“That’s cool,” Trevor says and they all nod their heads in agreement.
“Do you want to play pool?” Nico asks, looking over at the now empty pool table.
“Sure.” I shrug and get off the stool. I take off my hoodie and wrap it around my purse. Trevor grabs it and puts it in the booth then I start walking towards the pool tables with the boys following behind me. I can feel Asher’s hand on my lower back, guiding me through the bar. We’re a few steps from the table when big boobed Barbie steps in front of our group. I step around her and leave them to deal with her.
“Where are you going?” I hear her whine. Why women do that, I will never know. Do they not know that it’s annoying?
“We’re gonna play pool,” I hear Asher tell her. “What? Wait,” she says. I turn around and see her grabbing on to his arm. “I’ve been waiting all night for you to get here and you’re going to ditch me?”
“You can’t ditch someone you’re not with,” Cash mumbles from beside me.
I turn around and start setting up the table. I have no interest in watching her throw herself at him. “Okay, guys. Who’s gonna break?” I look up but they all look confused. “Are we gonna play or what?” I ask, looking at each of them.
“I’ll break,” Nico says, walking to pick a stick from the wall.
Standing near the table, I feel heat at my back. “You keep walking away from me,” Asher says and I almost laugh because he sounds upset.
“Oh, I'm sorry. I didn’t realize that I was supposed to stand there while you got rid of big boobed Barbie.”
“You could have taken me with you when you went.”
“I’ll try to remember that next time,” I say, shaking my head.
Nico, standing next to us, starts laughing. “Wow. The first one who is immune. I smell a recipe for disaster brewing,” he says. Asher smiles down at me like he’s happy about something.
“Whatever.” I give him my most sarcastic smile. Playing pool with the guys is fun. Me and Asher are laughing and having a good time. The guys are telling me funny stories about people in town and Asher introduces me to some people who know my dad.
There have been a ton of people dropping by the table, talking to his brothers, or just introducing themselves to me. After an hour, I start to notice that there were a lot of women gathering around us. Whenever I try to make eye contact with them, they give me a dirty look. I thought this was odd and I had no idea who any of them were. Then, more and more women started coming around the table. There were so many that it was hard to shoot without ramming the stick into one of them.
Asher was standing near me when a very pretty woman with a perfect body, deep red hair and milky white skin came up to us. She was wearing an outfit similar to big boobed Barbie except her bra was black. I was starting to wonder if this was some kind of dress code because they weren’t the only two women wearing something similar.
“Hi, Asher,” she purred, placing herself between me and him while pressing her boobs into his chest.
“Jen,” he replied without really looking at her. Then she staged whispered in his ear so that we could all hear her.
“Are you coming to my house tonight?”
“Why would you ask that shit? I haven’t been to your house for over a year,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest. She was almost as tall as him. I realized that they would make a beautiful couple and would give Ms. Alice amazing looking grandbabies. That’s when I knew I needed to leave.
Yeah, he was hot but it was clear that he was a player. Not only that, but I would say that we didn’t fit at all. I'm cute but not beautiful. I'm also not skinny. I have a tummy, big boobs and a bigger butt and, on top of all that, I'm short. It would never work. Not when I could see the women that he normally went after. They all were perfectly skinny women who looked like models.
I kept telling myself that this wasn’t a date and that I didn’t want him like that, but honestly, no woman in their right mind would look at a guy like him and not get their hopes up. And, after hanging out with him and getting to know him some, I found out that he was kind of sweet and really funny. But now I was done. Date or not, having women come up and rub themselves all over him with looks that said they knew exactly what to expect if he took one of them home was too much. I knew I needed to bounce as in B-O-U-N-C-E on out of there.
I didn’t want to make it obvious that I was leaving because of the women that were hanging around so I was biding my time and talking to Nico. Then some girl named Becky came over and I had enough. I couldn’t hold it in any longer and I knew that if I didn’t leave, I was going to ask all the women standing around how the hell they made it into the girl’s club. I'm pretty sure there is a rule about acting desperate written on the first page.
“Okay, guys,” I say, looking at my watch, or where I would have one if I ever wore a watch. “I gotta go. I need to take my dog for a walk before it gets too late.” All the guys turn to look at me.
“You’re leaving to walk your dog?” Cash asked in a tone that said he didn’t believe me. But I didn’t care anymore. I just needed to leave—quickly.
“Yeah, I walk him every night. So, I guess I’ll see you guys around sometime. It was nice meeting you all.”
I walk to the booth that had all of our coats and dug mine out from the bottom of the pile, along with my purse. Turning around, I bumped into a solid wall.
“Sorry!” I say. Asher was glaring down at me with a look of disbelief and what appeared to be a lot like anger on his very handsome face. I wanted to laugh. What did he really expect? He brought me to a place where every five minutes, he’s getting hit on. It was totally rude! He has so many females vying for his attention, I was sure he wouldn’t even notice I was gone. Plus, I’ve lived with a woman who had to be the center of attention and I refuse to date someone who had the same problem. Not that this was a date…I'm just saying, I wouldn’t do that to myself.
“Excuse me,” I say, trying to walk around him. He grabs my hand and starts pulling me out the door behind him.
“Later, November.” I hear from behind me along with a lot of laughter.
“Yeah, later, guys,” I yell back, trying to pull my hand free without making a scene.
“Can you slow down, buddy? Your legs are a lot longer than mine,” I say to Asher’s back. He doesn’t say anything but he does slow down. Whatever. I just need to get home and forget this day ever happened. Once I’m at my car, I pull my hand free and start searching for my keys.
“Well, thanks for the beer,” I say, looking in my bag. “It was um…fun. Ah…there you are, you sneaky little buggers,” I say when I find my keys. I go to unlock my door and my keys are snatched out of my hand.
“Hey, I need those,” I yell, trying to reach for the keys that are now in Asher’s hand.
“You can have them back after you tell me why the f**k you’re leaving?”
“What? I already told you I have to walk Beast. He’s looking forward to it,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. He watches me cross my arms and his lips go into a flat line.
“Yeah, you said that about your dog. But I know that’s not the real reason so tell my why the f**k you’re really leaving.”
I put my hands on my hips, realizing that I'm pissed off once again. “Listen, buddy, I have to go walk my dog. I’ve told you three times now.” I show him three fingers just to make sure my point is made.
“What the fuck? We were having a good time then all the sudden your face looked like someone stole your ice cream and you had to leave.”
“You’re so annoying! Can’t I just want to go home to my dog?” I ask.
“I know that there were a lot of people in there and—”
“A lot of people in there?” I ask, completely shocked. Did he not notice the harem of women gathered around us? Yes, his brothers were there and they are just as hot as him, but they didn’t ask me to come here. Asher did.
“I just thought you would like to meet some people. I know that you’re new to town.”
Well, at least now I know for sure that this was in no way a date. He just wanted to be nice and introduce me to people. Wow, I'm such a loser. Now I’m pissed off that I made myself believe that maybe he liked me. And I was even more pissed off that most of the people he introduced me to were women that he had slept with. I mean, really. Was he recruiting?
“Well, buddy, I did have a good time. Maybe when we do it again, you can tell all the chicks that you’re sleeping with, or have slept with, to come by and we’ll all hang out. They seemed so excited to meet me. How does that sound to you?” His mouth was hanging open and he looked shocked. “Can I have my keys now?” I ask, holding out my hand. I feel like an idiot for saying that, but I know there is no way to shove the words back down my throat.
“It’s been a long time since I slept with any of them.”
“I'm sure!” I say, holding out my hand. “Now, my keys?”
“It’s the truth,” he says and I see a tic in his jaw.
“Okay,” I say, not believing for one second the crap that’s coming out of his mouth. “Can I have my keys?”
“No. We’re taking my jeep.”
“What?” I can actually feel my eyes popping out of my head like I'm some crazy cartoon character.
“We’re taking my jeep to get your dog and take him for a walk.”
“No, we’re not doing anything. I'm getting in my car and going home to walk my dog,” I say, pointing at myself. “You can do whatever it is that you do.”
Chapter 3
Why the hell am I sitting in his car? Oh, yeah, I remember. He picked me up and carried me—kicking and screaming—over his shoulder to his jeep. Then, he dropped me in the driver’s side and forced me over to the passenger’s seat while holding my hand so I couldn't escape.
“You’re a jerk, you know that, right?” I say with my arms crossed over my chest.
"You already said that, babe.” I swear, I can see a smile on his face. “But if you would have just agreed to get in my jeep, we would not be having this conversation.”
“Why do you even want to come?” I ask in a huff.
"I'm not ready to have you out of my sight."
“Why?”
“Because I'm interested.”
“I'm sure.” I roll my eyes. “So if you interested, then why not ask me out like a normal guy instead of basically kidnapping me?”
"Why? If I asked you out, you would have blown me off and avoided me. This way, you don't have a choice. I have your keys and your phone."
“You have my phone?” I screech, opening my bag to see if he’s telling the truth. “How did you get my phone? Oh my God, you’re insane. I’m driving down a dark road with an insane person who kidnapped me.”
I hear him laughing and I look over to make sure that I'm not imagining things. He has a really great laugh. Ugh... Why couldn’t he have a crappy laugh? I shake my head in disgust.