by Holly Hood
“Not many people do,” I say back.
“Some people do.” He lifts his chin. “I’m sure that’s what you thought about that boyfriend of yours with all the tattoos.”
“Honestly I hated his tattoos the first time I met him.” I was frightened by him the first time we met. He was covered in tattoos and swinging a bat, what girl wouldn’t be?
“I never took you for a rebel,” Charlie says.
I wonder what he took me for but I don’t ask. I don’t like thinking about the time when I kissed him and made a complete fool out of myself. When I look back up I can tell he thinks the same thing. I raise an eyebrow daring him to say something. He grins and tips his head to the side.
“Have you ever played beer pong?”
I take another sip of my beer. “Once or twice, I’m not as prudish as you seem to think I am.” And I am also a witch and have an idea.
“I am a legend round these parts,” he tells me laying it on thick.
I roll my eyes. “I promise you I will win.”
“Are you willing to bet on it?” He grins, showcasing his beautiful teeth. “Or are you afraid?”
I scoff. “Never afraid.”
He leans in, swiping my hair away from my cheek. I think he is flirting with me. “There are no marshmallows around.”
I swallow. “You think you’re big shit.”
He nods. “For every ball I sink you remove part of that pretty little outfit and plant those sweet little lips on mine for a do over.”
He has got to be kidding. I agree anyways because I know there is no way I can lose.
“Fine.” I shake my head. Karsen is back and by my side and out of the loop. “Karsen plays too.”
Charlie shrugs. “Fine by me, I’ve always wanted to see her naked too.”
“Excuse me?” Karsen glares at Charlie.
“Beer pong. Loser strips naked.” I inform her.
John Radcom parts the crowd joining us. “I’m game. I’ve been known to sink a few shots.”
Charlie shows his hands. “Let’s do this.”
Karsen and I move to one side of the table and prepare to play. Charlie collects the balls and sets up the cups. The crowd grows. People love to see nudity.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Karsen says. “I am not wearing good underwear. And Matilda is a little under the weather.”
I furrow my brow. “Matilda?”
“Yes.” She shakes her head. “My vagina has a name.”
“Yeah,” I say smirking. “An old lady name.”
She swipes my beer out of my hand and downs it in a few long pulls. “She’s wise beyond her years, bitch.”
“Alright,” Charlie says. “The rules are simple. For every ball I sink you two take off an article of clothing.”
I catch the ball he throws at me. “And every ball we sink you take off your clothes and kiss John Redcorn’s feet.”
Charlie starts toward his place at the table and stops. “Are you kidding me?” A grin crawls up Karsen’s face and she’s in.
“Not at all.” I roll the ball between my fingers. “You’re not backing out are you?”
Charlie wags his fingers summoning one of the guys from the crowd. “Hold my beer while I make a fool of these two.”
He stretches and flexes, making an even bigger ass of himself.
“I feel sorry for these two, they don’t know who they are up against,” Karsen says, taking the spot next to me.
We both wait and watch as Charlie takes his turn. He throws the ball flicking his wrist and it lands in a cup. The crowd claps and cheers him on.
He looks at us and smiles. “Take your pick ladies.”
Karsen bends down and removes her red heel and chucks it at Radcom. “Lucky shot.”
Radcom steps forward, Karsen’s shoe in hand. He trails his fingers along the heel and places it at the end of the table while he takes his turn. He shoots, letting the little white ball fly through the air, seconds later he high fives Charlie.
I roll my eyes. And kick off my shoes.
“I swear if I end up naked I am going to be pissed,” she hisses in my ear. “What are you doing?”
I concentrate on the cups at the end of the table and ignore Karsen. I pretend I am trying my best and let it go. It falls short rolling across the table until I focus in and have it back in the air and into a cup. Karsen pumps her fist and watches the boys take off their belts. “That was close, I almost thought I wasn’t going to make it.”
Charlie’s head shakes and he takes his spot. He lets go letting the ball sail through the air. I force it to the left, watching it hit the ground and skitter away amongst the crowd.
“Oh man,” Karsen says. “Take it off, Charlie, you too Redcorn.”
“Radcom,” I say, tossing her the ball.
“I’m going to do this one with my eyes closed,” Karsen says.
I press my lips together watching Karsen. This is a lot tougher than it looks and she is not helping me pull it off.
I let it land for the goal and look over at Charlie and Radcom. Their mouths hang open . Charlie undoes his shorts and drops them.
“Come on Radcom,” Charlie says. “Off with the Mom jeans.”
Radcom hurries to undo the button of his jeans and shakes them off one foot at a time. Some people behind him start laughing.
“Nice speedo,” Karsen says, shaking her head. “What the hell was I thinking?”
I shrug. I don’t enjoy looking at Radcom’s crotch but I force myself to push on. I squeeze the ball, concentrating on my next move and look at Charlie. He’s waiting, not moving a single muscle as he waits for my next move. I think he’s nervous.
Some of the drunken college guys start cheering me on. I feel like a rock star. I position myself and let it go, the only sound in the entire barn is the small plink plink plink of the ball as it jumps across the table.
The drunken college guys throw up their hands and high five us when I sink it.
Charlie’s eyes darken as he grabs the collar of his shirt and tugs it over his head. He has on an undershirt. And I am sure he is relieved.
I flash my pearly whites to the crowd. I never thought coming back to Georgia and manhandling Charlie Knight in front of all of his friends would feel so good but it does.
Charlie goes for it and I make sure he doesn’t make it, clapping my hands and jumping up and down with Karsen celebrating.
“Come on Radcom,” I shout. “Show me what you got.”
Karsen giggles. “I like this side of Hope.” We both watch Radcom, he licks his lips and wipes at his forehead with his forearm. He’s nervous and I love it. I squint, watching his fingers, watching his every move.
And he releases, and sinks it.
“Shit,” I say out loud. That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Karsen crosses her arms staring at the table her mouth hanging open. She only has a dress on.
“Take it off!” Charlie yells, clapping his stupid little hands. He slaps Radcom on the back, watching us, waiting for us to give in.
I swallow. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Let me help you,” Charlie says, his lips brushing against my hair. He tugs down the zipper on my skirt. “Don’t count me out just yet.”
He smirks, making it back around the table. I suck it up and stepped out of my skirt leaving it beside me on the floor.
“Nice panties,” Charlie says. “Black is mysterious.”
I ignore him ogling my lacy underwear and worry about the game. Karsen chucks her dress at me and grabs the ping pong ball out of my hand. “My turn, and you better make this sink.”
She goes for it and Charlie cheers her on when it misses, he snags it before it hits the floor loving every minute of our downfall.
I prepare to take my turn, struggling to keep my cool. I know if I don’t make this I am giving them two more chances to get us naked. Two more chances for him to think I would be stupid enough to kiss him.
I feel sick. I
back down from the table and sigh.
“Someone looks nervous,” Charlie says. “What’s the matter? Are you afraid you’re going to lose?”
“No.” Slade steps forward. “A bets a bet. Right, Hope?”
Karsen’s jaw drops when Kidd takes the spot next to Slade.
Kidd grins, looking her up and down. “Looking hot, sex kitten.”
John Radcom cocks his head to the side. “Who is this guy?”
Karsen raises an eyebrow. “This guy?” She walks over to Kidd and wraps her arms around his neck and looks over at Radcom. “This is my man.”
“Her fucking fiancé,” Kidd corrects.
Karsen shakes her head. “Yes, my fucking fiancé.”
Kidd slaps her ass and kisses her on the lips.
I take my place and look at Slade. He smirks watching me. I can’t tell if he is amused I am standing there in my underwear or if he knows what I am up to.
I focus and throw, and miss. Karsen groans.
Charlie throws and sinks it. This whole god damn night is falling apart.
“Well damn,” Kidd says. “I say take off the bra.”
Karsen whips around and glares at Kidd. “We weren’t supposed to lose. And we all know why.”
Everyone watches as Karsen unhooks her bra. She tosses it on the ground and waits for the next move. I take off my top and drop it.
Radcom gets ready to take his turn, he can’t take his eyes off of Karsen’s tits and it’s pretty funny. I might not need magic to make him miss his shot.
I look at Slade and he smirks, arms crossed.
He raises an eyebrow when I hesitate to take my turn. I know what he thinks. He isn’t going to let me give up. Even if it means I make a fool out of myself.
Radcom takes the shot and we all wait, the ball bounces once, twice and I use every trick I have in my arsenal to send it far away from the cups.
“Yes!” Charlie shouts, slapping Radcom on the back. “This is incredible.”
Charlie rounds the table. “Pay up.” He points to Karsen and then me. I’m not sure if I would rather show Charlie my tits or my ass. But the way things are going I am pretty sure he will see all of it tonight.
I decide on my ass. At least when I am throwing balls he won’t be looking at it. I slide my thumbs down the front of my underwear and pray to the gods I don’t regret this more than I already do.
That’s when Slade stops me. Charlie frowns. “What the heck?”
Slade shakes his head. “Not going to happen.”
“A bets a bet.” Charlie crosses his arms. “Everything was going great until you two showed up.”
Kidd grabs Karsen’s clothes from the ground. “Did you really think we would stand here and let them give you what you wanted?”
Charlie sighs, he takes his beer back from his friend. “I’d be mad too if my girlfriend volunteered to play with me.”
Slade laughs. “You haven’t seen mad. This isn’t mad.” He steps forward. I get in between the two of them before Slade does something he can’t take back.
“It’s done.” I push into him, trying to take his focus off of Charlie. He flexes his jaw staring Charlie down.
“I would love to smash that pretty little face up of yours,” Slade says.
“Oh I bet.” Charlie hands over his beer. “Well, I’m right here.” He extends his arms, daring him to take a shot.
I shove Slade again, his muscles tense, his fist balled. “Let’s just go. Let’s get out of here and go back to the hotel.”
Charlie tosses his stupid little hat on the ground.
“Are you some kind of psychopath?” I hiss. I am trying to get Slade out of here and he wants to keep egging him on.
“You haven’t been home for two weeks and the town is buzzing with all kind of fun facts about you.” Charlie crosses his arms.
I get Slade’s attention and move him further into the crowd. Karsen and Kidd follow us. And Charlie keeps right on talking.
“I’ve heard some stories about you.”
God, I wish he would shut up.
“You were in Cherry when that pastor was murdered. And judging by the looks of your boyfriend I wouldn’t be surprised if he had something to do with it.”
I shove Slade again, his anger is back. And I need to get him away.
“Is that why you’re here? Are you running away from what you did?”
I shake my head staring him down. What I would give to not know the truth when everyone else around me has no idea.
7
Once Slade is in the hotel room and has the door locked he throws down the keys to his car and stomps across the room slamming the bathroom door behind him.
I stand up, any sense of drunkenness is long gone now I am out of the barn and back on neutral ground. I run my fingers through my hair trying to control the mess. I can’t believe I was almost brought to my knees by Charlie Knight again.
Just as I am about to scold myself Slade opens the bathroom door, he’s frowning at me and I don’t like it.
I cross my arms refusing to admit what an asshole I have been for the whole beer pong fiasco. I’m not sure if me being an asshole is the problem. With our history it could be a number of things.
I take off my heels and drop them at the foot of his bed.
“That was really fucking stupid,” he informs me. “Really stupid.”
I drop down on his bed and look away. “How did I know you were going to tell me that?”
“Because you know what you did was stupid too,” he says. “What were you thinking?”
“I wasn’t.” I was only worried about showing myself, getting a rise out of Charlie and redeeming my youth. Somewhere in my messed up mind I did believe I would feel better. But of course now I feel worse.
He unbuckles his belt. “How would you feel if you walked into some party and you found me half naked in front of god and everybody?”
I don’t answer. I do know how I would feel and that’s the reason I don’t answer.
“That guy wants to get in your pants. And the fact you are willing to throw yourself right in front of him really pisses me off,” he kicks off his jeans and tears his shirt over his head.
“Since when are you jealous?” I never saw him this upset when Hutch was prowling around me. But once we head to Georgia he starts showing his jealous side, it’s weird.
Now I feel bad. “That was never my plan to throw myself at him.”
Slade throws back the covers and climbs into the bed. “You think you can control yourself. You’re always running around abusing what power you do have and it ends up backfiring every time.”
I scoff, I guess if I am not making underwear or tattoos my powers should remain hidden. What the hell is the point of being a witch if I can’t have a little fun once in a while?
“I took control of the whole thing back there. That’s why everything screwed up,” Slade says.
I raise an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“The bet, I made you screw it up because I wanted to teach your ass a lesson,” he smirks. “And it was funny for the first couple of minutes.”
I pull away when his fingers try to brush the hair from my eyes. “You’re an asshole.”
“And you’re irresponsible.” He kisses my lips. “We found a gig by the way.”
I cozy up beside him and work my way into his arms. “That’s good.”
“It’s a little ways out so we have to head out early,” he informs me. “But I want you to be there.”
“Of course I’m going to be there,” I promise him.
“Just making sure, I didn’t know if you and Charlie wise ass were going to have another play date.”
I laugh sitting up, and climb on top of him. “Oh you’re so funny.” I press my hands down on his chest and look into his eyes. “I’m sorry.”
He strokes my arms, moving up and down the length of them. “I know you are.”
I lean down and kiss him, putting all I have into it, I w
ant him to know how sorry I am. And when his hand cups the back of my head and I feel him between my legs I know I’ve done my job. Instead of letting our lips continue I slide down. I owe him something for putting up with me.
I pull him free from the covers and tug down his boxer briefs, he springs free and right away I am happy to see him.
“What are you doing?” Slade ask, but before I give him an answer I go for it.
I don’t know what I am doing and I hope I do it right. I open wide and take as much of him as I can in, until it hits the back of my throat. A deep growl escapes him, I must be doing something right.
I suck and pull all the way to the tip, working my mouth around the length of him. I use my tongue to explore every inch of him, this is a new experience for me and I’m enjoying it.
I keep one hand around it while the other one travels above. I run a hand up his abdominal muscle enjoying the way they clench with every movement I make. My mouth travels down. I swirl my head around and around. He bucks his hips guiding himself in and out of my mouth. And I just go with it, doing everything I can to help him along, to make him feel better, to prove to myself I am capable of doing something I have never done before.
And then he stops me.
“What?” I ask, wiping at my mouth. Maybe I was wrong and he didn’t enjoy it.
He tackles me down on the bed and I am out of my underwear before I know what the hell happened. He slams into me.
God, this is better than I expected it would be. I didn’t bite it off and from the way things seem to be going he is turned on.
He presses my hands deep into the mattress, and leans in, I think it’s for a kiss but instead his teeth nip my neck. I groan lifting my chin for him to do it again. And he does.
I beg for his lips and he gives in, our mouths colliding in a sinister dance. He moves quicker, torturing me with every pleasurable impact. I can feel myself ready to go, but I don’t want to.
He secures his mouth around one of my nipples teasing it with his tongue. This pushes me further and I don’t want any of it to stop.
I grit my teeth fighting the orgasm threatening to take over and he slows down. Long enough for me to pull it together and then he takes control again thrusting quicker and harder.
