Authors: Cat Phoenix
"All
right," I smiled.
See?
Never automatically assume people are assholes. Let them prove it first, and
then
kick their ass.
I
gave Ethan a significant look and then looked toward the room I was headed to.
He gracefully detached from the groupies and entered the room like he owned the
place. The guy behind the bar gave me an apron, a pad of paper and a tray
filled with drinks. He gave me a two minute run down on how to waitress, as it
was my very first job, and sent me on my way.
"You
just get drink orders and I'll fill them for you for you to take back out to
them."
I
gave a chipper, "Okie dokie," and retraced Ethan's steps. He was
leaning against a wall, surveying the room, which was filled with guys with a
few girls scattered around. It was called the lounge area, but it was
basically a young adult hang out. The lighting was low like it would be in a
regular bar, and there were pool tables, card tables, groups of chairs and flat
screen TVs on the walls surrounding them.
The
average age was around twenty one. These guys weren't idiots, but they were
more cocky than they were aware, so even though I would have to adjust my
attitude to be less girl and more woman, they still made perfect marks. I
unbraided my hair to let my waves loose and saw Ethan move out of the corner of
my eye. I glanced over to watch him sit down and join a table of guys playing
poker. We ignored each other and I very subtly swayed my hips as I approached
a cluster of guys who were sitting in lounge chairs.
"Can
I get you fellas anything?" I asked in my normal voice.
They
looked up at me and their faces betrayed their shock. Guess I wasn't the usual
flavor around these parts. They adopted sly smiles and ordered a few drinks.
I got them from the bar and delivered them before I moved to a pool table
surrounded by who I aimed to become my marks.
I
smiled at the ones who saw me coming and circled around to the middle of the
huddle.
"Drinks?"
I asked.
The
one who I assumed to be the leader of this small group stepped up to me boldly
and took his time scanning me from head to toe. "Foxy," he said.
"What
is this? The seventies?" I asked in a flat voice, visibly unimpressed.
He
raised his eyebrows. "Oh, and sassy. I like that."
And
I
didn't
like that. I hated that word but I freaking hated that he used
it to describe me. Ick.
"It
wasn't that hard of a question. Drink, or no drink?" I asked insolently.
I wasn't even really having to act for this part. I didn't like the look of
this guy.
One
of the others whistled but the leader kept his eyes on mine. "Watch your
mouth or I won't be nice when I leave a tip," he warned.
Oh,
someone
thought he was a badass. Unfortunately for him, there was only
one badass in the room. Two, if you counted Ethan.
I
rolled my eyes, drawing him in even further, dangling what he couldn't have
right in front of his face. "Come on Ginger, I don't have all day,"
I baited him. I had absolutely nothing against red heads but I couldn't resist
using something I knew he had heard before and that he probably had issue with.
"You
want to run that by me one more time?" he asked slowly.
I
tilted my head curiously. "How about some Ginger Ale? You feeling up to
that?"
His
friends chuckled and his face started getting red from anger and
embarrassment.
"Oh,
Aaron, she got you, bro!" one guy cackled.
Aaron
glared at that dude and then at me. I smiled into his anger, wrinkled my nose
and asked with too much understanding, "Cat got your tongue?" I
winked at him and left their table to go to the next one.
I
was super nice to everyone else in the room and actually got some pretty good
tips. I even waited on Ethan and his table, getting him a beer that I poured
out and replaced with water so that he could drink it and keep a clear head for
his card game. The two girls from the restaurant area had found him again,
which I was unhappy about, but I sucked it up and ignored their catty stares as
best I could. One girl kept touching him, especially when she saw me coming.
I wanted to punch her in the throat.
Damn,
that was violent. Fuck this jealousy shit.
Every
time I approached Aaron, his body locked up and he stared at me with a mixture
of anger and lust. I merely gave him an exaggerated smile, which did not
improve his mood. After about an hour, Ethan had the most chips at his table,
and Aaron was nice and primed, so Ethan and I gave each other the signals. I
moved in close to Ethan and winked at him. He leaned back in his chair and
looked up at me as he slid his palm from the back of my calf slowly up to the
back of my thigh. I felt goose bumps attack my skin and looked at him in alarm
but quickly smiled at him like I expected him to do that. Which I sure as hell
did not
.
I
put a hand to his shoulder and got in his personal space, so close that my nose
tickled his ear lobe as I whispered in his ear. "What the hell do you
think you're doing with your hand?" I asked him sweetly.
"Your
possessive boyfriend has about had it with those jackasses staring at your
legs, so I figured I'd touch what they can't," he said, not quite
whispering.
I
leaned away a little to look at his face. His eyes were hard on mine and I was
still smiling at him as his hand pulsed six inches below my ass. He watched as
my eyes flashed and I sucked in a quick breath. A half-grin tugged on one
corner of his lips.
"You're
in so much trouble," I warned him on a fake chuckle, still talking sweetly
in case someone overheard my tone of voice.
"Looking
forward to it," he quipped.
I
walked away after asking if anyone needed any drinks refreshed, and then I
walked back to the bar to throw away the empties. When I returned, Ethan was
collecting the money he won. We passed each other and he swiped a tooth pick
from the top of my tray. He crossed his arms and stood in front of a TV and
watched a sports highlight show, chewing on his toothpick for a minute before
casually wandering over to the pool tables.
I
circled the room and by the time I got back to Aaron, he was shaking hands with
Ethan and all of them were pulling bills from their wallets and placing them on
the wooden border of the pool table. I scanned all of their open wallets in
seconds and saw that I was right, Aaron had the most money on him. He was
either the alpha, or he wanted to be, so he traveled heavily funded.
It
was Aaron's turn first, so I walked right up to Ethan and said, "You want
something to drink?"
Ethan
twirled the toothpick in his mouth with his tongue and made a show of checking
me out as I smiled at him.
Aaron
straightened up from his shooting pose and said, "I wouldn't bother, man.
This one's a bitch."
He
was standing right next to me, so I advanced on him like I was going to hit him
and Ethan tried to pull me back. In the confusion and tangle of arms and
threats we both said, I slipped my hand in Aaron's back pocket and slipped his
wallet into my apron without breaking eye contact or ceasing calling him names.
Ethan
slid his arm around my waist from behind me, pulled my back into his chest and
walked us a few steps away from Aaron. I went willingly even though I was
still huffing indignantly. The hand that was resting on my hip turned me
around to face him. His hand slid to the small of my back, pulling me into
him, much like he did on his bike except this time, our fronts pressed
together. My hands gripped his biceps and he looked down at me.
"Baby,
did you skip your anger management class again?" he asked like he was
disappointed in me.
I
absolutely did not expect him to say that and it made me want to laugh in his
face. Loudly. Instead, I scowled and said, "You know I fucking hate that
class."
"That's
why they had to legally force you to go," he reminded me. "You want
to go to jail again?"
I
was teetering, on the verge of smiling and breaking character because he was
taking liberties and having fun with this, I could tell. I squeezed his biceps
in warning and whoa, they were hard.
"No,"
I pouted.
"Then
take a step back. Catch your breath," he ordered gently.
"Fine."
I
made to move away but he held onto me resolutely. He gave me a meaningful look
and my heart beat out of my chest as I cupped the back of his neck and kissed
the jaw that I wanted to lick earlier. I lingered against him for two seconds
and then pulled back. He was staring down at me with a slightly peculiar look
on his face when Aaron spoke.
"You
were in jail?" he asked me incredulously. "For what?"
"There
was this guy in a bar. He got a little mouthy," I said.
His
mouth twisted and he said, "Funny."
"Judge
didn't seem to think so," I muttered.
Aaron
looked at Ethan with contempt. "She always like this?"
Ethan's
face was a hard mask as he cocked his head to the side like he misheard him.
He kept his eyes on Aaron as he gently pushed me away and took his time walking
closer to him, subtly threatening him without saying a word. Without breaking
eye contact, he picked up a pool stick that was leaning against the table,
spread his feet wider and leaned forward just the barest bit with both hands on
the stick, all the while moving at a snail's pace that had Aaron twitching
nervously. He raised an eyebrow and lowered his chin to look through his
lashes at Aaron.
"Like
what?" he asked with soft menace.
Aaron,
who was a few inches shorter with much less muscle mass, looked slightly
harassed when he licked his lips and glanced at his friends, trying to get the
upper hand and failing miserably. "Hey man, I just meant she has an
attitude."
Ethan
just stared at him stonily as he squirmed.
I
walked over and placed my hand on Ethan's forearm. "I gotta go back to
work."
He
still didn't look away from Aaron when he said, "Yeah, baby."
I
made the rounds and didn't come back to Ethan until they were halfway through
with their game. He was sitting on a high stool against the wall by the table,
watching Aaron shoot with hawk eyes. I got close enough for all of them to
hear me talk and said, "I'm on break."
With
Aaron's eyes on us, I walked right up to Ethan. He hooked a finger in my belt
loop and tugged me between his legs. If I leaned forward not even an entire
foot, I could kiss him. So I turned around so my back was to his chest. He
spread his hand across my stomach and pulled me closer to rest his chin in the
crook of my neck and never moved his hand away. I was having heart palpitations,
but kept a straight face as I stared at Aaron, waiting on him to make his shot.
When
he realized I caught him staring at us, he hastily took his shot and missed.
Ethan stood up and pushed past me to the table to make his shot. As he stood,
his hand purposely skimmed up my thigh high enough to slightly lift the hemline
of my skirt, causing more freaking goose bumps to score across the skin he
touched. He made the shot and two others before missing and walking back over
to me for Aaron's turn. He stayed standing and hooked an arm around my neck,
pulling my body into his. I wrapped an arm around his back and leaned into
him. He ran the bridge of his nose along my jaw and I prayed that he couldn't
hear my racing heart.
His
lips brushed my ear as he said, "We were supposed to be discreet. Now
when he notices a missing wallet, he'll instantly think of us. Should have
gotten a scapegoat."
I
knew the rest of them were watching, so I smiled wickedly like Ethan either
said something dirty or was making fun of Aaron. Either way, I was happy about
it.
I
turned toward him and he kept his face close when I whispered back, "I'll
give the wallet back with half the cash in it."
His
eyes flashed. "You already got it?" he asked.
I
smirked. "No faith."
I
knew he was touching me like this just for show, and that I shouldn't be
surprised at his level of skill but damn, he was excellent at the game of deception.
His body was fooling even mine, and although I kept my head in the game, every
cell in my body was straining to be closer to him and I was absolutely
powerless to stop it.
It
was Ethan's turn again, and he only had two stripes and the eight ball left.
He made the first and barely missed the second by two centimeters. He walked
over to stand behind me and took a sip of his fake beer. Aaron had three
solids left. I didn't want to make an obvious diversion to distract him, so I
just hoped that our presence threw him off his game a little.
Ethan
must have read my mind, because he sat down, turned me around to him and pulled
me inside the cage of his legs. I put my hands on his thighs and stole his
water filled beer bottle. I held his eyes as I took a long swig from it. He
took it back and finished it off. He set the empty bottle on the table and
tugged me even closer to him with both hands on my hips. I was sorely tempted,
for the fifth time that evening, to get away with kissing him under the guise
of playing the flirty couple, but bit back that urge because I didn't want to
know what I was missing. That would make it so much worse on me later. I
faced the wall, so my back was to the pool table, and retrieved the wallet. I
removed half of the bills and slid them in my pocket.