by Jordan Marie
“Love. Isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is all about?” she asks, as if daring me to correct her.
“Your old man doesn’t keep you under enough control,” I grumble.
“I kind of like her out of control,” Crusher jokes, and he’s rewarded by Dani kissing him.
“Gross!” Matty grumbles, watching them kiss.
“You don’t say it’s gross when you’re trying to kiss Chloe,” Skye reminds him. “Chloe is a girl in Matty’s class he’s sweet on,” she explains to the rest of us.
“Yeah, but mom…you guys are old! You aren’t supposed to kiss.”
“What are we supposed to do?” Bull asks.
Skye is draped across the arm of his chair. Bull has Jazz cuddled on his chest, and his other arm is wrapped around Skye, with his hand firmly planted on her ass.
There are so many reasons I really like Skye, but the best one is that she has my brother completely wrapped around her finger. Which is good—more than good. It keeps his ass away from Carrie.
“I don’t know. Mom’s bake cookies and things, and dad’s lay around watching television and burping. Sometimes they scratch their balls,” he shrugs.
“Matthew!” Skye cries, her face glowing red.
“Jesus Christ,” Bull mumbles, kissing Skye’s shoulder.
“You and Skye live a party life for sure there, brother,” Crusher says, laughing his ass off.
“Damn, Bull. You need to get to the doctor. Shit, maybe find some of those little blue pills,” Dragon tells him.
“Dragon!” Nicole whispers.
“What Mama? I’m just trying to help.”
“Fu…”
“Bull!” Skye yells, putting her hand over his mouth. He gently grabs her hand, kissing her fingers, and even sucking on the tips before giving her a wink.
“Screw you, Dragon,” he says, but his eyes are totally on his woman. “Me and Doc get along just fine,” he adds, his voice dropping down. “Ain’t that right, Doc?”
“That’s right, honey,” she says quietly, and for a second, it’s like they’re in their own world.
“You can take Carrie out, Mama. Me and the boys got plans anyways.”
“We do?” I growl, not wanting Carrie out of my sight.
“Yeah, asshole. We got things to do.”
Dragon’s right. There are things I want to make sure get done, so that everything is perfect for tomorrow. I had planned on doing it after Carrie fell asleep later tonight. Seems like I’m being outvoted though, and I don’t like it, not one bit. Anything could happen to them.
“I’ll go with them,” I decide, fear of something happening to Carrie without me runs through my blood. I need to be there to protect her—keep her safe.
“It’s a girl’s night doofus, no men allowed,” Dani says, and if I didn’t like her, I could hate her.
“He’s right, Hellcat. You need someone to make sure you women don’t get into trouble.”
“Get over yourself, Zander,” Dani responds, rolling her eyes.
“That’s why I’m going,” he interrupts.
“You’re going with us to a strip joint?”
“What’s a ‘trip joint?” Jazz asks.
“It’s—”
“It’s where people go and there’s a show. You know, like when Mommy and Daddy took you to watch Princess Elsa on Ice,” Carrie interrupts me.
“I wanna go!” Jazz yells excitedly.
“Well done, Care Bear.”
“I panicked!” she grumbles, elbowing me.
“I’m sorry baby, you can only go if you’re older,” she tells Jazz.
“Yeah Jazz, and you don’t have balls to scratch, and you never bake cookies,” Matty adds helpfully.
“Zander, I don’t want you to go—”
“Too bad. I promise to only look at the dancers when I have to,” he vows over every one of us laughing at Matty. He gets up and carefully stands Dani on the floor.
“If you look too closely, I’m going to be worried. They’re all male.”
“Motherfucker!”
“Zander!” The women all cry as the rest of us men only laugh. Carrie leans into me and kisses me along the side of my face, leaning up to whisper in my ear.
“I don’t want to go.”
“I don’t want you to either, Care Bear. But I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back.”
“I love you, Jacob.”
“I love you. I’ve always loved you, Carrie. I always will,” I tell her, and I notice immediately when the tears form in her eyes. She stops my words with her lips. She kisses me gently, but with so much emotion I feel it from the top of my head to the soles of my feet. Love. Carrie gives me that.
Unconditional love.
5
Carrie
“Drink up, carrot top!” Dani yells over the music. We’re at a private table at one of the premiere male strip clubs in Knoxville. It’s not my thing. It’s apparently a Magic Mike revue and the men are hot—some hotter than hot, but not a single one of them could live up to my Jacob.
“I’m already over my limit,” I tell her, honestly. She probably knows that because my words definitely came out a little slurred.
“Nonsense. There is no limit. Zander here is our driver. We can all get plastered!” Dani laughs, and Nicole and Skye each hold out their glasses expectantly. I raise my glass…did someone fill it up again? I join them in a group of cheers as we clink glasses.
“How do you like the show, Crusher?” Skye asks sweetly.
“Bite me, Skye,” he grumbles. He’s the only man in the place… well the only straight man. That causes the rest of us girls to cackle.
“Ladies and Gentlemen the dancers are going to go on a brief intermission.”
The room erupts with boo’s and no’s. I can’t be sure, but I think a majority of them are coming from our table. Some of them even came from me, and I have no idea why. I look at the glass in my hand. How did it get empty? I set it down on the table, thinking I really need to order water next time. Before I can do much more than finish the thought however, a waiter appears and replaces my drink like magic. Magic! I wonder if I ask for a million dollars if it will just appear too.
“We’re going to do some special games tonight for women’s night while the dancers are taking a break. Do we have any volunteers?” the man on the stage announces. I know for a fact that I am not volunteering. What kind of games do they play in a strip joint? I know I’m sheltered, but this can’t be normal.
“Right here!” Dani screams, and it seems just like her to want to be on the stage. I start to laugh…until I look at her and see she’s pointing...right at me.
Oh crap.
6
Dancer
“Fuck dude, I’d do anything for you. You get that, that’s for real. But motherfucker, if you ever tell anyone I tied bows for your wedding, I’ll gut you,” Dragon complains.
“You’re really good at it,” my mom says, patting him on the shoulder.
“Thanks, Mary,” Dragon says gruffly, but as soon as she turns away, he flips me off.
“I’d think that’s something lil’ mama would appreciate. You could help her decorate for birthday parties and shit,” Bull adds in.
“I should’ve killed you when you first started calling my woman that.”
“Jesus, you and Dance are fun. So fucking easy to annoy,” Bull laughs. He’s helping me arrange the archway at the end of the aisle we’ve made. We lined it with a silk, pale ivory runner, and even I must admit it’s beginning to resemble something Carrie would love. The archway is adorned with Carrie’s favorite daisies in pinks and whites. Not my bottle of whiskey, but then this is all for Carrie. I’m giving her the wedding of her dreams. She’s not expecting it. It’s isn’t something she’s ever asked for, but it is what she deserves.
“You know what they say about poking a bear,” I grumble at Bull, as we finally get the archway in place.
“Yeah, it’s fucking fun,” Bull grins
while Dragon and I shoot him dirty looks. It doesn’t matter if we complain. Fucker will keep on doing what he does, because he can. Besides, it’s not like we don’t know he’s crazy over his old lady, it’s just the principal of the matter.
“What do you think, Mom?” I ask Mary. She looks up from the tables she’s been decorating and happiness is glittering in her eyes. She loves Carrie, she wants this wedding almost as much as I do. Carrie’s mine. There’s nothing left to prove the fact. She’s mine completely. But, this wedding will finally seal the deal. This time tomorrow, she will be Carolina Grace Blake. Knowing she will have the same last name as me and our daughter is like something clicking into place. Something I didn’t even realize we were missing.
“It’s beautiful son. Carrie will love it,” she says, giving her approval.
“You think?” I ask, still worried I’m going about this all wrong. Maybe I should have told her. What if she doesn’t want to marry me…shit. Mom must pick up on my nerves because she comes over and hugs me. Mary might not have been my real mother, but she took me in when I was alone with nowhere to go. She provided me with a family. She loved me, and I never once doubted that—even when I was a fucking ass and cut her out of my life. More than any of that though, she took care of Carrie when I wasn’t able. I’ve only trusted two women in my life—her and Carrie, and I’m humble these women want me in their life.
“Son, Carrie has loved you since she was five years old. The fact that you’re planning a wedding for her would make her happy even without all these special touches you’re throwing in. She will be over the moon. I promise.”
“So, we’re done?”
“I think so,” Mary agrees.
“Well, the kids are all asleep and Mary says she’s got them. So, what are we doing now?” Bull asks.
I look at Dragon and maybe it’s from years of working together, who knows, but I know what’s coming out of his mouth next, and I whole-heartedly agree.
“I say we crash the party,” he says.
“You know where they are?”
“Yeah, Crusher texted a little bit ago,” Dragon answers Bull.
“Then let’s get the fuck out of here. Thanks, Mom,” I tell Mary, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.
“Love you, son,” she whispers. And that fullness in my heart blooms. Everything feels…good.
I know without even acknowledging out loud what causes that.
Carrie. She’s everything good.
7
Carrie
“Okay we have four volunteers! Can we have a big applause for these beautiful ladies?” the announcer calls out into the audience.
I look on each side of me. On the right, sitting in a wooden chair like my own, are Skye and Dani, then there’s me and on my left, is Nicole. We’re all drunk. There’s no pretending that we aren’t. It’s a good drunk though. A happy buzz that feels amazing, happy, and warm. I’m so warm. I push the sweater I’m wearing from my shoulders, letting it fall down on the stage. That has to be better. The crowd cheers, and I wave at them crazily. It doesn’t even occur to me that I’m only wearing a deep green, silk camisole top with gray lace that dips low around the top. It exposes way too much cleavage which is made worse since I don’t have a bra on. It’s Jacob’s favorite on me, and since sex is off the table tonight, I wanted to drive him crazy. I’m feeling so hot and flushed. I rub my hands along my jeans and wait to see what happens next.
“Is it hot in here?” I ask Nicole and she just laughs—which is annoying. She could at least answer.
“We’re going to see which one of these women can win the title of being Queen of Blow Jobs!”
Queen of…what?
“No fucking way!” I hear a growl, and look over to see Crusher climbing on the stage.
“Man, you can’t be here,” the announcer says.
“Yeah, well…there’s no way my woman is deep throating any fucker’s cock but mine,” he grits, and I don’t know why that’s hilarious—but it is. I know because all of us women are laughing. Poor Nicole is laughing so hard she falls out of her chair.
“Relax dude! The ladies will all be using these!”
My eyes move to the announcer as one of the dancers from before brings out a silver tray full of…bananas.
“No fucking way,” Crusher growls, picking Dani up, and throwing her over his shoulder.
“Zander! Put me down! I have a banana to suck on!”
“No way woman. There’s no way you’re doing that on a stage for a bunch of fucking assholes to see.”
“Zander! You’re ruining it. I paid a lot of money so Carrie could have a kick-ass party!”
“She can have it, but you’re not sucking no fucking banana.”
“You’re being insane!” she cries, as they begin to exit the stage.
“If you want to suck on something you can suck on my cock,” he growls.
“Here?” she giggles, and I don’t hear anything after that because they’re gone.
“She’s so sucking him off back…backstage,” Skye slurs.
“She is. The dirty whore!” Nicole agrees with a hiccup.
“I want to be a dirty whore!” I cry, wishing Jacob was here. I don’t want to have sex with him at his mom’s, but I could totally suck him off backstage…of course not in the same room as Dani and Alexander, cause that’s just weird.
“We all want to be dirty whores!” Skye cries, and then we all start laughing again. Because that’s really funny for some reason. I’ll have to remember to tell the joke to Jacob.
Crap! What was it again?
8
Carrie
“Are we ready ladies?” the announcer asks. I let my eyes drift over him. He’s alright looking, I mean if you like that tall, dark, handsome, Chris Pratt kind of vibe. Oh and with a six pack on that well-tanned, glossy stomach of his. Okay. I admit it. He’s hot. I mean I’m committed to Jacob, but I’m not freaking dead! Still, he’s kind of plain with his baby-oiled and body-glittered abs. There’s no ink on him and that’s a shame. Jacob’s ink is hot, with a capital H. I could lick it for days. My favorite is the tattoo he has on his shoulder, which is a compass bearing my name under it. He says I give him direction, and I’m always his home. Every time I look at it, I remember his words and feel…loved.
“You’re up first sweetheart!” the guy says, pulling my thoughts back into the here and now. Suddenly however, I’m lonely for Jacob.
I watch as he goes over to Skye. He stands behind her, reaches over her side, and holds a peeled banana down from her lips. Skye eyes it while the crowd all starts to chant, “Suck it. Suck it. Suck it!” Just to show our girl that we are behind her, Nicole and I join in, or I think we do, it’s so noisy it’s hard to hear anyone—even myself.
“Okay, sweetheart show us how you give your man pleasure!” the guy urges, holding Skye’s hands behind her. The crowd goes wild, before starting their chant again.
I watch as Skye opens her mouth, but I’m thinking she might have had more to drink than me, because she misses the banana at first, scarcely touching the side. The tip just barely goes into her mouth. Then it breaks as part of the banana falls onto the floor.
There are a lot of, “Aws!” coming from the crowd, their disappointment clear. Skye for her part is cursing like a sailor.
“No! I can do this. I swear, I give great head!” she cries. In return, Nicole laughs so hard she falls out of her seat—again. I lock my calves around the wooden chair legs because apparently, these seats are slippery as heck, and I don’t want to land on the floor.
“Poor Bull’s dick! It’s a good thing you’re a doctor!” Nicole gasps out in between laughs. I snort, I can’t stop myself, and Skye shoots us both a scowl.
“I’m telling you… He loves my dick!” Everyone laughs at that, and Skye looks confused for a minute. “Wait! I mean he loves the way I love on his dick. I swear!” It doesn’t help her case. Everyone is still laughing. The guy skips me and that kind of makes me sad. Did
he look at me and decide I wouldn’t know how to suck cock? I’ll show him. I’ll demand his damned banana, and I’ll take that thing all the way down!
Before I can tell him my plans, he’s helping Nicole up and putting her back in her chair. Once he gets her settled, he takes her hands to put them behind her.
“It’s my turn!” I grumble.
“You’re next Cherry babe,” the guy whispers, and I give him a mean look.
“My name is not, Cherry,” I tell him huffily.
It doesn’t matter. He’s ignoring me. Nicole is already starting to take the banana in her mouth. She’s doing much better than Skye. The crowd is chanting their mantra again, “Suck, suck, suck!” And I have to say, I’m kind of impressed. The banana is not that small and she manages to get half of it in her mouth. Pretty impressive. I’m going to have to up my game. Especially once she gives me a smug look. Oh heck no. I am not going down by half of a banana. No way.
“Okay, Cherry! It’s your turn. Are you ready?” the guy asks. He’s got his microphone up to his lips, and he’s bending down to talk to me. I’m more than ready. I’m going to win this thing, but when I do I want people to know my real name. I grab the microphone, my hand going over top of his.
“My name is Carrie, and I’m ready to win!” I yell out. I probably didn’t need to scream it, because the microphone makes my words extremely loud and vibrate over the crowd. I seem to have said the right thing however, because they all start yelling and cheering.
“Okay Carrie, sweetheart, are you ready to suck your way to victory?” the man asks, grinning at me. He’s got really sparkly eyes. They’re like blue, only that color of blue you see in the oceans in the Caribbean. I lick my lips. It is warm in here. I’m going to give Jacob a work out when I get home. Heck, I’m even going to break the no-sex-at-his-Mom’s, rule.
