Hook

by Charles, Colleen

  “Like I said.” Trina smirked as she slammed the laptop shut. “Under your skin. Hey, you think men like him ever want sugar babies?”

  “What?” I wrinkled my forehead. “What the hell is that? Like that candy?”

  “You sweet, innocent summer child,” she said, shaking her head with a giggle. “No, like that website. Rich dudes who want to pay some girl for the girlfriend experience. Take her shopping, take her to dinner.” She paused and shrugged. “Sometimes take her to a hotel. But you can make bank doing it. My friend, Jolie, posted to some sugar baby website and she loves it. Her clients are all these old guys, and she always makes fun of them behind their backs. Something about loose skin and saggy balls.”

  I forced a laugh. “And you’re thinking about doing that? You have a thing for a hanging ball sack?”

  “Ain’t all that different from what you do.” Trina yawned as if the idea of working at all had tired her out. “We need a better apartment,” she whined. “That kind of money could help.”

  I frowned and turned back to the papers spread out on the futon. “Just be safe,” I mumbled. The mention of sex with wealthy men brought up Chase’s face again in my mind, and I sighed, trying to banish him from my thoughts. But instead, I thought of him telling me how hard his cock was for me, how much he wanted to slide it inside my wet folds.

  “Time to study,” I said with a firm shake of my head.

  No more thinking about you, Bradenton.

  I pursed my lips as I tried to picture that perfect crooked smile just one more time and then clamped my eyes shut.

  ***

  Plagued by nightmares mostly about school, I barely slept that night. Turning in papers late, missing an exam. But one dream I had in the middle of the night featured Chase. Tanned and tux-clad, like in the photo, he stared at me with ravenous hunger in those dark brown eyes. In the dream, he stepped closer and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me toward him with a kind of practiced grace. But just as his lips met mine, he pushed me away. You’re not my type, he said, voice dripping icicles. I just like the attention. Did you really think I wanted to be seen with you at Daniel?

  After that last flippant barb, I jerked awake and couldn’t fall back to sleep no matter how many sheep I counted. I spent the wee hours of the night studying, and then finally collapsed in a heap on the living room futon with Trouble curled into my side.

  In the morning, I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. My red and scratchy eyes screamed plagued by bad dreams right along with my parched mouth. Like I had the worst hangover of all time, except aside from that one beer, I hadn’t actually had anything to drink.

  You’re hungover on Chase, you idiot, I thought as I dressed in a loose sweater and ripped black jeans. And it’s time to go on the wagon.

  By the time I got dressed, Trina had left. She studied art and even though most of her classes didn’t meet until the evenings, she spent the mornings hanging out in coffee shops with her artsy friends, trying to sell portraits for ten bucks. She called it her tip money.

  Unlike me, she didn’t have a real job. At least not yet. Privately, I thought it was kind of gross that she’d think about selling herself for sex to geezers. Even though I technically worked in the sex trades, at least I sat behind an anonymous phone line and didn’t have to spread my legs.

  The commute into Manhattan sucked as usual. With a wistful sigh, I recalled the smooth elegance of Chase’s limo, along with that delicious spicy scent that enveloped him. A touch of pride flowed over me at my timely escape. Guys like Chase didn’t really want anything to do with girls like me – in fact, the more I ruminated, the more convinced I became his dinner invitation had been a joke. My skin prickled with embarrassment as I recalled how I’d almost accepted, but I’d turned him down and dodged the bullet of future shame.

  Students peppered the room when I walked in to Advance Behavioral Psych, but I managed to snag the one remaining seat. Right at the front, in the line of sight of the douchebag bell curve lover.

  A guy sat next to me that I recognized from a few other classes – quiet and smart, but he always seemed like kind of a loner. Anti-social. When I felt the weight of his stare, I smiled. Sometimes, I got a kick out of thinking about my job during school hours. I’m sure no one ever expected that Chastity Sexe sold phone sex to horndogs, and thinking about their possible responses always tickled me. This guy would probably bust a nut if he knew the sordid truth.

  “Hey.”

  I whirled around in my seat as the guy leaned over his desk toward me. I frowned. The professor hadn’t come into the room yet, but I didn’t want to be the last person talking when he did. The professor scared the shit out of me.

  “What?”

  “Can I borrow a pen?”

  I tried not to roll my eyes. Even though college guys were technically men, they were still just like boys to me. Borrowing a pen was as lame as borrowing a cup of sugar. Even if this one in particular did have a cute face, he remained just as clueless as the high-school senior he’d been only a couple years ago.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I dug through my tote bag and passed the pen over to him. Our fingers met, and I noted with disappointment that the innocuous touch had been rendered sparkless. Nothing like touching Chase where electricity had ripped through my limbs as if I’d been holding a metal stake in a lightning storm. This guy’s hand just felt like warm skin.

  “Thanks,” the guy whispered with a lopsided grin. “I’m Nathan. Nice to meet you, officially.”

  “Chastity,” I hissed under my breath, just as the professor walked into the room.

  I turned to face the chalkboard, noticing that Nathan still gazed at me with a smile plastered on his face. A whiff of chalk probably gave Nathan a boner.

  After class, Nathan handed the pen back over my shoulder and grazed his fingers against my neck.

  “Hey, Chastity,” he said casually. “You have dinner plans?”

  I rolled my eyes, thankful he couldn’t see them. Eye rolling had become an unwelcome habit brought on by my job. Since I couldn’t let my disgust leak into my voice, I expressed it by some overly dramatic facial expressions. “Well, since I can’t get into Daniel tonight…” I trailed off. At his horrified look, I rushed to fill the uncomfortable silence. Geez, did he need a written memo to explain some basic humor? “It was a joke.”

  Nathan laughed, but it sounded more like a pathetic snort. “Wanna grab a burger?” He raised his eyebrows. “I know a great place off campus.”

  I frowned. But what harm could it possibly do? And maybe an innocent distraction would get my mind off that damned billionaire.

  “Sure,” I said. “That’d be great.”

  Chapter Five

  Chastity

  After my last class, I met Nathan by the student union. Regret niggled at my stomach and threatened to slide up the back of my throat. Then, said stomach let out a ferocious growl, and I relented. How bad could it be to grab a burger with a classmate? The worst that could happen was a lagging conversation and periods of awkward silence. But, since I spent all my work time appeasing men and their massive egos, I’d become pretty adept at injecting spice into a boring conversation. Besides, I had a hearty appetite and a big cheeseburger with bacon and a fried egg sounded like what I needed.

  “So, you like Hunter?” Nathan asked as we walked side by side toward the diner.

  “Yeah, I do. I like how small it is.” Then, I added, “Makes me feel like it’s kind of a little community within this huge city. Homey.”

  “I hate it,” Nathan said. “I wish I’d gone to NYU. I couldn’t get a scholarship though.”

  I frowned. I always hated when people asked for my opinion, then took a shit on whatever I had to say. When I was growing up, my mother’s constant stream of boyfriends all miraculously had that pissy trait in common.

  “Well, can you transfer?” I asked, humoring him.

  “No,” Nathan said. “It’s too late. This is my last yea
r.”

  I stared at him in shock. If I’d had to guess, I would never have put him at twenty-two with his baby face and lack of beard growth, like some kind of Doogie Howser boy wonder. “I’m a senior too. What do you want to do after graduating?”

  Nathan shrugged. “No clue. Probably get a job with my dad. He owns a landscaping company in New Jersey. He likes the creative side more than the business side so he could use the help.”

  “Then why the hell did you need to go to NYU?” I bit my lip as soon as the words flew out of my mouth. “I’m sorry,” I rushed to compensate. “That was really obnoxious.”

  To my surprise, Nathan laughed. “That’s exactly what my dad said,” he admitted. “Here, this way.”

  Nathan steered me into a divey-looking diner with red leatherette stools and a greasy wooden counter topped with clear Plexiglas. Without waiting for me, he hopped up on a stool and rapped the counter. I cringed – I hated when people were rude to service personnel. That action threw up a red flag.

  “Two cheeseburgers, medium rare,” Nathan said to the server. “And a diet Coke.” He turned to me. “You want anything to drink?”

  I scrunched my nose into a tiny ball to avoid going off on him. “I’d like bacon on my burger, please. And well-done. With ice water.”

  The pretty blonde server pursed her lips and wandered off. At first, I’d been grateful that the diner had been mostly empty but now awkwardness had rolled in, intruding on this date. I already knew I never wanted to see Nathan again outside of school. Chase’s face floated through my brain along with his masculine energy and take-charge attitude. Even with that alpha-male mystique, he would never have ordered for me. Even though we’d just met, in my heart, I knew. I’d never felt disrespected by him, even during our raunchy phone call. And he’d called me out on my shit, demanding to know my real name. Keeping it real when he could throw so much money at anything he wanted he could buy bullshit twenty times over.

  Nathan took the silence between us as an excuse to start telling me about his favorite hobby. Call of Duty. I managed to avoid falling asleep by nodding my head and making the occasional grunt, which I guess he took to mean that I found the topic exciting.

  Our food came, and I dug in, eager for the chance to fill my mouth with something other than a hundred possible insults to hurl at Nathan.

  “And just like I was saying,” Nathan continued, his mouth full of half-masticated pink beef. “It’s all about the aim. Not everyone can be as great at Call of Duty as I am, it really takes some practice.” I cringed as I felt a damp crumb land on my cheek. “That’s all it is,” Nathan repeated, taking another huge bite of his burger. I didn’t even like the way he chewed. “Practice, and a natural gift.”

  “And I bet you have that gift,” I said in my best droll voice, the sarcasm lost on him, setting my burger down on the plate. It sank into a pool of congealing grease and red juice. “I bet you’re the master of Call of Duty. I’m sure no one in the city can even think about topping you.”

  My stomach churned with disgust as Nathan’s head bobbed up and down. “That’s it,” he cried. Of course, with a mouth full of food, his words weren’t really discernable.

  “Right,” I said, drawing the syllable out into a long drawl. He still didn’t get it.

  Nathan didn’t make any more misguided attempts at conversation. He ate the rest of his burger in near silence, punctuating the air with slurping noises and gulps. I bet if I bummed a ride in Dr. Emmett Brown’s DeLorean and beamed myself back to the ice age, I’d find a whole tribe of Nathans.

  When the check came, Nathan grabbed it and frowned, lips moving as he did the math in his head like some kind of pocket protector wearing human calculator. “You owe six dollars and fifty-seven cents,” he said as he shoved the piece of paper toward me. “It’s accurate down to the penny. Do you have cash?”

  I slumped down on my stool and inhaled a cleansing breath before I went bat-shit cray-cray all over his ass.

  “Yeah,” I muttered after a deliberate second. “I have cash.”

  On the walk home, Nathan tried charming me with a dissertation on Enchantress from Suicide Squad. If only I had brown paper bag in my tote bag, I could vomit into it. Whatever happened to treating a girl to a cheap burger at a dive bar when you asked her out. Manners. He had zero. Like he’d been born in a barn and raised on cowpies. Especially after he’d forced me to sit through that grotesque display at the table. An unpleasant little thought flashed through my head.

  I bet Chase wouldn’t be that clueless with a woman. He’d know how to wine and dine me.

  “Negative, Ghostrider,” I muttered under my breath, letting that thought float away on the breeze.

  “Alright?” Nathan asked as we approached my building, and I stop in front of the door. “Is this you? Why are you so lost in thought?”

  I grimaced. “I think I have indigestion.” The lie tumbled out of my mouth without any effort. I’d give anything to have the guts to tell him the truth and let him know what I really thought of him. But unlike Nathan, I hadn’t stooped to his level. The gutter. I settled for a veiled insult coming from my passive aggressive best. “That place was pretty gross.”

  Nathan looked wounded – almost as if I’d insulted him personally instead of the bar. “I like it,” he said, sniffing the air. “Besides, you said you don’t get out much. What do you like to do in New York?”

  I looked to the side, distracted by something huge and shiny. My stomach sank to somewhere on the level of the chipped and dirty concrete. Inhaling a cleansing breath wasn’t going to work on this one. A sleek town car hugged the curb. Beautiful but distinctly out of place. And I had a sneaking suspicion that I knew who that luxury car belonged to, after all, I’d given Diego my address last night before I bailed. Although the windows were tinted darker than a midnight sky, I had the sinking feeling that he sat inside, watching me.

  Nathan turned, his gaze drawn to the car by my staring. And gaping. He let out a wolf whistle. I had to chuckle – in Crown Heights, it looked about as out of place as lipstick on a pig.

  “Who do you think is in there?” Nathan craned his neck, trying to peer through the glass. “A celebrity?”

  I grabbed his hand and quickly tugged him toward the door of my apartment building. As we approached the glass door, Nathan looked up at me, a smile curving his greasy lips.

  “No.”

  “Can I come up?” Nathan raised his eyebrows, and I quashed the urge to smack him. “Man, I wasn’t expecting this on the first date.”

  I shook my head quickly, one eye still on the limousine. It hadn’t moved, and I had the funniest feeling that Chase could emerge at any second – perhaps even before I had time to send Nathan packing.

  “Sorry, I have a ton of work to do,” I said in a rush, wincing at the awkward delivery. My heart pounded against my chest wall but not because of Nathan. Because of the man who had yet to make an appearance. My words weren’t technically a lie, but I would have spit on my mother’s grave with ten kinds of blasphemy to get rid of Nathan.

  Sorry, I have to take my pet hedgehog for a walk. Sorry, the upstairs neighbor’s alligator got loose again. Sorry, I’d rather pull out one of my teeth with a pair of pliers then spend another second alone with you anywhere.

  Nathan nodded. He leaned down with his lips puckered. I swerved and looked to the side as quickly as I could. Nathan’s lips landed on my hair, and I pulled away after a loose and awkward hug, shoving the messy strands behind my ears.

  “Bye!” I said enthusiastically, desperately hoping he would take the hint and leave.

  For a moment, he stared at me, and I wondered for the millionth time that day why I’d agreed to go out with him at all. But deep down, I knew. I was trying to chase away the inappropriate thought of someone else. After a long pause where I held my breath, he turned and skulked away, muttering something under his breath about how he hates women for being teases.

  Something touched my shoulder, and
I jumped a few inches at the sound of my own voice shrieking a startled and strangled moan.

  “Are you always this jumpy in the afternoon?” a smooth, sexy voice drawled near my ear.

  Oh, god. That voice. It sets my blood to racing at the same time my panties melt. Why did you have to show up today just in time to witness my only date in months end in humiliation?

  I took a deep breath and turned around to face Chase, knowing that my cheeks were flushed and damp. Tendrils of hair had escaped my pony and hovered near my ears, tickling me. I tamped down the urge to raise my hands and tuck them away.

  “Not at all,” I said, trying to keep my voice as level as I possibly could, not revealing his massive effect on me. “It’s only because you startled me. In this neighborhood, someone coming upon a woman out of nowhere usually ends in a felony.”

  Chase grinned – that million dollar smile – and pointed to the limo. “I didn’t exactly think I was being discreet. And who was that strapping young man accompanying you home?” He raised an eyebrow and smirked. My cheeks grew even warmer, and I stamped my foot on the ground.

  “A friend,” I said between gritted teeth. How dare he ask about Nathan? “Just someone from school.”

  “Ah, just someone from school,” Chase parroted. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?”

  “Because I don’t. Not that it’s any of your business.”

  “Touchy much?” He winked at me, and I swallowed. A knot of arousal swirled in my lower belly that might launch me into the stratosphere of unrequited lust if I didn’t watch every move I made. “Well, then. I should let you get back to it. I’m sure you have oodles of studying to do.”

  Even though his words dripped sarcasm and innuendo, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and stood up straight.

  “Actually, I do. I have so much studying it would give Albert Einstein a boner.”

  Chase licked his smirking lips during the pause, and I couldn’t help but stare at his luscious mouth.