Three (7 page)

“Simone.” She said looking at his chin, not able to make eye-contact as she shook his hand.

“A beautiful name to go with a beautiful woman.” Jake said, making Simone’s head pop up at the compliment.

A blush spread across her face as the men next to her scowled at the bartender.

“We’ll take it from here,
Jake
.” Xander said with a sneer at the bartender’s name.

“She’s already spoken for.” Jackson added with complete confidence and a hint of aggression.

“I meant no offense. I’ll just make her drink.” Jake held up his hands in surrender at the ill-concealed threats the guys directed at him.

Simone looked back and forth between the three men in complete shock.
I can’t get one single guy to look my way in the ‘lower forty-eight’ as they call it, and now I’m surrounded by men that blatantly flirt with me?! Maybe I should’ve come here a long time ago. And what’s with these two. They practically piss on me to mark their territory in front of the bartender, but they’re totally fine with the each other flirting with me? It makes no sense what-so-ever.
Simone shook her head at the strange turn her life had taken.

“So tell us more about you and your family.” Xander asked Simone curiously.

“Like what?” Simone said, at a loss of what to say, as Jake placed a pretty pink drink in front of her.

“Like…why you haven’t met your mother’s family before?” Xander suggested.

“Well, from the way my mother told it, she was always restless.” Simone said, taking a sip of the drink and finding it delicious. “She wanted to see more of the world. She wanted to go to the “big city” and meet new and exciting people. So when she was eighteen, she packed a bag and moved to Seattle, against the express wishes of her immediate family and tribe. They said if she left, not to come back. But she left anyway. Shortly after getting to Seattle she started nursing school at a community college, met my father who was stationed in Seattle, and they quickly fell for each other. They got married a year later and shortly after my mom became an RN and then had me.

“My dad went to the Desert Storm war and never came back. He was a fighter pilot for the Air Force and his plane got shot down. I was five.” Simone said sadly.

“I’m so sorry, Simone.” Jackson said rubbing a soothing hand down her back.

“I don’t really remember him that well. I just remember that he smiled a lot and made me and my mom laugh all the time. Kind of like you Xander.” Simone said with surprise at the sudden realization.

“Then I bet he was a pretty amazing man, if I remind you of him.” Xander said with a cocky grin.

Jackson reached around Simone and smacked Xander on the back of the head playfully.

“You’re an over-confident jackass.” Jackson teased Xander. “Go on Simone. What happened with your mom? Did she ever remarry?”

“Oh no! She was completely heartbroken over my dad’s death. She tried dating a few times, but nothing worked out. I think she kept comparing them to my dad and I guess they all came up short. I’m sure I missed out on a lot of things without a dad. And since I had no uncles, brothers or any male figures in my life, I’ve just never learned how to act around men.” Simone just shrugged.

“We noticed.” Xander grinned at her.

“So anyway, my mom raised me the best she could on her own. She still never contacted her family for help. I don’t even think they know I exist or that she has passed on. She died of an aneurysm when I was eighteen. She told me a little about her tribe when I’d ask, but didn’t bring them up often. I think it hurt her too much to talk about them. So here I am. I saved up money throughout the years to get up here and finally meet them. Though I have to admit, I’m a little nervous.” Simone finished.

“We’ll go with you the first time, if you’d like?” Jackson offered her sweetly.

“Hell yeah! I’m in!” Xander exclaimed, agreeing with Jackson.

“Thanks guys. I really appreciate that. And I just might take you up on your offer.” Simone smiled timidly, sipping down the rest of her drink and placing the empty glass back on the bar.

“So, what did you think?” Jake said coming back over to get the empty glass.

“It was really good! I could barely taste the alcohol.” Simone said in delight.

“Therein lies the danger. When you can’t taste the alcohol, you usually drink it faster and it sneaks up on you. So be warned. Now…would you like another?” Jake advised, trying to inflect a more professional tone instead of a flirtatious one, under the watchful eye of Xander and Jackson.

“Yes, please.” Simone answered, hoping to get a little tipsy to endure the next several hours in the company of the guys.

After Jake walked away to make her drink, Simone turned her attention back to the guys.

“So you’re always asking me questions about my life, what about you two?” Simone sat back and looked back and forth between the two men.

“Xander? You can go first.” Jackson looked to his best friend to start, avoiding talking about his depressing life.

“Well…I’m the oldest of five. I have two sisters and two brothers. Or should I say three brothers, since Jackson is considered family. He’s my brother from another mother.” Xander said, smiling at the popular turn of phrase.

“Wow, that’s a big family. I always wanted siblings. That’s why I love being around my friend Amber and her family. She calls me her sister from another mister.” Simone smiled back at Xander.

“Yeah, my parents wanted to have a big family and planned to make it through the entire alphabet starting with me, Alexander. Then there’s Bethany, Christopher, Delanie and Ethan. But after the complications my mom had giving birth to Ethan, they decided to stop. Which is funny considering where they stopped, because their names continue the alphabet, Frank and Gail.

“My parents have been married for forever. My dad was a fisherman and was gone several weeks at a time, which I think helped keep the fires burning at home. They didn’t have enough time to get on each other’s nerves. And my mom is a sweet but tough lady, raising us half the time on her own. We didn’t get away with much. And that’s about it.” Xander finished.

“They sound like wonderful people.” Simone said.

“Maybe you’ll get to meet them while you’re here. They come and go often from the lodge.” Xander smiled fondly, thinking about his family.

“So…what about you Jackson?” Simone asked hesitantly, not wanting to give away the fact that she already knew a little about his tragic life, but also wanting to know more about the serious man straight from his own mouth.

Jackson cleared his throat, preparing to talk about something painful.

“Well, there’s not much to say. Just like you, I lost my family, but all at the same time. We were in a boating accident and my parents and little brother died and I unfairly made it out, barely without a scratch.” Jackson said tightly.

“Oh my God! I’m so sorry Jackson.” Simone exclaimed still saddened by the story, especially hearing it straight from him. And for the first time, she touched his arm on her own.

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago. I’m over it.” Jackson lied.

“No it’s not okay. And you’re not over it. I don’t believe you ever fully get over the loss of close family…I know.” Simone said with tears in her eyes.

Jackson flexed his jaw several times as he looked down at Simone, both bonding over shared loss. Slightly choked up by buried emotion, Jackson turned away and started chugging down the rest of his beer.

“Jake.” Jackson called out to the bartender. “I need something a little stronger.” Jackson said when Jake came over.

“How about a whiskey?” Jake suggested.

“Yeah…Johnnie Walker, please. Neat. Three fingers.” Jackson ordered.

“Coming right up.” Jake grabbed a tumbler and filled the glass three fingers full.

“Don’t stop talking on my behalf.” Jackson said after Simone and Xander just sat in silence pretending not to notice his melancholy.

“Uh…so what were you two like when you were little? Causing trouble I presume?” Simone smiled looking at both of them.

“No doubt!” Xander smirked at her. “I came up with the ridiculous schemes and Jackson would only follow to make sure I was okay. Then I’d end up getting him in trouble with his grandparents and I’d smooth it over with my charm and general adorableness.”

“Ha! You mean with your big mouth and golden tongue.” Jackson shook his head at Xander. “He was always talking his way out of trouble, which was often.” Jackson smiled down at Simone with a faraway look on his face, remembering their past exploits.

“Like what? Tell me one of your stories.” Simone asked, truly interested in what the men were like as kids, having a pretty sheltered and mundane upbringing herself.

Xander and Jackson gave each other a look, both deciding and agreeing without words that they would give her a tiny taste of their “background”.

“Well…there was this one time…the night we lost our virginity. We were thirteen-” Xander started before Simone cut him off.

“Thirteen!? Holy crap, that’s young!” Simone exclaimed.

“Not really for a guy.” Jackson reasoned and Simone just shook her head in wonder.

“So anyway, we were thirteen and we both liked this girl Brittany. She was seventeen and liked us both. We looked a lot older for our age, especially Jackson. Hell, he already looked like a grown man. So I stayed the night at Jackson’s grandparents’ house that night because we knew they’d be asleep early. Then we snuck out and met her at a nearby park in the middle of the night. We were in the middle of…well, you can imagine I’m sure. So anyway, we were going at it like rabbits and a flashlight shined on us.”

“Oh no!” Simone gasped and giggled under her breath.

“Yeah, ‘oh no’ is right. It gets worse. It was the local sheriff and her
father
! They had been searching for her, worried that she had been kidnapped or something. We hightailed it out of there buck ass naked as they chased us through the woods. And unfortunately without our shoes on they were able to catch us in the rough brush. They handcuffed us and made us walk naked in front of the squad car all the way home with the spotlight shined on us. But unfortunately for them, the walk of shame caused such a commotion that most of the town got a peek and made all the girls and some of their mothers want us even more.” Xander chuckled to himself. “That was a
good
summer!”

Xander high-fived Jackson over Simone’s head as they both laughed over the memory.

“You guys are terrible! That was completely over the top. Are you sure you didn’t make that up?” Simone questioned them skeptically.

“No we swear!” Xander said as they both held one hand over their hearts and the other raised in the air.

“Wow! Tell me more! My life was so boring growing up…still is as a matter of fact.” Simone said, wanting more fun stories.

“We’ll see about that.” They both said in unison under their breath.

“What was that?” Simone asked, not fully hearing what they’d said.

“Nothing.” They said again in unison but this time loud enough for her to hear this time.

~~~

They spent the next several hours talking, eating, laughing and drinking. Jackson and Xander regaled her of their most outrageous exploits and Simone told them about the times she had to bail out Amber in her friend’s frequent sticky situations she’d gotten herself into.

Simone had developed a nice hazy little buzz, the first in quite a few years. The last time was when her and Amber had first became roommates and she’d let Amber talk her into drinking. After that horrible night she’d vowed never to drink that much again. But wanting to relax and be herself around the guys, Simone had decided tonight was as good a night as any to throw a little caution to the wind.

At about three in the morning Jackson excused himself, leaving Simone alone with Xander in the somewhat busy bar. A slow song started playing on the jukebox and Xander reached over brushing Simone’s hair away from her face and caressed a finger down her cheek to her neck. She closed her eyes and a soft sigh escaped her lips.

“Dance with me?” Xander leaned over and whispered the question in her ear, his lips slightly grazing the shell of her ear.

Simone just nodded, breathless. Xander took her hand and led her onto the dance floor. Once on the floor, he spun her out and back to him, leaving little room between them. Her body felt so soft and appealing against his hard flexing muscles. His arms wrapped around her and his hands caressed up and down her back as their hips swayed together. His large hands slowly made their way down to her wide hips, pulling her closer into his erection. She looked up on a gasp at the feel of him against her. He looked into her heavy-lidded exotic eyes and brought his hands back up to clutch her face.

“Si…” Xander murmured her nickname, no smile was found on his ridiculously full lips this time.

Something in her eyes must have given him the permission he needed, because a second later his was pulling her off of the dance floor and guiding her to a dark corner of the bar. He pressed her up against the wall and without hesitation his soft lips were on hers. His warm wet tongue plunged into her mouth, finally getting the taste of her that he’d been craving. His stubble scraped at her delicate skin as he devoured her mouth. His aggression and passion was so intense that Simone was barely able to kiss him back. A throat clearing behind them broke the spell and they wrenched apart.