Broken #2 (The Broken Series - Book #2) (10 page)

Brenda was already cracking into
the booze to try to quell her nervousness.

“You better take it easy, or you
are going to be hammered before we even get there.”

She laughed.
“Yeah,
right.
You better start getting ready, or we'll never get there.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, as I headed
into the bathroom. I plugged in the curling iron, and set it away from the
sink. I looked at myself in the mirror, and tried to see what Jet saw when he
looked at me. I was no doubt an attractive female, but stunning? Was I?

I took a brush to my red locks,
and brushed through them nicely. I needed to have a good, soft base before I
took a curling iron and hair spray to my hair. I applied some foundation to
even out my skin tone, and then I looked through my makeup bag to find some
blush. I usually liked to use a blush that had a peach base to it and I only
had one. I couldn't find it, so I kept digging around in my bag until I found
it. Of course, it was right in the bottom of the bag. I pulled it out, and
opened it up. I stuck my finger in the jar, and then rubbed it across my cheek.
I rubbed in the blush and then applied it to the other cheek. I put on some new
eye shadow that I had purchased that day. I added some eye liner and mascara. I
assessed myself, and came to the conclusion that I looked like a pretty nice
package, all dolled up. My curling iron was hot and ready to go, so I begin
taking strands of hair and curling them.

Brenda
peeked
her head into the bathroom where I was getting ready. “What on earth is taking
you so long?”

“I'm not taking long; I'm just
getting ready.”

“Why are you bothering to get
beautiful? It's not like you are interested in Jet or anything, right?”

“Hey, I'm already beautiful, and
no, I'm not interested in Jet, but I still want to look nice.”

“You look more than nice; you
look hot.”

I snorted. “Well, thanks, but I'm
not trying to get attention from Jet. Don't worry.”

“Uh-huh. Well hurry up, so you
can have a drink with me before the guys get here.”

“Okay, I'm almost done with my
hair. Give me a second.”

I finished curling my hair, and
went out to the living room, where Brenda was relaxing on the couch.

“Finally!
You do look gorgeous, Natalie. Jet is going to lose it
when he sees you,” she got up, and poured me a glass of wine while I went over
and sat on the couch.

“Well thanks. You look great, too.
Your date is going to be thrilled.”

“Oh God, I hope so. He's so cute,
and so smart. I just can't believe that he's interested in me.”

“Brenda, why wouldn't he be? You
are a great catch, so don't sell yourself short.”

She passed me the glass of wine,
and I took a small sip. I definitely didn't want to be buzzed before we even
got going; that was a recipe for disaster. I wished that Brenda hadn't opened
up the bottle of wine, but I could understand why she felt nervous. Dating was
a nightmare, and you never knew how a first date was gonna end, or whether you
would get a second one.

I took another sip of wine, and
realized that I had not texted Jet, so I did that quickly, and let him know
that he could head over at any time. I assumed Brenda took care of her own
date.

“What time is Dan getting here?”

“Probably any time now.”

“Oh, I forgot perfume,” I almost
flew out of my seat, and hurried to my bedroom to grab some perfume. I had a
favorite Ed Hardy perfume. I only had one, and I never strayed from it. I
spritzed a bit on my neck, and again on my wrists, rubbing them together. I
hurried back to the living room, as I wanted to finish my wine before Jet
arrived.

“I thought you weren't trying to
get pretty for Jet.”

“I'm not.”

“Perfume; you ran like the house
was on fire.”

I laughed loudly. “Let's not get
out of hand. I just wanted to make sure I was ready before they got here.” I
downed the rest of my wine just as a knock sounded on the door. I got up, and
answered it, to find both Dan and Jet at the door. They must have arrived at the
same time.

“Hi guys.”

They came in, and Brenda stood up
from the couch, and headed over to see her date. Dan kissed her on the cheek,
and I thought it was just about the cutest thing I had ever seen. Jet was
watching the couple as well, and I could tell that he wished that we had that
same type of relationship. When he turned to me, I could see it written all
over his face. He smiled at me but there was something behind that smile.

“Are you guys ready to go?”

“Yes, we are. However, you guys
might as well have a seat and a beer, because I have to call a cab. I'm not
sure how long it will take for it to get here.”

“Natalie, you look amazing.”

Jet’s comment caught me off guard,
and it took me a moment to thank him for the compliment. The guys sat down on
the couch, and I retrieved two beers from the fridge. Making my way into the
living room, I handed the boys their beers, and sat back down on the couch.
Brenda and Dan talked easily between each other and I was starting to think
they would be a really good match.

I turned to Jet. “So how is your
back?”

“Much better.
In fact, I saw my doctor, and he
said just what you said―that I probably just had a tight muscle. Your
massage definitely worked wonders, so maybe I should keep you around as my
regular masseuse.”

“You could go to my mother, and book
her in after every fight.”

“I'm not into your mother, unless
you are suggesting something kinky.”

I slapped his knee playfully. “Oh,
stop it. I'm just saying she's a great masseuse. Maybe getting a massage should
be a regular thing if fighting is going to be your career.”

“I want you to take care of me.”

I stared into his eyes, so
confused by the things he said to me. “That's not my job.”

“It could be.”

My phone rang just then, and I
looked down to see the notification from the cab company that our ride had
arrived. I glanced up at Jet and then turned to my other guests.

“Cab is here, let's go guys.”

Everyone got up from the couch,
headed to the door, we filtered out, and I locked the door behind me. I had
called a cab just in case we all ended up drunk; then we wouldn't have to worry
about a way home. We could just enjoy ourselves, worry-free.

When we arrived, the event was
pretty busy. People were wandering everywhere, with wine glasses in their
hands. Red glasses and white glasses, the wine was being poured freely. We
immediately went to the bar so we could get some wine ourselves. I was partial
to white wine, while Jet seemed to stick to red. The choices at the event were
quite decadent.

We were all sitting at a table
together, and it became obvious right away that Brenda only had eyes for Dan.
Who could blame her? She had been single for a while, and even I had to admit
the guy was cute, as well as charming. He seemed to be just as much into her as
she was into him. I was very grateful that Jet was there, as I didn't know what
I would have done had he not been, and I had to sit there and watch Brenda and
Dan make eyes at each other.
 

I looked over at Jet, and found
that he had been watching me the whole time. I
blushed
a deep crimson, and looked down into my wine.

“Hey, how about we play a little
game while these love birds do their thing?”

Brenda shot him a look, and he
laughed.

“What kind of game?”

“Well, a drinking game, of
course.”

“
Ohhh
,
that sounds risky.”

“Are you scared?”

I laughed. “Only of you having to
hold my hair back when I puke all night.”

“Come on, it will be fun. We'll
take it easy at first, because I don't want us to get to that intimate point of
me having to hold your hair back.”

I stuck my tongue out at him. “I
think it's a terrible idea.”

“Why, did you get all your
rebellion out in high school, so you don't need to have fun anymore?”

“Actually I was no bad girl in
high school, though I'm sure you know that already.”

He leaned in closer to me,
looking very interested in what I had to say. I wondered if his interest was
genuine, or if that was how he lured women into his web.

“So what kind of girl were you?”

I giggled. “I read books, Jet. I
studied, and I got good grades. I behaved myself, so I guess you could say I
was a goody two-shoes.”

“You're kidding me.”

“No, what did you think that I
was riding on, the backs of Harleys? Come on, Jet,” I started laughing.

“No, I didn't think that, but I
don't know. Look at you. I don't exactly picture you as a bookworm. I thought
maybe a cheerleader.”

“Oh God, no, are you crazy?” I
slapped his knee playfully.

“Okay, well, if you never played
drinking games in high school, you for sure have to play one now.”

I giggled while taking a drink of
my wine. I looked over at Brenda, and saw her kissing Dan. Wow, that didn't
take long. Well, maybe I should consider getting shitfaced to make the evening
fly by a little faster.

“Alright, alright, I'm in.”

“Cool.”

“So, how are we going to do
this?”

He thought about it for a moment,
and said, “Let's play,
I have never
.”

“What's that?”

“You have to say something after making
that statement. If I have done it, I drink. If I haven't, then you drink. See?”

“How interesting.”

“Let me start so you get an idea,
I have never ... ridden a horse.”

I smiled, and I took a drink.
“This sounds fun, okay let me think, I've never played the guitar.”

He took a drink.

“Really, how cool. What kind do
you play?”

Acoustic, and really, I just
fiddle with it. I'm not out to start a band or anything.

The night truly started to fly by
after that, and as the wine went down easily, and the questions kept coming, it
wasn't long before I started to feel a little drunk. We had become very
hilarious to each other, and could not stop laughing at the questions. They
kept getting sillier as the night went on. For example,
I have never ... eaten a cockroach nor done it
doggy style
nor
gone skinny dipping
.

“Hey Jet, you are getting better
looking the more wine I drink.”

His mouth dropped open, and he
laughed so loudly he almost fell out of his chair. “You are
awesome,
and a little funny too.”

I leaned in before I even knew
what I was doing, and my lips met his. They were warm and tasted of wine. His
lips parted to accept me, and I felt his tongue graze mine. His hand fond the
back of my neck, and he pulled me in closer, as our kiss became more of a
passionate embrace. I slid my tongue into his mouth, and he sucked it gently. I
felt completely warm all over, and my lips melted into his.

Suddenly someone cleared her throat
and I thought to look up, but his lips felt so nice that I didn’t care. Then
someone tapped me on the shoulder, and I decided I should probably investigate
the situation, and that's when I realized it was Brenda trying to get my
attention, and she looked pissed.

“Hi, Brenda.”

“What the hell are you doing?”
Brenda was glaring at me, and I couldn’t quite comprehend why, through the fog
of alcohol around me.”

“What? You wanted me to come.”

“Yes, but did you have to get
annihilated, and make out at a wine tasting event. Things are a little classier
than that here, Natalie. Not to mention I'm the one on a date here, and last I
heard, Jet was just your buddy.”

I looked over at Jet, and he
looked confused, although that could have been part of the fog. I couldn't
tell.

“We are leaving now. So let's go.
You guys can get a separate cab back to your place.”

I nodded, got up from the table,
and immediately forgot about the kiss.

The cab pulled up to the curb in
front of Jet’s apartment. I wondered if Kyle was going to be home from the bar
yet. It wasn't very late; the wine tasting had ended at 12:00 a.m., so the boys
were probably still out. Jet paid for the cab, and we stumbled out of it. By
stumbled, I mean I literally almost fell on my face when I got out of the cab.
I did get up gracefully, though. Jet met me on the other side, and we watched
as the cab drove away. Jet had the can take us to his apartment instead of mine,
as he wasn't sure if I would be okay with him staying at my place.

“You should probably come in and
crash at my place, Natalie. We are hammered, and there's no way you should
drive home tonight.”