by H. P. Landry
“I am so glad you guys came out tonight!” She was tipsy but not drunk, so I wasn’t too worried.
“Why are you here?” I asked her.
The pain flashed in her eyes as quickly as her smile appeared. “Oh you know, I had a date, but it didn’t work out.”
Her slight shrug couldn’t hide the fact that she was hurt. I wouldn’t press her. She would talk about it when she was ready.
“Let’s dance!” Rhonda said as she dragged us to the dance floor.
The songs made my body move, and I love the thumping of the bass. Minutes flew by as we danced. With each movement I felt my worries, fears, and pain fade away. I was free, even if just for now. It wasn’t until I felt heat from a body pressed firmly behind me that I knew I was no longer alone. I knew he was tall since I was nearly 5’10” in these heels, and I could feel that he was still a head taller than me.
He wrapped his strong arms around my small waist bringing me closer to his chest. My mind wanted to reject this intrusion, but I pictured the Asshole, and so I let it continue, and we danced. Our bodies grinded against one another, and I turned around and wrapped my arms around his broad neck, my chest pressed against his muscular chest in a tight black t-shirt. I looked up to see the most dazzling man in the club, blonde hair longer than I usually liked, but still very sexy, green eyes, and a chiseled jaw. His body was extraordinary, and I rubbed my hands against his firm chest. Finally, a distraction!
“You want a drink?” he asked. His baritone voice was incredibly sexy, but I shook my head. He smiled, and his pearly whites revealed a set of dimples and made the mischief in his eyes twinkle like disco balls. “My name is Xavier.”
I gasped and stopped dancing, gaped at this man, and he tilted his head and pulled me close enough where my mouth was close to his ear.
“That was my dad’s name.”
“Is that so,” he said into my ear, his sweet breath sent goose bumps on my skin on every inch of my body. I nodded weakly. “Well, it’s a good name,” he said.
That it was.
Damien
Other than your heart
You never want to admit that you were falling for a chick, at least for the average guy that was. I recalled dear old Mom’s advice:
“Damien, you have to be sensitive to someone else’s feelings.”
Hello, news flash, I barely deal with mine, and I ignore them 99% of the time. Now I have to care about some chick’s? Yeah right!
“Listen to her hopes and dreams.”
No one listened to mine, why should I give a fuck about hers? Next!
“Fulfill her every desire.”
Hmm… well... that might not be too bad.
But, the truth was, no one had prepared me for this feeling. It was bad enough that I had to endure her presence all afternoon during tea. I watched her cherry lips take hesitant sips of tea while her nose wrinkled slightly. The simple body language allowed me to understand her, and she clearly was not a fan of Earl Grey tea. However, neither was I, which told me that she was tough.
She finished her tea and never once showed her discomfort, which told me she was polite. Lastly, the tension was thick in the room, but she never acknowledged it, which told me she had a wall. If that wasn’t enough, she left first. Then Trevor walked Natalie to her car and allowed Mrs. Pierson a moment alone with me.
“She has had a hard life Damien; please be careful with her heart, for she still believes in true love.” She smiled and followed Trevor to the door.
In one sentence, Mrs. Pierson completely flipped my way of thinking. It had never occurred to me that there was a beautiful woman who believed in true love but had lived a hard life. She was truly someone to respect and admire, that was until I walked into the club.
The electricity spiked dangerously as soon as I saw her walk into Patron’s. Trevor was in the back with Tracy, doing only Lord knows what with his fling from the coast. I was having fun with Stephanie, her clueless, yet fuckable friend. She was talking some nonsense about the Kardashians, when I saw the dress Mylie was wearing. I became instantly erect. I wanted to butt in and give her my coat. However, the quartet went to the dance floor with the sexy blonde leading the way.
I watched them, just like all of the other men in the club. They looked hot, and I was wasting my time with Trevor and his duo of Dumb and Dumber. I turned back to Dumber AKA Stephanie, and she had a vacant look on her face. That’s when a very tall, muscular guy walked by us. He looked a lot like a Chris Hemsworth knockoff, with his long hair. I didn’t pay him much mind until I saw he was dancing with my girl!
What the fuck? Did I just say my girl?
I watched as he pressed his body against hers. She tensed for a just a moment before she started to dance with him. The situation had my blood boiling.
“So what do you do for a living?” Dumber popped her gum and was trying to make chit chat.
I needed to be polite, so I simply replied, “I’m a lawyer.”
“Oooh a lawyer!” she squealed like a pig, and I shuddered.
“Do you want to go back to my place?” she asked flirtatiously.
“No,” I replied, rather abruptly.
She looked deflated, like she had never heard the word no and wasn’t sure what to do.
“Don’t take it personally, but I’m just not interested,” I further elaborated.
She flinched, and I didn’t bother to stop to care that I had shattered her ego. I went to the dance floor and saw that Mylie had her body pressed against the wannabe. His mouth was near her ear, and she was gaping.
Oh hell no, she likes this douche?
She smiled at him, and it was enough for me. I walked behind her, and I was about to tap her shoulder when her friend bumped into me.
“Oops, sorry. I–,” she didn’t finish her sentence, and I knew exactly what I had to do.
“No problem at all. Hey, you want to dance?”
She nodded her head. She was cute, black hair and edible brown eyes. The up-tempo track finished and a reggaeton song came on. I pulled her closer feeling her double D’s against my chest.
“I don’t know how to dance to this?”
I smiled inwardly, knowing this could blow up in my face, but I didn’t care.
“I’ll show you.”
I guided her to turn around so that her nice ass was pressed against my groin, and I grinded against her. I had learned how to do this in college. There wasn’t anything more erotic than have a woman dancing against your dick. I held my head down and close to her face while we started to get into a good rhythm. If luck had it, it would look like we were having sex on the dance floor, and Mylie would feel what I was feeling. Just call me the green-eyed monster.
It was at that moment that the blonde came up behind me and started to grind against me from behind. So I wrapped my arm around the first girl’s waist and reached behind me to pull the blonde’s hip closer.
“God, you’re hot!” The brunette from the quartet stated from beside us. “Diana, you up to sharing with me and Rhonda at your place tonight? We haven’t had a three-way in a long time.”
What the fuck? Was she serious? Play it cool man.
I chided myself, but my dick instantly grew hard. The wide-eyed expression on girl number one was priceless. A smile crept up, but it was the twinkle in her eyes that told me she loved that I was hard. She gave the girls a thumbs up, and they ended up dancing with each other.
“Sorry about that, but I don’t like small dick guys, so you passed the test.”
Say what?
“Excuse me?” I heard what she said, but I couldn’t possibly be hearing her correctly.
“You have a good size dick, and I don’t want a boyfriend. But, I am looking for a fuck. You game?”
Was she serious? No, this is a test. There is no right answer here, just ignore the question. No, wait, then she will think I don’t listen. Wait… why do I care if she thinks I listen?
She started to laugh, and I knew I was right.<
br />
“If you are trying to make Mylie jealous, you are going to have to do better than that asshole.”
Oh, not her too. Wait… did she say jealous?
“What gave it away?”
“Oh the fact that you looked like a bull waiting to kill the matador,… and the fact that Mylie can’t stop staring at you.”
I quickly turned around and saw that my girl was kissing the douche.
Chapter Six
Mylie
What the hell was I doing? Why was I kissing Xavier? This was wrong!
I pulled away. The hunger in his eyes did not match my own. I felt terrible that I was using him. Lord help me, seeing the Asshole here was one thing but then seeing him dance with my best friends infuriated me!
“That was amazing!” he said huskily.
I cringed, this was wrong!
“Let’s get something to eat?” I nodded my head and texted my friends.
Group Message: Diana, Malory, Rhonda
Me: I’m going to the diner.
Diana: He’s hot! I’m coming too!
Rhonda: Delicious! Me too!
Malory: He’s doable. I am pooped; let’s get grub.
It was cardinal rule, we never went anywhere without each other. We had a motto and we stood by it: “Chicks before Dicks.”
We all left, but I couldn’t help but see that Diana was speaking to the Asshole. They were whispering into each other’s ears and laughing.
Breathe.
He had wrapped an arm around her waist and followed us to Five and Diner. We found a large booth that could fit six. I decided to go first, since being snug in the middle didn’t bother me. Xavier slid next to me, Malory slid after him, and Rhonda after her. While Diana and the Asshole slid in on the other side, him first, since she always used the restroom.
Wonderful. I was stuck between Xavier and the Asshole.
“So let’s go around and introduce ourselves, shall we?” Xavier said.
We all nodded.
“My name is Xavier Bane, and I run my family business.” He smiled, and his gorgeous dimples peeked out.
“Wait, are you the Xavier Bane, of Bane & Wright?” I asked nervously.
“What? You didn’t know his name before you decided to leave with him?” the Asshole snorted in disgust.
I gave him an icy glare, and everyone’s incredulous expressions confirmed that they couldn’t believe he had said it either.
“Look Asshole, I did know—you know what, why am I even explaining myself to you?” I turned around and saw that Xavier was glaring at the Asshole.
“Do you have a problem?” Xavier asked menacingly calm. Not good.
“As a matter of fact--,” he started to say, but Malory was quick to interject, “Mylie isn’t Bane & Wright the law firm you are interning at next year?”
She was smart and realized it nearly as quick as I did.
“Mylie? As in the Mylie Mier who scored a perfect score on the LSAT’s?” Xavier looked awed, but not as much as the Asshole.
“You’re going to be a lawyer?” the Asshole asked quietly, and all I could do was shake my head.
“I’m working on my Juris Doctorate, yes, but to become a professor. I felt interning would give me a good experience to tell my students. I am still debating though. Maybe you can teach me how to love the law?” I said flirtatiously to Xavier while running my finger down his chest. His eyes began to smolder with desire.
“You’re amazing!” Xavier whispered in my ear, and I smiled.
One could get accustomed to his attentions. He put a strong hand on my thigh and rubbed it slightly. The effect wasn’t lost on me, especially when I was momentarily transported into a memory of the final moments before the accident.
I remembered my parents were speaking, and my mother rubbed my father’s thigh lovingly while they shared a look of admiration and love. I could never forget that moment, which was exactly the reason why I’ve been waiting for true love. So, why couldn’t I feel anything? I sighed inwardly and put my head on Xavier’s shoulder. I could get used to this, right?
Our waitress Mavis came and took our orders. I’ve known Mavis for as long as I could remember, even when just visiting the coast, yet she never changed. She was a thin, petite woman who wore a blue and white uniform which was impeccably pressed.
Yet, it was her wrinkled face and dark brown eyes that always made me smile. I couldn’t help but smile, but whether it was the rouge on her cheeks that was applied too heavily, or the bright pink lipstick that was often caked on her yellowing teeth, I wasn’t certain. Then again it could be her lavender hair. She had started to go grey, but in her attempt to keep her hair black, as the color washed, it actually faded into hues of lavender. If that wasn’t enough, it could be the fact that she was so tan as if she were basting herself in butter.
“My’… mind coming with me to the rest room?” Diana asked, but something told me she wanted to talk.
“Sure,” I replied.
She slid out along with the Asshole. I was sliding but had trouble standing because the vinyl seat was stuck to my thighs. The Asshole politely offered his hand, and I begrudgingly accepted. The electricity tore through my body like wildfire.
There was no denying the truth. We had a connection, no matter how dysfunctional this was. I peered into his gorgeous eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat.
Yup, I’m totally screwed!
We walked through the diner; there was a group of men watching as we passed by. One in particular smelled of stale cigarettes and coffee. He had a scruffy, graying beard with greasy hair stuffed under a trucker hat, potbelly with stained white wife beater, and greasy, holey jeans.
As we approached the restroom door, I heard him blow a kiss. I turned around, and he had spread his thin lips to expose a toothless grin. I couldn’t fight the bile that rose in the back of my throat. We went into the fifties styled bathroom, decorated with subway tiles on the walls and peach paint. It reminded of the Peach Pit from 90210 reruns I used to watch.
“Isn’t he gorgeous?” Diana gushed, and I cringed.
“I guess.” I shrugged
“What? How can you not want to rip his clothes off?”
“What? Oh—,” I realized she was talking about Xavier and not the Asshole. My face was burning. “Yeah he is hot, and very sweet.”
Unlike someone else I know.
“Oh come off it Mylie, you were talking about James.”
Huh?
“Who?”
“Oh my Gosh! You have it so bad you are acting like you don’t even know his name.”
“Am not and that’s not his name.”
“Then what is it?” She propped her hands on her slim hips and tapped her pump.
“It’s ASSHOLE!” She flinched, and I immediately felt horrible.
“THE Asshole?” She gasped, but her eyes said something else entirely.
“You knew! You brought him here on purpose! How could you?” I yelled.
I was pacing, but the clicking of my stilettos was driving me mad. The nerve of the woman! It was one thing to play love doctor to the wonderful people of Pointe Hope, who were in denial that they really were, in fact, freaks. But now she was meddling in my life! I wouldn’t have it!
“Yes I knew, but I have a reason––,” she started to say, but I quickly cut her off.
“I don’t want to hear it. There is no excuse that you could possibly come up with that would make me forgive you for this! He hurt me! He made me feel ridiculed when he spoke of my parents and never apologized. He fought my brother, and after this afternoon, I can’t look at him in the face. Lastly, the son of bitch was a complete asshole to me at tea and then you bring him here! I finally had a chance to meet a decent guy whom I can’t focus on because I am distracted by the Asshole!” I raged.
My chest was heaving, and I stop pacing long enough to see that Diana looked beyond hurt. She had turned completely white with a wide eyed expression. I saw her eyes roll up in the back
of her head and she collapsed on the floor.
“FUCK!” I ran to her and checked her breathing. Dear God, what have I done? “Diana! Diana! HELP! HELP!” I was tapping her face frantically, trying to get her to react.
“What the fuck did you do now Mylie?” the Asshole yelled at me, shoving me on my ass.
Motherfucker! Oh no he didn’t!
“Fuck you, I didn’t do shit. She passed out.”
Rhonda and Malory came rushing in.
“Move Asshole, Malory is a nurse.”
She took over and started to give us directions to each of us. Rhonda called an ambulance, while Malory took care of Diana. I was shaking, pacing once I had regained my feet, and a complete mess until Xavier pulled me into his chest and rubbed my back soothingly. He whispered in my ear saying she would be okay, never leaving my side.
Yes, I could definitely get used to this.
Chapter Seven
Damien
We arrived at the hospital, and I knew I should be concerned about Diana, but I just couldn’t take my eyes off Mylie. The burning rage I felt wasn’t going to go away, at least not given the current situation. It sure as hell didn’t help matters that Mylie was holding onto the Thor wannabe, which just irritated the shit out of me.
He was soothing her while whispering in her ear in a calm, gentle voice, and she was eating it up. How did this get so fucked up? I wanted her to be happy. I had already come to the conclusion that I could never give her that, so why am I fighting so hard to spend time with her?
“Mylie, what happened?” a masculine voiced said out of nowhere.
A tall man, about my height, which was six foot two, came into the hospital with two football player sized men in suits. He looked disheveled from stress. He wore a neatly pressed navy suit coat with a striped baby blue button down shirt that was paired with faded blue jeans and brown cowboy boots. He held his ivory cowboy hat in his large hand while his green eyes searched the room for answers.
It was rapidly becoming apparent why he was here and how he felt. He was evidently very much in love with Diana. I watched as Xavier gave Mylie his leather coat and draped it over her slender shoulders. She smiled warmly at him, and I could see admiration her eyes. It wouldn’t be long before she fell in love with him. Then hunger she had for me would fade away, and I would be left with nothing more than the memory of the only woman I ever really wanted. She spoke quietly to the man who had arrived, and he strode across the sterile hospital. I needed to go. I got up, not saying a word, and went through the electric doors, walking towards my car.
