Throttled (7 page)

“Ready boys?” Anthony asked, looking like he was about to enter a little piece of Heaven.

“Just open the fuckin’ doors already,” I growled.

He nodded, pushing open both doors at once. We took two steps and stopped dead to take in the sight before us. Girls in bikinis, skimpy dresses, and various other tiny barely there clothing writhed and danced to the beat of the techno music.

“Wow, I’ve been missing out at that hick bar,” Tank said, his voice filled with disbelief.

“Neon Cowboy women do not look like that.” Bear held his hand out, moving it up and down, motioning toward the crowd and licked his lips.

“There sure as fuck something to be said for city girls.” Tank headed toward the crowd, winding his way through the ladies.

At least Tank and Bear didn’t come in their camo or some other redneck attire. They wore clean denim jeans, black t-shirts, and boots. We looked like the redneck biker version of the Rat Pack. Our tats were clearly visible on our arms—metrosexuals we most definitely were not.

“Bar,” I growled, pulling Tank off the back of some chick. He had her by the hips and she was pushing back against him with a big smile on her face.

“What the fuck, man? I was enjoying myself.”

“She had a ring on her finger, dumbass,” I yelled over the loud music.

“Who cares? I was looking to hit it and quit it.” He laughed, making a smacking motion while thrusting his hips.

“Shots. We need them in mass quantities.” Bear threw a fifty on the bar.

“That won’t get you far here, Bear.” Michael threw an extra fifty on top. “This isn’t the Podunk bar you’re used to. This is the city and everything is three times as much.”

We leaned against the bar studying the dance floor like a scene from Saturday Night Live as we waited for our tequila shots and beers. I reached in my pocket for my phone as panic started to set in. Fuck.

“What’s wrong, Joe?” Michael asked, resting his hand on my shoulder.

“I don’t have my phone. Suzy’s going to be pissed if I don’t text her back.”

“I got it in my pocket. You’ll get it back tomorrow. Tonight it’s all about us and not our ladies. She’ll be fine. It’s her party night too. Trust me, those girls have her too busy to even bother looking at their phones. So chill the fuck out and drink.” Mike shoved the tequila shot under my nose as a smile crept across his face.

“You’re right.” I grabbed the drink from his hand and turned toward the guys. “What are we drinking to?” I asked, raising the glass.

“Platinum pussy and unlimited blow jobs.” Anthony clinked his glass to mine as all the guys joined in with a laugh.

I grimaced as I downed the liquid. Tequila and I were never friends. We slammed the shot glasses on the bar, grabbing our beer to wash it down.

“Another,” Tank said, motioning to the bartender. “Same,” he yelled as the man approached.

“Gonna be one of those nights, huh?” I said, sipping my beer as I looked around.

The setting was amazing. Suzy would love it here. She didn’t like to dance when I met her, but when we were on the dance floor together, our bodies moved as if they’d known each other a lifetime. She knew how to move, but being with me gave her the confidence to feel uninhibited in the sack and in a club.

“Earth to Joe.” Bear tapped me in the head, annoying the shit out of me.

I swatted his hand, ready to tear his finger off and turned toward him. “You wanna lose that finger?” I smirked, moving into his personal space.

“Shut the fuck up and drink, shithead.” Bear pushed my chest, knocking me back a step.

Grabbing the drink off the bar, I slammed it back, enjoying the warmth. “Ahh, another,” I said as I put the glass down, turning to see everyone’s mouth agape. “What?”

“Jesus, you’re going to be shitfaced. Pace yourself, brother.” Michael threw back his drink, calling the bartender over.

We spent the next hour laughing and drinking. We talked about women. Michael and I spoke of our girls while Tank, Bear, and Anthony talked about their plethora of pussy. The stark contrast of the caliber of pussy the three of them enjoyed was astounding. I knew the club bitches Tank and Bear spent their nights with and I wasn’t too impressed. They could do better and hell, they deserved more. They may be rough around the edges, but they were good, honest men.

Anthony was just Anthony. He was a manwhore to the nth degree enjoying life a little too loosely. I couldn’t blame the guy, but at some point, you have to give up the chase and enter the adult world.

“Here,” Anthony said, nudging me. “You look a little lost in thought or you’re already shit faced.” He laughed, pushing the glass of amber liquid in front of me.

“I’m not even close to being shitfaced.”

“I want to do a special toast,” Michael said, holding up his glass, waiting for us to follow suit. As we raised our glasses, holding them together, he spoke. “To Thomas. He couldn’t be here again, but this one’s for him.” He frowned, his eyes glistening a little in the club light. “To the best God damn brother out there. May he stay safe and come back to us in one piece.” A weak smile formed on his face as he brought the glass to his lips.

My chest felt tight thinking about Thomas. I wanted him to be here to celebrate this weekend with us, but he had gone too far under at this point. We were on a no contact basis the last few months. We could check in with his superior, but beyond that, we hadn’t heard from him. “Way to bring a party down,” I said, shaking my head. “To Thomas.” I downed the tequila before wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

I looked at Anthony and his eyes were the size of saucers. He wasn’t moving, the shot in front of his lips, frozen in place. “What the fuck man?” I asked, turning to see what caught his attention.

What the fuck? My heart started to hammer, my mind racing as I fisted my hands at my side. There’s no fucking way. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the image, hoping it was an optical illusion. Fuck, it wasn’t.

Across the pool danced
my
bride-to-be with some motherfucker doing the bump-n-grind. I moved forward, but a hand stopped me, clamping down on my arm.

“Don’t cause a scene, City,” Bear said, griping me tightly.

I looked down at his hand, a growl starting deep in my throat. “That’s my woman. No one, and I mean no one, puts their hands on her.” Pulling my arm from his grip, I stalked across the pool, cracking my neck and preparing for the shit storm that was about to happen.

Sophia stopped dancing, her mouth hanging open as she nudged Izzy, motioning to me with her head.

“Fuck.” Izzy mouthed, shaking her head, her eyes growing wide.

With Suzy’s back to me, I grabbed the asshole groping Suzy’s collar, removing him from my fiancée. Suzy turned slowly, all the color draining from her face as her eyes found mine.

“Fuck off,” I growled, pushing him away as I tried to restrain myself.

“You fuck off, asshole. I’m dancing with the beautiful blonde. She ain’t yours.” He moved forward, standing toe to toe with me.

I snarled, moving closer to his face. “She’s my motherfucking fiancée. You had your shitty ass hands all over her.”

“City,” Suzy said, grabbing my arm. “Baby.”

I pushed her away, not looking in her direction. “You need to back the fuck off and go find some other pussy. This one is
mine
,” I roared, grabbing his shirt pulling him closer to my face.

“I didn’t hear her say no when I started dancing with her, motherfucker.” His words were slightly slurred as tiny droplets of his spit hit my face as he spoke. “Her ass felt so good in my hands.”

“City,” Bear said, touching my shoulder. “Not here, man.”

“What did you just say?” I asked, tightening my grip.

“Her ass…you can bounce a quarter off that shit.” His mouth slowly turned up into a cocky ass grin.

As I released him, I pushed him back and swung. I connected with his jaw, the bones crunching under my knuckles. His arms flailed as he fell to the ground and grasped his face.

“Keep your fucking hands to yourself, dickhead.” I spit on the ground next to him. “Worthless piece of shit.”

He dragged his hand across his lips, wiping the blood that had trickled out of his mouth. I fisted my hands at my side, waiting to see if he’d retaliate, but he stood slowly and walked away. Pussy.

Bear patted me on the back. “Can’t say the asshole didn’t deserve it.”

“He deserved more. If we were at the Neon Cowboy I would have beat him unconscious, but here it’s like a damn show.”

I looked around the crowd that had gathered. People were smiling and laughing and looked impressed. Such is city life at a club. They just wanted to see someone get their ass kicked. I closed my eyes, trying to calm my breath before turning to see Suzy.

Her arms were crossed and her head cocked as she glared at me. “You’re such a caveman. Does everything require violence?” She snarled.

I’d never seen Suzy so pissed off. She had no fucking right to be pissed. I was defending her honor,
my
soon-to-be-bride. “You’re pissed at me?” I asked with a confused look. “Why the fuck are you pissed off at me? You’re the one letting him manhandle you.”

Her glare turned ice cold as she walked toward me. Her hands dropped to her side as she stopped in front of me. “You knock a guy on his ass and you want to know why I’m pissed off?” She poked me in the chest, her nail digging into my skin. “It’s my bachelorette party and I was having some harmless fun. What the fuck is wrong with you?” She smacked me in the chest, trying to push me backward.

I grabbed her wrist, pulling her closer. “Some asswad has his hands on my woman and I’m just supposed to what? Tap him on the fucking shoulder and say may I cut in? No, I’m going to confront that shithead and do what I have to do. I’m the one that’s pissed and rightfully so. You
let
him touch you. What the fuck happened to faithfulness?” I released her arm as her eyes flickered to the ground.

Her eyes returned to mine filled with anger and hurt. “I was being faithful, you big dumb oaf. It’s a bachelorette party and I’m here with your sister. I wasn’t doing anything wrong. You’re just being your difficult, overprotective self.” She shook her head. “You always want to solve things with your fists. We’re not twelve anymore, City.”

“Sugar, I’ll protect you until my last breath. I don’t share, not now and not ever. You’re mine and only mine. No one is allowed to put their hands on you, no matter the situation.” I grabbed her by the waist, drawing her to my body. “Maybe I’m being harsh, but the thought of someone else touching you just pisses me off. I tried to control myself, but the prick had to keep running his mouth.” I touched her cheek, holding her face in my hand.

Her face softened as she leaned into my touch. “He did. I’m sorry. I’m drunk and we’re just having some harmless fun.”

I leaned in, hovering just above her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed as I inhaled in the smell of Suzy. The scent wasn’t right. “What the fuck?” I sniffed her cheek and neck. She had a sweaty musky scent on her skin. “Why do you smell like a man?”

Her eyes flew open and grew wide. “What are you talking about?” she whispered.

“You smell like another man’s been pawing you. That jagoff didn’t touch your face. Why the hell does your face and neck smell like someone else?” My heart started to pound sporadically, my chest felt hollow except for the flutter of my heart.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I haven’t touched anyone.” She grabbed my shirt, holding me to her.

“Like fuck you haven’t. I can smell him.” Nausea overcame me as the realization that Suzy had been that close to another man. Maybe she wasn’t the woman I always thought she was.

“City, I haven’t touched anyone. You’re making shit up.”

I backed away, dropping my hand from her cheek. “I find you with some guy with his hands all over you and now I can smell someone all over your skin. Don’t you have anything to say for yourself or are you just going to deny it?”

She looked to the sky and back to me, her eyes glistening in the light. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” she yelled, her hands fisted at her side.

I shook my head, feeling my heart shattering into a million tiny pieces. The thought of her cheating on me made me feel like death would be preferable. I didn’t want to look at her anymore. I couldn’t take the lies or the dull ache in my chest. “I don’t believe you,” I whispered, looking over her. I couldn’t stomach looking in her eyes anymore.

“City,” she pleaded, reaching for my arm.

I recoiled, moving my body out of reach. “No, not this time, sugar. I need some time to myself,” I said as I turned my back to her.

I didn’t want to see the hurt on her face. I didn’t have to look at her to know it was there, but I was too pissed off to stick around and talk about it. I needed to get away and cool off.

“Bro, where ya going?” Michael said, stepping in front of me.

“I need to be alone, brother. I’m taking a cab home,” I said, trying to control my breathing. I closed my eyes and breathed out through my mouth before looking him in the eyes.

“Come on. We have the party bus. We can go somewhere else.” Michael gave me a fake smile.

“Fuck that. I’m going home. Take the party bus and enjoy the night. Tell Suzy to stay here with the girls. I need to be alone tonight.”

I walked around him, leaving them behind. I found a cab and headed home. I tried to process how the night went so terribly wrong. Did I overreact? Probably. Did someone touch my fiancée? Most definitely. Could we be fixed? Only time would tell.

I closed my eyes; the blur of palm trees made my head hurt more than it already did. I thought about everything we’d been through in the last year. Suzy lost her good girl image and stole my heart. I wrecked on my bike and almost died. The woman nursed me back to health and waited on me hand and foot.

It may have been a bachelorette party, but the shit still stung. My over active imagination and the words the cocksucker spoke was like a punch to the gut. I knew my Suzy. She wouldn’t cheat, but the thought of someone else touching her made my stomach hurt and my heart ache. I literally pushed Suzy away and turned my back on her. I let my anger rule instead of using my head. I reacted without thinking and would have to deal with it tomorrow.