Choosing Her

by Jessika Klide

  There's a shout up from the crowd with the song. "FUCKERS!" Laughing, I reach for my crown and take a sip. The warm liquid feels good. There's another shout from the group who identifies themselves as Rednecks.

  I set the glass down and Aurei leans over to say in my ear. "Good girl. You've burned a lot of calories in the last 24 hours."

  I nod and kiss his cheek. The skin is soft yet firm. His beard is prickly. The scent of Aurei fill my nostrils and I nibble his skin unable to help myself. He turns his lips to mine and sucks my bottom lip. My tummy lurches and I'm turned on immediately. Tits hardening and pussy getting wet.

  What this man does to me! I reach for my drink again to distract myself.

  He grins, knowing what he does to me, watching me as I pick it up and sip it.

  Damn, you're a Fucking Fine Feast. A Hunk in every sense of the word!

  I sit my glass down and look for water, but I didn't order it. I know he will need more than our drink of crown when he's done so I tell him. "I'm really thirsty, do you mind if I go up to the bar while you finish and get us a couple bottles of water? We don't want to lose the table and Gaby is busy with drinks."

  "No, wait. I'll go." He offers and starts to rise.

  "Sit. Finish." I command and I put my hand on his shoulder, pushing him down. "I'll be fine. I do know my way around a bar." I bat my eyes lashes.

  "No. I'll go."

  "Suit yourself." I tell him with a smirk. My eyes twinkling. "I'll be perfectly comfortable here, sitting with Steve chit chatting about you while you are up there. He mentioned secrets."

  He takes a deep breath and sighs. "That is trickery, right there."

  "Could be." I laugh at him as I rise. "I'll go straight there and back."

  He nods. "I'm going to time you. Don't dance with anyone. Don't dance at all! You stand out like a fucking beaconing in that outfit, you know."

  "I know." I laugh. "No promises, but I'll really try hard." I give him a butterfly kiss, and suck his bottom lip as he takes my hand to his groin. "I feel ya neediness!" I tell him then take off straight across the dance floor, moving swiftly, dodging dancers like a dancer.

  Chapter Eight

  When I arrive at the bar, it is really crowded with people trying to maneuver drinks over and around the bodies of others. I decide the best way to get served is to wiggle my way up and slide in-between two girls. Pressing my body against them would be better than two men. I don't doubt Aurei will come after me if it takes me too long.

  As I wedge my way in, the girl on the left says to me. "Hey, aren't you the bitch with Aurei?"

  "Yes." I can't tell from her tone if she is hostile or only asking.

  This might not have been the best move.

  "Don, hit me with two shots of tequila." She looks at me. "What's your name?"

  "Siri."

  "Siri here is with Aurei." She points at me.

  Don nods. "One for Candy. One for Siri. Coming up." He pours them and shoves them our way without looking at us.

  Not wanting to be rude, I accept. "Thanks."

  She licks the back of her hand and dashes it with salt then holds it out to salt me. "Siri's a cool name. I'm Candy."

  "Nice to meet you, Candy." I lick mine. She pours, then we lick together, clink our glasses, throw the tequila back and bite a lime slice provided in a saucer.

  I think of Mac and smile. I'm glad she didn't ask to do body shots.

  "Gotta love a girl who stands up to ole Ruthless and leaves her speechless."

  The girl on the right looks at me. "You have really pretty blonde hair."

  "Thanks.

  "You're the girl that danced on the table, aren't you?"

  I laugh. "I'm not the only one who danced on a table."

  "No, but you're the only one that danced Britney on the table."

  "Yes, that was me."

  "That was incredible, bitch! It was like watching Britney live, you know?" She says to Don, the bartender. "Did you see her?"

  He shakes his head. "No, but I've been hearing it run up and down the bar here."

  "I'm Scarlet."

  "Siri."

  "Nice to meet you."

  "You too."

  Don asks. "What can I get for you, Siri?"

  "I'll take 4 bottles of water, please."

  He looks stunned at me.

  "Can I order water? Is that a problem?"

  "Yes, you can. No problem. Coming right up."

  I reach into my back pocket and pull out my credit card. I slide it to him. "Put their drinks on here too."

  Scarlet thanks me. "That's really sweet of you."

  Candy does too. "You're alright. Are you from around here?"

  "I grew up around here, but I left after high school."

  Don slides my 4 bottles of water along with my credit card back to me. "I thought Jess and Gaby was pulling one over on me when they said you were here."

  I smile. "Yeah, I'm here … with Aurei."

  "Aurei? … figures. Enjoy the rest of the evening with us. Let us know if you need anything."

  "Thanks. I will."

  Turning with the bottles of water in my arms, I find there is a crew of about 10 girls standing right behind me, crowding the bar. "Excuse me." I say trying to wedge between them. Several girls move back allowing me to I slide in-between them, then no one moves and I find myself surrounded.

  "So, you're the girl here with Aurei?"

  I take a deep breath. I'm going to have words with him when I get back to the table. He should have warned me about the extra attention coming here with him was going to bring.

  "Have you danced with him yet?"

  "Pardon me?"

  "Have you danced with him yet?"

  "Is she the contender?"

  "I danced 'Wild, Wild Love' earlier with him."

  "She's the contender."

  "That doesn't count." One of the girls behind me says.

  "Are you here with Aurei or not?" The girl directly in front of me ask.

  "Yes, I am here with Aurei."

  "Damn it. It's true! She is here with him."

  "Darn it! Look at her. She's already won."

  "Well?" The girl directly in front asks. "Have you?"

  "Have I what?"

  "Have you won?"

  "Won what? If you want to know if I've touched Mr. Untouchable, the answer is yes."

  She turns around and announces loudly. "Ladies, spread the word. Aurei is off the market."

  "Gawd-dammit! I need a drink after hearing that."

  "I tell you what. I'll buy you all drinks." I turn back to the bar and magically the crowd parts for me.

  Free drinks always makes everyone happy.

  When I tell Don, he grins. "You got it!"

  "Thanks. You're all right." Several girls tell me as I pass them.

  The path through the crew is clear and I maneuver through the tables back to the dance floor. Then I dance my way back through the dancers. When I get close, I can see our table between couples gyrating to Lady Gaga's, "Edge Of Glory" and what I see makes me angry. Stopping shy of coming in full view, I watch through the green eyes of jealousy. The bitch, Ruth, is sitting on the table right in front of Aurei. I can see she is talking and her body language says it's seductive by the way she swings her hair. She's flirting, but I’m too far away to read her lips. He must be saying something back to her because she wags her finger at him then points to herself.

  If she touches him, I'm gonna open a big can of whoop ass on her and she'll find out what the name ruthless bitch really means.

  She continues to talk and he listens. Occasionally, I see his head move or shake.

  They are having a conversation. The table is cleared so Gaby has been back. Both Steve and Paul have returned. Their faces look uncomfortable that Ruth is there. She has the same crew of girls hanging out on the dance floor.

  I remember her words from the line tonight. 'Or maybe more, like old times.'

  I stiffen. They could have had a thi
ng together. Shit!

  I feel my heart fall to my gut. Is she one of his secrets? She obviously still has feelings for him. 'Like old times.'

  A vision of Aurei fucking her comes into focus and I suddenly feel sick to my stomach. Then I remember that he told me. He hasn't fucked anyone here in years. Then, that means when he fucked her, he was young. A vision of a young 16 year old Aurei with raging hormones comes into view. My stomach pain eases.

  Well, you had your shot Ruthless and you lost him. If you are waiting on him to return, you'll die a bitter old maid. He's my man now.

  I take a step toward the table to defend him when I see her place her foot over his legs. She starts to scoot her butt off the table to straddle him when a couple pauses in front of me, dancing and grinding. A vision of her straddling his lap flashes across my mind and a red rage burns in my eyes. The grinding couple moves and I see Aurei sitting straight in the chair with his arm out blocking her. She laughs at him as she tries to swats his hand away and sit in his lap. He stands up abruptly, pushing the chair back hard. So does Steve and Paul.

  What the fuck is happening?

  She reaches out to touch him again. Steve and Paul both take a step around the table. Aurei snatches the chair out of the way, out of her reach.

  Fuck! He's angry.

  I shudder knowing this could get really bad, really quick, but he backs away from her. Steve and Paul stop, watching him retreat. He spins around and walks straight at me.

  Fuck! He is looking for me! I twirl around and dance my retreat to the edge of the dance floor by the bar. I don't want him to know I saw that.

  Chapter Nine

  I spot him weaving in and out of the dancers. "The Edge of Glory" ends and the gyrating stops, making it easier for Aurei to maneuver to me.

  He is frowning.

  As soon as he sees me, I give him a big smile, roll my eyes and blow a pretend strand of hair out of my face. He visibly relaxes and laughs at my dramatics. All jealously and rage leave me. I can see from his smiling face that he is mine. No need to worry about the bitch left overs. They are left and over. We have Forever.

  When he arrives, I tell him. "Aurelius, you're my hero! Here."

  The dance floor goes dark as "Boom Clap" by Charli XCX starts to play.

  Strobe lights! Nice!

  I thrust my tits at Aurei for him to take the bottles. The crowd shouts "Boom Clap" and sings with the song. I start to giggle because Aurei is grinning wickedly at me as he squeezes my tits behind the water bottles. I watch his beautiful face change expressions as the strobe light highlights his halo, his bright, emerald green eyes and his straight white teeth. When the song ends and the low lights are back on, he actually takes the water from me. While we walk back together laughing, "Far Away" by Nickelback plays.

  When the table comes in view what I see makes me angry all over again. A bad taste comes into my mouth. Ruth is still sitting there, watching the dance floor. Waiting for Aurei to return, no doubt. Steve and Paul are sitting silently, watching for Aurei too.

  When Aurei spots her, he swears. "Damn!" He doesn't slow down. He advances on her while I stop on the edge of the dance floor trying to decide how I will handle this.

  Will I be able to make her leave without a fight? Or will we have a cat fight right now?

  Ruth has eyes only for him. "Aurei, I requested this song for you. It's fitting, don't you think?"

  He stops shy of the chair she has her feet on. "Ruth, for the last damn time, nothing happened between us. Nothing. You've been lying to those girls so long you are actually starting to believe it too." He turns to say something to me, only to find I’m not there; I stopped short.

  My stomach slides down to my tummy as I look at his frowning face. He is disappointed I'm not with him. His look puts my feet in action.

  Strutting up, I pull away the chair her feet are resting on and place it in front of him, blocking him from the table. Then I take two bottles of water from his arms and turn to face her. Her feet dangle as I step up to stand directly in front of her and stare her cold, blue eyes down again.

  I am unafraid, Bitch! Get used to it.

  I lean around her, brushing her body as I hand Steve and Paul the two bottles of water.

  Ruth slides off the table to avoid contact with me.

  I smile and wink at them. I got this boys.

  They smile, take the bottles and lean back in their chairs to watch the show. I hear Aurei chuckle behind me.

  As I stand to face her again, she spits. "Look what the cat drug in."

  I place my hands on my hips and out southern sass her. "Fucking hell, boys! Look what the dog dug up!"

  Steve and Paul spit water while Aurei laughs out loud.

  I tell her, "Take a hint, Baby Ruth! Scat!"

  She makes a skank face at me, then looks at Aurei.

  He tells her too. "Take a hike, Ruth."

  She crosses her arms, gives me a go to hell look, fails to fling her hair, and stomps off back to her crew. They follow her off, fading away into the dancers on the floor as Bad Meets Evil, "Lighters" starts.

  Aurei opens a water and hands it to me, then opens one for himself. We clink them then turn them up. When I lower mine, I ask him. "What did she want besides you?"

  "Nothing. Don't worry about it. Nothing has ever happened between us. Any claim of more than polite conversation is all in her mind."

  "She's a stalker then?" I ask for clarification as he sits back down in the chair. I lean on the table, waiting for his answer.

  "Yes!" Steve volunteers behind me.

  "That's a strong.…" Aurei looks at Steve, then to me. "That’s not a word I would have chosen." Then he clams up.

  I cross my arms, raise an eyebrow at him, then turn on Steve. "Spill it."

  Steve takes a breath, but Aurei answers behind me. "She made up a story graduation night when I found her passed out in the back of my truck…."

  Paul finishes for him. " With her precious pussy pounded."

  I turn and look at him now.

  He shrugs. "It was consensual and she was digging it. But she was really drunk and passed out right after I finished, so I left her there to sleep it off."

  Steve adds. "Aurei and I decided not to move her; to just take her home, so we dropped her off in the gazebo in her front yard. Her dad’s a religious, looney, nut job. Her sister must have seen his truck leaving."

  I look at Aurei. "So, she thinks you were the pounder?"

  Paul answers again. "Yes, the next day she told everyone she and Aurei were a couple. When I confessed, she played it off that I was covering for him."

  "Didn't they believe you?" I ask Aurei.

  He shakes his head. "I didn’t know anything about it. I left the next morning for basic training."

  "Nine months later." Paul says.

  Stunned, I interrupt him. "Is there a kid?"

  "No! I don’t fuck without cover!"

  Steve takes up the tale. "That would have been easy to disprove. As it is, it's her word against all of ours."

  I look right at him and narrow my eyes. "That was six years ago. Why would she keep a lie going for six years?"

  Steve hesitates and cuts his eyes at Aurei. I step between their eyesight and stare Steve down, knowing he’s the weak link in the bunch. "Spill it."

  "Aurei’s still the top dawg of eligible bachelors around here. She knows if she plays the main bitch, no one else stands a chance and she believes he will eventually come to her."

  "So, she's delusional too." It’s a statement, but Paul answers.

  "Yes! And she and her crew are the epitome of Mean Girls."

  Aurei’s heard enough and says with finality. "Y’all make her sound likes she’s deranged. It's been all harmless, school yard, bully intimidation. It’s childish shit, Siri, like what she tried on you earlier. I try to ignore her, and the rest of them."

  "The rest of them? Aurei! I ran into another crew of girls upset at the bar that I was here with you tonight. How many s
talkers are there?"

  Steve answers. "I believe she's the only serious one."

  Aurei smirks at Steve. "The psychologist over there has all the fucking answers."

  Paul laughs and claps Steve on the back. "Yep. Dr. Phil’s double."

  The DJ spins Katy Perry and she starts to sing "Dark Horse."

  I stand up and firmly tell Aurei. "Come on."

  He narrows his eyes, smelling trickery, and doesn't move. "Why?"

  I walk past him a few steps toward the dance floor, then turn and face him. "I want you to kiss me, right there, in front of everyone." I point to the middle of the dance floor. "If there is any one who hasn't heard I'm here with you, they'll hear. If there is any doubt in anyone's mind that you brought me, it will be cleared up. If there's another stalker or any one else with delusions floating around here, they'll surface. Do you have a problem with that?"

  He smirks and slides back in his seat. "A kiss? No, Wild Thang, I'm not bashful. I can kiss you right there." He stands up and I hold my hand out for him to take. He cinches us tight and we walk onto the dance floor.

  Chapter Ten

  As we make our way to the middle, Mike, the DJ, sees us and turns on the spotlights. They circle around the dancers, then stop on us. I stop, letting it illuminate us.

  I put my hand on Aurei's chest and mouth. "Stay!"

  He rolls his eyes. "This is more than a kiss, isn't it?"

  "We have to make sure we have everyones attention." I smirk.

  "You can't help yourself."

  I grin. "No true dancer wastes a good song." And with that, I begin to dance to the last two minutes in full on song interpretation. Pulling Aurei's hand out, I poke it, with the lyrics, then spin around. Backing my ass up to him, I ask if he wants to play with me, magic. I twirl around and around as I spin around his body.

  He stands stoic.

  I have no idea what he is thinking. Probably drama queen, but music and dance speak to everyone. This is the best way to make a statement. An open kiss.

  I slink away from him and become Magic. I wag my finger that there ain't no going back. When Juicy J raps, I rap attitude with him and Aurei shows a hint of a smirk. Then… I'm Magic again and tight rope walk up to him as the song ends.