Kings of Denver - COMPLETE BOX SET 1-4

by Sheridan Anne

  I explain getting locked in, jumping out the damn window, getting caught in the freaking storm, and lastly, my car getting locked in the parking lot, all to Bri’s delight of course, as she comments that my life is like a movie. “He insisted on taking me home, you know, Jaxon Payne, always has to be the hero making sure the damsel in distress is safe and sound. So, I said that I’ll get him a towel, but instead of staying out here,” I say, motioning to the living room, “he followed me down the hallway, found my room and saw a few of the things that I’d been holding onto and… then he touched me.”

  “Hold on a minute, you little hussy. You’re going to have to clarify what kind of touch it was,” Bri interjects.

  I think back to that moment, how his eyes gazed into mine and he lifted his hand slowly, making his intention clear. I know without a doubt that I won’t be able to explain this the right way, so I get to my feet. Bri looks at me with a confused, blank expression. “Get up,” I tell her.

  She does as she’s told but still watches me strangely until I clarify, “I can’t explain it, so, I’m going to show you what happened.”

  “Yes,” she says, pumping her fist in the air.

  “Alright, you’re me,” I tell her then give instructions to take her hair out and squat down a little so the height difference between us would be correct. She gives me an excited nod and puts on a dreamy face as she bats her eyelashes at me. “I do not look like that.”

  “Shut up and get the show on the road,” she demands.

  I can’t help but laugh at her excitement as I put on the show of a lifetime. I focus on her eyes, giving her the same lustful look that Jax had given me. Though, by now, I already had goose bumps covering my whole body. I take the two agonisingly slow steps towards her, letting her know my/his intention as my eyes continue to bore holes into hers.

  I finally step up to her and tilt my head down to her before slowly raising my hand and gently pushing her hair back behind her ear. My hand trails down the side of her face and down her arm as I shuffle my body closer to hers. “Holy shit,” she murmurs. “You’re going to get me all hot and bothered if you keep going.”

  At that, I crack up and step back out of her personal space. “Yeah, well imagine how I felt.”

  “Fuck, yeah, you would have been screwed.”

  “Literally,” I laugh.

  “I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to hear this but I’ve seen him in action, picking up countless of girls and not once has he looked at one of them the way you just did then. I hate to be the one to tell you, but that boy is still in love with you,” she offers.

  I start shaking my head before she has even finished her sentence. “No, there’s no way. He made it pretty clear that it was a one time deal. I broke his heart. No, I shattered it and I have to deal with those consequences.”

  “Babe,” she says with regret in her voice and sadness in her eyes. “I think there’s still something there.”

  “There’ll always be something there, but it’s different. It’s not the same as it used to be. I don’t know, it almost felt like the goodbye we didn’t get three years ago,” I explain. “And besides, he’s so close to his dream of being in the NHL, he doesn’t need me around screwing it up.”

  “Well, with all due respect to Jaxon,” she starts. “He’s a great player, but I’m pretty sure he needs a girl like you around to keep him grounded. He’s most likely going to screw the wrong chick and get himself in trouble. Bye-bye NHL.”

  “Probably,” I grunt in agreeance. “But it’s no hope. I broke his heart in a bad way and it’s going to take a lot to earn his forgiveness. Hell, I don’t think he would ever forgive me for leaving him.”

  “Ok, well, answer these few questions,” she says, placing her hands on my shoulders and looking me straight in the eyes. “Are you physically and emotionally able to get through the day knowing he will never be a part of your life?”

  “No,” I sigh, “That sucks too much.”

  “Ok,” she continues. “Are you still madly in love with him?”

  I look her squarely in the eyes as I answer. “Yes, Bri. I am.”

  “Do you want him back?”

  With a sad, resigned sigh I answer. “Yes. I want him back.”

  “Good,” she smiles. “Then the new plan is to weasel you’re way back in. Go to every party. Make yourself known on campus. Become his best friend for all I care, but be present. The boys run every morning around campus and now, so do we. You need to show him that you are here to stay and that you will do whatever it takes to earn his forgiveness.”

  “Sounds like a great plan, Bri,” I say with a sad smile, “But this is Jaxon Payne. Biggest manwhore around. He isn’t the same guy he used to be and that’s my doing. Getting him back is not going to be as simple as that.”

  “It is that simple, Cass. I think the old Jaxon is still in there and I’m sure after the other night, there’s no doubt in your mind that he’s still in there. He’s just hurting and he needs you to take it away.”

  “You really think that?” I sigh, already knowing she’s right.

  “Yeah, babe. I do,” she says with a confident nod of her head.

  “I don’t know, I think it’s a lost cause. I’ve screwed up too much.”

  “Look, the way I see it, you can sit around here, fucking around each week avoiding him or you can go out there and give yourself the best damn chance of getting your man back. Yes, you fucked up. Yes, he is angry and hurt, but you have this chance to earn his forgiveness and make things right…. Or would you rather regret it in ten years when you’re marrying Tom from accounting and having 2.5 kids?”

  “Fuck you,” I groan. “Why did I have to go and move in with the one person who could make me see reason? This sucks.”

  “So….?” she asks slowly. “You’re going to fight for him?”

  “Yes, I’m going to fight for him,” I say, mimicking her annoying voice.

  Bri’s face lights up like the fourth of July. “Oh, hell yeah,” she says, jumping up and running to the kitchen.

  “If this backfires, I’m blaming you,” I call after her.

  “Get stuffed. The only way this is going to backfire is if you screw it up again. I’m telling you, that boy still loves you. It’s your job to make him realize it,” she says, coming out of the kitchen with a bottle of wine and a bag.

  “What’s that for?” I ask, eyeing the booze and bag suspiciously.

  “We’re going out this afternoon and you’re going to need this,” she says, holding up the booze, “to make you do this.” A wicked gleam is in her eyes as she hands me the bottle of wine and starts digging through the bag. “We’re going to get your sexy on,” she declares.

  “Ah, what?” I ask in confusion.

  “When was the last time you got screwed?” she asks, then adds, “And I’m not talking about the pounding you got from the man of the hour.”

  I know she won’t give in until I answer her question, so, I take a deep breath and confess. “A while,” I tell her. She looks at me with a raised eyebrow. “Ok, ok. It was a really long while,” I admit.

  With a smirk, she pulls out two tiny black crop tops and the tiniest little school girl skirts. I’m completely confused until she pulls out a matching pair of hooker heels. I let out a groan but she beams up at me. “That’s right, Ganga, we’re going pole dancing and you’re going to remember what it feels like to be sexy. So, chug that wine and get dressed. We’re leaving in ten.” And with that, she disappears down the hallway and closes her door behind her.

  I look down at the tiny clothes sitting on the coffee table and groan. Great, just freaking great. I crack the lid of the wine and take a big gulp. Yep, she was right, I’m going to need this. I grab the clothes and the ridiculously high heels and make my way down to my bedroom.

  With another gulp of wine, I start getting dressed into the tiny clothes in front of my mirror. Oh geez, I look like a whore. I add the shoes and have to laugh. Bri comes in at the so
und and gives me an approving whistle. “Oh, shut up, we look like a pair of cheap hookers,” I say, taking another drink of wine, only to have it taken from my hand as Bri does the same.

  “No,” she argues, “We look freaking hot.”

  With a shake of my head, I pull a tank over the top and grab a pair of sweatpants and flip-flops. I stuff the heels into my bag and wait for Bri to do the same. “Ready?” she calls out from the kitchen.

  “Yep,” I murmur, grabbing the bottle of wine off my bedside table and heading out to meet her.

  We lock up the house and get going. As it’s a beautiful day, we decide to walk and finish off the bottle. We’re both very happy by the time we push through the doors of the pole dancing studio and I can actually say that I’m pretty damn excited about this. It’s something I’ve always wanted to try but never had the guts to do.

  We introduce ourselves to our instructor and she directs us to the other group of beginners. We stand among the other girls who have already started to rid themselves of their clothes. Bri and I follow suit and strip off our tops and track pants while doing our best to hold in our tipsy giggles. I kick off my flip-flops and find my bag. Bri does the same and we each pull on our wicked high hooker heels.

  The second we’re ready to go, we take a look at ourselves in the mirror which covers the full front of the room. Hell, yes. “Got to say, Bri, I’m excited now,” I tell her.

  “I knew you would be,” she laughs.

  As the rest of the girls finish getting themselves ready, we crouch down around my bag and sneak another swig from the wine bottle. I stand up a little too quickly and realize I’m probably a little tipsier than I had thought, but I honestly couldn’t care less.

  Bri notices the happy glaze in my eyes and I giggle seeing the same look in hers. Yeah, this is going to be fun.

  The instructor pumps us all up and says she’s ready to get into it then turns to put on some music. We all spread out through the room and find ourselves a pole. Bri and I head to the back as it’s our first time and prefer to take our time with each move.

  Our spot is right by a massive window but for once I can’t seem to care, instead, all we can manage to do is giggle like school girls at the intrigued faces of the men and women walking by.

  Our instructor gets us started off with a sexy warm up dance that has us swaying our hips, smacking our thighs, bending low, and shaking our asses. Even though we can hardly keep up with the moves, we’re both having the absolute times of our lives.

  We watch as the instructor places a hand on her pole, positions her feet and allows herself to spin around the pole and I know it’s super basic, but I’m fucking impressed. Bri and I give each other a grin before we try for ourselves. We both drastically fuck up our first time, but we eventually get the hang of it.

  Next, we move on to learning how to climb the pole which is another hilarious experience though, I must admit, so far it has proven to be an amazing workout and I know my arms, stomach, and thighs will be killing me come tomorrow, hell, probably by later this afternoon.

  We’re about an hour in when we start learning the real cool stuff like flipping upside down and doing something the instructor calls a superman move and I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying myself. The majority of the booze has worn off but I feel that I don’t need it anymore.

  There are women of all shapes and sizes in here and not one has turned up her nose at another or watched another with lustful eyes, making me feel like this is a place I could come again. I turn to Bri who’s currently upside down on the pole, but struggling to find grip and slowly sliding down. “Thanks,” I smile, knowing that without her, this never would have happened. I’d be sitting at home, sulking about Jax and how I haven’t spoken to him in nearly a week. Instead, I’m here, upside down on a stripper pole, getting my sexy back with a plan to get my man back.

  “What do you say about making this a weekly class?” she grins as she attempts that last move again.

  “You’ve got yourself a deal,” I reply before getting back into my own moves.

  Chapter 8

  Jaxon

  Bobby and I sit in his truck on the way to the ice rink for our first game of the season when we’re stopped by the afternoon roadworks. “For fuck’s sake,” Bobby groans, looking out his window with a bored expression. “Why do they have to do this on a weekday and always at the worst time? What’s wrong with weekends or night works?”

  I nod my head along, not really caring about his issues with the roadworks. I mean, they’ve been doing it for the past three months, it’s not like he didn’t know they would be here. Yet he still came this way instead of taking the back streets like I suggested, though, I don’t think an ‘I told you so’ would be appreciated right now.

  I gaze out my window as the jittery excitement for the first game of the season starts to take over. We’re supposed to meet Coach and the boys early so Coach can go over our game plan for the night and give us all the big pep talk which we know is going to consist of ‘Get out there and show them who has the biggest set of balls’, throw in a few curse words and it’s just like the many he had given last season and the seasons before.

  Movement in a shop window catches my eye and an appreciative grin crosses my face as I see a fine looking ass up in the air wrapped in a tiny little school girl skirt with legs to kill for, legs I’d happily have wrapped around my face. “Fuck yeah, man,” I grin, slapping Bobby across the chest. “Class is in session.”

  He turns to look at what’s caught my eye when the same appreciative smile takes over. The chick on the pole changes her position and makes her body slowly spin around the pole as she leans back, thrusting her perfect tits into the air for the men of the world to ogle at. Yes, please. This chick is seriously every man’s fantasy and I have to have her.

  There’s movement behind the girl but I don’t take my eyes off her as I wait ever so patiently for the girl to finish spinning around the pole and give me a good look at her face, so I can find her after the game and take her home.

  “Is that…?” I hear Bobby distantly questioning, but I can’t be fucked to hear him out, after all, I’m on a mission.

  A wave of chestnut hair finally starts to come into view and I wait on the edge of my chair for my midnight snack to show her face. Three. Two. One.

  My jaw drops before I have time to register anything else. “Oh, fuck no,” I curse. I should have fucking recognized that ass waving through the sky. After all, I’ve nailed it a million times before. I’m out of Bobby’s truck and storming towards the dance studio before I’ve even registered what I’m doing.

  Fuck. Her brothers would murder me if they knew I let her take this class for the whole fucking world to see.

  Cassie’s beautiful face finally connects with mine through the glass and the giggly grin instantly disappears, replaced with shock and embarrassment. I must admit, seeing her this happy has my heart hurting, but there’s no way I’m letting this shit go down.

  I’m pushing through the door and heading straight for her before she has a chance to get off the pole. I notice movement behind me and realize Bobby has stormed in behind me and is heading for a different pole. It must be Brianna as she’s the only one who could get a reaction like that out of the guy.

  I grab Cassie around the waist, pull her off the pole and throw her over my shoulder. I grab a bag that I assume is hers and storm straight out the door without a word.

  I find Bobby’s truck, still sitting in the middle of the road, now the new reason for the held up traffic. I tear open the backseat and throw Cassie in, slamming the door closed behind me.

  I take a shaky breath and try to let go of the raging anger that rapidly courses through me as I get back in the front passenger’s seat. Bobby seems to be doing exactly the same thing as he gets in beside me.

  I have no idea what possessed me to do that. I mean, she isn’t my girlfriend anymore and apart from the fact that her brothers would rip me a new one, I just
can’t explain it. She’s a free woman, if she wants to put her body on display for everyone to see then that’s her decision. It has absolutely nothing to do with me, but the thought of allowing that to happen has me shaking in anger.

  I glance at her through the rear view mirror and I can tell by the way she’s silently fuming while clenching her teeth together, she’s about to burst.

  In three… two… one.

  “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, JAXON?” Cassie yells at me from the backseat while Brianna gets stuck into Bobby. I turn around in my seat to look at her and nearly have to look away from the anger in her eyes, though, not because I hate to see her angry or upset but because seeing her this way, all feisty and ready to scream is enough to have me wanting to fuck her right here, right now.

  “Look at yourself, Cass. You look like a cheap skank. I didn’t realize you’d taken up residence on the street corner.”

  “Oh, shit,” I hear Bobby grunt.

  Her mouth drops in shock before the anger takes over once again. She launches forward with her arms flailing around, trying to hit me but can’t get to me as the headrest is in the way. A smirk crosses my face immediately which has her fuming even more. “Did you just call me a fucking prostitute, Jaxon Alexander Payne? And a fucking cheap one at that?”

  Oh shit. She used the middle name, maybe I took that one too far. “Cass,” I sigh. “You know I didn’t mean that but seriously, what the hell do you think you’re doing on that pole?”

  “It’s called having fun, Jaxon. Something I haven’t had since I’ve been here,” she snaps. “Besides, what’s it to you? You’re the last person I’d expect to have an issue with a girl on a pole, isn’t that your specialty now?”

  I know there’s no point in talking to her when she gets like this, so I turn on Brianna. “Has she been drinking?”

  “Um, yes. How else do you think I got her to do it?” she snaps back.