Betting On Love

by Danielle Dickson

She rolls about not able to get control of herself and I brush a hand over my hair, dispelling a load of fucking glitter onto the floor.

  “You- you look-” She can’t talk because she’s laughing so much and I just stand here in shock. She’s got me back for the foil prank. I can’t take Prank Queen status away from her after this.

  She sits up and rubs at her eyes, still laughing. “You should see your face.”

  “You’ve just covered my apartment in fucking glitter,” I grit out.

  “Err, correction. You covered your apartment in glitter,” she retorts sarcastically but I can’t argue with her.

  I try to brush it off my arms but it doesn’t budge. “How the fuck do you expect me to get this off?”

  She shrugs. “Not my problem.”

  Not her problem? I’ll make it her problem. I run up the stairs and leap onto the ladder before she squeals as she panics, looking around frantically for a way down. She runs to the closet doors that the firepole sits behind but I’m on her quicker than she pulls them open.

  I pull her down to the floor and straddle her, taking my hair tie out and shaking my head, covering her in glitter.

  “Mac! Stop!” she laughs out. “You’re getting glitter everywhere!”

  I chuckle at her sparkly face. “Kinda the point, B.”

  She bucks her hips up and sends me onto the floor beside her and jumps up, pulling open the doors and sliding down the pole. “You can’t get away from me that easy, if I’m going to look like a fucking sparkly fairy, so are you!”

  I follow her down and hear a giggle coming from behind the sofa so I stalk over there, shaking my head at the mess of my once clean apartment. “I can’t believe you did this to my apartment.”

  “Again, I didn’t, you did. Plus, you covered my apartment in foil!” she cries out. “You deserve it.”

  She jumps up and throws a handful of glitter at me that she must’ve gotten off the floor. I narrow my eyes as I continue to stalk toward her, ready to claim my prize. “Oh, B, you’re in big trouble for this.”

  Her eyes widen and she runs around the other side of my sofa with her hands out, palms facing me. “Now, now, I think we should call a truce.”

  “A truce?” I ask, still walking toward her.

  She takes little steps backward to match my forward ones. “Yeah, a truce.”

  Her back hits the wall and I make it to her before she can move, placing my hands on either side of her head. “So you don’t think I should get you back for making my apartment look like a unicorn broke in and farted everywhere?”

  She snorts a laugh and shakes her head, her gaze locking on my lips and her face turns serious. Her tongue slowly peeks out and wets her lips. “No, I think you should just admit that I’m a lot better at this than you and give up.”

  A sparkle catches my eye and I realize she has glitter on her lips, I brush my thumb across them trying to get it off but if anything, I just spread more on there. I hear her small inhale as I trail my thumb across her cheek and I want to make it happen again, I want to take her breath away. I look into her eyes and I can tell there’s a war raging inside her head, I shouldn’t do this, not if she’s not ready.

  Clearing my throat, I step away and run a hand through my hair as she tucks a strand of hers behind her ear.

  “I guess I should get the vacuum out,” I say tentatively.

  “Err... yeah. I’ll help.”

  I take another look around and laugh, trying to dispel the tension in the air. “You really did do a number on my apartment, huh?”

  Her lilting laugh rings out. “It had to be done, I had to push you off your pedestal somehow.”

  “Touché, Prank Queen,” I say, bowing my head at her.

  She grins at me and curtsies, asking for a cloth to start brushing the majority of the glitter off of every surface in the vicinity. I’m regretting running after her everywhere now; I spread it way more than it was before.

  After brushing it all off everything I own, she turns to me. “Have you got any Sellotape?”

  “Sticky tape? Sure, it’s in that drawer over there.”

  She skips over to the drawer I point to and I can’t tear my eyes away from her as she bounces back over to me and hands it to me. “Wrap it around me so the sticky bit is on the outside.” I raise a brow at her in confusion. “Just do it.”

  I shrug and start wrapping it around her slender body and onto her legs. When I’m at her ankles she nods at the floor. “Alright, you hoover the majority of it up and I’ll do that rest.”

  “Hoover?”

  “Sorry, vacuum,” she says in a bad American accent.

  I chuckle and start vacuuming as she stands there, not able to move.

  After vacuuming, I look at her trying to get down to the floor, completely confused at what is going on. “Billie what are you—”

  It becomes evident when she starts rolling across the wooden floor like a sausage and a burst of laughter slips from my lips. “What the hell are you doing?”

  She stops rolling and looks up at me. “What does it look like? I’m obviously grabbing any bits that haven’t been hoovered up.”

  I can’t fault her logic but I also can’t stop laughing at how silly she looks doing it at the same time.

  “Well don’t just stand there staring, wrap some around your hand and start on something else.”

  “Right,” I say, jumping into action.

  Watching that happen was the best! The look on his face was worth rolling around his floor wrapped in Sellotape looking far from sexy. Although we’ve been over everything, the apartment still sparkles and I chuckle with my hand covering my mouth.

  It took precision and a lot of patience to set up the prank. When I went to the store I bought pink, red, purple, and gold glitter. I used one of his bowls—that now sits in the bin—to mix it all. I even had to use a teaspoon to get all the glitter on top of the fan blades, and I used a bag taped underneath it so that nothing would fall out onto the floor, giving away my whole prank. I don’t even feel bad that it took ages to clean up, I knew it was going to be hard; glitter is the herpes of the craft world.

  He shoots me a playful glare and I burst out laughing at his sparkly hair and beard. He’s covered in pink, purple, red, and gold flecks, and I suspect I am too, but not as badly as him.

  “I think I need to take a shower,” he says.

  “Yup, me too.” Shit! That came out a lot flirtier than I intended it to and after I had to practically restrain myself from kissing him earlier, I don’t want to go there right now. “Alright then, I’ll see you later.”

  He stops me with a hand on my arm. “You’re coming back after though?”

  I look into his unreadable eyes. “I-I thought you were having drinks with your friend?”

  “He had… something he needed to do, so I’m free.”

  I smile, nodding at him. “Order a pizza though, waiting for you this afternoon has made me hungry.”

  A barking laugh sounds out and I walk back to my own apartment feeling happy.

  I climb into the shower and much to my irritation, the glitter won’t wash off properly. Most of it does, but as I dry my hair, I see bits sparkling in the light on my scalp and cheeks. Worth it.

  I dress in some comfy leggings and a checked shirt and throw on some fluffy socks, picking up my keys and walking to Mac’s apartment. I still have his key so I don’t knock, I swing the door open and immediately wish I hadn’t.

  Mac is standing in his kitchen with a towel around his waist, gulping a glass of water down. It’s all I can do to stop myself from walking over and licking his sculpted body.

  “I err…”

  He smirks and braces himself with his palms behind him on the kitchen bench. “Like what you see?”

  I make a point of running my eyes all the way down his body and back up to his face, trying my hardest to not let my eyes bulge out. “I’ve seen better.”

  He throws his head back in laughter. “God, you’re so
stubborn.”

  I shrug. “Where’s the pizza?”

  “On its way.”

  “Then why are you naked?”

  He pushes off the bench and walks toward me, stopping when he’s mere inches away. “You’d know if I was naked.”

  A high-pitched noise comes out of my throat involuntarily and his eyes flash with hunger, and not hunger for the pizza that’s going to be here soon.

  “Do you know how much I washed and scrubbed at my skin? And yet I’m standing here shining like a disco ball. I look like a shit extra from that vampire movie.”

  I scoff. “Don’t kid yourself.” I stand on my tiptoes to whisper in his ear. “You don’t look that good.”

  He stands with his mouth wide open as I pat his cheek and walk over to his sofa, sitting down and flipping through the channels for something to watch.

  There’s a buzzing sound and he answers the phone by his front door.

  “Hello? Sure, I’ll come get it.” He hangs up and turns to me, making puppy dog eyes. “You’ll have to go down and get it, I need to put some clothes on. Money is in my wallet on the kitchen counter.”

  I wave him off. “I’ll get this.”

  He throws me a stern look but I ignore it as I jump up off the sofa and walk out and down the stairs, collecting the pizza and coming back up.

  He sits next to me in grey joggers and a tight, khaki t-shirt that is strained over his biceps and I pause mid bite, my pizza dangling midair as I watch his muscles flex when he picks up a slice from the box.

  “You’re staring.” He smirks but continues looking at whatever is on the screen.

  My head snaps to the TV and he chuckles to himself.

  We continue watching the film in silence, but I take the odd glance at him, seeing him rolling his lip between his fingers. He looks over at me and smiles, pulling me down so my head is laying on his thigh. I’ve gone from sitting with a pizza box space between us, to lying with my head on his lap as he strokes my hair. It feels so right.

  I’m just drifting off to sleep when his mobile rings.

  “Billie? I need to get that,” he says, gently propping me up.

  I sit up and stretch my arms out, listening to his conversation because I’m nosy as hell.

  “What’s wrong? Okay. Yeah, of course I can, anything you need. Sure. Call me when you land.” He hangs up and looks at me. “That was my friend, he’s leaving again. I think something is wrong but I suppose I’ll find out when he calls me later. I dunno why he didn’t just come down though, he only lives upstairs.”

  “Maybe he’s busy?”

  He smirks. “Yeah, I’d say. He was with a woman when I left him.”

  I roll my eyes... typical Mac.

  “Wanna watch something else?” he asks.

  “Actually, I think I’m going to head on out, I’ve got work tomorrow and I’m pretty tired from all of the excitement from today,” I answer, winking at him and walking toward the door.

  “Don’t forget about Wednesday,” he calls behind me.

  “Wednesday?” I turn to face him.

  “Yeah, Wednesday. I told you not to make plans.”

  “Oh, you meant this Wednesday? I kinda made plans with the many friends I have other than you.”

  “That’s a shame,” he says sarcastically.

  “Yup,” I say, popping the p and closing the door behind me.

  My door swings open and I look away from my laptop to the gorgeous specimen that’s walking toward me. When did he steal the master key back? He doesn’t say anything or even look at me apart from a quick glance. He walks in like he owns the place and sits down at the table next to me, opening his bag and taking out some plastic Tupperware, starting to eat the contents. I shake my head and continue typing up my third report of the day, saying nothing and trying to ignore his chewing.

  He finishes his food and stands up, walking toward my kitchen and helping himself to a bottle of water from the fridge. He gulps down half the bottle and walks back to sit beside me again, still not saying anything.

  I continue trying to ignore him but he moves his chair beside mine and leans in so he’s inches away from my laptop screen. I take a deep breath but continue.

  “You’re missing the r in mesomorph there,” he points out.

  I fix him with a glare and he sticks up his hands, palms facing me, but he doesn’t say anything else for a little while even though I can still feel his eyes on me.

  “Your shirt’s buttoned up wrong,” he quips.

  I look down at my blouse and sure enough, he’s right, but I won’t give him that satisfaction. I ignore him again and continue typing.

  He blows out a breath and starts humming God Save The Queen. That’s it.

  “Can you not!” I shout. A smirk rolls across his lips, telling me that he’s been waiting for me to snap. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be stupid?”

  He glances at his watch. “Not until seven.”

  Argh! Why me? “You’re infuriating, Mac.”

  He crosses his legs at the ankles and stretches them out in front of him. “I do try.”

  He finishes his bottle of water and taps his fingers on the table. “We still on for tonight?”

  I try to wrack my brain but come up empty, I can’t remember making plans with him. With having Monday off work, I’ve been so busy catching up that my mind is blank. “Err...”

  “I reminded you on Monday. Don’t back out on me now, B, I’m counting on you,” he says, his demeanor suddenly changing from playful to serious. It rings a bell so I smile at him like I was just messing with him and he rolls his eyes.

  “If you really want me to go out with you tonight then you need to leave and let me get on with these end of year reports. What time do I need to be ready for?”

  He picks up his bag and throws the Tupperware back in there. “Seven, I’ll come get you then. Oh, and err… can you wear a formal dress?”

  I laugh. “You turn up and tell me I have to be ready in two hours’ time; if I turn up in a bin bag, you’ll smile and act like you love it. Capeesh?”

  “I won’t need to act, whatever you wear you’ll look beautiful in,” he says with a wink and walks out of the door before I can answer him.

  Two frigging hours! The reports are forgotten about and I’m rooting through my walk-in wardrobe like my life depends on it. I have a lot of dresses, but as usual with Mac, I don’t know where we’re going but I guess it must be fancy since he asked me to wear a formal dress. I pick out three of my favourites and lay them out on the bed while I grab a quick shower.

  My hair doesn’t need washing so I shave everywhere to make myself smooth and coat myself with my coconut body butter when I get out, throwing on a pair of loose shorts and a tank top while I do my hair and make-up.

  I do my make-up first and decide to go quite natural but have the focus on my eyes, so I create a small wing at the corner of my eye with my eyeliner. Of course one of them never goes quite right and I have to start again which makes me start to sweat. Why am I so nervous? It’s Mac for Pete’s sake!

  I wipe off the dodgy eyeliner and try again, this time it goes well, not perfect, but it’ll do. Now I need to decide on which dress I want to wear so I know how to have my hair. This would really be easier if I knew where we were going.

  I look at the three dresses laying on my bed and pick up the navy blue one. It has a prominent V in the front that dips down to mid-waist so I immediately dismiss it, deciding it shows too much flesh. I hang it back up and look at the others. Hmm, I pick up the sequin mid-length dress and hang it back up, finally deciding on one and sitting back at my dressing table, lifting all the hair off my face to put into a high ponytail then wrapping a piece of hair around it to disguise the bobble I use to keep it in place. It’s a severe look, but one I think I can pull off due to having petite features.

  I step into the figure-hugging red, floor-length spaghetti strap dress and pull on my favourite pair of black Louboutin’s with the pointed t
oe, checking myself over in the mirror before adding a black cuff bracelet and matching pointed stud earrings. If this doesn’t bring him to his knees, then he’s out of a date tonight.

  I smooth my dress over one last time and look at the clock on my bedside table, it’s only twenty to seven so I decide to open a bottle of wine to try and calm my pre-jitter nerves.

  I’m leaning against my kitchen bench sipping on the crisp, white wine when I hear my door open and roll my eyes.

  “You’re early,” I call out but I don’t hear a reply so I turn around and it’s like all the air is sucked out of the room. All I can see is the handsome man standing in front of me in a dark grey, three-piece suit, and black tie loosely undone with his mouth hanging wide open. Even from over here I can see his throat move up and down where he swallows so hard.

  “I… wow,” he stammers.

  I blush and clear my throat. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  He nods and rubs the back of his neck with his hand, all the time never taking his eyes off me. “You should, you look stunning, Billie. I err, I just came to tell you the car is here early.”

  I nod and pick up my clutch bag, following him out of the door and into the lift. He can’t keep his eyes off me and I find myself blushing again. “You need to stop staring at me like that, you’re gonna give a girl a complex.”

  “I can’t fucking help it,” he blurts out.

  I laugh but it dies down when I see the intense look in his eyes. “Why are we dressed up so much? What exciting plans have you got in store for us this time?”

  The fire in his eyes dies and is replaced with a neutral if not even slightly irritated expression. What did I say?

  He stays silent as he opens the door to the black town car for me and helps me in. When he gets in the car himself, he clears his throat. “Look, Billie, I’m going to apologize in advance for tonight.”

  The driver pulls off so I don’t have time to change my mind, apologise for what? Have I just climbed into a car with a maniac?

  He must see my scared expression because he chuckles lightly. “Don’t look scared, it’s nothing like that.” He sighs. “We’re going to my dad’s birthday dinner.”