Blue Colla Make Ya Holla (82 page)

*

Jagger Stone was
pissed, hot, and done with this day. Walker’s Wheels, or “the shop” as most of them called it in passing, was fucking busy and had been for at least two months. They could never seem to get caught up, no matter how hard they tried. They would send one car home with its owner and two more would show up in the lot. It wasn’t a bad problem to have, necessarily, but it irritated him when most of the people needing their cars worked were women who hung around the bay he was working in. He recognized them from various shows he’d given at Wet Wanda’s. He did his best to discourage them, but they always found out where he worked, and they always managed to make themselves a nuisance. They didn’t care that he was happily attached.

“The Jagger Stone fan club is here.” Tyler Blackfoot grinned as he walked over to the younger man, clapping him on the back. “How does B put up with that?”

B. The love of his life and the one who meant everything to him was not a “fan” of his so-called fan club. “She hates it, and doesn’t hesitate to tell me so, but I also hate hers.” He shrugged. “So it tends to even itself out. We’ve both kind of come to the conclusion that we can’t help what we did before we got together, but we can take preventative measures now. That’s why these ladies have no chance in hell.”

“Yeah, I can imagine loving a woman who used to work in a strip club is hard.” Tyler nodded. “Lots of men have seen a lot more than you want them to and probably don’t hesitate to tell you that.”

Jagger stopped turning the wrench he’d been using and stared open-mouthed at the VP of the club. “Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me, Blackfoot?”

“It’s the truth, ain’t it?” It wasn’t a question he asked, it was a statement of fact. Turning on his heel, he moved into the next bay to check on their resident computer expert, Travis Steele.

Huffing, Jagger threw his wrench down, feeling satisfied as it hit the concrete floor and bounced, causing a huge racket. He was tense, beyond tense. Because the shop had been so busy, and he had things going on at night now, he hadn’t been able to play music for going on two months, and it was about to kill him. Running a rag over his forehead to mop up some of the sweat, he realized that the only things he wanted were a cold beer, a cold shower, and the love of one very hot woman. The woman he wanted had just pulled into the lot, parked her Mustang, and was shaking her ass across the blacktop. One out of three wasn’t bad.

‡

B
ianca narrowed her
eyes under her sunglasses as she caught sight of two women hanging around outside the bay Jagger was working in. She was used to this; he was a good-looking guy who had an amazing presence, whether it be on stage or off, but the women always got on her nerves. Thank the good Lord she’d decided to change into a tight tank top and a pair of cut-off blue jean shorts before leaving the school. She had pulled her hair up off her neck, hoping to entice her boyfriend’s lips when he saw her. Their moments lately had been rushed. It had been a few months since they’d been out on a date and at least three weeks since they’d been intimate—a new record for them. For one fleeting second, she wished she were also wearing a pair of killer high heels instead of the comfortable pair of flip flops she’d opted for. High heels would make her legs look a mile long, something that would boost her confidence against the two women leaning against the concrete structure. It wasn’t that they were exactly beautiful; anyone looking at them could tell they were easy, and as B had heard more than once, why buy the cow when they could get the milk for free?

Normally she was the epitome of self-assuredness when it came to her relationship, but lately she just didn’t feel it.

“Anybody seen my boyfriend?” she asked loudly as she strutted within hearing distance of the two women who were trying too hard. As she got closer, she put an extra sway in her hips and hooked her thumbs in the belt loops of her shorts, pulling them down further on her hipbones. Thanks to her old occupation, she knew women like this, and they were definitely up to no good. She was going to have to play a little dirty.

It was close to ninety degrees, and they were in full makeup and had enough hair spray in their hair to spontaneously combust. Eyeing them as she stepped into the shade of the bay, she pushed her sunglasses up over her head and gave them a look that said they were not welcome.

“Hey, sweet stuff.” Jagger sauntered out from behind the car he’d been working on and made his way over to her. He cut a glance over towards the women, who stood up straighter when they caught sight of him. There was a part of his personality that did like the attention, but he absolutely loved the woman at his side more than he’d ever love anything else he could have on the side. “Did you get everything done this afternoon or do me and some of the guys need to come help you move anything?” He had wanted to be there to pick her up at the end of the school day, but they had needed him at the shop, and he needed the extra cash. Unfortunately, sometimes his responsibilities came first.

She grinned up at him, gripping his shirt with her hand. He grasped her hand in his much larger one, and it took everything she had not to swoon at his feet. He knew every button she had. “Nah, I got it all, but I wouldn’t be opposed to spending the rest of the afternoon with you; clothing optional.” She winked, giving him a saucy smile.

He pulled her fully into his body, cupping her ass with his hands, pressing her against him. There was no mistaking the bulge that greeted her, and he felt her adjust her stance to accommodate him. He groaned, knowing he wanted to kick his own ass. It was hard, but he had to be strong, especially if he wanted to give her everything she deserved. Not wanting the two hangers-on to hear, he put his mouth next to her ear. “As much as I would love to come hang out with you, we’re swamped here. There’s no way I can leave.” His tone was apologetic, his face remorseful.

Bianca pulled back from him, almost as if he struck her. The words had been like a slap across the face. They hadn’t spent as much time together as they normally did the last few months because she had been busy with end-of-year things at school and he had been busy with club business. “But I’m free now.” She grinned up at him, trying to keep the plea out of her voice. “We can go whenever.”

Disappointing this woman wasn’t something that Jagger liked to do, but sometimes he had things that he had to attend to. “Then
whenever
will have to be in a few days.” He smacked her on the ass and turned to go back to the car he was working on. He hated to disappoint her, but he couldn’t stand to look at her when he did it. He hoped that, in the end, she would understand and forgive him—he was counting on it.

Rejection stung. Especially when the person who rejected you was the one person you had decided to give your heart to. “Yeah,” she waved, “sure.”

Walking past the two skanks was the most embarrassing thing she ever had to do. To save face, she put her sunglasses back on and turned so that she was looking back at Jagger. “See you at home, honey. Be sure and rest up. It’s gonna be a long night.”

That long night never happened.

*

“I don’t get
it,” Bianca whined to Jessica and Meredith the next day. “Does he not want me anymore? We’ve never gone through a dry spell like this. Has the newness finally worn off? I figured it would be years before this happened. Am I not exciting anymore?”

Given the fact that all three of the ladies were having a hell of a week, they’d decided that lunch today would consist of margaritas at the local watering hole. None of them cared that it was noon; they needed each other, and damnit, when they needed each other, they were there.

“It’s too soon in your relationship to be having those kinds of issues,” Jessica told her friend, taking a drink of her strawberry concoction. “Are you sure there’s nothing else going on?”

“Well you’re the romance writer. Tell her what to do.” Meredith shoved the bowl of salsa back in the middle of the table as she dipped a chip in it. To her left sat her cell phone, with a picture of Tyler and Addie staring back at her. She slid her finger across it to check the time then grinned when she realized they still had a ways to go before the guys got off work.

“Yes, tell me all your secrets. It’s like a switch got flipped, and I don’t know how to flip that switch back.” Bianca bit her bottom lip. “Do you think it’s me teaching?”

Meredith and Jessica exchanged a look that said she was reaching.

“I personally think you need to stop grasping at straws and ask the man in your life what the fuck is wrong, but that’s just me.” Meredith shrugged a shoulder.

Jessica shushed her. “If you want your man, B, take him.”

“That’s the thing, he comes home late, every night. Whatever Liam and Tyler have them doing is taking up a lot of Jagger’s time—or is my boyfriend the only one?” She was suddenly suspicious as the two women again exchanged a glance. This time that glance was troubled. “The rest of you aren’t seeing your men, are you?”

Both Jessica and Meredith shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

“Tyler’s gone late some nights, but normally he’s home before nine. It’s not too late.” She winced because she wasn’t sure how late Jagger was getting home or what he was doing for the club. Even yet, if he was even doing anything for the club; it sounded like something else was going on.

Bianca turned on the other woman. “What about Layne?”

“He’s been getting home later, but not overly so.”

A sinking feeling took over Bianca’s stomach, and she broke out into a cold sweat. Three nights the past week he’d gotten home close to midnight, and two nights the week before. Thinking back, she couldn’t remember a time in the past few months he’d been home before nine at night. She had assumed he was doing club business, but now she wasn’t so sure. She hadn’t paid much attention because she’d been so busy with the end of the school year, but now she wanted answers. “What’s he been doing that your guys aren’t doing?”

None of them knew.

‡

B
ianca was drunk,
that was beyond a shadow of a doubt. The afternoon with friends had been much needed, but maybe they shouldn’t have spent so much time with the margarita pitchers. It was painfully obvious she wasn’t going to be able to drive herself home. In the past whenever she’d had a little too much to drink, she’d called Jagger.