Steel & Ice (10 page)

“
Did you just snort?” He
raised his eyebrows in amusement.

“
Yep. I snort. So I own it.
But you know you really made me laugh if I snort,” I told him with
a smile. “How did you recognize me at Eight Oh Eight? And what were
you doing there if Checks is your scene?”

“
I was meeting someone there
and I saw you standing by the bar. At first I just saw a beautiful
woman with great hair. But then you turned around to say something
to your friend, and I saw those golden eyes. You were stunning.” He
reached over and pushed my chin up.
Aw
fuck Elle, your god damn mouth was hanging open?! Smooth, real
smooth
. He gave me a giant smile. No half
grin, no smirk, but a full on, beaming, white teeth smile. I looked
down, but was pretty sure my smile was just as big as
his.

No one had ever called me stunning before. I
didn’t know how to respond to his words. I’d only heard those kinds
of things from creepy guys, or guys who were just trying to get in
my pants. He said them with such conviction, it sent a shiver up my
spine and made my heart race.

“
Let’s get out of here,” he
said, grabbing my hand. “You got anywhere to be?”

Whew, he mustn’t have thought I was a total
dork if he still wanted to keep hanging out. I was glad for the
reprieve from compliments.

“
Not at all,” I replied,
shaking my head. He pulled me out of the booth and we walked to the
door holding hands.

“
You cool leaving your car
here and riding with me?” I dropped his hand.

Oh, no. No no no. A light in my head went
off and a robotic voice repeated ‘red alert red alert’. “Um, I
think I’d rather have my car. Can I follow you?”

“
Of course.” Double whew.
That was easy. Most men would’ve whined and complained, expecting
me to give up and get in their car. Then I’d be a bitch when I
didn’t. The streets taught me that it was better to a bitch than to
be dead, but still who wants to deal with grouchy men? J wasn’t
grouchy as he put his arm out for me to take. “I’ll walk you to
your car.” With a broad smile, I took his arm.

I clicked the locks on the Monte Carlo. “A
Z34 Pace Car. Nice. They only made four hundred of these in ’95. I
see you had it painted.” He ran his hand over the hood,
impressed.

“
Black is the only color a
car should be,” I told him. “Most of it’s original. The engine was
rebuilt when I got her, but I painted over that yellow shit she was
covered in.”

“
You did it yourself?” he
asked, fascinated. I had to crush him.

“
No. I have a guy who does
everything.”

He got that cog turning look again. Coupled
with the shoulder rub, I was afraid I had fucked up. Shit, what had
I said now?

“
It must be expensive to
keep an older car looking so good. And parts can be hard to come
by.”

I shrugged. “I don’t always have to pay
him.” J’s eyes got huge. He dropped his hands to his sides and
clenched his fists open and closed a few times. “Oh shit. No no,
not like that,” I said, grabbing his hand and uncurling his fist.
“I give him killer weed in exchange for keeping the Monte hooked
up.”

I saw him exhale and his whole body relaxed.
The cogs turned for a moment before he told me, “Damn, Elle. It
seems there’s a lot to learn about you.”

Yeah, again, it’s Sunday morning-ish. That
was about all he was getting out of me for now.

“
Hey, I know a place we can
go. Follow me?” I asked.

His eyebrows rose. My pulse sped up. He
moved towards me. Or should I say, he stalked towards me, like a
wild animal moving towards its prey. I retreated until my back was
against the Monte. J put one hand on the car window, and the other
in my hair as he leaned in. I could feel his breath and taste the
coffee. I licked my lips. “I’ll follow you anywhere woman.” He ran
his tongue over my lower lip and I gasped, my lips parting at the
slow, erotic feeling burgeoning inside me. The seduction continued,
but the slow stopped, as he crashed his lips against mine, his
tongue finding its way into my mouth. I was stunned and unprepared,
but that evaporated as my own desire kicked in. I reached around
and grabbed the sides of his hoodie, forcefully pulling him against
me, and holding on for fear his explorative kiss would bring me to
my knees.

I groaned as he sucked on my bottom lip. It
was exactly how I had thought about chewing his lips when I first
saw him in that dark corner at Checks. My pleasure seemed to spur
him on, as he grabbed fist fulls of my hair in both hands, and
continued his assault on my mouth. I sucked his tongue into my
mouth, and held it between my teeth for a beat. He gasped as I let
go of it, followed by a slow moan that snuck out of his mouth as he
exhaled.

“
Fuck Elle,” he said,
leaning his forehead against mine while attempting to catch his
breath. He released my hair and put his hands on either side of me
against the window on the Monte. I was trapped. I should have been
panicking. But in that moment there was no place else I could
imagine being. “Let’s get outta here before this turns into a
public show,” he said.

I smiled and pushed him off of me. “You
started it,” I said with a wink.

“
It was torture sitting
across from you in that booth. But know that I don’t miss an
opportunity,” he replied with his own wink, and backed away towards
his car. “Lead the way soldier,” he hollered, and saluted as he got
into his black Suburban. Apparently he thought black was the best
color for a car too.

I lead him to one of my favorite places,
Tilt. We pulled into parking spots toward the back of the lot. He
got out of his car and walked towards me with his eyebrows raised.
“An arcade?”

“
You up for some Tekken?” I
asked with a slight smile on my face.

“
Sure, just don’t be mad
when me and Jin whoop your ass.”

I tilted my head and shot him half a smile.
“Care to wager?”

“
What’s the prize?” He
seemed intrigued.

I put my pointer finger against my lips and
pretended to think for a second. “Hmmm. Not sure.” I tapped my
finger against my lips a few times before I pulled my eyes from the
sky to look back at him. “I’ll decide after Eddy Gordo and I
win.”

J let out a loud laugh. One that came
straight from the gut. He rubbed his hands together. “Let’s do it.
Lead the way darlin’.”

I grabbed his hand in mine and led us into
Tilt. I didn’t play video games anywhere but at the arcade. Put a
PlayStation controller in my hand and I would lose without a doubt.
A stand up arcade game was another story though. I’d been
practicing since I was a kid. My dad used to take me to the arcade
when I was young. When things were good at home. Money was never in
excess so a trip to the arcade was a splurge. My sister never went.
It was just me and my dad’s thing. Tekken, Skee Ball, Pacman,
Wack-a-Mole, and Pinball were my favorites. I never brought anyone
with me to Tilt, so I could tell Brian, the owner, was shocked as I
entered the arcade with J in tow. I would imagine J alone could
appear menacing due to his sheer size, but me bringing someone with
me stunned Brian more. He knew I was a loner when it came to my
time at the arcade.

“
Hey Elle. How have you
been?” he asked looking up from behind the counter. Brian was in
his late forties, and had inherited Tilt from his father. Like his
belated father, he had light brown hair and a matching beard. I
vaguely remembered his father from when I was a kid. He passed when
I was young, and Brian had taken over.

“
Sup Brian. Same old. You
know. Hook me up with some tokens? Fifty?”

J got his wallet out to pay for the tokens.
It took everything I had not to dig in my wallet and insist on
paying.

“
How’s your wife doing?”
Brian’s wife was going through chemo for some kind of cancer the
last time I was here.

“
Still fighting,” he said,
handing over our tokens in a plastic cup.

“
Glad to hear it. Give her
my best.”

“
Will do. She’ll be happy to
hear you came in.” Brian looked at me, and then J, as if to ask for
an introduction. I shook my head. There would be no introductions
today. Maybe if J lasted, and we came back. I would introduce them.
For now, Brian was left to his own assumptions.

“
Come on. I’ll give you the
tour,” I tilted my head toward the machines, and grabbed J’s hand.
Tilt wasn’t huge, but it had my favorite games, and I was in good
standing with the owner. I showed J the redemption games on one
side of the room, pointing out the new dancing game Brian had
recently installed. I’d seen kids playing on it, but I never had
the balls to try.

“
Now I’ll take you to the
dark side,” I told J, unable to hide my grin. The video games were
on the other side of Tilt, and in good arcade fashion, it was dark
on that side. Games were tucked away, and there were a variety of
nooks and corners to hide in. I knew them all. Hiding from my dad
was part of the fun of coming to Tilt when I was little. I think my
dad knew them just as well as I did. He could have found me in a
few seconds, but he acted like he didn’t know where I was hiding.
Sometimes he would even pretend to ask Brian where I was, and they
would have pretend conversations about how worried they were.
Eventually, my dad would either find me, or I would jump out of my
hiding spot feeling victorious that I had fooled them.

“
I see you come here often?”
J questioned.

“
Sometimes. Tekken is over
here. You ready to lose?”

J put four tokens in so two players could
play. “Just promise me this won’t be the last time I see you after
you lose,” he smirked.

As always, I chose Eddy Gordo, my favorite
character. J chose Jin. Fitting.

“
Best out of three?” I
asked. J nodded.

There were three rounds in each game. I won
round one and two of our first game, so there wasn’t a round three.
I looked at J over the top of my glasses. “Sorry,” I sneered
playfully.

“
I was just warming up,” J
said, wiping his hands down his jeans.

Game two was a little closer. J won the
first round, taking me out in less than a minute. I won the second
round. I was ahead in the third round, having taken Jin down with
one of Eddy Gordo’s famous sweeping leg kicks, but J knew how to
use Jin’s low kicks, coupled with low punches to take me out,
winning game two. We were tied. I felt the usual adrenaline rushing
through me as we started our third game. J beat me in round one. In
round two, I started shit talking to the screen. “Lower, lower. Ah
ha, get him Eddy. Body slam!” I hollered, winning round two. I
threw my hands in the air and bowed in a circle to our pretend
audience.

I looked at J with a smile. It was down to
one round. My competitive nature had come out. I wanted to win! J
was no longer the man I had been fantasizing about naked. He was my
opponent and I needed to crush him. Just before I pushed the button
to start round three, the defining round, J grabbed my arm and
pulled me around to the side of the machine, out of the line of
site of anyone entering the arcade. He shoved my back up against
the machine.

“
Kiss me, in case you lose
and never want to see me again,” he told me, his voice full of
urgency.

A smile appeared on my lips. I shoved him
against the Mortal Combat game behind us, and grabbed the front of
his hoodie. Pilling him down, I smashed my lips against his. He
shoved his hands into my hair and I did the same, finally feeling
how thick and silky his hair was. The kiss was violent, fueled by
adrenaline, as both of us were revved up by the competition of the
game. He grabbed my leg and wrapped it around his waist. Good thing
I was flexible. I dug the heel of my Jordans into his ass and he
thrust his denim covered cock into my stomach. Before I could get
further lost in J’s kiss, I shoved him away, breathless.

“
Stop stalling Elle, and
just let me beat you,” he teased.

“
Are we still talking about
Tekken or are you about to go all fifty shades on my ass?” J let
out another gut laugh. “Keep laughing… while you can.” I winked at
him and resumed my position in front of the game screen. We both
wiped the sweat from our hands down our jeans. J pushed the start
button. The final round seemed to move in slow motion. He’d get a
kick in, and I’d get a punch in. He’d advance and retreat, I’d
advance and attack. Our characters danced back and forth. I glanced
at both of our life lines, each of us only needing one more good
blow to take the other down. I slammed my hands down on the buttons
making my character, Eddy, do a headstand, grabbing Jin into a head
lock with his legs only to slam him down. Jin was dead.

“
Hell yeah!” I howled,
jumping up and down. I walked in circles, hands in the air, basking
in the glory of my triumphant win. “I win.”

J put his hands up in surrender. “I should
have known it was a lost cause when I realized you were on a first
name basis with the owner. So what is it that you win?”

“
Hmmm.” I put my finger on
my lips, once again pretending to think real hard. “I think… that
we need to hit the liquor store across the street, you need to pay
for a pint of my choice, and then we can come back and see what
else I can beat you at. I’ll even let you chose the
game.”

A huge smile spread across J’s face as he
grabbed my hand and bound out the door. “We’ll be right back
Brian,” I yelled over my shoulder. This wasn’t the first time I had
made a liquor store run from the arcade. Brian knew the drill. It
didn’t pass J’s notice as we ran past the counter and out the door.
Tilt had been my safe haven many times over the years, even after I
stopped coming with my dad. I played the machines by myself, lost
in the game, ignoring whatever crap life threw my way that week. I
took my anger and frustration out on pretend characters in fake
street fights. It was sheer luck a liquor store was across the
street.