On His Turf (7 page)
“He’s never pressured me.”
“Not yet.”
“Would you just shut up already?” I huff.
“I don’t like him,” he states and when I look over at him I see that his face is locked in an angry grimace.
“You don’t have to like him.”
“I’m going to have to keep my eye on that guy,” he mutters to himself as I step into the elevator in front of him.
“You do that,” I answer rudely. We ride down to the lobby in silence and I walk him out to the front doors. I’m about to say goodbye when he pulls me into a hug.
“There’s a reason I came by. I want you to come tubing with us on the Guadalupe this weekend.”
“I work Saturday but considering that you’re a stalker-in-training you probably already know that.”
“You work at night and we are tubing in the daytime. It will be a handful of friends and a few guys from the team. The weather is supposed to be good. It’ll be fun,” he says and he looks so eager that it warms my heart a little bit.
“If I say yes will you go and take your beer with you?” I ask and he looks up to the ceiling as if he’s considering.
“Okay, if you say yes I’ll go peacefully.”
“Fine, yes. I’ll go tubing with you on Saturday as
friends
,” I stress the last part and he holds up his hands in surrender.
“As friends,” he repeats back in a sexy voice that sends a shiver down my spine. How he has the power to do that to me with mere words I’ll never understand. I let my head fall back and sigh as he walks away.
“I’ll take this beer with me babe, but there’s something you should know.”
“Yeah?” I challenge. “What’s that?”
“I’ll be drinking a bottle of this in your bed in less than twenty-four hours.” He winks at me as he pushes open the glass double doors and leaves me gaping after him.
Cocky son-of-a-bitch.
I’m so emotionally and physically exhausted by the time I get home from work and I’m looking forward to doing nothing more than throwing on some sweats and watching re-runs of Sons of Anarchy so I immediately tense up when I see Matty sitting on my sofa with my favorite pair of heels in his hands.
“We’re going out,” he says, tossing the shoes in my direction but I don’t move an inch and they hit the wall behind me.
“I am not going anywhere for at least another twelve to twenty-four hours.”
“The thing is…” he continues, dropping his eyes to the carpet. “I kind of promised Leigh that you’d be there.”
“Be where, exactly?”
“The Terminal,” he answers.
“No way!” I shout, placing my hands on my hips. The Terminal is one of Austin’s most trendy nightclubs featuring some of the best DJs in the country and it is always shoulder to shoulder no matter what day of the week it is. It is also one-hundred-percent not my scene and the last time they dragged me out to one of these house-music horror shows I spent the whole time against the wall watching frat boys with popped collars thrust their pelvises in the air. “I’d rather poke my eyes out.”
“Carm, please, please pretty please? I need to get out. This Kyle thing is just…” he trails off and I know he’s serious if he’s bringing out the big guns. Matty isn’t one for guilt trips so the fact that he’s even going in that direction tells me this is important to him.
“But why did you have to promise Leigh that I’d be there? The two of you can go,” I whine.
“She is convinced that you need to get out there and start living your life and I agree with her. You can’t hide in here forever, honey.” Matt comes over to where I’m standing and pulls me into his arms. “Just this one time. I know how you feel about clubs - I won’t ask you again.”
“One time,” I relent and he starts jumping up and down like a little kid.
“Alright, let’s go get you all sexed up.” He takes me by the hand and drags me to my room as I glance back longingly at the television. I guess I will just have to save my date with Jax Teller for another night.
***
Matty pulls the straightener through my hair one last time before unplugging it from the wall. I’m wearing a white jersey halter dress that shows off my olive skin. The bottom is fitted and comes to just above my knees and the draped neckline shows off just the right amount of cleavage. I have paired the dress with my favorite electric blue satin heels and cobalt blue drop earrings. My hair is now falling straight down my back thanks to him and my makeup is a mix of dark, smoky eyes and pale lips.
“Crazy sexy.” He comes to stand behind me as a turn from side to side in the mirror.
“You too, handsome,” I say as I survey his fitted black pants and shiny dark gray button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He’s forgone the glasses for the night and his hair is a little tamer than usual and if I didn’t know better I’d think looking in the mirror at us that we were a couple.
Even though it’s an extra expense we can’t really afford we call a cab so neither of us have to be the designated driver. If I’m going to be subjected to a sweaty and overcrowded nightclub then drinks are a must-have. The cab drops us off in front of Terminal and Matty walks right up to the bouncer and tells him that we are on the guest list. I give him a questioning look and he shrugs.
“Leigh made arrangements,” he dips his head to whisper in my ear as the bald-headed bouncer unclips the red rope.
I can’t deny that Terminal is a beautiful nightclub with its sleek wood floors and copper tiled ceiling. VIP booths surround the rectangle space and big vintage chandeliers hang level to the second floor balcony that wraps the length of the room. One wall is all exposed brick and the already crowded bar is in front of it. There’s no way any of us can afford bottle service so I don’t even bother searching the booths for Leigh, figuring she’s probably waiting in line for a drink. And just as I’d guessed I find her perched on a stool at the bar talking to a young guy in a business suit. I wave to her as Matty and I elbow our way through the thick crowd. When we reach her the guy in the suit gives me a once over and grins, then his eyes travel to Matty and he gives him a dismissive look.
“I’m here with a few of my colleagues from the firm. Why don’t you ladies join us at our booth?” he suggests, flashing us his ultra-white veneers and Leigh giggles.
“Hello? I’m standing right here,” Matty says.
“Sorry dude - no dudes,” the guy answers and I snort.
“Then no us,” I shrug and Leigh gives me a pouty face.
“Go if you want to,” I say, “but I’m staying right here.”
“Matty?” She whines and he throws up his hands.
“Keep me out of it. If Carm wants to stay with me then I’m not going to tell her no.” He leans down to kiss my cheek. “I’ll go and get us a drink. Beer for you?” he asks and I tilt my head thoughtfully.
“I’m feeling naughty. Double vodka soda with lime.”
“That’s a girl.” He winks before disappearing into the crowd.
“So you’re sure you don’t mind if I head to their table for a drink?” Leigh shouts to me over the thumping bass and I notice that her eyes look a little glassy.
“I’m sure. Knock yourself out.” I cross my arms over my chest as I survey the room. I’m relieved that my hands are free and I have no purse tonight - one of the perks of having a guy best friend with pockets.
“If you change your mind sweetie we’re sitting over there,” the suit guy gestures and I follow his arm to the booth across the room that he’s pointing at. “I really hope you change your mind,” he adds in a low voice as he skims his palm down my bare arm. The gesture makes me shiver but not in a good way.
My eyes wander from the suit guys VIP table to the next one over and I recognize the striker, Marco, from the soccer team right away. When he moves aside my mouth drops as my gaze lands on Shane who’s sitting at the center of the leather booth. He has a couple of girls on either side of him but his attention isn’t on them - instead he’s looking straight at me. His eyes flick to the suit guy beside me who still has his hand on my arm and I notice his jaw tighten.
“What is he doing here?” I whirl around back around to yell at Leigh.
“Who do you mean?” She says in an innocent voice but she’s not fooling me.
“You know exactly who I mean. First my phone number and now this? It’s hardly a coincidence that out of all the clubs in Austin he would be here at the one you and Matty practically blackmailed me into coming to!”
“What’s this about blackmail?” Matty says, returning with our drinks. He hands me mine while not-so-subtly shoving business suit guy out of the way. I hold the drink away from my body and glare at him.
“You manipulated me into coming here with your guilt trip all the while knowing that Shane would be here!” I wail and he looks around confused.
“Shane is here?”
“Matt didn’t know,” Leigh pipes up.
“But you did?” I say, confirming my suspicions.
“He called and asked me where you’d be tonight. I told him probably at home knitting or doing whatever boring shit you usually do. He offered me five hundred bucks to get you to come out tonight,” she explains unapologetically.
“What am I a hooker?” I scream at her and business suit guy takes that as his cue to leave. “You sold me out for five hundred dollars?”
“Drinks are on you tonight, bitch,” Matty adds, giving her a disapproving look.
“Fine: drinks, your cabs, it’s all on me. I get it - I’m a bad friend. But you’re here and you look smoking hot so you might as well have fun!” she smiles, hopping off her stool to give me a quick hug. “I’m sorry, Caramel, but he seems really into you so I don’t see what the problem is. Why not give him a chance?” She squeezes my hand before walking away in the direction of the VIP booths.
I watch her retreating back and decide that I have two choices: I can turn around and walk right out of here and let them win or I can shake off my anger at her ridiculous plan and try to enjoy myself. I look down at my tight white dress and figure that I might as well make the most of it. And since Leigh’s agreed to spring for a free ride home for us we might as well let loose so I grab Matty’s hand and pull him along with me. We weave our way through the maze of bodies and back to the bar where we down two shots each before asking the bartender to put them on Leigh’s tab. I don’t often drink hard alcohol so it hits me quickly and I start to feel lightheaded as the warmth spreads through my body. I’m always so afraid of the stuff and what it might mean for me because of the way my mother is but tonight I decide to turn off that little voice in my head and just have fun.
Matty dances a few up-tempo songs with me but house music isn’t his favorite so he quickly loses interest and heads back to the bar. As I keep dancing I start to lose myself in the beat which switches to a slower, sexier vibe. Dancing is something that I know how to do and I’ve never met a rhythm I couldn’t match. I know how to move my hips and shake my ass even in six inch heels. I bump and grind and take it down low and when I pop back up a pair of arms slide around my waist and I feel a damp shirt press against my back. I look over my shoulder at the preppy guy who’s currently moving his hips with mine and laugh. He’s definitely younger than me but he seems harmless so I give him a sultry smile before leaning my hips into him. I note with some amusement that he’s wearing a polo shirt with a popped collar and he looks genuinely surprised that I haven’t pushed him away.
“What’s your name?” he yells over the music but I just shake my head and keep dancing. I just want this incredible tingly feeling that’s part alcohol and part adrenaline to last as long as it can.
He takes my silence for what it is and tries out a different tactic, sliding his hands around my waist and down so they are resting on the top of my thighs. My eyes pop open and travel over to the VIP booth where Shane still sits. He’s staring at me with a tight expression on his face that leaves me confused. I mean, he paid my friend five hundred bucks so he could come to a club and ignore me all night? Who does that? Clearly I don’t understand him at all. Preppy guy spins me around and his hands move up to my shoulders, then travel up my neck into my hair.
“You are seriously hot,” he says, pulling my body flush against his as we continue to dance. “My boys are never going to believe that you are real. Come home with me?” he begs and I let out a surprised yelp when his teeth graze my ear. I am about to tell him to take a hike when all of the sudden he’s being dragged away from me by two guys I recognize from Shane’s party. Each of them have a hold of one of the preppy guy’s arms and I try to follow but a big wall of a body steps in front of me and blocks my path. I look up into Shane’s chocolate-colored eyes and give him the dirtiest look I can muster.
“You sent your teammates to do your dirty work?” I say accusingly.
“They’re my offense and that guy needed to be shut down. Maybe even carded for misconduct - keeper interference,” he says, his dark eyes flaring and from the set of his jaw I can tell that he’s angry. Very angry.
“I’m going to assume that’s some kind of cute soccer reference but what you just did was totally unnecessary. We were only dancing!”
“Oh I saw you dancing, babe.” He grabs my hand and places it on his fly so I can feel the solid length straining against his black dress pants. “Do you feel how hard you make me? And that’s just from watching you move your hips,” his says and his voice comes out in a low rumble.
I should be so offended that he has me touching his erection in public but instead a tingling starts building between my legs.
“I let you have your fun, Carmelina, but I’m afraid you’ve used up all of my patience.”
“I can dance with whoever I want,” I say and he raises an eyebrow in challenge.
“Not anymore you can’t,” he counters, moving my hand back up and placing is against his muscled chest. He’s wearing a fitted black dress shirt that’s open at the neck and I can see the tops of his sculpted pecks beneath it. His blond hair is styled and spiked and he looks so delicious that the sight of him makes my mouth involuntarily water.
“Yes, I can!” I spit back. “I can dance with and go home with whoever I want.”
I watch as anger sparks in his eyes at my words. “Are you deliberately trying to make me mad?” he asks in a gruff voice and I turn to leave but he’s too quick for me. He hauls me back into his arms. “You’re not going anywhere, babe.”