“I better get to clearing out this crowd then.” She pulled away from me while she giggled. I shook my head and got back to tending the bar.
As the crowd died down, I wondered if Charlie was ever going to come back downstairs, not that I needed her help closing the bar. It was a piece of cake. She’d already taken care of the kitchen. With no one to entertain, Elle made her way back to the bar. I was trying to get the rest of the glasses dried and put away, so I pretended to be interested in her conversation while I worked.
“So, it’s almost closing time. Do you know what that means?”
I hung up another wine glass. “Nope, maybe you should refresh my memory.”
“Let’s do a shot! We totally need to do a shot together.”
I poured a shot of vodka into two glasses and slid one across the bar. “What are we drinking to?”
She held up her glass towards mine. “To a night we will never forget!”
I clanked our glasses together and downed my shot. The liquor burned going down. I watched her squint her eyes and finish. “Okay, one more.”
She’d already been drinking beer all night. If I gave her anymore liquor, she’d probably pass out. I poured another shot and filled up my glass too. “Last one.”
She held her glass up again. “To Charlie and her bar.”
I agreed and downed my shot again before passing her a new beer. My plan was to get her to go to sleep before she could take off her clothes.
She took a big swig of her beer and sat it down on the counter. “So, have you met Zach yet?”
“Is he the boyfriend?” I don’t think she’d said his name before.
She started laughing. “Is that what she called him?”
What did that mean? I opened my mouth to ask and saw Charlie coming in our direction.
She approached Elle from the opposite side and, although giving me a quick glance, turned all of her attention back to her friend. She was laughing and keeping her conversations at a tone where I couldn’t hear them. They were completely talking about me. I could tell from the look on Charlie’s face that I wasn’t her choice of conversation.
I leaned over the bar. "She's had one too many. You should probably take her upstairs."
Charlie looked at me like I had a third eye. "I can't carry her."
Of course, she had to put this on me. "Why don't you pay the Karaoke guy and I will get her up to bed." I saw Elle start smiling when I said bed. The bitch didn’t have a clue.
"Good idea." Not the reaction I was hoping for. I guess she really did want to forget.
Elle stood up and walked sideways. "I can walk myself upstairs." When she tripped I began to laugh, until she put her weight on me, and walked up the steps.
When we got into the apartment, I told her she had to be quiet and not wake up the kid. It didn’t stop her from laughing at everything I said. We hung out in the kitchen until she got too loud and I was afraid Ryan would come walking out of his room.
She pulled me back to my bedroom and shut the door behind me. I crossed my arms as she walked over to my bed and climbed on top of it. She motioned with her finger for me to join her, but I stood where I was.
Elle giggled and pulled off her top. Her tits weren’t bad, but nice tits weren’t hard to come by. They didn’t compare to her friends, which were still too fresh in my mind to forget about.
“Get over here and help me take off my pants.” Her words were slurred and she was getting all sloppy.
“How about you take your own pants off and I will go grab us some more beers?” I wasn’t very experienced with walking away from pussy, but I was also not the type of guy to sleep with two friends just because I could. I’d made plenty dick moves in my life and this was still not okay.
“Hurry up. I can’t wait to see what’s hiding underneath those jeans.”
I walked backwards until I got to my door and then I shut it behind me. When I got to Charlie’s bedroom door, I couldn’t remember if it had been open or closed. It was closed now and I was afraid that there might be a pissed off Charlie on the other side. Since I’d taken a few shots through the night with customers and then the last two with Elle, the last thing I wanted to do was go to sleep. My stick was in Charlie’s room, but I knew I didn’t need it to shoot around, so I headed downstairs to a very dark bar.
It was so quiet down there. I walked right into the billiards lounge and turned on the lights. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, but I walked back to my corner table and started racking the balls up.
I found a halfway decent house stick and broke the balls. It felt so good to be shooting on this table again. Of all the places I had ever shot pool, this had to be my favorite table. Shooting pool wasn’t just a hobby for me. It was my whole life. I loved doing it and the fact that I made money didn’t hurt that love. Pool had taken me places and kept me focused. I stayed away from drugs and parties just to focus on my skill. All of the countless hours of practicing had become well worth it. While my friends needed to take trips to rehab, or were even in jail, I was still out playing the game.
I shot a few more racks before I decided to get something to drink. I didn’t want a beer, but a nice glass of bourbon. Joker had told me once that it was his liquor of choice before he got clean. I only drank bourbon when something was weighing on my chest. It helped me relax enough to slow down and make a good decision. Maybe that sounded juvenile, but it did the trick for me.
The bar part of the tavern was still dark, but I knew my way around enough to not have to turn on a light. As I made it to the back, I tripped over something and went falling forward on the floor.
I heard her yell, before I realized it was Charlie. “What the hell?”
I got myself to a sitting position on the floor and tried to focus in the dim light. “Charlie? What are you doing down here?”
“I could ask you the same thing.” She held up a bottle of Jack Daniels. “Isn’t it obvious what I’m doing? Can’t you see that I’m drinking away all of my fuckups.” She was talking like she’d been drinking ever since I saw her last. I wanted to laugh, because I couldn’t for the life of me picture her intoxicated, but here she was.
“I came down to shoot pool and clear my head. It’s just something that I do.” I grabbed the bottle out of her hand and drank from it. “I was looking for this when I tripped over you.”
She was leaning against the back wall, so I slid in beside her and leaned back too.
“Did you and Elle have a good time?”
I started laughing, because it was very obvious that me and Elle bothered her. “What do you think?”
She grabbed the bottle out of my hand, no; she jerked it out of my hand. “Ugh, I don’t want to know. If it’s anything like she envisioned, it was epic.”
I laughed again and grabbed the bottle back. Without asking, I found Charlie’s hand and pulled her up. I could see her face more clearly with the billiards lights shining through. “Come shoot a game with me.”
She whined and tried to stop me from pulling her. “I don’t want to play with you.”
“Come on, Charlie. It’s just one game.” I pulled her even closer to the billiards lounge. “One game.”
She rolled her eyes as I led her back to my favorite table. I grabbed the balls and got them set in the rack, then handed her the stick. “I can’t break.”
“Yes you can. Bend over and put your ass into it.” Just mentioning her ass made me think of it.
I took another hit of the bottle and knew I was getting drunk. Nothing bad could happen though. I was locked inside of a building with someone that I trusted, who didn’t want anything to do with me sexually. Nothing bad could happen.
Chapter 19
Charlie
I didn't know it was Jammer that came downstairs until I heard the pool balls breaking. Then, I wasn't sure if he was alone. Far be it from me to interrupt his good time with Elle. Obviously, he'd taken my advice and not had sex with her upstairs, if she was, in fact, ba
ck there with him.
I kept my jealous sobs to a minimum as I hid behind the bar drinking the bottle of Jack. This was my own fault for sleeping with someone I shouldn't have. I knew the whole time what kind of guy Jammer was. I knew that he could walk away and never talk to me again and I went through with it anyway.
It wasn't until he literally came and tripped over me, that I realized he was alone. I wanted nothing more than to know where my friend was, but the second I knew we were alone, I didn't know how to react. His cologne caught my nostrils and all I could think about were his tattoos and his naked chest.
After I screamed, "What the hell?" I sat back up and tried to focus on Jammer.
He crawled over and sat next to me. "Charlie, what are you doing down here?"
"I could ask you the same thing." I had a bottle of Jack in my hand and I knew he could most likely smell it on me.
"Isn't it obvious what I'm doing? Can't you see that I'm drinking away all of my fuckups."
"I came down to shoot pool and clear my head. It's just something that I do." He grabbed the bottle right out of my hand and drank from it. "I was looking for this when I tripped over you."
He got comfortable beside me and drank some more. I couldn't help myself. I had to know. "Did you and Elle have a good time?"
He laughed at my comment, which made me think he had. I wanted to cry. "What do you think?"
I grabbed that damn bottle right back out of his perverted hands. "Ugh, I don't want to know. If it's anything like she envisioned, it was epic."
He laughed at me again and grabbed back the bottle. I was shocked when he took my hand into his and pulled me up. "Come shoot a game with me."
I tried to stand still so he couldn't pull me toward the billiards area. "I don't want to play with you." Not in the way he thought anyway.
"Come on, Charlie, it's just one game. One game."
When he handed me a stick I liked to have passed out. I was feeling dizzy and there was no way I could successfully hit my cue ball into the rack of balls without looking ridiculous. "I can't break."
"Yes you can. Bend over and put your ass into it." Oh God, he just told me to bend over.
He was so sexy, standing there with that bottle that was making me feel so good, but not as good as he made me feel last night. I wanted to feel that way again, but he'd gone and slept with my friend.
I bent over and stuck out my ass as I tried to maneuver how I was supposed to hold the stick. He took another drink of the Jack before laughing and walking over toward me. His hands were gentle as they came up behind me. He took the tip of the stick and placed it in between my fingers, then put both of his hands over mine. I could feel his hard chest against my back and I tried to focus on that little white ball, but all I was really thinking about was the tingling that was starting between my legs.
"Just shoot nice and straight. Don't worry about knocking them all around." His voice vibrated into my hair and I closed my eyes before taking the last stroke and shoving the stick forward to make contact with the cue ball. The balls scattered around the bottom of the table, but Jammer didn't move away from me. Even when I stood up straight, he stood there with his body close to mine for a second. When he grabbed the stick out of my hands and started walking around the table, my little moment was over.
I watched him walking around and eyeing up the shots he wanted to take. He was so skilled and could make ridiculous shots from anywhere on the table.
I walked over and picked up the bottle of Jack to take another swig.
He was still stroking his stick, but talked as he focused on his shot. "You keep drinking from that bottle and I will have to carry you up to bed."
"Well, I wouldn't want you doing that after you already had fun with my friend upstairs." It would probably make him mad, because it was none of my business, but, hey, alcohol makes you tell the truth and when I drank, I did a lot of truth telling.
He made his shot and walked around to take the next one. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I mean, she was really doing her best to show you up. It was almost like you told her all about what we did last night. She kept asking if she was better the whole damn time."
My mouth dropped open and I swear I was fighting back the tears. Except, I hadn't told Elle about me and Jammer, so there was no way she could have known. "I didn't tell her anything."
He made another shot and walked over until he was face to face with me. "Why didn't you tell her, Charlie? Was it because of Zach?"
Wait, how did he know about Zach? Did Elle tell him about our benefits arrangement? "It has nothing to do with Zach. Once she laid eyes on you, I knew you'd forget all about last night. Elle's a pretty girl and she likes to have a good time. She's right up your alley."
He smiled and leaned against the stick. "What are we playing for, Charlie?"
Was he really not going to talk about him and Elle? Did she even know he was down here hanging out with me? "I'm not wagering anything with you. You know I don't know how to play."
"For every shot you make, I have to do whatever you want. For every ten balls I make, you have to do one thing for me. I think that's a pretty fair spot. So, what do you say? You up for the challenge?"
At this point, I didn't really care. The room was spinning and I was spending time with Jammer, which I was really enjoying. I didn't want to admit it, since he'd just been with my friend. I should hate him but, for some reason, I just couldn't. There was something about Jammer that made me want to be his friend, even if that's all we ever were again. Since he was with Elle, there was no way in hell I would ever have sex with him again. I mean, that's just nasty to me. I don't share guys like that.
"Fine, I will play you, but nothing mean or harmful."
He smiled with those perfect white teeth of his. "It's your shot. Take your time. Bend down and keep your legs spread apart." He got behind me again and aimed up the shot while I held the stick. I loved the way he smelled. "Focus on the ball and the angle it needs to go to make the shot. Stroke your stick until you know you're comfortable and then make the ball."
He made it sound so easy. I took a couple breaths and tried to focus on the blurry looking ball. I giggled, but calmed myself to take the shot. The ball went into the pocket and I threw my stick in the air to celebrate. "Yes! I made it!"
He leaned his hands on the table. "Congratulations, now what would you like me to do?"
"Is this like truth or dare?"
He shrugged. "I guess it can be."
I leaned over the table to face him. "Truth or dare?"
He shook his head and sighed. "Since I am confidant you will be making more shots, I pick truth."
There was only one question that my drunk ass wanted to know. "Was she better than me?"
He laughed, like he knew what I was going to ask. "Seriously, that's your question?"
I put my hands on my hips. "I don't care if you hurt my feelings, but I want to know. Just say it. You picked this game."
"You picked it and the answer is that I really don't know."
"What kind of answer is that? Was I that forgettable that you couldn't remember what we did last night? Oh, my God, “I am aren't I?"
I was embarrassed. Nobody had ever said I was good, but they never said I was bad. What if I was horrible.
He was laughing at me again. "Charlie, I don't know because I didn't sleep with Elle. In fact, I didn't even touch her that way and, if you really want to know, I couldn't believe that you didn't just tell her we were together. Do you really think I was the kind of guy to just sleep with your friend under your roof, a day after we were together?"
I shook my head. I was a little confused. "Wait. Did you just say that you didn't sleep with Elle?"
"It wasn't for her lack of trying. We got upstairs and she started undressing. I told her I was going to get us some beers and came down here, but as you can see, I had no intentions of going back up there."
"But, she's so pretty and she likes you."
He took a
few steps toward me and pointed to my next shot on the table. "Take your shot, Charlie."
This was kind of like the question game I played with him last night. I bent over and concentrated. This time he didn't lean over me, but I made the shot anyway. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Why did you sleep with me?"
He leaned into my hair. "Because I wanted to," he whispered. He brushed his hand across my cheek. "Because I think you are so sexy when you fight with me and play hard to get. So, why did you sleep with me?"
I started to answer, but poked my finger into his chest. "Hey, it’s still my turn. You don't get to ask questions." I think my heart was pattering so fast after hearing that he hadn't slept with Elle. This was my chance to actually tell him that I liked him. I didn't want another day of stepping on eggshells around him. I was drunk enough to take the rejection when it came, but I at least had to clear my conscience. Jammer moved out of the way so I could take my shot. "Shit!" I missed completely.
He grabbed the stick and winked at me as he leaned over and shot one handed. One ball went in, then two, then five all the way until he hit the eight ball in. "That's eight. Two more and I get to take a turn."
I rolled my eyes and racked the balls up for him to break. Of course, he broke and made three balls. He sat the stick down on the next table and grabbed me by my shirt. I could hardly keep my body from swaying. He was leaning on the table and had pulled me between his legs. "Truth or dare, Charlie?" He traced his fingers around my forearms.
"Dare." I bit down on my lip and waited for him to ask me to do something crazy.
"I dare you to kiss me, like you did last night."
A smile formed across my face even though his was dead serious. "That's your dare?"
"It's that or you can take off all of your clothes and get up on that pool table on your knees all bent over for me."
My eyes got really big until he started to laugh and shake his head. "You should see your face right now."
I smacked his chest. "Well, that is what I pictured you asking me."
"So choose then. Do you want to be face down ass up, or give me that little thing that I really enjoy?"
Hustle Me Page 12
