She opens her eyes and her shoulders drop. Looking at me sheepishly she says, "I know but I didn't know if you had the time. I forgot about it until last night so I just ordered one this morning. How about you make one for Sunday? Would that make you feel better?" Now she's grinning at me.
"Yes, it would,” I say like a five-year old. “You know you can't cheat on me like that. That’s the ultimate betrayal and you damn well know it!” I pause for effect and continue. “I'll let it slide this time but don’t let it happen again." I bump her with my hip and give her a big smile.
Chapter
2
SAM
Finally! I've been keeping an eye on the door so I could see her the minute she got here. I don't want any of my friends to try and snatch her up before I get the chance to. Clarity came with a little help from my nap. I'm not looking for a relationship so we can fuck while I'm home. What's the harm if she's game? None. If she does go crazy I’ll be across an ocean where she can’t get to me. She’s walking towards us and as she gets closer I notice she has a bruise on her cheekbone. What the fuck happened? "Hey, Sidney. What happened to your cheek?"
"Um…well I'm a bit of a klutz." Her cheeks turn pink. "When I was putting my shorts on I caught my toe and tripped, I caught myself from hitting the floor but I did it by catching the side of my face on my dresser." Now she's chuckling and you can see she's embarrassed. She waves to her cheek and says, "This is nothing. You should see some of the things I've done to myself." We all laugh. She looks straight at me, "Are you going to introduce me to your friends now that everyone knows gravity wreaks havoc in my life?" They all chuckle again.
I give my head a little shake to get my thoughts back on track. "Sorry. These are my cousins I was telling you about.” I point to each of the guys as I introduce them. “Jacob, Jeremy, Jesse, Josh and Joel. Guys this is Sidney, Danny and Tasha's friend and neighbor."
SIDNEY
Oh my god! Sam's cousins are cootchie puckering gorgeous just like him. Tall, muscled and tatted. Yum! Notes to self: Jacob: 6'4, short dark brown hair that’s messy spiked on the top in a faux hawk, bright blue eyes, full lips. Holy Hell! He has muscles on top of muscles. Jeremy: 6'3, light brown hair, blue eyes. You can tell they’re all related. Jesse: 6'3, dark short hair with darker blue eyes. He’s almost as bulky as Jacob. Josh and Joel: 6'3, messy dark hair, both have blue eyes. Their tattoos are peeking out from their shirts more than the others.
I shake everybody's hand. I know it seems weird but that's just me. Human contact is a personable thing and I like it. To me when you touch someone you can get a feeling of their personality by the vibe they give you. And let me just say I get a damn good vibe in my panties from them all but especially Jacob.
I turn to Sam and give him the bottle of Johnnie Walker I bought him. “Welcome home and thank you for your service.” He gives me a hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you so much. You didn’t have to but I appreciate it.”
“You’re more than welcome.” I notice his hand stays on the small of my back after the hug.
I look back to the rest of the group. "Sam tells me you guys live around here." I know I’m an idiot but it's all I can come up with because my underpants have melted and are now running down my leg along with my brains.
Jacob answers me. "Yeah. We all live and work together. I have a PI business. Myself, Jeremy and Jesse are all Bail Enforcement Agents also." He clasps Sam on the shoulder. "We were just trying to recruit Sam here to come work with us when his enlistment is up. We do a lot of business catching skips and I think he would like that best. I mean chicks dig bad asses. Right, Sidney?"
Sam scoffs at Jacob. "Hey Jackass quit trying to hit on her. You haven't even given her time to take y'all in. You guys together are a little intimidating with your size." He’s just as big as they are and it makes me laugh to myself.
Jacob grins and looks me up and down while saying, "Nah, I can read people. Sidney's not intimidated. If she was she wouldn't have shook our hands and stuck around talking to us."
I look him straight in the eye. "You're absolutely right, Jacob, on both counts. If you guys will excuse me I’m going to see if Tash needs any help. It was nice meeting you all." I walk away heading for the coolers, I need a drink. I need my vibrator more than a drink right now but it would be rude to whip that out in the middle of a party.
SAM
I turn and glare at Jacob. "What the fuck? You scared her off quicker than you do the girls you're trying to hook up with." We all crack up. "Thanks a lot, bastard.” Wait! “Are you trying to hook up with her?"
"No, I'm not. I've watched you waiting for someone and when she walked in you were done looking. Not hard to figure out you're interested, bastard. Bro code, man. Do you even know anything about her?”
"Yes, but not much. She lives next door, strips, her stage name is Cherry and she doesn’t have any family. Her parents were killed in a car accident. Oh, you should see her baby." Damn that car is fucking impressive.
Jacob's eyes widen. "She has a baby?"
"Yeah, her baby is a 1970 Chevelle with a 454 4 speed. And to quote her 'as bad ass as they come'. She calls it her baby. That car can haul ass. When you sit in it you can’t just hear it but can feel it rumbling from the power. I kid you not, I chubbed up. I've never seen a chick love a car like she does hers. Hell, I love it. You should ask her to see it.” Just talking about it, all I can think of is getting behind the wheel and putting the pedal all the way to the floor.
Jacob snaps his fingers in my face. "Sam, pay attention! I'm asking about her not her fucking car. Just be careful you know how you and strippers work out.” They’re all laughing. “She is quite the little package though. On second thought you'd better stay away. Maybe I should ask her out."
"Fuck you, you bastard!" They can laugh all they want at me. I won't have the same problems I had with the other stripper. I leave for a different fucking country in two weeks. "I'm going to find people that are nice to me and are happy I'm home."
I walk around socializing with everybody enjoying myself. All I can think about is getting Sidney alone. I wonder if she’ll let me come home with her after the party and if not if she has plans for tomorrow. I wouldn't mind hitting the beach for the afternoon.
I look around for her and son of a bitch! I thought Jacob said 'bro code' and shit. He has his arm across her shoulders and she's got her arm around his waist with her head back laughing. Damn she's beautiful. I walk up to them, "What’s this bastard telling you to make you laugh like that?"
Sidney puts her hand on her chest as she tries to calm down from laughing. "Oh my god! He was telling me about a skip he had."
"He likes to embellish. Don't let him fool you."
"Isn't that what makes a story all the better?" She smiles at me. Gorgeous.
Jacob asks me, "Are you not on our time yet? You seem a little grouchy."
I shoot him a look. "Nah, still a little jet lagged I guess." I turn and look Sidney in those beautiful blue eyes she's sporting. "Hey, Sid, I was thinking of going to the beach tomorrow, you up for it?"
"Sounds like fun but I'm busy ‘til late afternoon." She pauses like she's mulling something over then looks at us all and says, "I'm having a couple of friends over tomorrow around 6 for dinner and to play some drunk pool volleyball, you guys are welcome to come join the fun. I'm making Mexican food to go with the margaritas. And a Mexican fruit cake for dessert. I promise you'll have fun."
"That sounds like a blast. You guys in?" Jacob asks me and his brothers. What a bastard. I’m seriously ready to kick his ass for cock blocking.
SIDNEY
There goes that sideways glance again. I think Sam is irritated with Jacob for some reason. They all say yes, they’ll come tomorrow. Then Josh and Joel proceed to ask if I have any hot single friends. I inform them, “In fact I do have some single friends but I don't know your taste in women so you’ll have to judge for yourselves tomorrow.” They high five each other a
nd move on to another group of people. "So I assume the rest of you all have girlfriends since you didn't ask about any single friends, please extend the invitation to them as well. The more the better."
Jeremy says, "I think Misty will be off work by then. I'm sure she'd like to come. Thanks, Sidney."
“You’re welcome.”
This time Jesse speaks up. "Well, I don't have a girlfriend because I have a boyfriend. I don't know what Jacob's excuse is." He flashes a big smile when he's done speaking.
Jacob scoffs at him. "I haven’t had the time, dickhead."
I look at Jesse and put my hand on his forearm so he knows I mean it. "I'm sorry if I offended you, Jesse." I give his arm a light squeeze. "You're welcome to bring your boyfriend."
He puts his hand over mine and gives me a squeeze back with a smile and tells me, “I took no offense.” I never would have thought he had a boyfriend. I know it's wrong but you just don't think of big tattooed guy as being gay. Oooh! I wonder what his boyfriend looks like.
I like these guys. They seem genuine. I can't wait to hang out with them some more. I’m not good at guessing ages so I ask, "How old are you guys?"
Sam answers for everyone, "Jacob is the old man he’s 28, Jeremy and I are 26, Jesse is 24 and Josh and Joel are 21. How old are you?"
"I'll be 24 in a few months. I need to tell you about a rule I have for my parties." They all look at me curiously so I continue. "If you're going to be drinking at my house you have to have a designated driver, call a cab or stay the night. I have plenty of room but it depends on how many people stay if you get a room or not. Some wind up on air mattresses and the couches. If you do stay you get a big breakfast in the morning." I lean in like I'm telling a secret, they all lean in too. I say in a low voice, "I think that's why everybody likes to stay." I straighten up again. "Well, I've got to be up early tomorrow so I'm heading home for the night. It was nice to meet you all, see ya tomorrow. I'm the house on the left side if you're facing Danny's. Just remember my mailbox is the cement dolphin." I give a little wave while starting to walk backwards and telling them goodnight.
Sam says, "I'll walk ya home, Sid."
I stop walking. "You don't have to. Did you forget this is a gated community?” I laugh. “I think I'll be safe getting home. If not I know self-defense!" I turn and start walking away again. I hate when people think I'm weak.
As I'm walking I start thinking back over the night, maybe Sam was asking me on a date to the beach. I turn him down and then invite his family over for DPV (drunk pool volleyball). Was he trying to get me alone by asking to walk me home? What do I do, laugh and tell him I know self-defense. I’m such a dork! How embarrassing. Oh well, Tash said he's a manwhore and I'm not looking for that. He also leaves in two weeks. I'm ready for a relationship. I wouldn't mind going out with Jacob but he said he doesn't have time for a girlfriend. That’s really too bad because I wouldn’t mind climbing that hunk of a man.
SAM
"Damn dude you just got shut down by a stripper!" Jacob seems to be the fucking comedian tonight. Bastard.
Tasha walks up with a smirk on her face and asks me, “Who's the stripper.”
I am so busted, fuck! “Sidney.” She throws her head back laughing, howling like a fucking wolf. She's laughing so hard everybody else joins her. She's bent over from her antics and wiping tears from her face. What the fuck is so damn funny? Nothing, that's what. They're all on my shit list now. Me, Sam Fucking Jericho, getting turned down by a stripper is NOT funny.
"Wh....wh...wh...why would you think Sidney's a stripper? Oh god!" She can barely catch her breath.
"I heard the guy at the liquor store call her Cherry and ask if she was going to the strip. Is she a bartender instead of a stripper?"
Tasha grabs my arm and is holding on for dear life. She can't seem to control herself. When she catches her breath, again, she says with the most mischievous face, "Sam, I love you but you are such an ass. Have you seen Sidney's baby? She takes it out to the strip every now and then to race. The color is how she got the nickname Cherry. And by beating most of the men and their toys they bring out. You are such a dick. I can't wait to tell her you thought she was a stripper!” They all start laughing again.
Huh, that makes sense. "What the hell does she do then?"
“Sidney owns her own business of designing websites for companies.”
So maybe I am an ass. At least I didn't get shot down by a stripper. Take that assholes!
Acknowledgments
As it should be huge props to the hubs for managing the house when I’m missing in my head. I’ll always love you more.
To MJ Fields for convincing me to write a novella even though the first book in the series was complete. Thanks for the kick in the ass lady!
Thank you to Ashley, Christa, Jacki, Jamie, Kim, Laurie, Lucy, Mary, Michelle and Renee for all of the tattooed, pierced and muscled pictures of beautiful men. Yum!
Last but not least thank you to the reader who purchased this. I hope you enjoyed the journey reading this as much as I did writing it. Please consider leaving a review.
You can contact me here:
[email protected]
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Josie-Charles-Author/1544181605839381
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