Jack Hammer (27 page)

“You should probably go,” Blaine told her, amusement laced his voice.

“Ugh.” She stomped her foot and grabbed her shirt off the couch, pulling it over her head roughly. “This is bullshit!”

She stumbled, nearly tripping on her ridiculous heels as she passed me. Once she was clear from the door, I turned to slam it. I didn’t turn around right away because I was so angry I was afraid of what I’d say.

I heard Blaine move toward the couch, and knew I couldn’t stand against the wall forever. Turning around, I expected to unleash my rage on Blaine, but he looked so damn good in his jeans. They hung from his narrow hips, revealing the muscles in his lower abdomen. My eyes moved from the button of his jeans and up over his bare chest. He was delicious.

“Why?” I asked. “You promised you wouldn’t’ sleep with the women anymore.” I sounded whiny and I hated that. “Why did you sleep with them anyway? Was the money that good?”

“Honestly?”

“Yes! I want your honesty.”

He sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Because when I started this I didn’t care about anything but the money. I couldn’t sleep with anyone for the pleasure of it after you, Chelsey.  I figured I might as well do it for the money. It’s what I do. It’s how I paid the bills.”

“It’s what you do or what you did?” I asked, desperate for him to relieve the jealousy simmering in my stomach.

“It’s what I
did
,” he corrected.

“Are you sure?” I felt embarrassed for being so jealous, but I couldn’t help it.

“I haven’t slept with any of the women since the night you walked in.”

“You really expect me to believe that?”

He took a step closer to me. “It’s the damn truth. So yes, I expect you to believe it.”

“Well I don’t, Blaine. Who knows what would’ve happened if I hadn’t come in.”

He took another step toward me. “I would’ve danced for her and she would’ve left. Nothing more.” The side of his mouth tilted in a sexy grin. “I will say, though. You’re sexy as fuck when you’re jealous.”

I pushed against his bare chest, the warmth from his skin making my fingers tingle.

“I’m not jealous,” I lied.

He tsked. “Bad, Chelsey. Do you know what happens to little girls who lie?” I pinched my lips together to keep from smiling. “They get spanked.” He grinned.

He pulled me to him and kissed me hard. Moving me toward the wall, he pressed me against it before he lifted me, making me wrap my legs around him.

“I fucking hate pants,” he growled. “Never wear pants around me again,” he muttered against my neck as he went to work unbuttoning and unzipping my jeans.

I dropped my legs to the floor so he could pull one leg loose. Then he pulled his jeans down his hips, rolled a condom over his length, and he lifted me again. I wrapped my legs around him, and he pressed his hardness against me, making me hiss.

Reaching between us, he pushed my panties to the side and entered me swiftly, filling me completely and making me cry out in pleasure.

He took me hard and fast, nibbling and biting the side of my neck as his fingers dug into my hips and pulled me onto him. My shoulders pressed into the wall, and my head rolled from side to side as the pleasure bloomed in my lower stomach.

He pushed me harder and harder, and I went higher and higher, until I was digging my nails into his back and breathlessly begging him for more. And then I came hard and long, screaming out Blaine’s name and pressing my hips into his like a wild woman.

Not long after, Blaine came, too. He was loud as he bit into my shoulder and growled my name.

Pulling away from me, he let my weak legs drop to the floor. Thankfully, the wall kept me from falling. He pressed his forehead to mine with closed eyes and kissed the tip of my nose.

“You’re mine, Chelsey. It doesn’t matter what your answer is. You’re mine and I’m yours.” He opened his eyes and looked into mine, taking my breath away.

Four tiny words danced on my lips, but I couldn’t let them free. Not now. Not when I wasn’t sure where things were going. The one thing I was sure of, was I was done fighting this thing with Blaine. It was pointless anyway. I’d always been Blaine’s and I’d hoped he’d always been mine.

Sure, I still had terrible memories, but I was getting better. At least I felt like I was. I could give this thing with him a try. It’s what I wanted. I wanted Blaine and he wanted me.

Cupping his cheeks, I leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips.

“Okay,” I said, earning myself a gorgeous smile from Blaine and another mind blowing kiss.

39

BLAINE

LIFE WAS GOOD
for the first time in a long time. I could breathe easier knowing I was slowly beginning to pick up the pieces of my life.

Even Grandma noticed the difference in me. I came home from working with Chris on lawns, and began dancing around the living room with Maddie to some cheesy kid’s song. Maddie loved it, and I loved making Maddie happy, so it all worked out.

I was busy as hell over the next week. Between working my day job, spending time with Chelsey, and working at the club, I barely had time to think, but sometimes not thinking was a good thing. I smiled again, and I laughed again, and it was all because of Chelsey.

I’d talked to Tommy about only dancing on stage and doing an occasional private dance. I made sure he understood everything else would stop. I couldn’t do it anymore. I was a taken man, and the only woman who was getting any of my cock was Chelsey.

Which she did often. Every chance she got she was climbing on it. She was insatiable and I was loving every second of it. We couldn’t get enough of each other. We did it in my car. In her bathroom. In her bedroom. Any place we could and it was amazing every time.

She was amazing.

I smiled just thinking about her as I trimmed the bushes outside one of the buildings at Columbia. Just knowing she was on campus made working easier. The sun was on my shoulders and my heart was light with love. The day couldn’t have gotten much better.

Then suddenly my day went to shit. I looked up and my eyes locked on Rosie, one of my regular fucks at the club. She smiled at me as she came my way, her heels clicking on the sidewalk.

She looked completely different. Her hair was tamed, and her professional pantsuit seemed out of place on her. She was a hardcore shit-talker who liked getting fucked and called dirty names, yet there she was, holding a briefcase and wearing a fucking pantsuit.

“Jack,” she said, a grin creeping across her face. “Long time no see.”

“Yeah, I’ve been a little busy,” I said as I nervously rubbed the back of my neck.

“I bet you have.” Her eyes moved over my body, taking in my sweat-soaked shirt and dirty pants. “You look fucking sexy right now,” she said bluntly.

I didn’t know how to respond. She obviously worked at the school. Why was she openly flirting with me in front of the students? Why couldn’t she have just walked by me and smiled like a normal person would’ve.

“Thanks,” I said.

Her smile dropped and confusion moved across her face. “I missed you at the club. Have you missed me?”

Again, I rubbed at the back of my neck. The sun suddenly felt too hot and the cool breeze was gone.

“Rosie, I—” I lost my words. “I won’t be seeing you at the club anymore.”

She pouted. “Did you quit?”

“No. I still dance there. I just… I don’t use the back rooms anymore.”

She stood there, staring back at me. And then realization set in. “You’ve met someone?” Just thinking of Chelsey made me smile. “You have.” She smiled. “Well, whoever she is, she’s one lucky girl.” She moved closer to me. Leaning up on her toes, she pressed a kiss on my cheek and whispered in my ear, “If you keep her as happy as you kept me, you’ll have no problems.”

And then she walked away, leaving me standing there with a fucked up smile on my face and a naked Chelsey in my brain.

I turned to get back to work, but then my eyes moved across the lawn, and I saw Chelsey standing there staring back at me. Her eyes were wounded and her lips were pinched.

She turned to walk away from me, but I dropped my pruning shears and went after her.

“Chelsey,” I said, reaching out to stop her. She shook her arm from mine, and kept walking. “Chelsey, just listen to me,” I pleaded.

She stopped and spun around on me, her nostrils flared in anger and her eyes watered with angry tears. “Did you fuck her, too?” she asked loudly.

“Chelsey, just listen.”

“No,” she cut me off. “Did you? She’s a professor here, you know? She’s one of
my
professors to be exact.” She blew out a hard breath and closed her eyes. “Yes or no, Blaine. Did you fuck her?”

I couldn’t lie. I’d been fucking Rosie when Chelsey walked in that time. I was surprised she didn’t recognize Rosie then. But then again, Rosie had been face down in the couch at the time.

“Yes,” I blurted. “She was one of my regulars.”

I decided honesty was the best way to go.

Chelsey’s face paled, and her eyes went from angry to hurt.

“But I’m not doing that anymore, baby. I promised you I wouldn’t, and I mean to keep that promise.”

She ran her hands roughly down her face. “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know if I can do this, Blaine.”

My heart dropped and my ability to breathe became harder. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t know if I can be with you knowing you go to that place. Knowing there are women there who you’ve fucked. I trust you, I think. I just don’t know if I can stand it. I can’t be with a man who does what you do. I’m sorry.”

She turned to walk away from me and I panicked. Reaching out, I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me.

“I’ll quit,” I said without thinking it over. “I quit right now. I won’t ever go back to the club.”

I had no idea how I was going to survive without the club. I had bills to pay and mouths to feed, but I knew if Chelsey left me again I’d shut down. I couldn’t let that happen because if I shut down I’d really be useless to Grandma and Maddie.

“What?” she said, confusion thick in her voice.

“I said, I quit. Right now. No more stripping. No more Golden Banana. Nothing,” I said adamantly. “I want you more than I want that job.”

“Are you sure about this?” Her eyes searched mine for the answer.

“I’m positive. I want to make this work this time. I love you, Chelsey. I can’t handle losing you again.”

Tears sprang to her eyes and her bottom lip trembled. “I love you, too, Blaine.”

And that’s all that mattered to me. I leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her soft lips. Happiness and nervousness moved through me. Life was about to get a lot harder for me, but at least I had Chelsey to help me through. As long as I had her, I could make it through anything.

**********

I MADE A PROMISE,
and I meant I was going to stick by it, but finding a well-paying job with nothing but a high school diploma was a lot harder than it sounded.

I applied everywhere when I wasn’t working. And when I wasn’t applying for jobs or working, I was spending time with Chelsey or my family. Grandma kept asking me to bring her over for dinner, but I was afraid someone would spill the beans and tell Chelsey about my parents. I wasn’t ready for that yet.

The job with Chris was barely covering Grandma’s prescriptions and food, much less paying the bills and things were getting tighter and tighter as the month went on. The guys at the club kept asking me to come back, and it was tempting, but I couldn’t do it. No matter how easy it would make life for me, I couldn’t give up.

“What about school?” Marshall asked.

We’d started hanging out outside of the club now that he and Lynn were dating. I was shocked to find out he was a college boy himself. I had no idea he was going to Julliard until Chelsey told me.

“What about it?” I asked.

“Well, maybe you could go and get a degree or something.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t help me now.”

“It would if you get some student loans,” he countered.

“Yeah. Maybe.”

I hadn’t thought about school since before I left Georgia. It wasn’t a possibility for me anymore, but maybe Marshall was right, maybe I could look into getting student loans to get me through. That’s if I still qualified for grants from the state.

“So, you coming to the going away party?”

I’d been informed that Tommy and the guys were throwing me a going away party. It was nice. I had to admit, I missed the boys and their crazy ways sometimes.

“Yeah, man. I’ll be there.”

“Bring, Chelsey.” He nudged me with his shoulder. “Lynn’s going to be there, too.”

“I will.”

I spent the next few days applying to school and for grants and loans. Thankfully, the process was a fast one since it was mid-semester. It didn’t take long to get with an advisor and find out everything was possible. I qualified for grants and loans, and I’d be starting at the technical college when the next semester started.

I couldn’t wait to tell Chelsey. I could already imagine the happy smile she’d have for me when I told her.