Player of Life (Perception Book 4)

by Shandi Boyes

Chapter 4

  Jenni

  Have you ever had that feeling that someone is watching you? Well imagine it times five. That is what is felt like the instant Emily and Nicole left the dance floor to get a drink. I was happily dancing in the middle of the floor when suddenly I felt like I was a little lamb that was about to be slaughtered. When I peer my eyes around while continuing to dance to Pitbull’s hit song ‘International Love’, I spot several pairs of hungry male eyes staring directly at me.

  Now don’t get me wrong, I like the attention, but it can be a little unnerving when there are several sets of eyes from men of all ages and sizes staring at you like you’re their last meal. Just as I was about to wander off in search of Emily and Nicole, my exit is blocked by an athletic built black shirt covered chest.

  “There you are baby cakes; I’ve been looking for you everywhere” declares the gentleman that is blocking my exit. His deep voice rumbles loudly around the dance floor, even though the music blaring out of the speakers is nearly deafening. As I lift my eyes to look at the gentleman, I suddenly feel a set of warm lips brush against mine, causing me to freeze.

  When he slowly pulls back from our embrace, I am mesmerised by his dark blue eyes. I stand still, shocked, in the middle of the dance floor while roaming my eyes over the stranger’s face. His has shaggy blonde hair that hangs loosely on the top of his head. His blues eyes are surrounded by dark thick lashes. His lips are full and for the quick second they were pressed against mine, tasted delicious. As I stare at him, his eyes narrow and dart around the space surrounding us. When I follow his gaze, I notice that several of the guys that were in the process of closing in on me have started to back away. He wraps his arm around my lower back and pulls me towards him, before he starts to swing his hips in rhythm to the music. I am surprised at how well this guy can dance. It is obviously something he does regularly.

  “Thank you” I graciously whisper, since he had just saved me from a pack of hungry wolves.

  “Your welcome” he breathes seductively in my ear, causing me to slightly shiver from his hot breath tickling my earlobe. He must have noticed my reaction as he chuckles softly.

  My friends Emily, Nicole and I had just arrived at an eighteen plus dance club located in Ravenshoe. For the past two months we have been frequenting the new dance clubs surrounding our home town of Erkinsvale. Emily and Nicole had the ability to borrow their sister’s ID, but since I am an only child we were not able to hit these types of clubs until I was legally old enough. I had considered getting a fake ID a few times, but when both of your parents are well known lawyers, you don’t have many people willing to accept your money for an illegal service.

  Normally our trio has an agreement that we are to deny any offers to buy us drinks or to dance when we visit establishments like this. But this guy didn’t request permission, so technically I’m not really breaking the rules we are supposed to adhere too. And he did just save me, so it is only fair to give him a dance or two to show my appreciation.

  As we dance his hands slowly roam over the curves of my body, but never once does he go over a PG rating. When he spins me around and starts to grind against my backside, images of my favorite movie ‘Dirty Dancing’ start to flash before my eyes. This guy, who still remains nameless, has all the moves just like Patrick Swayze did in that movie.

  “Nobody puts baby in the corner” I murmur quietly to myself.

  When my gaze lifts to check on the location of Emily and Nicole, I’m shocked to spot Emily dancing with a guy in grey trousers and a white business shirt. She hasn’t stopped talking about a guy she met months ago called Noah. I thought part of her reasoning for her mini make over today was to impress him, so I find it surprising that she is seductively dancing with a guy who appears several years older than her. My guilt for breaking our agreement lessens as I watch Emily seduce the good looking gentleman, allowing me the opportunity to start enjoying the sensuality that you can feel when you dance with someone intimately. I push back towards my new dance partner a little firmer, making sure my backside is firmly planted against his crutch.

  The heat on the dance floor starts to become stifling and a small bead of sweat rolls from my hair down the side of my neck. Suddenly the bead of sweat is lapped up by the course bumps of a tongue. Oh my, did he just lick my neck? My pussy starts to pulse as his lips and tongue continue to suck, lick and caress my neckline. From his hardened erection that is grinding against my backside, I can tell that I’m not the only one that has become aroused by our sensual dance moves.

  I don’t know how long we have been dancing for when I spot the concerned face of Emily. The guy she was dancing with a few minutes ago is nowhere in sight and she looks genuinely upset. I quickly spin around to face my dance partner, who’s closed eyes immediately pop open when he feels me move away from him.

  “I’ll be back” I inform. His eyes roam over my face, before he eventually nods his head. I then swiftly close the distance between Emily and I.

  “I’m not feeling very well, I’m just going to take a taxi home and jump into bed” I overhear Emily telling Nicole.

  “We will come with you” I inform sympathetically. Emily, Nicole and I have very strict rules about never letting anyone leave alone and I don’t feel comfortable letting Emily go home in a taxi.

  “No Jen, I’m not ruining your night just because I have a little headache. Please don’t worry about me, I have already called a taxi” Emily replies.

  I roam my eyes over Emily’s face to try and gage if she is telling me the truth. Emily has never purposely lied to me, but I have a feeling there is something more going on with her than she is letting on. When my gaze peers back and I see the cute blonde I have been dancing with is standing in the middle of the dance floor waiting for me, I feel torn on wanting to force Emily to tell me what is wrong now or letting it wait until tomorrow morning.

  “Go on babe, have fun. I’ll call you tomorrow and you can give me all the details” Emily replies smiling, before she gives me a hug.

  “Are you sure?” I question concerned into her ear. I know how stubborn Emily is and if she sets her mind to something, she won’t let anything deter her. Even if I begged and pleaded with her to stay, she wouldn’t.

  “I’m sure” she replies confidently. I give Emily a big hug before running back to my dance partner. I’m sure tomorrow Emily will tell me every little detail, but for now I get to continue dancing with a much younger and more attractive version of Patrick Swayze.

  “Is everything alright?” he questions the instant I return. His eyes roam over my face showing that he appears genuinely concerned.

  “Yeah, my friend just isn’t feeling well and is going home” I inform. He looks over towards Emily and Nicole saying goodbye and nods his head in understanding.

  “Did you want me to give you a lift home?” he offers kindly. I try not to let my disappointment at the fact he wants to take me home right now to be shown on my face, but I fail.

  “Not right now, I can take you home later” he explains when he notices my sullen expression.

  “Oh” I reply as I smile brightly at the fact that he wants to continue dancing. I love dancing in general but when you dance with a guy that has moves like his, it’s a whole new experience.

  “I brought my car, but maybe next time?” I respond trying not to cringe at the fact I pretty much just asked him out.

  His eyes continue to roam over my face before he slowly breathes out “Maybe”.

  He then quickly spins me on my heels and plasters himself back against my body. One of his large hands is spread across my stomach, holding me tightly against his body, while the other one gently runs over my body seductively. When I feel the roughness of his hand as it rubs past my erect nipples, I release a breathless moan. Our dancing is starting to become more seductive and is stepping over our previous PG rating. When I look up at him, his dark blue eyes are looking down at me and they are full to the brim with lust. I close my eyes to enhance th
e sexual vibes being projected around us. Not long later, my fantasizing is interrupted by an annoying cough.

  When I pop open my eyes, I spot a pretty brunette who has her eyes angrily narrowed into thin slits. When I look at her confused, her furious eyes turn back to look at my dance partner who is still grinding his erection against my backside.

  “Seriously?” she questions angrily as she cocks out her right hip and her nostrils flare in anger. Only then does his hips stop moving in sync to the music.

  I turned my shocked gaze to face the guy behind me. When I see the guilty look on his face, I realise that I have just been played. I step away from his embrace and go and stand right next to the furiously angry woman, signalling to her that I was unaware that he was on a date. Us women need to stand united against the players of the world. When his gaze flicks between the pretty brunette and I, he has the hide to smile, forcing my anger to start boiling over. I have already avoided one player in my life and I easily know how to avoid another.

  “Do you mind?” I ask my new friend standing next to me, while motioning to the beer she is holding in her hand.

  “Not at all” she replies, while handing me the open bottle of beer.

  I graciously accept the bottle of beer, before walking up to the arrogant jerk and pouring the contents of the beer directly over his head. He doesn’t even attempt to move out of the flow of freezing cold liquid that is running down his face and into his black shirt. He just stands there smirking while slightly shaking his head. When I spin on my heels and start walking away, the first thing I notice is Nicole’s shocked and mortified face.

  “Time to go” I advise as I quickly loop my arm around the crock of her arm and quickly dart towards the club’s exit, dumping the evidence of the empty beer bottle in the trash on the way past. Just as we are about to exit the main club area, our path becomes block by a large black t-shirt covered chest.

  I slowly lift my eyes to notice an extremely large looking guy whose shoulders would nearly be as wide as my height. When we notice that he has ‘Bouncer’ written in white across his black shirt covered chest, Nicole and I both freeze and I hear her swallow harshly.

  “I will clean it up” I cowardly inform, assuming he had just witnessed the whole incident. He probably did considering the fact that he would have to be nearly seven-foot tall and would easily be able to see over everyone’s head in the whole club. Okay maybe he isn’t quiet that tall, but compared to my small height, this guy is a giant!

  When his head, that is the size of a watermelon, bends down to look at me and he huffs angrily, Nicole nearly fainted. When I look towards her and see that she is even more white than normal, I start giggling. Nicole’s scared eyes plead with me to stop giggling and I try my hardest to cut it out, but the fact that Nicole can go any whiter than she already is, makes my giggles rumble up through my chest and erupt without warning.

  “Jenni” Nicole pleads as her green eyes beg for me to stop while she squeezes my hand tightly.

  “I’m sorry” I reply, while trying to simmer down my giggles. When her eyes narrow at me and she stomps her foot like she does just before she is about to have a tanty, I start giggling even harder that little tears start streaming down my face. My giggles only stop when an unexpected snort escapes my nostril. I quickly slap my hand over my mouth and nose, mortified at the fact that I just snorted in public.

  Nicole’s shocked expression forms into a small smile and now she has to try and hold in her own giggles. But the bouncer’s stern face stays firm, never once attempting to lessen his angry stance. I barge Nicole with my hip, while I try to make my face appear more sincere.

  “I’m sorry” I apologize sincerely, while giving the bouncer my best puppy dog eyes. Whilst silently praying that he didn’t think I was giggling at him and his ginormous head.

  “Apologize accepted” states a deep voice to my left.

  When I turn my tear stained face towards the voice, I spot the guy I was just dancing with earlier, drying his beer stained clothes with a small white tea towel.

  Chapter 5

  Nick

  I would like to say that this is the first time I’ve ever been reprimanded for having multiple partners in the one night, but it isn’t. But it is certainly the first time I have had a full bottle of freezing cold beer poured over my head. When I first roamed my eyes over the blonde, I knew she wasn’t going to be a shy wallflower, but I didn’t realise that when she got angry she turned into a little firecracker. Even though the beer was fucking freezing, I couldn’t stop the smirk that morphed onto my face. Imagine taking all of her feistiness and unleashing it in the bedroom, just the thought makes my dick twitch. Once she spun on her heels and bolted towards the exit, I headed straight towards Isaac’s office for a change of clothes.

  “Here you go player” giggles Tina as she throws a tea towel towards me while shaking her head. I grab the tea towel and run it over my head to try and absorb some of the beer that my shaggy hair is absorbing.

  “Oh, now she is going to cop it” states Tina concerned. When my confused gaze looks at Tina, she nods her head towards the clubs exit.

  That is when I spot the girl I was just dancing with and her pretty redhead friend being blocked from exiting the club by Travis. Travis is the number one bouncer at the ‘Dungeon’ and he is one huge son of a bitch. He has his arms crossed and is standing firm, blocking the girls exit from the club. He is obviously unimpressed about the mess she has just made in the middle of the dancefloor.

  “Go and save her Nick” Tina instructs gently.

  My gaze flicks back to Tina, who is smiling brightly at me while nodding her head. I guess I am partly responsible for the mess and shouldn’t let her cop the full brunt of Travis’s wrath. I can hear Tina laughing softly as I start to stroll towards Travis. Travis and I don’t really get along. It might have something to do with the fact that I slept with his little sister and ‘accidentally’ lost her number. Then when she gave it to me again, somehow it got deleted from my phone. It is just lucky for me that my brother owns this club or I think Travis would have rung my scrawny neck by now.

  Just as I approach their little gathering, I hear the blonde’s uncontrollable giggles. She is obviously not too concerned about the angry glare that Travis is currently directing at her. She immediately stops giggling the instant a loud snort bellows out of her. When she slaps her hands over her mouth, I have to hold in my own laughter. Travis’s dark eyes flick over towards me as he cocks his eyebrow high into his hairline, causing my laughter to quieten down. I thought Noah’s friend Jacob was huge, but he has nothing on the size of Travis.

  I watch as the blonde tries to settle her composure. She runs her hands down the front of her red chiffon dress and stands up a little straighter, before she lifts her head in an attempt to look Travis in the eyes.

  “I’m sorry” she apologizes sincerely and politely, amazing me with how she can go from fits of giggles to prim and proper in a matter of mere seconds.

  “Apology accepted” I reply, while using the tea towel to dry my polo shirt that is now clinging to my chest.

  Her eyes thin when she turns to face me, but I also notice that they leisurely roam over my now skin tight shirt, before lowering down to take in my ripped blue jeans. Once her gaze returns to my face, I cock my eyebrow high into my hairline, making sure she is fully aware that I have noticed her perusal of my body. Her eyes quickly dart back to Travis as her neck gets a hue of pink.

  “I’m sorry about the mess” she apologizes again to Travis, her light blue eyes pleading with him to accept her apology.

  “Tell that to the boss” Travis replies in his deep rumbling voice, as he grabs a hold of her forearm and starts walking her towards Isaac’s office. When her panicked face looks over at me requesting my assistance, I shrug my shoulders and smile at her, making her eyes narrow angrily. Oh yep, she is definitely a firecracker, ready to explode at any moment.

  “She is with me Travis” I advise, forcing
Travis to halt his large strides.

  When Travis spins around to face me, the blonde’s friend standing next to me releases a deep exhale of breath.

  “She is with you?” Travis questions firmly.

  “Yep” I reply while staring directly at the relieved eyes of the pretty blonde.

  “What’s her name then?” Travis questions condescendingly.

  Oh, fuck. I had pulled this type of prank on Travis before, but normally it was a girl who was trying to do a runner before paying their bar tab. I was at least smart enough those times to ask Tina what their name was before I rushed over and saved them.

  I can hear the redhead next to me whispering, but she is too quiet that I can’t fully hear the name she is trying to sneakily inform me. When I lean closer to her, Travis’s angry scowl deepens before he spins around and starts walking back towards Isaac’s office.

  “Penny” I yell out. I think that is what her friend just whispered to me.

  “Her name is Penny” I inform loudly. Travis stops walking and turns back around. He looks down at Penny and holds out his spare hand palm side up.