Hustle Me

by Jennifer Foor

  Since I had to pee terribly, I slowly worked my way out of Jammer's arms. He reached for me, but I kept scooting until I made it off the bed. "Come back," he whined.

  "I have to go to the bathroom." I didn't wait to hear what he said, because I was about to pee down my leg. Since I was in the bathroom, I decided to brush my hair and teeth before climbing back into bed. He knew what I did and shook his head.

  "Why do you always do that? I love your morning hair. It's all eighties hair band looking. It makes me want to crank up Bon Jovi and play the air guitar."

  I cuddled back up into his arms and felt his erection pressing against my ass. "Seriously, I think you remain hard all of the time."

  He ran his hands up my sides, giving me goose bumps until he reached my breasts. "When you're naked, I'm hard."

  "I guess I better start wearing footed pajamas," I teased.

  He drug his teeth over the center of my back. "I'd find the zipper, expose your breasts and then get hard. Stop arguing with me. It makes my dick harder."

  I started to giggle and turned my body back around to face him. "Can we just stay in bed all day?"

  Jammer ran his hands through my long hair. "A much as I would like that, there is your brother that we have to feed and make sure he doesn't climb out windows or watch porn."

  I buried my head in his chest and lightly slapped him. "Eww that is my little brother you're talking about."

  He started laughing. "Yeah, but he's got to learn sometime. How do you think I learned?"

  I put my hands over my ears so I couldn't hear him continue to creep me out. I didn't want to picture a little boy watching dirty movies and touching himself. I mean, I know it was going to be inevitable, but I didn't want to think about it until my brother was at least a little bit older. "I'm not removing my hands until you promise not to talk about that anymore."

  When I felt Jammer grab the covers and pull them over my back, I knew it was because my brother had walked into the bedroom. "Hey, buddy."

  He climbed up on the bed and wedged himself between us. Being that neither of us were dressed, I kept the covers pulled tight under my arms. "Charlie, my belly hurts."

  I reached up and touched his forehead and he was burning up. Jammer saw my concern and slid a pair of underwear under the covers. I kept Ry's attention while he pulled them on and climbed out of the bed. He went right into the kitchen and grabbed the thermometer and Tylenol, then came back in and grabbed him so that I could get dressed.

  I threw on a pair of Jammer's sweats and a t-shirt and ran out to be with them.

  He had Ryan on the counter with the thermometer in his mouth. When it beeped I pulled it out to see that his temperature was one hundred and four. Panic came over me when I thought about what to do next. "We need to call the doctor!"

  Jammer handed me the phone and the magnet off the fridge with the number to my brother's pediatrician. After freaking out to someone who was obviously just a medical receptionist, we had an appointment with the doctor. Jammer held a rag on my brother's head while I managed to put some of my own clothes on, not that it mattered because as soon as I went to check on him, he projectile vomited all over the front of me. The smell filled my nostrils and I made a dash for the hall bathroom to vomit myself.

  About ten minutes later, I came out of my room changed and found that Jammer had cleaned up the puke on the floor and was sitting on the couch with a bucket in one hand and my brother in his other arm. He looked up at me and started laughing. "Wow, I never saw you run so fast."

  "Shut up! I have a weak stomach."

  "Maybe you're pregnant." He threw me a wink.

  I was speechless. How could he even joke about something like that? "You aren't funny!"

  He rubbed my brother's head. "Would you be happy if your sister had a baby?"

  He was so lethargic, but nodded his head up and down anyway.

  I rolled my eyes and grabbed the car keys off the counter. Jammer ran into the bedroom and in the matter of time it took me to get a jacket on my brother, he was changed and had shoes on. "You ready?"

  "You’re coming too?"

  He grabbed the keys out of my hand and picked up Ryan. "Yeah, why wouldn't I? Who's going to help the kid when he starts to puke and you follow suit?"

  I smiled and followed behind him. When we walked past the bar I grabbed a plastic bag, just in case he had to puke again.

  The doctor visit turned out to make me look like a worry wart. Apparently my brother had a virus that was going around and it included a high grade fever. After his second dose of Tylenol, it was down and he was fine. The doctor ordered us to keep him on a liquid diet until we were sure that he could keep what he ate down.

  Jammer offered to take turns with me so that we could open the bar and manage the lunch rush. Since Shaun was running the kitchen, it was easy for just one of us to be downstairs. I think Jammer liked it because every day he would watch the billiards competitions on television while he worked. If he was upstairs, he'd have to watch whatever my brother wanted. As much as Ryan wanted to play pool with Jammer, he didn't exactly find watching an hour long pool event the same kind of exciting.

  Jammer had taken the first round of working the bar and I hadn't even planned on falling asleep, but was woken up to his kisses. "Charlie, wake up, sexy," he whispered.

  I opened my eyes and looked over at the opposite end of the couch where my brother was still asleep.

  Once we got into the bedroom he plopped down onto the bed. "It was busy as shit earlier. I think everyone in town came to get drunk on their lunch break."

  "Maybe they just heard about the awesome bartender the new owner hired." I climbed on top of his back and kissed his ear.

  He kept his face buried in the blankets. "You didn't hire me. I hired myself."

  I rolled my eyes. "How could I forget? I mean, you were the biggest asshole I'd ever met."

  "You act like you weren't at all a total bitch." He leaned up on his elbow and flicked one of my nipples.

  "Ouch, don't do that."

  "Let's have sex." He sat up and tugged at my shirt.

  I pulled it back down. "Seriously, my brother is in the other room."

  He let out a chuckle as he pulled my ass in his direction. "Just bend over."

  I laughed as I pulled out of his arms and jumped off the bed. I pointed in his direction. "You need to buy a damn magazine or something."

  He rolled over on his back and kept laughing. "Baby, they don't work after being with you. Nothing compares."

  I could feel the burning in my cheeks after he made the comment. I knew I made him horny, but I never thought it was like that. "I don't know what to say to that."

  "You don't need words." He came up behind me and tugged down my pants. I tried to pull away, but I was giggling too hard.

  "At least let me close the door, you freak."

  He held onto my hips and walked me over to the door, with my pants down around my ankles. As soon as I clicked the lock, he stepped on my pants and removed them from my feet. With one of his hands, his pushed me over so that I could touch my feet. I felt his fingers sliding down my ass until he reached my pussy from behind. I kept my body completely bent over by grabbing the back of my knees. It must have spread my ass more, because I heard him moan as he took a hand and rubbed it all over both of my cheeks. "This is the best fucking ass on the planet."

  The blood was rushing to my head, but when I felt him slide inside of me, I forgot all about being uncomfortable. I grabbed the wall as he pushed his length all the way inside of me. In my mind, I pictured it going in and out of me and the sensations were already building up.

  "God, I love fucking you. Tell me you like it." He kept up his pace as he waited for me to reply.

  I felt his hand reach up my shirt and grab at my breast right before I attempted to answer him. "I love it. I love how you make me feel."

  "Oh yeah, baby, I know you do."

  Sure, he was cocky, but it's what made me so hot for
him. I loved when he talked dirty and wanted quickies at random times of the day. It made my heart beat fast and my mind fill with satisfaction. This handsome man that was grinding his hard erection deep inside of me was as crazy about me as I was him. He kept going faster until I felt him grab my hips and turn me around against the wall. "I need to look at you."

  "Take me to the bed and do whatever you want with me." He picked me up and carried me over to the bed, where he laid me down and climbed over top of me. I felt him penetrating me again and it was at that moment where my release came. It overwhelmed me, sending me into a euphoric moment that I didn't want to come down from. His kisses covered my neck as he grinded his body into mine. I moved my hips to match his rhythm and when he started going faster, I knew he was about to release. Jammer buried his head into my neck and sucked hard on my skin as he jerked just a few more times before letting his body collapse over mine.

  The extra weight of him was shifted off of me as he rolled me over top of him. He kissed the base of my head. "I really love you."

  I giggled. "I really love you too."

  He placed little kisses on and around my lips. "No, you don't get it. For the first time in my life, I know what I want. Finding you was the best fucking thing to happen to me. I just want you to be happy too. What if you lose this place, Charlie? Hypothetically, if being without me could save the tavern, what would you choose?"

  I wondered if this was some kind of emotional conversation that sometimes happened after intercourse. "Why would you even ask me that?"

  "Never mind, it doesn't even matter."

  I wanted to know what he meant, but I looked over at the clock and realized it was after ten at night. "Oh my God, I slept that long?"

  He smiled and pulled me closer to him. "We were slow, so I just closed up early. I figured you could use the night off."

  "What would I do without you?"

  "I guess you'd be sex deprived and overworked." His sarcasm was on overdrive.

  "Seriously, you don't know how much I appreciate you, Jammer. Without you, I would be so lost."

  It was true. We were such a great team. If I ever lost him, I don't know what I would do.

  "Why don't you go back to sleep. I'm going to go watch some television and check on the kid."

  He kissed me and headed out into the living room. As funny as he was trying to be, I couldn't help but get the feeling that there was something bothering him; something that he didn't want me to know.

  Chapter 30

  Jammer

  When Charlie never came downstairs to switch with me, I knew she must have been sleeping or dealing with Ryan, so I just worked the rest of the night myself. We weren't busy anyway, so it wasn't that big of a deal. Granted, my desperate attempt to be with Charlie was out of guilt I was feeling about being able to save her from losing the tavern. At first, I wanted to tell her, but out of my own selfishness I just couldn't deal with the thought of giving her up. I guess in many circumstances people sacrificed what they loved for their loved one’s happiness every day. Still, every single time I looked at Charlie, I knew it was the only way out of this situation.

  As painful as it was, I focused on a plan and knew what I was going to do. I would have to suck up the pain and pretend that it wasn't bothering me. Every single touch, every single kiss, kept making me fall more in love with her.

  Leaving Charlie was going to rip out my heart.

  While she slept, I started writing her a note. I tossed the first twenty in the trash bin, before finally taking a few deep breaths and regaining my composure. Just writing down the words goodbye seemed impossible. I contemplated asking her to wait for me until my father kicked the bucket, but it was seemingly obvious that he would probably outlive the both of us for spite.

  It was inevitable that my time with Charlie was limited. I wanted to savor every single second, but at the same time, it made it harder to walk away.

  With her brother being sick, I had made a few calls and begged Shaun to take on more hours when I left. Telling him was like sealing the deal of my leaving, since he and I didn't always see eye to eye. I knew he would be dying to spill the secret to Charlie, before I was able to actually leave.

  I guess my decision was made the second that I knew I had no other choice. Seeing that billiard commercial gave me the idea. Since I watched billiards on television while I worked, they always listed the upcoming events. I knew when it was held every year, but since I had been living the lifestyle I was living, it was easy to just not acknowledge it. Still, when I heard how much the winner would receive, it changed everything. I knew my father would not settle until Charlie lost everything. No matter how I tried to play it out in my head, she was always the one to suffer. The plan I had concocted in my head would initially be painful, but Charlie would come out with her tavern, and if I won, she would get to have a future with me, if she still wanted it.

  Yes, it was painful and nerve wracking, and when I thought about losing her, it would be difficult to see through. I'd meant to do it when I closed up for the night, but I couldn't say goodbye without touching her and holding her again. For the first time in my adult life, I wanted to cry. In such a short time, Charlie had become everything to me. The actual chances of me winning a billiards competition were so slim, but it was a risk I would have to take.

  Since I'd only come with a small amount of things, it was easy to pack up without her noticing. If I left something it would just be a reminder to her, so I really did try to collect all of my belongings.

  My letter was meant to be short, but the more I tried to write goodbye, the more difficult it became to find the words to create the closure that I needed her to have.

  Since Charlie didn’t know about my father’s ultimatum, she would believe that me leaving was for real and that I had changed my mind about being in a committed relationship. I needed her to believe it, because my father was no fool. He would make sure that me leaving wasn't a ploy to beat him at his own game. I had to make sure that everyone, including Charlie, really believed I left her.

  After having sex and doing a couple things around the house, I kept her close to my body. When she finally fell asleep was when I let my emotions really get to me. She was warm against my skin but I felt cold knowing this could be the last time I ever held her. If I didn't come up with that fifty grand our relationship couldn't be. Sure, we could move away, but my father would stop at nothing to keep us apart. He was an arrogant man that had to be in control. If I could have changed my name, I would have, just to get away from him. Hell, I'd even considered faking our own deaths to escape his controlling demeanor. As cool as that played out in my mind, it wasn't exactly possible without some kind of illegal connections.

  I got up early the next morning and brewed Charlie's coffee for her. I'd carried Ryan to his room in the middle of the night, right before heading back to bed, so I leaned against the counter and quietly tried to think of reasons why I shouldn't be going through with my plan.

  Charlie was the most important thing in my life. It was no longer about pool, or who I was going to hustle for the win. It was about giving her everything I possibly could, which included her family's business. I sat the letter next to the coffee pot and looked into the bedroom where she still lay asleep. She looked so peaceful and happy. This was the day where she would feel the most pain. By tomorrow she would hate me and hopefully in time she would have the strength to move on. Of course, I wanted to believe I could win that money, but it was farfetched and more of a dream that I couldn't get her excited about.

  As I exited the building, I looked back at the door I had walked through so many times before. It was by far the hardest thing I had ever had to do. I wasn't just going to miss Charlie; I was going to miss Ryan. I wanted to teach him about pool, just like his dad had taught me. I wanted him to know that I'd always be there if he needed to have a guy talk. I wanted him to know that I would do anything for his sister and that even when he grew up and went out on his own, she woul
d always be taken care of.

  But...I couldn't tell him, because I knew it just wasn't possible.

  I could have sworn that Joker or maybe even her mother was giving me signs to turn back around and just stay. The door wouldn't lock when I went to leave. It took me ten minutes to get it to work. When I got to my car, I couldn't get my key out of the door and then my car wouldn't start.

  I loved Charlie, I knew that, but I didn't realize what loving her would feel like when I walked away. My first inclination was to drive to my father’s place of business and beat him to death. I filled my heart with rage to avoid feeling the guilt and pain. My chest felt tight the farther I got from the tavern. I beat my hands against the steering wheel, finally allowing myself to see what a mistake I'd made. There was no way in hell that I was going to win that tournament. Signing up was going to cost me everything.

  Sadly, I continued to drive away from Charlie and our life together, until I reached the lawyers office. They were more than surprised to see me walking through the door like they hadn't been searching for me for months. In a matter of fifteen minutes, I was signing over my share of ownership to Charlie and Ryan.

  When I walked out of there, I knew exactly where I was going next. My father needed to know that I'd left her. The sooner the better.

  I wanted that bastard to know exactly what he was taking away from me and that he was dead to me. I never wanted to see him again and I would not even attend his funeral when his sorry ass died. He didn't deserve to be a parent to any child.

  When I looked down to check my phone, I knew that Ryan would be awake, which meant Charlie had read my letter. I had no calls on my cellphone, but it was because I asked her to never try to call me again.

  I pulled over and parked the car in front of my father's office. As I climbed out; I cracked my knuckles and prepared for what I was willing to do. I'm glad I never owned a gun, because if I did, I would be in jail by nightfall. He had taken away my future, my heart and all hopes of ever finding happiness. I wanted him to pay.