Cocky Jerk

by Rose Harper

  He looked down and his eyes widened as if it was the first time he’d noticed it. “That doesn’t explain shit. I could have just worn a promise ring or something.”

  Laughter overtook my body until tears streamed down my face. “Yeah, and I’m the Pope. Just because I haven’t been here in ten years doesn’t mean I’m a complete imbecile.” I wiped my eyes, before continuing. “Plus, you are not the kind of man that wears a promise ring. Trust me, I remember your extracurricular activities very well.”

  Without denying what I was saying was true, he turned in his seat. Cranking the car, we made our way to the restaurant in a complete tension-filled silence. I knew he was upset with me, but so was I with him. He actually thought I would believe his lie about the promise ring. Yeah, no such luck. His dick got more turns than a condom machine at a 7-Eleven. It would be completely idiotic to try to make me believe any different.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  “So, how was the fitting?” My mother oozed happiness, taking a drink of her white wine.

  Ever since we got to the restaurant, Brad hasn’t looked at me, let alone, breathed in my direction. To say it didn’t burn me up would be a lie. He was the one that walked into that conversation saying he wanted me, and that I was his. It seemed only fair that I call him out on his shit. On the other hand, though, his complete lack of interest was pissing me off. There were a couple times I thought about junk punching him just so I could get his attention. But then I would have to explain myself, so I refrained.

  I chuckled. “It went fine. In all honesty, I was not … impressed. Yeah, that’s the word I’m looking for.”

  I was such a bitch, but damn, I wanted to get his attention. I glance at him from the corner of my eye, seeing that he was talking to Henry his face a blank mask. But his hand had fisted on the top of the table when I said that. Ha. I’ve got you now. Teach you to lie to me.

  “Not impressed? You didn’t like your dress, dear?” She frowned, leaning back in her seat.

  I smiled. I knew I had to word this just so, so I didn’t hurt her feelings. Taking a sip of my soda, I sat there contemplating, then just came out with it. “No, the dress was very lovely. I promise. Just being in the dressing room was a nuisance. Besides being in the dress, I was unimpressed with the rest of the visit there,” I assured her.

  Her smile lit her face up. “I’m glad you like the dress, hon. I was worried you wouldn’t.”

  I waved her fear away. “It was gorgeous.”

  I was taking a drink from my goblet when I felt a hand on my thigh, gripping tightly. I smiled behind the rim of my glass. Score one for me. I appeared natural as if nothing were wrong, picked up my fork and knife, and I proceeded to peel the Italian sausage on my plate. I laughed on the inside when the hand on my thigh removed itself of its own accord. That meant he remembered what I told him in the kitchen last night.

  Good boy.

  He needed to remember that I was not just another passing fancy for him, someone for him to mess around with. We were to be brother and sister in a few days; nothing between us could come to pass. But that didn’t mean that I deserved his lies. Lies he thought he was getting away with.

  “So, Henry, where are you taking my mother for your honeymoon?” I chanced a glance at Brad, finding him texting on his phone under the table.

  Henry’s eyes lit up. “As if I would tell you with your mother at the same table.”

  My mother grumbled on the other end of the table, I snickered. “Henry, darling. I’m going to find out sooner or later where we’re going. I’ll know how to pack if you just tell me,” she stated in a sugary tone.

  He chuckled. “Nice try, sweetheart.” He leaned over to kiss her cheek. “But you’re still not getting it out of me.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him and I couldn’t resist laughing. My mother acted like a teenager when she was with Henry. It was a fulfilling sight to see. Her smile absolutely lit her face up when he was around. I was over the moon happy for the both of them. But I couldn’t help sitting here, envious of what they had. I wanted it. I wanted a man that would dote on me, make me feel like I was the only woman on the face of the earth, made just for him.

  I excused myself from the table, tears brimming my eyes. Being around them for any long period of time was too much. I would look at them and see all the things that I missed out on, that I was currently missing out on. It wasn’t fair to be that way, but I couldn’t help it. Just being here made the memories wash over me, caging me within its grip. I couldn’t allow it to take me fully. If I stood any chance of being the same after I left here, I needed to learn how to turn the other cheek. Not let their love get me down.

  I was washing my hands when the door to the restroom opened. I put a fake smile on my face before greeting them on my way out. However, when I heard the lock turn my heart was in my throat. I turned toward the intruder seeing none other than Brad, a scowl on his face. I rolled my eyes, throwing away the paper towel. I didn’t have time for any of this. I went to walk past him, but he grabbed my elbow, forcing me to stop and look at him. When I did, his eyes seemed to be blazing a bright blue with barely leashed fury.

  “What the fuck was that?” he growled, taking his hand from my elbow.

  I feigned innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “You know damn well what I am talking about, Claire. You damn near let it slip to our parents that we had sex,” he ranted, running his hands through his hair.

  “If you remember correctly, I said I was not impressed. So if you made the connection of that with us having sex, what’s that say about you?” I quirked my eyebrow, putting my hands on my hips.

  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

  He was pacing the bathroom now, not registering what I said. But when he did, his look was beyond comical. I couldn’t contain the laughter, I bent over pointing a finger at him. I had tears running down my face from laughing so hard. He looked like someone just stole his freaking cookie. His lips were in a pout only a petulant child would use and his arms were crossed over his chest.

  “I don’t know if I like the new Claire or not. I liked you way better when you would trip over yourself to get my attention,” he snapped.

  “Well, we don’t always get what we want,” I shot back.

  He opened his mouth to say something, but didn’t get it out before someone was at the door wanting in. My eyes snapped back to his in shock. What the fuck were we going to do? There was no way that I could get him out of here without anyone seeing. Hell, someone was at the door right now. He put a hand over his mouth, anger vanishing as he began laughing. I had to make a snap decision. Thank God he was right beside the first stall. I unlocked the door, then bolted for him, pushing him in the stall with me. He fell over the toilet and I fell on top of him as I shut the door and locked it.

  We heard a group of girls enter the bathroom not even a second later, laughing and giggling. We were so fucked if they found us in here. More than fucked, we’d be freaking dead. Coffins for two, please.

  My nerves were balled up tight in my stomach, I felt like I was going to be sick. I started fidgeting on Brad’s lap. If this whole situation wasn’t painful enough, Brad’s big friend chose that moment to start poking me on the ass.

  “Oh my God, Brad, you choose now to get hard. Seriously?” I whisper-yelled at him.

  “It’s not like I can control it,” he snapped, shifting on the toilet. “The motherfucker has a mind of its own.”

  “Holy fuck, that’s only making it worse. Tame the damn thing.”

  “There’s no taming this bad boy, sweetie. Trust me. No one, and I repeat no one, can tame a fucking king,” he chuckled.

  I scoffed. “You’re so full of yourself.”

  He leaned forward, breath caressing the side of my neck. “That’s not what you were screaming earlier today.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  As we finished lunch, I hugged my mother before Brad and I left for our waxin
g appointment. Having not been waxed for quite some time, only sticking to shaving, I was going to be walking bowlegged for the rest of the night; I was sure of it. I also knew Brad was going to make fun of me, too.

  What I hadn’t expected when we got to the salon was Brad getting waxed as well. It was freaking hilarious hearing his squeals coming from the waxing room. At one point in time I could swear on my very life, he was crying and telling the man waxing his male area he would pay him anything to just stop. However, I heard more girly screams echoing throughout the salon. I sat there snickering to myself just as the door opened. Here came Brad, perma-scowl on his face, walking toward me holding his junk as if he were protecting it from something.

  “What in the world?” I giggled from behind my magazine.

  “I’m going to kill him. I swear, I will. Then I’ll piss on his fucking grave,” he growled, sitting down awkwardly next to me.

  I giggled at the pained gasp that came from his lips when he sat down fully. “Who?”

  “Dad,” he said, his face screwing up like the name left a bad taste in his mouth. “He told the wax technician when he made the appointments that if you had to go through the pain, so did I.”

  Well thank fuck Henry had a sense of humor. He’d just literally made my day.

  I tried to make light of the situation but failed horribly when I started laughing. He gave me a stone-cold killer glare, and then smacked my ass when I got up to go to the room. I was nervous going in there. Hearing all the screams and cries that came from Brad, I just felt that it was going to be worse for me. Instead of just getting one, maybe two things waxed, I was practically getting my whole body done.

  The woman waiting for me scared the ever-loving shit out of me. She was a solid six-foot-tall with broad manly shoulders, sporting a mustache. She looked like one of those German women named Helga or some shit. I wanted the man Brad had; he’d been hot. This woman just gave me the heebie-jeebies. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but she just put off a vibe that screamed butch.

  Maybe Henry didn’t have a sense of humor, the asshole.

  An hour and a half later I was completely hairless from the shoulders down. I thought I’d been pretty hairless before, but damn that woman got everywhere; and I do mean, everywhere. She spent most of the time hovering around my pussy and taint. I’d never felt so uncomfortable in all my life. But damn did she take her job seriously. However, I felt like I’d won a small victory. I didn’t even make a peep when she was going to war on my body with the wax and strips. Now I had something to hold over Brad’s head.

  He’d been a trooper; I’d give him that. But he was the one that screamed like a little girl. Taunting him would be so sweet.

  When we started getting our hair transformed, I was exhausted. It being only four p.m., I thought I was going to fall asleep on my feet. Having no sleep the night before, then dealing with Brad all day was just getting to me. I caught myself dosing on and off in the chair as the man chopped away at my long, once luminous hair. By the time he was done cutting, dyeing, styling my hair, and moving me to the station to get my nails done, I was so ready to get out of the salon.

  Since I kept up with my nails regularly, it didn’t take long to get them done. However, for Brad it took them a tad longer. Of course, he being all male, the only thing he did with his nails was clip them. It was a sight watching the technician grind his cuticles. I’ve never heard a man in all my life squeal the way he did. I was sure this would be the last time any of these people would see him in here.

  That thought alone is what kept me going. After we were finished, he literally beat me to the door. I chuckled watching him wave at all the smitten woman in his haste to get the hell out of here. I wasn’t even fully out the door before he hoisted me over his shoulder, running the rest of the way to the car. It was absolutely hilarious that this big strong, virile, man was scared of a bunch of beauty technicians.

  “Get in the car,” he said dropping me unceremoniously to the ground. “We gotta get the fuck out of here.”

  I did as he said, laughing the entire time. Just seeing him in the shop made my entire fucking day. I was definitely going to be telling Alex and Mom about this later. They would get a good laugh at it as well. Who knew a big man could get scared so easily? I sure as hell didn’t. But damn, it was priceless nonetheless.

  He dropped me off at my mom’s, screeching his tires as he left. I stood there laughing when the front door opened. My mom came out onto the front porch, giant smile and all. She was leaning against the railing when I got to her. She looked me up and down with a knowing look on her face. It felt oddly weird to have her looking at me like this. Usually it didn’t bother me, but there was just that look on her face, as if she knew exactly what went on while we’d been gone today.

  “Have fun today?” she asked, gripping my shoulders and leading me into the house.

  “Yeah, it was oddly cathartic,” I stated, going to the couch to sit.

  She sat down next to me, internally fighting with herself. She finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and had to ask. “How did Brad like the waxing?”

  At that, I fucking lost it. Doubling over with laughter, I gripped my belly when it started hurting. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I continued to cackle with my laughter. “Ha. He just loved that. Said he needed to do it more often.”

  “I can just imagine now,” she said with tears rolling down her cheeks.

  We sat there for the longest time talking about what the day brought us. I left out all the parts about Brad and me. I didn’t need to deal with that pickle just yet. She told me how she met Henry, which was the sweetest thing ever. She was late for work one morning, only to have a flat tire on her way. She was on the side of the road, makeup a complete mess, clothes already wrinkling from the drizzle of rain. She was just about to give up when a man in a Range Rover pulled up behind her.

  He’d gotten out and come to ask her if she needed help. She explained that she felt such warmth when she gazed into his dove gray eyes. But she said he pulled off his jacket, put it around her, and led her back to his vehicle. Henry Titan was a very, very busy man. But hearing how he carved minutes out of his day for my mother when she’d been in need softened my heart even more toward the old man.

  We were crying, laughing, and damn near pissing ourselves when we had to part to get ready for dinner. I chose this time to call Alex. I hadn’t called her since I hit city limits yesterday. I was missing her something crazy and needed to hear her voice. Grabbing my phone, I dialed her. When I got voicemail, I was slightly bummed. I tried again only to hear her voicemail again. I opted to send a quick text before getting ready.

  With the way my mom wanted me to dress, it would take me an hour alone just to get my makeup and hair right. Not wasting a moment, I laid my gown out on my bed and went to the bathroom to start getting ready for the night. In some ways, I was glad tomorrow would be just a mother and daughter day. That was something that both of us needed—desperately. Just dinner. That was the only thing in the way of being around my mother for a whole day. I was so excited, I couldn’t wait.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  I was rocking this shit.

  Slipping into my stilettos, I went to the mirror to check myself out. I turned, seeing the crisscrossing diamond straps at my back. The black satin dress I wore was absolutely breathtaking. When I spotted it in the window of a shop in New York, I just had to have it. The gown hugged all my curves like a glove. It was diamond studded around my breasts, pushing them up and giving me some ample cleavage.

  Even though I was absolutely exhausted from today’s events, I was looking forward to dinner. My mom told me there was a surprise waiting for me at the country club, so that made all this playing dress-up worth it.

  If I knew my mother like I thought I did, it was something big. Grabbing my clutch, I came out of my room. Meeting Mom at the bottom of the steps, we gushed over how great we both looked. However, we knew if we stood here too long fawning over
each other, we would be late. Slipping out into the night, we made our way to the country club. We spent most of the drive talking and laughing.

  There had been so much that happened while I was gone. Most of the shit Mom told me about had me cackling with laughter. I found out that Mr. Rogers was caught sleeping with Mrs. Simmons, by both of their spouses. It was the most hilarious thing ever. Not only were they cheating on each other, but it was like they swapped spouses. I didn’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. What a way to be caught with your pants down—literally.

  “So, it’s just me and you tomorrow,” I clarified.

  She nodded her head with a big smile on her face. “Yup, just you and me, kiddo.”

  “Great, because tomorrow is your bachelorette party,” I stated with an evil smile, raising my eyebrows up and down.

  She groaned. “No strippers, Claire. Just no.”

  “Why?”

  “Henry is the only man I want to see that way. Ever,” she chuckled.

  “Okay. One, that’s just wrong. Two, you are such a party pooper.”

  “Only being honest, my dear.” She shrugged her shoulder, chuckling.

  I was so lost in conversation I hadn’t noticed we’d made it to the club. The valet opened our doors, their mouths dropping open in delighted shock. I blushed from their reaction. Taking the valet’s hand, I got out of the car. My mother joined my side, and we began ascending the steps. Just as a doorman opened the door, Henry’s car pulled up. I stood back with my mother clutching my bag in front of me.

  The moment the men saw us standing there, their expressions went from being playful to sinful. Henry absolutely ate my mother up with his eyes, but that’s not what had me catching my breath. It was Brad standing there in a black tuxedo, with a lone red rose in his hand. His hair was perfectly gelled; he looked absolutely handsome. His presence quickly reminded me of the time he came to the house begging me to take him back. In that moment, I forgot how to breathe.