by J. C. Allen
The only unfortunate part was that of the six girls roaming around whom I knew to be friends of the club, all of them were gals that I had slept with before. And I had violated my rule about second rounds with Allison not because the rule was going the way of the dinosaur, but because she really was that good.
But how else was I going to get over all of this? How else was I going to make things fine in my head?
So I picked out the one that I remembered being the most chill with us just being great sex. I picked out a redhead with great freckles in the corner, Amanda I think her name was. When Albert came over, being the good man that he was, I pulled out two beers—one for him, and one for me.
“Do me a favor, will ya?” I said, nodding toward Amanda.
It wasn’t hard to spot her. A sexy redhead wearing a sexy orange dress that matched her hair color was the kind of thing that stood out like a real sore thumb, except perhaps it was better to say like a real exotic thumb.
“Give this to her and tell her to come say hi to me.”
“Ya got it, kid,” Albert said with a snort.
Oh, to not give a fuck. To not care about… Allison…
Amanda, get your ass over here.
When I watched the interaction take place, though, a brief rush of panic washed over me. Amanda didn’t look interested right off the bat; instead, she looked quite confused, pointing at me a couple of times, as if making sure I was the one who had sent her the drink. Well, who else was going to? Who else was going to be so bold?
Eventually, Amanda got the picture, but as she walked over, her look seemed to be more of curiosity and confusion than arousal and excitement. I told myself that maybe she was just that, but once we started talking and she realized what I was looking for, she’d have her beer finished so quickly we’d already be hand in hand, heading to the bedroom for some sex.
“You bought me this drink,” Amanda said as she leaned at the bar.
It probably wasn’t a great sign that she wasn’t taking a seat. Admittedly, her cleavage looked great from here, but it was not the kind of look that suggested she was doing this to try and seduce me.
“Gift of the one and only Zeke Kinsmen,” I said with a smirk. “How are you, Amanda?”
But to my disappointment, she just laughed and snorted, leaning back off the table.
“What, the supply ran dry so you’re hoping I’d come back to you?” she said with a laugh. “Truth was, I might have with enough persuasion if you had remembered my name.”
Oh, shit. Fuck me…
“Let me rephrase that, then,” I said, still maintaining my smirk but internally panicking. “How are you, not Amanda?”
She laughed again at that.
“Cute, but the magic has worn off,” she said. “It’s Alexis. And I was good. Now? Meh.”
She shrugged her shoulders. I had never felt like this, suddenly unsure of what to say. I had way too much going on in my head to make any sense of what to say, and it wasn’t doing any good that I’d already dug myself a hole well beyond six feet deep.
“Well, we can always uplift a meh feeling,” I said. “There’s more where that came from.”
“I’m sure there is,” Alexis said. “But I’m not interested. Thanks.”
“Alexis—”
But she had already turned around and gone back to her spot, waiting for someone else in the club to approach her and make a move. I couldn’t fucking believe it. I literally could not believe what had just happened—my mind would not allow it.
A girl I had already slept with, a girl who knew what I was packing and how I could use what I was packing, a girl who was a friend of the club… had just walked away from me? And for what, because I had not remembered her name?
Yes, I knew it wasn’t a great look, but many of the women I slept with, I didn’t even know their name. None seemed ever bothered by this, and none seemed offended. And yet, all of a sudden…
Be honest with yourself, though. Even if you fucked Alexis and came all over her, would that really silence the feelings about Allison? Do you really think that just one great lay is going to make you forget all the time you spent with her?
Fuck, man. I’ve never had to deal with anything like this. I got no idea how to handle it.
In the absence of good ideas for how to handle it, I instead opted to get a little buzzed myself—not so drunk that I couldn’t do my job—and started to ruthlessly hit on anything with tits that approached the bar. Unfortunately, it was like a lesser man had infested my body, because my jokes fell flat, my flirtatious remarks drew cringes and eye rolls, and none of the ladies I talked to stayed with me for more than a couple of minutes. It felt like I was having an out-of-body experience, watching an alien try and be me.
I even drew a couple of surprised glances from Simon and Matthew, watching from afar, which wasn’t helping matters. This was so out of character for me, and the more time that went by, the more frustrated I got, only making things worse.
The moment of truth came shortly after one in the morning, when I had given up on the idea of getting a really hot girl and was happy to settle for whatever I could get. It was a sad, sad state for Zeke Kinsmen, but even the Sex God needed to be humbled once in a while. That, and I was now drunk enough to just take whatever happened and go with the flow.
A blonde whom I had never met before approached, and I introduced myself, holding her hand as she shook mine and kissed it.
“And who might I have the pleasure of having before me, if I may ask?”
“Brittany,” the blonde said with a smile.
She was cute enough. Curvy and thick, she had blonde hair that reached to her shoulders and a tattoo visible on her collarbone. She was eying me like she wanted to fuck me, and while she wasn’t the most attractive in the club, it wasn’t like I’d be embarrassed by sleeping with her. We generally didn’t have those kinds of girls showing up anyways.
“Brittany, such a delightful name,” I said. “I’m a man who likes to be forward and honest, Brittany. Might I interest you in something more private?”
I moved fast, even by most people’s standards, but this had come out almost too desperate and too fast. Granted, I said it with a healthy level of confidence, which I hoped would be enough to make her believe that I would rock her world…
But instead, Brittany just looked at me like I had lost my mind and stood up and walked away.
And it was when she did so that I realized something that I had tried to fight all night but was only now readily apparent.
I wasn’t interested in the crazies right now.
I was only interested in Allison.
Maybe, in some way, I’d been deliberately sabotaging myself so I’d have to go back to Allison. It was a little bit far-fetched as an idea, and it was certainly very possible that when I thought more about it, I would look like a giant fool who had just had a bad night. But it was an idea that had a very real element of truth to it.
I pulled out my phone and thought of texting Allison. But that wasn’t going to be good enough.
I looked around the club. The party had mostly died down. The only people asking for drinks were club members, and I knew that they could easily get their own drinks if need be.
“Albert,” I called out, bringing back my old friend. “Watch the bar for a few minutes, would ya?”
He nodded, letting me duck outside. As soon as I got outside, I dialed Allison’s number before I could think better of it. She answered on the fourth ring—just long enough to make me sweat.
“You’re calling me.”
She had a smile in her voice. It was so very sweet to hear and pleasantly surprising.
“I am,” I said, feeling emboldened by the cheer in her voice. “Come to the club tonight, I want to see you.”
“You can’t just demand my presence, Zeke.”
Her tone that time wasn’t as warm. It sounded like she had had a long night, like she had gone out somewhere and had just come home. I didn�
�t think she’d gone out and slept with anyone else, but I was determined to change her night from sexless to something else. And maybe, maybe we’d even talk about a few things.
“Come on, tell me you don’t miss me, your Sex God.”
“I...”
She trailed off before laughing in defeat. I’m not going to be denied. I’m going to see you, Allison.
“Good. So I’ll see you in about half an hour.”
“Zeke, I...”
“Do you really want to say no?”
A long silence came at the other end of the line.
“Damnit, Zeke,” she said with a laugh. “You’re at the club?”
“Yep. It’s wrapping up shop. Come on down.”
Another sigh came.
“Damnit. OK, see you soon.”
She hung up before I could say anything else, but I didn’t really have anything more to say. I was getting what I had really wanted tonight.
Though half an hour felt like a ways away, it felt like the snap of my fingers when I finally did get to see her. She waltzed in wearing tight jeans and a tight purple crop top that had thin straps. I swore my dick hardened right behind the bar as soon as I saw her.
More importantly, though, the confident Zeke was back in the business. I was feeling good and confident, and having her before me was just the sight I needed to get my swagger back. The Sex God was not going to be demoted to some mortal.
“Hey, barkeep.”
She smirked, sitting on the high stool. I leaned over, getting as close as I could to her. Her chest was exposed, as her shirt pushed her tits together, making them look ripe as all hell. There was going to be a time for serious conversation…
But let’s just say for how aroused I was right now, this wasn’t the moment.
“Sex kitten,” I whispered. “You miss me?”
“Is that your play? Ghost me for days just to make me hot for you.”
It wasn’t what I’d hoped to hear, but her tone made me think she was just throwing up token resistance.
“Nope. Just had to think things through. I’m here to make it up to you.”
“Okay,” Allison said, also getting a stronger tone. “You should get me a drink then. And what was this thing you had to tell me? The thing you showed up for earlier?”
She set her purse down and the question made my breath hitch. There is no going back now. Sorry, Mom. This one might be more than a friend. I had hoped I could save the statement for after sex… but now that I thought about it, maybe it could make the sex just that much better.
“I have dinner every Sunday with my family. I want you to come tomorrow.”
20
Allison
When Zeke had called me, I was unable to help that I was excited to hear him.
I had been able to maintain my anger when he surprised me at the front door in part because the anger was real and because I had the support of Jenna and Marissa if I needed it, but now, alone and with a frustratingly disappointing night, what I really needed was just something calming and something that I could lean into. Given that my two girlfriends were now talking to some sketchy Italian guys and perhaps dangerously close to bringing them home, I needed something else.
I hadn’t thought that it would be Zeke, especially since he was the source of my frustration, but when he called, I hadn’t been able to help it.
And, as usual, when Zeke spoke to me, he had me heading right to him, even though it was really fucking late and I had told him he needed to leave earlier.
Admittedly, part of it was sort of a “fuck it, why not” feeling. I made no promises to myself about what this meant beyond tonight, other than that I would do my best to think objectively, no matter how difficult that was. I figured I had that set up.
And then, just barely before two in the morning, Zeke dropped the bombshell of all bombshells on me.
Dinner with his family?
Does he have any idea what that sounds like?!?
“You should see your face right now.”
He licked his lips, leaning across the bar on his forearms. It was so fucking difficult to maintain my cool when he did that, and it wasn’t helping matters with what he had just asked of me. I’m not even sure any of my exes had done anything like this, and now Zeke was? Zeke, the man who had been so blunt about only wanting sex and nothing more?
“My face? What about it? Do I look shocked?”
I set the glass down, my fingers slipping down the condensation on it. Can you blame me, Zeke? Do you have any idea what you just suggested?
“A little,” Zeke said with a bemused smirk on his face.
“I mean, your family will be there. The whole thing. I thought—the last time you spoke to me, you swiftly reminded me that this isn’t some sort of fairy tale. Actually, the last time I spoke to you, I told you to leave me alone. So…”
He dropped his shoulders and looked harder at me, which somehow was calming. Then, suddenly, he came around the bar and pulled me off with him, his large hand circled hotly around my wrist. The feeling was very similar to what had happened the first time I showed up to this bar.
Zeke was very, very good at choosing to show me his answer rather than tell me. It was part of the reason that he was so damn attractive, and it was part of why I was going along with it. But I did want an answer to my question—especially since I wasn’t even sure what I wanted my own answer to be.
“Where are we going?” I said.
We stopped in a small room with dim yellow lighting and a homey feeling, the couch and photos adding to the atmosphere. He shut the door and pressed me up against it, his body against mine and his eyes peering down at me. I felt like we were about to get it on again, putting us back in the environment we both were meant to be in. It was making me feel better… until I remembered that he had just invited me to his family dinner!
“Zeke, this is supposed to be just sex. I told you that I—”
“That was before.”
“What?”
Which means now… He circled his hand around my waist, squeezing tight and pressing his cock against my thigh. He leaned in and brushed a kiss on my jaw. I let out a calming breath.
“Look, just think of it as a favor to me,” Zeke said. “My mom thinks something is wrong with me, soon my brothers will think I’m gay and start asking me to babysit their kids more often. Not that any of those are bad. But it gets tiring.”
He was laughing about it, which made me laugh, but that… that only seemed half-true. There was something more to this, I knew. He could have easily proved he wasn’t gay by, well, just being himself.
“Okay but… meeting your family, that seems a little—”
“It’s not, I swear. This is still on a short timeline. Just think of it as free food and nothing more, then I can rock your world for the rest of the night.”
I sighed. That sounded amazing, but I could tell that just wasn’t the case. Zeke could have taken me to a buffet or ordered pizza if he just wanted to feed me and then fuck me.
Frankly, I didn’t want it to just be the case.
“A few days ago, you wanted me to know this is not going to be something that changes us,” I said. “So—”
“I’m still the same.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but I didn’t want to tell him that I was feeling different. After all, I already had his photos saved from my camera. He might not yet have felt totally comfortable revealing everything about how he felt about me, but I was in the same boat.
“Zeke…”
“OK, you want some truths, Allison?” Zeke said, pulling back just a slight bit. “Yes, it is a little bit more than usual. I have never brought a lady to a Kinsmen family dinner. It might seem like a bit. But you know what? I haven’t had to change at all for you. I’m still the same person. I still like the same things. I have made no sacrifices. Yes, it’s true I haven’t slept with anyone else since I met you, but that’s no sacrifice. I don’t know what I want to call what we have,
but I can tell you that I like you and that I want you to come on Sunday. Whatever happens, whatever we call ourselves, we’ll figure out as we go. I’m not in any rush to put a label on it. OK?”
Still pressed against the wall, I looked up at him in pleasant disbelief. Finally, he had cut through the bullshit. He wasn’t trying to maintain an image of a player who needed to keep his options open. He was really honest about liking me and wanting to see what happened.
“Okay,” I said with a smile. “Truth is, Zeke, I like you too. This is going way past what I had ever anticipated for the two of us, I’m not going to lie. But… well, yeah, it would be nice to keep it going. I don’t yet know what my plans are, so I don’t know what will happen in a month or two. But for what we have right now… yeah. I’ll go to your family dinner.”
“Good,” he said as he smiled and leaned in to kiss me.
At first, it was just the meeting of our lips and nothing more. But then it turned deeper and harder, and I lost myself in it like I didn’t want to be found. His taste flooded my mouth, and I realized how long it had really been—and just saying “a few days” didn’t really do justice to what pleasure I was feeling and how long it had been since I’d felt it.
I circled my hands around his neck and pressed his body back onto mine further, grinding myself over our jeans. There was too much in the way, and my body was begging to have him right now. He growled and released me instead.
“I want to fuck you right here and now… but this is my brother’s office and he’d kill me.”
I giggled with him and unlinked my arms from his neck, only now just realizing this wasn’t a place I’d been before. I adjusted my gloss smeared on both of us and nodded. It was kind of daring, but if I was going to have lunch with one of these brothers on Sunday, then having sex in his office seemed like about the worst way to make something happen.
“Okay.”
“Let’s get out of here. Someone else can watch the bar.”
Just like old times. Except…
