dragging Travis from the table and his hands are grabbing for me to follow. I roll my eyes and take the few shaky steps to find them. It's not hard. Frankie's cheering about her Perv being a badass, and soon the entire bar erupts in cheers. I love they're getting along so I try to hang back and give them space. Travis doesn't let me get far, but hearing his laughter right alongside my best friend's is the best thing I've heard in a long time. She hasn't insulted him in the past hour, but she won't drop that Perv nickname for him.
The band in the bar starts up and the place grows louder right as Frankie starts yelling for more shots. Travis's arms wrap around me and I melt into him. His normal, sweet scent mixed with whiskey invades my senses and I sigh.
"You having fun?" I ask, bringing my hands to his smiling face.
"You make life complete, Blue." His lips land on mine and I hum, giving in when his tongue asks for entrance.
"Trav, Trav. Whoa, Trav," Jeff says and his hand is on my shoulder as he tries to push us apart. "Wait, just wait," he utters when he effectively separates us. "Dude, listen. I like you, Blue." His slurred voice projects the strong stench of beer toward my face. "But this guy has a girlfriend."
"What?" Travis blurts and my heart sinks.
"A girlfriend, huh?" I back away from Travis and clench my fists as they start to shake.
"Dude, I'm sorry, Travis, but you know Gina cheated on me and no!" he snaps. "I'm sorry, Blue." Jeff's arm wraps around my shoulders.
"Jeff, what the fuck, man?" Travis grabs my hand but before he pulls me toward him, I pull it away. "Jeff! What the fuck!" Travis's voice raises and people around us start to quiet down.
"Yeah, I'm sorry, he's dating some blind girl named Charlie too," Jeff says and I let out a huff, pushing Jeff off me and shake my head at the drunk bastard.
"What?” He’s so lost right now. “You're not dating her no more?" His confused, drunk voice starts to trickle out laughter. "Hey, hey. A blind girl walks into a bar… And a table… And a chair." He barks out laughter and I want to laugh because he's such a fucking idiot. A rude, dense, drunken idiot.
"Aw, man," Travis huffs and I feel his hands on me as he moves me from my spot. "You know you fucking deserve this right?" he says right before I hear the crack of flesh on flesh and wince as the sound of someone hitting the floor quiets down even more patrons in the bar.
I let out a quiet gasp as Travis's hand finds mine. Stepping forward, kicking a chair out of the way, I kick Jeff's foot and kneel down. "Hi," I say, smiling and pushing my hand out towards where I think he is. "I'm Charlie. Travis's blind girlfriend."
He grunts and groans and I stand up as Frankie's voice rings out loud and clear, "Oh my God! What the hell happened? I leave to take a piss and miss the fight!"
I turn into Travis and smile. "Are you about ready to head out?"
"Fuck yes. He's Frankie's fucking problem the rest of the night." His tone is laced with anger but he's slowly calming down. "Frank, get his dumb ass up and let's go!" he snaps toward her while she sounds like she's babying Jeff.
"He's too heavy!" she whines and Travis's hand leaves mine briefly to help get him up.
"You're dealing with him tonight, Frankie," I tell her.
"No fucking problem," she purrs and I groan. Gross.
The walk back to our apartment, Frankie is too busy fondling over Jeff to worry about bitching at Travis and Trav's hands won't leave my ass alone. I'm sure we look like a hot damn mess walking down this street. I feel like it takes triple the amount of time it took to walk here but we make it, and let me tell you something, walking up stairs after all the alcohol and being unable to see them isn't the easiest. I'm proud to say I made it up with only one trip and Travis, as inebriated as he is, was right there to make sure I didn't fall.
Frankie and Jeff slam the doo
r to her apartment while I fumble with my keys and Travis chuckles but he doesn't step in to take them away from me. He waits, letting me do this myself, and when we step inside he says, "I'm sorry about Jeff tonight. This is kind of why I didn't want you to meet him." He chuckles. "And if Frankie wakes up with crabs, she can't fucking blame this on me."
"Gross!" I laugh. "He wasn't horrible. He's just different." I grin, pulling my tank top over my head and dropping it to the floor. "Do we have to talk about your friends, though?"
"We're just gonna undress right here, are we?" He chuckles, pulling me against him. "And that sounded like you pluralized the word friend. You're definitely drunk." His mouth starts to travel my jaw.
"Was that word really hard for you to pronounce? Pluraalllli- Plueerraliz—" I giggle when he tickles my sides. His mouth nips my shoulder and I melt into him, my head slightly spinning.
"Let's see how hard it is for you to pronounce the word Travis while I fuck you senseless." He starts pulling me down the hall and when we make it to my bedroom, his hands are at my back, unhooking my bra. I don't waste time, pushing his pants down and in an instant all our clothes are thrown around the room and our mouths are devouring each other. I crawl back on the bed and he's right here with me, hovering over me, his mouth tasting every inch of my skin.
That's when I hear it. Gus's collar bells. But I'm too late. His nose made it to the only spot he prefers sniffing. I mean, he is a dog.
"Shit!" Travis yells, almost flinging his body off mine and I erupt in a fit of laughter.
"He get your ass again?" I laugh as Gus pushes his body between us and snuggles under the covers.
"Why don't you lick my ass as much as Gus does?" He pokes at my stomach and I squirm away. "I'm gonna take him out before he pees in the bed." His lips messily kiss me before he scoops Gus from the bed, minutes later, his collar jingles all the way out the door.
I sigh and pull the covers over me when I start to cool off being left alone.
God, this bed is so comfortable.
Between both of our jobs we work ninety plus hour weeks making as much time as we can for each other a few week nights and weekends when he's not working the farmers market.
It's Friday night and Travis has been insisting on taking me line dancing, so here I stand, confused and scared that I'm going to fuck shit up tonight.
"What the hell shoes do you wear to go dancing?' I mumble, shuffling through my closet.
"Why haven't you ever gone dancing with me?" Frankie bitches, squatting down next to me and pushing my hand away. "Here," she blurts, shoving a pair of cowboy boots into my hand.
"Well, for one you never asked. And for two, I hate dancing. It's not that easy with my condition." I slide my thirteen-year-old boots on and still remember the day my mom got them for me. I hated them at the time, but I'm happy I have them now.
"So you're letting Perv take you," she says, following me into the kitchen.
"You're coming along too. Get your panties un-wadded and let's get a move on. Travis is picking us up soon."
She huffs and I hear her grab her bag before opening the front door. "Perv," she mutters.
"You ladies ready for this shit?" Travis's voice is headed for me and then his hands are on my face, tilting my head back to kiss me like we haven't seen each other in so long. It's been two days, but feels like a week.
"So ready," I say with a hint of sarcasm.
"Your girl doesn't think she's a good dancer," Frankie says from the hallway. "I knew her back when. She used to have some sweet moves!" She cackles down the hallway as her feet start to pound down the stairs and I shake my head.
"I'm gonna be all left feet awkward tonight, Travis. I hope you understand this."
"I'll be your right foot, Blue." He kisses the corner of my eye as we head down the steps.
"You always know the right thing to say." I take his hand and the entire drive to Wild Country, the bar Frankie insists is the best line-dancing place around, he doesn't let go of it.
"How busy is it?" I ask Frankie when Travis hops out of the car to open my door.
"It's fine. It's totally fine," she blurts, and if I'm not mistaken, there's worry in her voice but I try to shake it off. My door swings open and I take a deep breath.
Here goes nothing.
"You nervous?" Travis's playful voice asks as he guides me to the door. "You know I won't let anything happen to you."
"I'm fine." I smile and give his hand a squeeze.
"Ever since the accident she's been leery of big crowds," I hear Frankie say and roll my eyes. "Can ya blame her?"
"I've had her in a couple crowds already, Frank. I'll take care of her," Travis says, his tone is on the brink of annoyance because Frankie is so defensive for me.
"I'm fine, guys!" I blurt. "Totally fine! Now where's this line I need to dance in?"
Travis starts to laugh and his hand cups my waist. "We're going to have a couple beers first." Now his voice is on the brink of nervousness.
"Right. So then you take me out to the floor and show me how it's done. You've done this, right? I mean, you…I don't know what to do out there. But you do, right?"
"Nope. Shots?" He blurts Frankie's favorite word.
Well shit.
We danced and tripped over each other all night, but at least it wasn't just me making a fool of myself. I think Frankie won the award for most un-coordinated and I only ran into three people all night. Travis's blunt curse words grunted every time he screwed something up was one of the more comical parts of the night. That and when Frankie had to fight off some drunk with grabby hands. I didn't think that'd be as fun as it was, but Travis can make every nerve-wracking situation a blast.
I've spent the last two months with a man I never would have given a solid chance past a one-night stand had I still had my vision. His bad boy looks tell nothing of the man he is. Travis is the best of the best when it comes to men. Period. The way I used to judge people by looks almost makes me hate who I used to be. If a guy wasn't a preppy doctor wannabe, I wouldn't even consider spending my valuable time with him. It hurts to think I would have missed my chance with Travis.
I'm happy now. He is and will always be my happy place. He's shown me that I can be independent but still ask for help. He's shown me love, unconditionally. And he's somehow taught Frankie to accept that I'm a grown adult that doesn't need babied. God, the first night I slept over at his place without telling her I thought she was going to have a coronary. It's gotten better since then, thankfully.
I smile and wash my hands, trying to shake off the nerves from today, then pet Peter as he wraps himself around my legs. Slowly I make my way down the hall, following the walls to where Travis is waiting for me. I've been here a few times, but I'm still getting the lay of the place.
"I never even thought about getting a tattoo." I nervously chuckle, gripping the back of a chair.
Every week for the last two months Travis has mentioned taking my tattoo virginity and I finally broke. I don't think I'd let anyone else ever touch me or do that to me. I wouldn't trust them. But Travis? I trust him with all my heart.
"You don't have to do this," he says.
"I want it!" I blurt. "I do! I'm just scared, you gotta walk me through this shit!"
"First sit your jumpy ass down." He guides me to a chair that reclines. "Next, stop bouncing." His hand lands on my knee.
"So what am I getting?" I grin, crossing my ankles and trying to shake off the nerves. I'm not nervous about the tattoo itself. Having one doesn't bother me a bit. I'm excited about that, but I really don't like pain.
"A Walrus," he answers with a tone to his voice that tells me he's joking.
"Funny. Can you make him blue?" I grin at my joke.
"No," he clips, suddenly going serious and he gets in 'the zone' as I call it. I've sat in on him tattooing someone else, and he becomes very quiet and concentrated while he works. "This is gonna be cool. And here." He shifts my arm so it's positioned and I close
my eyes, laying back in the chair. "So I'm starting with just shaving the area, then I'll clean it and get to work. Good?"
"Shaving my inner forearm? Am I a beast or something?" I giggle.
"No beast, just precautions. Shut up and let me work my magic." He plants a kiss on my lips and I smile, relaxing into the chair. "Did you decide what you want yet? You've got less than five minutes, Chuck."
"I want you to decide. Surprise me. You're the artist. Make something beautiful."
"I don't do surprise tattoos, Blue. Too dangerous. You're getting my initials."
I let out a laugh and his chuckle rumbles while he starts to prep my arm. The cool cleaner almost numbs my arm, weirdly, and when the buzzing starts I can feel my nerves amp up.
"Wait!" I blurt and hear the tattoo machine turn off.
"What's wrong?"
"How bad will this hurt?" I blurt. "Don't answer that. You have them on your head right? Forearm's too, right? Right? I'm not gonna like, gonna cringe then instinctively pull away then ruin… Oh God, maybe I shouldn't be doing this." I shake my head, chickening out.
"Because why? Because you don't want permanent ink on your body? Or because you're worried about the pain?"
"I'm not big on pain. Shots at the doctor's office freak me out. I want the ink. But how much am I going to want to cry?"
"A shot and a tattoo are two completely different pains, Blue." He kisses next to my eye. "Shut up so I can permanently put my face on your arm."
I laugh and nudge him. "Okay. Let's do this before I for real chicken out."
"If it hurts too bad, we stop. Cool? But I promise, I'm fast, and I know what I'm doing. I made a lot of money doing this in prison."
I yank my arm away and blurt, "You tattooed in prison?"
"It was a joke, Chuck. Settle down. I didn't tattoo anyone in prison. No prison tattoos. Ever. Okay? Promise me you'll never get tattoos in prison." The machine starts to hum again and his gloved hand gently lands on my arm. Pulling the skin taught he whispers, "Just breathe."
It doesn't hurt near as bad as I thought it would and he was right when he said he's quick. In no time at all he's turning the machine off and wiping my arm down. I let out an excited giggle, anxious to find out what it is. It was damn near impossible to tell what he was doing when he had it to my skin.
