Sweet Is Revenge (5 page)

"I've had a good life. I have a reason to smile. Sure, life is boring, but it's not bad," our food came at that time and we thanked Lucinda. "Why are you jealous? You seem pretty happy," I said before taking a bite of my ravioli, it didn't disappoint.

"I am most of the time. But life gets me down too easily. I haven't had a happy life. I never knew my dad, and my mom died while I was still young, so I had to go live with my uncle who is a grumpy bastard if I've ever known one. Most days I just don't find a reason to be happy I guess," he shrugged. I felt for him. I don't know what I'd do if I lost my family. They were everything to me.

"If you look closely, there's always something to be happy about. I mean, you're staying in a kick ass hotel, you have a job and a car, you're attractive, and you met me," he laughed at the last one and I smiled in return. "See there are lots of things to be happy about, so cheer up buttercup," I reached over and lightly hit his chin with my finger. He smiled at me.

"Thanks Lillian, I needed that," he said sincerely. I nodded.

"So what do you think of Nonna Rita's food? Are you going to write a good review?"

"Oh definitely! This has the best Italian food I've ever tasted. It beats all of the big city places," he said enthusiastically. "It also has the nicest servers. You don't find people like that in a busy city. You can tell that she really enjoys her job. In the city, people are just looking out for their own, settling for second best, and holding a grudge because they believe they deserve much more," he said. I listened in awe. I had never been to a big city. It didn't sound pleasant, but I wanted to experience the hustle and bustle of the city. This town, while it was nice, and I could live here forever and not really regret it, it was just boring and way too laid back.

"I want to experience the city," I said with a sigh.

"You've never been to the city?" His face showed the shock that his voice was portraying. I shook my head.

"No, my dad says it's too dangerous. He doesn't want me anywhere near a city. I think it's stupid because I know more self defense than almost any other girl my age, and there are people there every day who walk by themselves, with no knowledge of self defense, and they're just fine," I vented. "And I'm not stupid, don't go down back alley's at night, don't go with a stranger from a bar, look both ways before you cross the street,
 
honestly,
 
my parents need to have more faith in me," I said before jabbing my ravioli.

"Do you ever think that they trust you, it's everybody else they don't trust?" Decklin asked in a calm voice.

"They don't have to trust anybody else to let me go. If they trusted me enough, they'd let me go even though they doubt everyone else," I argued. He shrugged.

"It was just a thought," he said before taking another bite of is meal. I took a sip of my wine and watched him. He really was attractive. And everything he did was on the verge of being elegant. He had good table manners and an excellent posture. I found I could probably sit and watch him all day. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Was I getting my first 'crush'? I've been attracted to guys, and I've dated guys, but I've never really had true feelings about somebody. Decklin was a person I could have those feelings about…
If he got over the lying.

"You're staring at me," he said, humor evident in his voice. I smiled.

"You're pretty," I told him. He grinned.

"That's the nicest compliment someone's ever paid me, I do believe. Pretty eh? That is a new one, for sure," he said with a laugh. I joined him.

"You're not feminine pretty if that makes you feel better. There's a difference between feminine and manly pretty. You're definitely manly pretty," I said with a nod. He smiled.

"That's another thing I like about you, you say what's on your mind and don't care what other people think," I heard admiration in his voice and I felt heat creeping to my cheeks. Blushing? Seriously, I never blushed. I was glad for my dark skin right then, because it wasn't as evident that I was indeed blushing.

We left after eating, I was pleased to see that Decklin left a generous
tip,
a pet peeve of mine was stingy tippers. We walked around town, going into shops and talking about insignificant things. I really liked him. He was chivalrous, holding my doors, and letting me go before him. He didn't appear as if he was trying too hard either, which is always a turn off for me. It was just natural to him, like he was born that way. He had a good sense of humor and he laughed at my stupid jokes.

He took me home around five o clock and walked me to my door. I said goodnight and was about to go inside when I felt his hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see him with that nervous look in his eyes. "I had a lot of fun today Lillian, I think you're a really great girl," he started. I smiled at him. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me sometime?" He scratched his neck
nervously,
I noticed that was a habit he had.

"Okay," I agreed. His nervous look melted into one of relief and he smiled.

"Great, what are you doing on Friday?"

"I usually go to The Club on Friday's and stay over at my friend Beth's house. But I think I can skip The Club one weekend," I told him.

"We can still go there if you want, I can take you out to dinner before hand and then we can go there. You owe me a dance anyway," he said with a grin. I raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I do eh?" I asked. He nodded. "Well, maybe if you're lucky you'll get that dance," I said with a smile. He laughed.

"You really are something," he said.

"I know," I reached out and hugged him. I don't know what caused me to do it besides the fact that I wanted to. But I felt pulled to him in some way. He was probably stunned for a minute, so it took him a second to reply, but he wrapped his arms around me, giving me a squeeze and letting go.

"Goodnight beautiful," he said before winking and walking away. I watched him go before going inside. There may have been something off about him, but I liked him anyway.

The needle dropped

My track was hot

We began to rock

Our eyes were locked

Family Force Five- Earthquake

Decklin

When Lillian greeted me at the door that night I had to remember to breathe. I had seen her in her club get up before, but I was just stunned. That is not something that usually happens to me and I didn't like that I was feeling different about her than other girls I had conquered before.

And instead of getting lustful thoughts in my head, though they did appear by the end of the night, I was reminded of her hug. Never in my life, from anyone besides my mother, had I gotten a hug. Girls that I usually wasted my time with didn't hug
me,
they went straight for the heated make out sessions.
I never even held a girl after we were through with sex
,
I didn't see the point
.

It was an innocent gesture, but it made my stomach do crazy things. I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

"Ready to go?" I asked with a smile.

"Yeah, let me grab my phone real quick," she said and disappeared back into the house for a minute. I watched as she walked back and a grin appeared on my face as I watched her shove her phone down her shirt and readjust
herself
. She looked up and saw me watching. I thought I saw her blush. "I really hate carrying a purse, so I just keep my things in my God given purse," she explained with a shrug.

"That works, but that's also why we have pockets."

"Do you see any pockets on my outfit?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she spun slowly in a circle. I appreciated that she did that because it gave me the full view of her. Her legs were impossibly long for being so short, and they were so toned. I was glad she decided to wear a skirt, a very short skirt. Her stomach was showing, and I made sure to take in everything from the muscles on her stomach, to the dimples in her lower back.

I had barely noticed that she had stopped spinning and that she was staring at me until she cleared her throat. She had a smug smile on her face. "Are you done ogling now? I'm pretty hungry," she said with amusement in her voice.

"Uh, yeah. Sorry," I shook my head trying to snap out of it. Girls never made me feel like an idiot, but she did which gave me more of a reason to be pissed at her, which fueled my revenge fire and put out the lust fire. "You look really good," I said as we stepped out the door. I opened her door for her and made sure she was in before shutting it.

"Is there any place particular that you wanted to go?" I asked as I took off down the road.

"No, you're the guy, you have to do all the work, at least on the first date," she said. I looked over and saw her smiling at me.

"Good thing I planned ahead then."

"You know what, I've never been on a date," she admitted.

"Why not?" I would have been surprised if I hadn't talked to the bartender at The Club the last time I was there.

"I just don't date guys," she shrugged. "I was taught not to trust people. Though I do trust people too easily, it's a stupid flaw I guess. I'm not quite sure why I was taught that, it probably has something to do with my dad's job. It's also why I've never been out of this town, or had a job, or moved out of my
parents
house. I'm twenty years old and am still being controlled by my parents. The most rebelling I've ever done is going to The Club on the weekends instead of staying in at Beth's house," she told me, looking out the window as I stole a glance at her. She sighed. "I'm just sick of being looked at like this fragile little thing. I mean… Fuck… I've had all sorts of
self defense
training, I can kill somebody in the blink of an eye if I had to. What the hell else do I have to do?" She scrunched her face up in anger, which I thought was extremely hot for some reason.

"You're twenty, just move out. It's a free country," I said simply. She gave a short laugh.

"Even if I did move out, they would find a way to control me. I understand that it's for my safety because they love me and whatever, but there is such thing as being too overprotective," she said with a sigh. "Wow, I think this is about the fiftieth time I've bitched to you. Why did you want to go out on a date with me again?" She asked, looking at me with a small smile on her face.

"I really don't mind, and I can't say that I understand where you're coming from because that would be a lie, and I've already lied to you once. But I can try and be empathetic," I said, turning down the main road to town. "How does Chinese sound?" I asked, spotting a buffet.

"Great, but stop me after two plates please. I don't want to go to the club looking like a blowfish," she said. I laughed.

"You'd make a hot blowfish."

"Right, that sounds so weird," she said laughing quietly. "But I appreciate the compliments." I pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and we went inside. I was instantly overwhelmed by all the different smells and my stomach growled accordingly. Lillian laughed and patted my stomach, letting her hand linger longer than necessary.

"You totally just copped a feel!" I told her with a smile.

"It wasn't my intention, but I'm a sucker for a nice set of abs," she admitted.

"Babe, you can feel them any time you want," I said with a wink. She rolled her eyes at me but smiled. A short Chinese girl seated us and told us in broken English to help ourselves to the bar.

"So, how long are you here for?" She asked after we had gotten our first plates and began eating. I shrugged my shoulders.

"It doesn't really matter, I have no deadline. Money's no object either, so I can stay in the hotel as long as I want. The little town is starting to grow on me, I might find a place to rent," that was a lie. I hate small towns. They're so boring. I made sure throughout the week to be seen checking out the stores and asking questions, but besides that and going to the club every night, there wasn't much to do. Though the girls were easy enough, that was a plus.

"Don't settle down too fast, it's quite boring around here. I'd definitely choose the city if I could move everyone from town in. We're pretty close knit here. My grandpa is actually the mayor. So if you need to talk to him about anything, I could get you in to meet him easily," she offered.

"No, I don't think I'll need to speak with him," I didn't want to talk to him. George Costa was the
ring leader
of the gang. He knew everything about anything, and I'm sure he had seen a picture of me, even if I don't have paperwork. It was too risky. "Really just talking to the small town folk is fine. They have the most input anyway," I explained. She nodded.

"Well, the offer's there if you ever change your mind," we continued eating and chatting about random things, nothing too personal. She was being guarded, I could tell. I'm sure she was raised to be that way. I was going to break down her defenses though, but I was having second thoughts about crushing her spirit. It's what made her who she was. She honestly loved life, and I didn't want to wipe that smile from her face or the gleam in her eyes. I liked it.