Everything But

by Jade C. Jamison

  “Nah…I think I’ve just about got it.” He looked up. “It’s kind of old, I know. I borrowed this from my mom and dad.”

  “Do you want me to put in some Deftones, considering you’re wearing their shirt?”

  “Yeah…sounds great. Do you have White Pony?”

  “I do.” She walked over to her CD player that sat on a shelf not encumbered of books and her stacks of CDs on the shelf below. She found the CD and popped it in. She didn’t know what to follow it up with, so she grabbed an old CD, Mötley Crüe’s Too Fast for Love, and Spawn’s first album. That’d surprise him later. She walked back over to the chair and sat down. Then she picked up one of the pairs of handcuffs. They were heavy…solid metal. They were real. “So what the hell are these for? If you go to jail in the game, you really go to jail?”

  Riley chuckled as the music started to play. “No…the game is going to be a little getting-to-know-you and a little fun. The handcuffs are for a trust exercise later in the afternoon.”

  Oh, God…he had the cutest but most devilish look on his face and she knew now she would say yes to anything he suggested. She felt her blood warm up as it surged and pumped through her body. “So what is this trust exercise?”

  He looked her in the eyes and it felt like he could see inside her. “You’re just gonna have to trust me on that.”

  She twisted up her mouth in mock irritation but she hoped he could see she was smiling underneath it. “So how’s the game work?”

  “What token do you want to play?”

  That was a no brainer. She’d play the piece she’d always played as a kid. “The thimble.”

  “Aw…how cute.”

  She rolled her eyes. “And what about you, Mr. Rock Star? What piece do you want to play?”

  “It’s a toss up, but I guess I’ll play man’s best friend.” He set both the thimble and the dog tokens at Start. “Now…here are the rules. You ready?” She smiled and nodded and took a sip of her tea. “Okay…we play it like real Monopoly, only with a few twists. So…if you land on one of the utilities or a Railroad or Chance or Community Chest, you still have to do that stuff, but…you also have to say something about yourself that I didn’t know.”

  “And you do that too, right?”

  “Right. It can be anything. You decide what you want to share. The only thing is it can’t be something I already know.”

  “Easy enough. So who goes first?”

  “Wait…that’s not all.” She looked at him and saw the twinkle in his eye. “Like I said, we’re playing the game for real, so you’ll buy properties as you go around the board, but if one of us lands on something that belongs to the other, we have to remove an article of clothing.”

  “What? You mean, like strip Monopoly?”

  His smile didn’t fade. “Yeah.” She pondered it and knew exactly where it would go if they played the game. “You would choose what you removed if you landed on my property. I can’t decide for you.”

  She smiled. “Yeah, but you’re wearing more than I am.”

  “Am I?”

  “You’re wearing socks, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah.” She raised an eyebrow. “I could count my socks with my shoes. Would that make it even?”

  She thought about it and nodded, then realized that put her at an advantage. She was pretty sure he wasn’t wearing a bra underneath his t-shirt. But, she decided, it was his game and she deserved it, because he had nothing to lose taking his shirt off. She did.

  “So…you game?”

  She’d already decided to be brave and do it, but she wanted to play a little hard to get. So she pretended to ponder it a little, looking at the board and slapping on a look of musing. Then she looked up and into his eyes and said, “Okay.”

  “Atta girl,” he said, rubbing his palms together. “And, since you’re being such a good sport, why don’t you go first?”

  She felt her mouth screw up in an uneven smile, but she wasn’t about to argue. She grabbed the dice and blew on them, hoping she’d be lucky.

  Chapter Eleven

  FUCKIN’ A. ERIN had actually agreed to the whole crazy idea. Riley could barely believe it. And they’d made it halfway around the board so far without incident, both just buying properties. She had three and he was getting ready to roll a third time and landed on B. & O. Railroad. He promptly purchased it and then acknowledged that he had to divulge some information. So, after he finished his transaction, he said, “Okay…let’s see. Something you don’t know about me. Hmmm. Okay. I’ll turn thirty this year.”

  She shook her head, looking at him through skeptical eyes. “Uh-unh. That doesn’t count.”

  He wrinkled his brow and took a drink of water. “Why not?”

  “I already knew that.”

  “You know how old I am?”

  He saw her cheeks turn a slight pink. God, that was cute, and it told him more than whatever words would come out of her mouth. But it turned out she was honest. “I was a fan of Spawn, you know. So as a fan, it was my job to know the facts. So, c’mon. Tell me something I really don’t know.”

  Well, that wasn’t exactly fair. He didn’t know how old she was, for instance; he only knew she was younger than he was. So he racked his brains, hoping to come up with something she didn’t already know, but he wasn’t ready to get too personal yet. Finally, he said, “In my new band, I’m playing rhythm guitar, and I’ll be playing on the road too.”

  She smiled. “Okay. I didn’t know that.” She grabbed the dice. “Will you have a video come out when your single’s released?” He nodded. “You playing the guitar in that too?”

  “As a matter of fact, I am.” He liked the look she gave him then, like she was impressed. He hoped she wasn’t just shining him on.

  And they went the rest of the way around the board just buying up more properties. Her piece remained ahead on the board too. Riley didn’t care, really. It was nice seeing her laughing and having fun. He hoped she’d maintain that attitude once the clothes started peeling off. Maybe he should’ve brought some weed to take the edge off. But, for all he knew, being a straight-laced teacher and all, she might’ve kicked his ass back out the door at the suggestion of what his mother would call illicit activities.

  And then he passed Go and landed on Baltic Avenue, a property Erin had just purchased after passing Go herself. His piece nestled up close to hers on the space. “Goddammit,” Riley sputtered, but he had kind of hoped he’d be first. If he took some clothes off before she did, he thought she’d relax a little. He could tell she was a little on edge. She grinned at him but said nothing. He handed her some fake Monopoly money for the rent and then grabbed the bottom of his t-shirt and pulled it over his head, draping it on the back of the couch. As soon as he released the shirt, she lowered her eyes to the game board. “Hey, I never said you couldn’t look.” She looked in his eyes once more and started chuckling again, but he could tell she was planning to do everything but look. That was okay. He knew the power of peripheral vision, having practiced using it most of his adult life.

  She rolled the dice and landed on the Electric Company, meaning she’d have to divulge information. So after transacting Monopoly business, she said, “All right. I’ll take a cue from you. I’m twenty-five.”

  “When’s your birthday?”

  She grinned. “That’s another secret, isn’t it?”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Oh…we’re gonna play that way, are we?” She was teasing him. He liked it. And, as his gaze shifted to the board to scoop up the dice, he saw she was stealing a glance at his pecs and abs. About-goddamn-time. He’d worked hard to make them worth looking at and he’d had plenty of girls on his Facebook page and the band’s website forum talk about his “hot body.” Finally, someone he wanted to check it out was.

  When Erin at last landed on one of his properties, she removed a sandal. But he lost both his shoes (and socks, per his agreement) before she lost another sandal. She was saving her goodies for last…not that he bl
amed her. And he didn’t mind being teased…as long as it paid off.

  And through those few times around the board, all the properties were purchased and they’d learned a little more about each other by the time the game was done. Erin told him her birthday, a little about her college experiences, and she divulged that she was working on her master’s degree a couple months every summer (and joked that she’d be done by the time she was forty). She also told him she’d had the same best friend since third grade, that she’d grown up in Winchester (like he had), and that her dream job as a kid was to be an actress. And, of course, she also lost her other shoe. He tried not to say too much, because he didn’t feel comfortable telling her a lot about himself, but he’d made the rules and had to stick to them and had to say something, for Christ’s sake. It was almost like an adult version of Truth or Dare. So he told her he had an older brother and a niece and nephew. He also revealed that he’d actually liked English in school and had gotten Bs in every English class. He’d gotten an A in the only Creative Writing class he’d ever taken. He loved Europe, especially France, because he’d visited it on tour one year. And then…how stupid…he told her his parents hadn’t been happy he’d chosen the life of a rock star but seemed to at least accept it now.

  Needless to say, he got up to fill his water glass after admitting that.

  And he cheered up right away when he felt her eyes on his bare back. And it was nice to see the flowers he’d bought for her displayed in the center of her kitchen table.

  The next roll, Erin landed on Virginia Avenue, one of Riley’s properties. Hot damn. She was down to showin’ off the good stuff. He hadn’t thought far enough ahead, but he hoped she wouldn’t back out now. This was one of the moments he’d been waiting for since he’d dreamed up this plan.

  She seemed a little distressed. “Don’t watch,” she said.

  He smiled. “Do you want me to cover my eyes?”

  She grinned back at him, a twinkle in her eye. “Yes.”

  He shook his head but covered his face with his hands. Surely, she had to know he was peeking through a slit in his fingers. She seemed self-conscious, but her fingers wrapped around the bottom of her shirt and slid it up over her head to reveal probably one of the sexiest bras Riley had seen in a long time…and they were covering up a knockout set of tits. He felt his blood rushing to the one place he needed it to avoid for a while. God, this girl had more control over him than she knew. If she had known, he would have been in deep shit.

  Think about war, famine, sewage plants, sick children…anything but those sexy—

  “Okay, you can look now.”

  He swallowed, willing his spirit down. He had to be calm. He managed to make eye contact with her but then he did look…for just an instant so she didn’t think he wasn’t interested. He smiled and picked up the dice but said nothing. He rolled and moved his piece…right onto another piece of her property.

  Fuck…moment of truth. She had no idea how long he’d debated what underwear to put on after toweling off from his shower earlier, anticipating this moment. When he was a kid, he used to wear nothing but tighty-whities, because that was all his mom ever bought him, but then he discovered boxers. He didn’t necessarily like the feel, but the chicks dug ‘em. And then he had a girlfriend tell him she preferred boxer briefs. So he switched back and forth between the two types, but he’d ditched the plain white briefs for good.

  Today, he’d finally settled on a pair of dark blue boxer briefs. It was a daring move, because he knew it would accent what he had. Fortunately, he felt confident about his size, but he always felt nervous the first time a girl checked him out. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He felt nervous when a girl he gave a shit about checked him out. So he stood and unbuttoned his fly and pulled down the zipper. Jesus, Riley, it’s not a stripper show. Pull the goddamned things off.

  So he did. As quickly as possible. And then he sat down again.

  He grinned at her and took a big swig of water. “Happy now?”

  She smiled back and her eyes looked…well, the only word he could think of to describe the way her eyes looked was knowing. He raised his eyebrows but said nothing. Instead, he picked up the dice and handed them to her.

  She rolled and landed on her own property. She laughed. “I hope you’re not too cool over there.”

  He chuckled, refusing to give her the obvious line that would have been so easy, telling her she could warm him up. Instead, he said, “Hey, it was my idea. I can take it.” But when he picked up the dice, he prayed he wouldn’t land on another piece of her property. He wasn’t ready to be totally naked, although, he supposed, that would take all the pressure off.

  But when he rolled, he landed on Free Parking. He breathed a quiet sigh and just smiled. And then he got lucky.

  Erin landed on one of his properties again, and at this point, he didn’t give a shit what she took off. He’d be happy no matter what she removed. She looked up at the ceiling as if cursing her bad luck. He asked, “Do you want me to cover my eyes again?”

  She took a deep breath, and he really liked what that did for her breasts, but he bit the tip of his tongue to keep himself calm and grounded. “No, I think I’m used to it now.” She stood up and unzipped her jean shorts. Goddamn…they were cute and short and tight anyway. Apparently, pretty damn snug. She had to shimmy them off and it drove him damn near crazy. He hoped his eyes stayed in his head.

  They must have because she didn’t act weird when she sat down. He smiled. “How long you wanna play? Till somebody wins?”

  The corners of her mouth turned up playfully. “Why? You afraid you’re going to wind up in the buff first?”

  He shrugged. “I’ve made peace with it.”

  She started laughing and leaned forward. “So tell me about this trust game anyway.”

  He shook his head. “Mmm…not yet.” He picked up the long box of Monopoly money and set it on the coffee table beside the playing board. He patted the couch cushion beside him. “Why don’t you come over here?”

  Oh, God, she did. Riley felt his stomach tighten. Of course, every muscle on his body had been growing tight over the last hour. Her knee was touching his, but he planned to touch every part of her very soon. For now, though, he was going to keep his hands to himself. “We were supposed to talk this afternoon, right? And I kind of distracted us from doing that.”

  “Actually, we’ve been talking, and it’s been nice.”

  “Ya think?” He was happy no matter what, but knowing she’d had no expectations about their afternoon together took more pressure off. “Well, I know something last night freaked you out, and whatever that was…well, I’d like to make sure I don’t do it again.”

  She frowned a little. “Riley, it wasn’t you. It’s me.”

  He couldn’t help but sigh. “If I had a dime for every time I heard that line…”

  “You’ve heard that line?”

  “Not used on me…not in a long time. But every guy has heard it used against him more than I’d like to admit.”

  “Well, you didn’t let me finish.”

  He nodded. “Fair enough.”

  She inhaled a deep breath. “I really worked myself up. A lot. And…can I be totally honest with you?”

  He swallowed. “Please.”

  “You’re famous. You can sleep with whatever girl you want. I bet you could walk outside and snap your fingers and have at least ten women begging to be first.”

  He shrugged. “So? Trust me—that’s not all it’s cracked up to be.”

  “But don’t you get it? It makes me a cheap commodity.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Oh, no, Erin, you’re not cheap. Not by a long shot. You’re so different from those women who throw themselves at guys like me. Not only are you intelligent and sweet and a million other things the typical woman who throws herself at me is not, you’re hot as hell.” He ventured forward, sliding his fingers just onto her hair, cupping her cheeks in his palms. “If you think you’re not
somethin’ special, you’re dead wrong.”

  Riley had managed to say the right things and he knew he had, because she initiated the first kiss that afternoon.

  Chapter Twelve

  SO ERIN WAS going to engage in a one-night stand (or one afternoon, as it turned out) with a rock star, but she felt better about it now that she’d analyzed it. But she couldn’t understand how Riley could alternate between sometimes being the consummate bad boy / part-time asshole and being the perfect gentleman and really sweet guy the rest of the time. Right now, he was being super sweet and had managed to fully seduce her…even if every word out of his mouth turned out to be a lie.

  It didn’t hurt that he had a hot fucking tattoo-licious body that wouldn’t stop, and he’d been parading it around her apartment long enough to get her way too hot and bothered to even try to say no, no matter how well she was able to hide what she was really thinking.

  And undressing for him? Well, that had just upped the ante. Feeling his eyes on her as she’d worked her shorts off had been a turn on too. She saw the look in his eyes when she’d finished peeling them off. So she’d called his bluff. Were they just going to play adult Monopoly all afternoon or what?

  And then his little assurance that she was not just some chick. Truth or not, he was smooth and convincing and she was gonna go for it. So when he’d taken her face in his hands, her lips found his and, she hoped, told him she was ready for wherever he wanted to go.

  No, she hadn’t built his kiss up to be better than she’d remembered. He was a pro. And just one kiss made her body go from being a little excited to ready for lots more. His tongue was warm and smooth and danced with hers as she felt her nipples grow hard. Her hands had been drawing slow unconscious swirls on his chest as she greedily felt his definition. His pecs were as smooth and hard as marble but, unlike marble, warm and bordering on hot. And he smelled so good, wearing that same spicy scent she’d caught a whiff of last night.