Fighter (Outsider Series)

by Micalea Smeltzer

  His right hand, which had been venturing dangerously close to going up my skirt, eased back down. He gripped my thigh tightly and his hand on my stomach was firm. He swayed us to the music and I was fine to let him, and my body, have control. I closed my eyes and reached up to lace my arms around the back of his neck.

  Nothing else mattered in this moment. I didn’t care that we were in a club and this wasn’t my thing. I didn’t care about the people dancing around us. I just didn’t care. And man, did it feel good to finally let go.

  five.

  I never thought I’d say this, or even think it, but I did not want to leave the dance floor. This was nothing like the awkward dancing at prom. This was… magical.

  I loved the way we moved together, like we were connected and not two separate people.

  When I opened my eyes, I found that somehow we were now in the middle of the dance floor. The lights reflected off of the glitter lotion that coated my body, making me look like some kind of sparkly princess.

  The song changed into another and then another. I wanted to dance all night but my feet were killing me.

  When the song ended, I took Caeden’s hand and led him to the bar. When I finally turned and saw his face he was grinning from ear to ear. “Wow… I should’ve brought you to a club a long time ago.”

  I smacked his arm and pulled out an empty barstool, so that I could sit down and relieve my aching feet. The guy next to me grabbed a beer and left. Caeden slid into the empty seat. I pulled off the ridiculously high shoes and massaged my feet.

  The bartender came over and Caeden asked for something. The bartender came back with two tall glasses of water and I slurped my down like someone who’d been stuck in a desert. I signaled the bartender for another and he obliged. He grinned at me and slid a napkin my way. I looked down and saw numbers written in a scrawl across it. I was confused for a second and then my mouth fell into an “O” of surprise. Caeden noticed, and I watched his eyes narrow. He snatched the napkin and rolled it into a ball, before tossing it into a trashcan behind the bar.

  I finished my second glass of water and the urge to pee hit me. I stood up to head in the direction of the bathrooms, but Caeden’s hand snaked out and wrapped around my arm.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “To the bathroom,” I pointed.

  “I’ll stand outside the door,” he stood up.

  “That’s just silly,” I shook my head.

  “Hey,” he put his hands up. “This is a club, and you never know what weirdos might be creepin’ around, preying on girls alone in the bathroom.”

  I rolled my eyes, knowing that this was an argument I’d never win.

  “Fine, come if you must. I really have to pee,” I danced from foot to foot. I held Chris’ shoes in my hand. I knew it was gross to have my bare feet on the floor, but they were too sore for me to care. Caeden led the way to the bathroom and pushed the door open for me. I did a little curtsy, said, “Thank you kind sir,” and reluctantly slipped the heels back on before I entered the bathroom.

  There were several girls standing around the mirrors freshening their makeup. One girl was passed out drunk on the couch in the corner. I just shook my head and pushed a stall door open.

  I washed my hands and exited the bathroom and sure enough, Caeden was leaned against the wall.

  “Any creepers stop by?”

  “Just Bryce,” he winked.

  I laughed, “That’s a good one.” I slipped the shoes back off. Not only were my feet killing me but now, I had blisters on the heels of both feet. “What time is it?” I asked Caeden.

  He looked at his watch. “A little after one.”

  “Wow, I guess we danced longer than I thought.”

  His grin was wickedly devious. “I wouldn’t mind doing that again,” his fingers pulled at the hem of the short skirt.

  I batted his hand away. “I’m sure you wouldn’t.”

  “You enjoyed it too,” his blue eyes danced with laughter.

  “Yeah, would have thought… This must be some alternate universe. Are you real?” I pinched his arm. “Are we leaving soon?” I asked.

  He laughed and dragged me back on the dance floor. “I doubt you’re ever going to allow me to talk you into this again, so let me have my fun.”

  I pretended to be mad at him, but the truth was, if he did ask me to go to a club again, I’d probably say yes. What can I say? I’m becoming more comfortable with myself. Goodbye shyness and hello outgoing Sophie. Well… maybe the shyness wasn’t completely gone, but it was getting there.

  We danced until my legs couldn’t hold me up any longer and Caeden had to support me.

  “Tired?” he asked.

  “Exhausted.”

  He laughed huskily and wrapped his arm around my waist and secured me to his hip. We weaved through the dance floor until he found the others to tell them we were leaving.

  Caeden had to practically carry me to the car because my feet hurt so badly. As we pulled away from the club, I said, “I’m never wearing heels again. I will wear sneakers under my wedding dress.”

  He laughed. “I won’t complain.”

  “Good,” I rubbed my sore feet and tossed the heels in the backseat at Chris.

  “Hey!” she caught them. “Careful. These were expensive.” She cradled them to her chest and I half expected her to start cooing to them.

  Caeden pulled into the driveway and said, “Stay put.”

  He came around to my side and opened the door. “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Carrying you inside,” he wrapped his arms around me and closed the car door with his shoulder.

  “I can walk in on my own two feet,” I wiggled, trying to get down.

  “Your feet are sore. I’ll carry you. Besides,” he smiled and his dimple winked at me, “I am the one that dragged you to a club against your will.” He opened the front door and his nose brushed against my cheek, “But at least you enjoyed yourself. That was… hot. No… it was downright sexy.” He placed me gently on the bed. “I didn’t know you had that in you.”

  “I didn’t either,” I blushed.

  He grinned. “You should show that side of yourself more often.”

  “Baby steps.”

  “Baby steps are fine with me,” he pulled his shirt off and shucked his jeans, before pulling back the covers and climbing in bed. Murphy and Archie were already snoozing.

  I grabbed my pajamas and changed in the bathroom. It took forever to wipe the makeup from my face. I still ended up having dark smudges of mascara under my eyes, but I was too tired to rub at it anymore.

  I opened the door and found that Caeden had disappeared. I raised a brow in wonder but I just climbed in bed. Just as my eyes were about to close, the bedroom door opened. I sat up and saw Caeden carrying in a floor fan. “I almost forgot about this,” he positioned the fan near me. He plugged it and turned it on. My hair tickled my shoulders as the fan swooshed it around. “I don’t want to miss out on my snuggle time.”

  I laughed as he raised the covers and slid in next to me. As always, his body was extremely warm, but with the fan blowing, I welcomed his heat, instead of wanting to crawl away from it. He rolled onto his back and I scooted closer to his side. My head rested on his chest and my hand splayed across his chiseled stomach. His left arm wrapped around me and he gently rubbed soothing circles on my arm.

  “I love you, Soph,” he kissed my forehead. “I will fix this,” he whispered, as I drifted off to sleep.

  six.

  I woke up to find the bed empty. No dogs. No Caeden. I pushed the covers off and grabbed some shorts and a tank top to change into. I pulled my hair back into a messy ponytail and padded down the steps.

  Noises were coming from the kitchen, so I headed there first.

  A snort of laughter escaped from my mouth when I came upon the sight of Caeden, Bryce, and Bentley making breakfast.

  Bryce had a frilly pink apron tied around his waist and he was b
arking orders at the other two.

  “What are ya’ll doin’?” I asked.

  Caeden looked up, flicking a piece of hair out of his eyes, and grinned. That adorable dimple flashed at me.

  “We’re making our ladies breakfast.”

  I laughed. “Well, aren’t ya’ll just so sweet? What are you making?”

  “Homemade biscuits and gravy.” Bryce waved a spoon in the air.

  “Sounds delicious,” I yawned, still sleepy after my late night. “Do you want some help?”

  “Nope, we’ve got this,” Bentley said.

  I laughed. “Okay, good. I’m starving.”

  “It should be ready soon,” Caeden said. A streak of flour was across his nose. I thought it was cute, so I didn’t bother trying to wipe it off.

  I sat on a stool and watched the boys bustle around the kitchen. It was really sweet of them to want to make us girls breakfast.

  Logan came into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. “This is one weird dream,” he muttered. “Wake up,” he smacked his cheek.

  Bryce laughed. “You’re awake.”

  Logan shook his head and took the stool next to me. “Just don’t think about asking me to help.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Bryce saluted him and went back to stirring a pan of gravy.

  The biscuits were coming out of the oven, when Charlotte and Christian graced us with their presence.

  “Whoa,” Chris took a step back. “I think one of my fantasies just came to life.”

  Bentley grinned. “And what fantasy would that be?”

  “The one where you cook for me… except you’re usually naked.”

  Bentley threw his head back in laughter and we all joined in. Chris blushed and I was pleased to know that the girl could actually be embarrassed.

  Bentley stopped what he was doing and walked over to Chris. He put his hands on her waist and kissed her passionately. He pulled away and they were both breathing heavily. Forehead to forehead he said, “I love you and your kinky mind.”

  Her cheeks flamed even redder and she pushed him gently away.

  “Stop flirting and come make your woman a plate of food,” Caeden grinned at Bentley and tossed him a plate. I was sure it was going to fall on the floor, but Bentley caught it.

  Caeden handed me a plate, and led me to a large dining room, that I had never seen before. I guess I had just assumed there wasn’t one.

  The table was large, round, and done in some kind of ivory color with matching chairs. A capiz shell light hung over the dining table. Pictures of seashells adorned the walls.

  “This is a really beautiful house,” I told Caeden as he sat down.

  He looked around. “Yeah, it really is. Always loved coming here.”

  I took a bite of the homemade biscuits and sausage gravy, and moaned. “Oh my God, this is so good! You’re going to have to cook for me more often.” I said, as I bumped his shoulder.

  “I’m glad you like it,” he smiled.

  The others joined us and we all laughed and joked. No shifter business. It was nice to pretend, even if just for a moment, that we were normal teenagers on vacation.

  It turns out the boys were trying to butter us up. They wanted to go, go-cart racing and do a couple of other things.

  “Oh,” I raised a brow and motioned to the food, “so this was all a ploy to get what you wanted.”

  “Maybe,” Caeden winked.

  I narrowed my eyes. “You know when you wink at me you always get what you want.”

  “You won’t be mad?” he took my hand.

  “No,” I shook my head.

  Chris smiled and pecked Bentley’s cheek. “Go have fun. We’ll go…” her eyes had a gleam to them, “shopping.” She clapped her hands.

  “Don’t make me go with her,” I mock whispered to Caeden.

  “Don’t even think about it Caeden,” Chris eyed him. “She’s going shopping even if I have to drag her by her toes.”

  I gulped. “Oh, joy.”

  * * *

  Caeden left me the keys to his car while him and the other guys went in Bryce’s Jeep.

  “I’ll just drive around,” I told Christian, “and if you see somewhere you want to stop, just let me know.”

  Her smile spread across her face. “This is going to be so much fun.”

  I hadn’t driven very far, when she said, “Ooh! Ooh! Stop!” I found a parking space and maneuvered the SUV into the small space. Chris hopped from the Jeep before I even had it in park.

  I looked in the rearview mirror at Charlotte. “She’s crazy.”

  “At least you haven’t had to put up with her all your life.” She paused. “She actually used to be worse than she is now.”

  I shook my head and hopped out of the car. Charlotte and I walked together. I saw a Starbucks and motioned Charlotte to follow me.

  “You want anything?” I asked her.

  “I don’t like coffee,” she shook her head.

  “Okay,” I said and joined the line.

  The barista handed me a caramel Frappuccino and I moaned at the first taste. “I haven’t had one of these in forever,” I said to Charlotte.

  She just laughed and shook her head at me. Her curly red hair swished around her shoulders.

  We walked down the street and into the shop Chris had run inside.

  “Ohmigosh! You guys!” she shrieked. “I’ve found so much stuff.” She shoved some kind of winter looking boots in my hand. They were pretty cute, brown with gold woven throughout. But why would a beach store even have winter boots? “These would be so cute on you,” Chris practically squealed in my ear. “You have to get them. If you don’t, I’ll hurt you.” She challenged me to put them down. “And I found this adorable dress for you, Charlotte.” Chris held up a purple dress. The skirt ended just above the knees and had lace sleeves.

  “It is really pretty,” Charlotte said, as she took the dress.

  “And these earrings would go perfect with it,” Chris pulled some earrings out of nowhere. What was she, the clothes magician?

  “Did you find anything for yourself?” I asked, Chris.

  “I’ve got a whole stack of stuff on the counter,” she pointed.

  The poor checkout girl had apparently never met anyone like Chris.

  “Go checkout,” I told her, “And then, we’ll come along with these.”

  She flounced off to the checkout and I looked at Charlotte. “It’s going to be a long day.”

  Ten shops later, Chris had convinced me to buy enough clothes to fill an entire bedroom. I had no clue where I was going to put all the stuff. We were on our way back home, when I slammed on the brakes.

  “Jesus! Sophie! What was that about?” Chris asked.

  “Sorry,” I mumbled and went to hit the accelerator when Chris spotted what had made me stop so suddenly.

  Her pale green eyes widened. “You have to go in there! You just have too! Pull over! Look someone’s pulling away now! It’s meant to be!”

  I eyed the bridal boutique one more time before pulling into the now empty parking spot. Several cars honked at me, for holding up traffic.

  We all hopped out of the car, and dashed across the street and to the store. Everything was white; from the dresses, to the floor, to the counters, to the walls, to the shoes. White, white, white.

  “Can I help you girls?” a sales lady dressed in black asked. Finally, a color other than white. “Are you here to pick up bridesmaids dresses?”

  “No,” Chris pushed me forward. “Our Sophie here, is marrying her soul mate, in two weeks.”

  The sales lady’s eyes immediately went to my stomach. Before I could bite my tongue, I spat out, “No bun in the oven.”

  She blushed at being caught. “Sorry,” she stammered. “Is there any –uh- particular style you’re interested in.”

  I shrugged. “I guess it’s probably more important to focus on what you have in stock and in my size… Seeing as the wedding
is so soon.”

  “Oh, yes… of course,” I almost felt bad for the frazzled woman. “Follow me,” she flicked a finger. “I’ll set you up in a private room and bring you some options we have available.”

  Chris and Charlotte followed me inside the claustrophobia inducing room while the woman disappeared.

  “Don’t even think about asking me to leave this room,” Chris held up a hand. “I need to be here to make sure you don’t throw away the perfect dress.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to remember this, for when you get married.” I let out a sigh. “I certainly hope you’re not this bossy when I’m picking out your bridesmaid dress. You too, Charlotte.”

  Chris screamed in an octave that seemed too high to possibly be remotely human, and threw her arms around my shoulders. “I get to be a bridesmaid?”

  “Yes,” I smiled. “You both do,” I looked at Charlotte.

  “Thank you, Sophie!” Charlotte joined in the squeal-fest.

  Chris waggled her eyebrows. “Charlotte, you know what this means?”

  “Uh, no.”

  “We get to throw a bachelorette party.”

  I put my hands up. “No! No, way!”

  “Yes,” Chris waggled her brows.

  “No,” I said firmly. “I don’t want that.”

  “Don’t ruin my fun,” Chris said.

  “Fine,” I huffed. “But no male strippers.”

  Chris’ face fell. “But that’s the point of a bachelorette party.”

  “Not mine. When you get married, I’ll make sure you have all the male strippers your little heart desires.”

  “Now that is a compromise I can live with,” she giggled.

  The saleslady returned at that moment with several dresses. She hung them on a rack and then motioned for me to undress.

  I sighed and stripped my clothes. She removed the first one from the hanger and helped me slip it on. It was a mermaid styled dress, and way too fancy for my taste. I wrinkled my nose and shook my head no.

  I removed the dress and tried the second one. It was old fashioned and really pretty, but not for me.