Wanna Bet? (24 page)

“
Do you want to know why I
did it?” He asks smiling at me but with no hint of the amusement or
kindness that I am used to from him. “Because I had never been with
a virgin before, you were just something to cross off a
list.”

His words act as a
physical blow and I stumble back a step I can feel the color
draining from my face as a pain starts in my chest. “Want to know
why I did it?” I ask staring him straight in the eye.

“
Because you’re a whore?”
he asks holding his hands out around him, his words that I had
heard so many times from my step dad turn that fire in my chest
into a full blown explosion.

“
No” I shake my head at him
“Because I fucking loved you!” I whisper to him tuning to push my
way through the crowd as the tears fall from my eyes and I struggle
to breathe through the pain that I’m sure is my heart
breaking.

Once I have cleared the
crowd I come face to face with a smirking Beth, I stop in front of
her and pay no attention to the students that have turned towards
us from watching my escape.

When I look at her I meet
her eyes head on. “Oh and throwing my past in my face to piss me
off?” I ask and her smirk gets a bit smug.

I nod once at her “It
worked” and then with a strength behind me I didn’t even know I had
I punch her in the face making her stumble back and land on the
floor cupping her now bleeding nose. “Don’t ever slap me again.” I
call over my shoulder and walk out the doors.

I almost fall when my
jacket is grabbed from behind mid step. I whip around and look up
into Sophie’s apologetic eyes.

“
Wait Brooke” She says
trying to catch her breath.

“
Don’t Soph, I’m done. It’s
over” I shake my head at her and run to my room for the last time
hoping I never see him ever again.

Two years
later…

I try to make a run for it
when the taxi pulls up outside the club but Andrew just throws me
over his shoulders making me shriek and giggle at the same
time.

“
Put me down!” I yell
laughing.

“
Not until you follow
through on the bet!” he shouts back at me, I lift my head to glare
at Jess and Mel who are laughing hysterically at us.

I’m still kicking and
screaming when he opens the door to the club and everyone cheers as
we make our way through the club to the bar. I kick and call for
help but everyone just laughs and cheers when Andrew slaps my
backside.

“
Hey!” I shout at him
making him laugh even more.

He stops and turns so I’m
facing the bar, Lucy is stood there laughing at me “What happened
this time?” She asks not phased by our bickering and
struggles.

“
Lost a bet” I pout at her
with pleading eyes making her laugh harder. “I lost my top and he
has to do a body shot off me” I groan and watch as she clears a
space for me on the bar.

The cheers around us get
louder as Andrew lays me down on the bar and Lucy gets the shot
ready. I try to stay still and ignore all the whistles and shouts
around me, pouting pathetically to the ceiling.

I look down and watch as
the salt is sprinkled from the hem of my shorts around my belly
button and up to the bottom of my bikini top, Lucy tries her best
to stop the shot from spilling out of the glass as she places it in
between my breasts and then, lastly puts the lime in my mouth while
I try my best to glare at her.

Chants of “Do it. Do it!”
go up around us as I watch Andrew try to contain his laughter long
enough to well … do it.

Deliberately slowly he
licks the salt from my skin and grins up at me as his wraps his
lips around the shot glass, lifts his head and takes the shot,
returning it to it’s place in my bikini top he winks at me and then
bends down to suck the lime while I still hold it in my mouth. Once
he pulls back the crowd roars with cheers and applause. I shake my
head at them all, remove the shot glass and lime then jump down
from the bar and start taking orders for drinks.

“
Increasing business as
always” Will smirks at me as he walks past and eyes my lack of
clothing.

“
I will not loose another
bet” I promise myself out loud. He just chuckles and heads into the
office just as I catch a hopeful “I sure hope you do”

“
Tell me again why you
aren’t sleeping with him” Lucy asks wistfully me running her gaze
over Andrew who is talking to a pretty blonde girl on the other
side of the bar. I can’t deny that Andrew is one of the best
looking men I have ever seen, with his blonde hair and green eyes
he is classically good looking, he’s tall and his body is well
taken care of. He also charming, too charming.

“
Because that man charms
his way through beds like we pour drinks” I answer the same way I
always do, making her roll her eyes.

“
Bet it’s worth it though”
she sighs happily.

“
I’m not taking anymore
bets” I snap at her much to her amusement.

“
You will, you will by the
end of the night” she argues back.

“
I know” I mutter “I can’t
help it, he’s just so arrogant, and I can’t help but at least try
to prove him wrong sometimes”

“
What bet did you loose
this time by the way?” she asks cocking her head to the
side.

“
First of all he bet me
that I wouldn’t be able to not make a sarcastic comment for a full
ten minutes”

“
Pffft why the hell would
you take that bet?”

“
I was doing fine for a
whole eight minutes and then he told me sex with him could be
fun”

“
To which you replied …”
she prompts smirking making me grimaces.

“
That I’m sure the sex is
fun by the trip to health clinic the morning after isn’t so much” I
mutter as she bursts out laughing. “Then he bet me that I couldn’t
go to the bar and get a round of drinks without getting hit on by
at least three people”

“
And I take it you did?”
she laughs at my expression.

“
Two guys and one girl” I
admit “I bet it was a set up!” I say a bit too loudly making a few
people near us turn and look.

“
Well just don’t bet
anymore clothing tonight” she smirks at me and then moves away to
serve a few people.

“
Hey, I got another bet”
Andrew shouts over the music to me after about an hour of serving
men who just stare at my chest the whole time, I shake my head at
him.

“
Forget it, I’m not taking
anymore bets, I’m giving them up” I shout back.

“
Aww come on Brooke, one
more won’t hurt” Mel calls to me laughing. I shake my head at her.
“I suppose you’re right, it’s pointless, he always wins anyway” she
relents giving up.

“
That’s right, it’s because
I’m amazing, awesome and the best at everything” Andrew winks at
me.

“
Fine” I grit my teeth at
him, determined to prove him wrong on at least one thing by the end
of the night.

“
You’ll never learn” Lucy
laughs as she comes over to us.

“
Make it good” Jess shouts
between barks of laughter.

“
What’s going on now?” Will
asks walking over to us looking excited at the sight of us all
huddled together over the bar.

“
Brooke just took another
bet” Lucy tells him amused.

“
What’s the bet?” He asks
rubbing his hands together.

“
I don’t know yet but I’m
not going to loose” I snap at him making everyone howl with
laughter again.

“
Hmmm got a jar or a box
over there?” Andrew asks him with a smirk.

“
Uh ... yeah, hold on” We
all watch as Will walks into the office, when he comes back he’s
holding a flat square box about ten inches in diameter and three
deep.

“
OKAY you have to dance on
the bar to a song of my choice.”

“
What’s the bet?” I ask
leaning my elbows on the bar.

“
I bet that you can’t pull
in five hundred from drinks in twenty minutes, time starting from
when you get up there”

I start to protest but
Will cuts me off. “That’s a damn good bet”

“
What happens either way?”
I ask warily.

“
If you win, you can pick
anything you want and I’ll make sure you get it, if you loose then
you have to dance on the bar at least twice a week for a
month”

“
A fucking damn good bet”
Will claps his hands together deciding for me that I am taking the
bet.

“
I’ll ask the band to play
something interesting” Andrew smirks at me.

“
This should be good it’s a
new band. Not sure what they will make of this but I’m sure you’ll
have them eating out of the palm of your hand by the end of the
night” Lucy informs me.

“
What are they like?” I ask
curious now that I notice I haven’t heard them before.

“
A bunch of hotties” she
sighs happily making me laugh.

“
You got two minutes”
Andrew shouts over to me when he returns.

I quickly throw back a
shot of tequila that Lucy hands me just as the song finishes, Wills
voice comes over the speakers above and around us, I look around
but he’s no longer at the bar.

“
As the majority of you are
already aware our favourite – no offence Luce – lady has taken
another bet, now we all know she will probably loose, guessing from
the ones she’s already lost tonight by her lack of clothing – not
that we mind” A loud cheer goes up in the club “get ready ladies
and gentlemen for the clubs very first – and not last if she looses
– bar dance!” A loud cheer goes up around the club and I’m lifted
off the ground onto the bar, I turn and glare down at Andrew who
just shakes his head and laughs at me.

When I hear the first few
beats of the song that he has chosen I can’t contain my grin, the
band are doing a cover of
Bad
Girlfriend
one of my favorite
songs.

I start slowly by rotating
my hips and walking across the bar slowly smiling down at everyone
that has gathered around the bar to watch from the bar, as the
chorus comes on I grin down at Andrew and shake my ass just like
the song says and laugh when his jaw drops, I run my hand through
my hair as I pull it out of my face and lower myself to the bar
slowly coming up rear pointed out, rotating my hips again I keep in
tune with the drums and smile when I see Lucy and Will quickly
pouring drinks trying to keep up with the orders that are flying in
as the song comes to an end I flip my head back and smirk down at
Andrew.

“
Want me to do that again?”
I ask casually smiling sweetly.

He just stares
dumbfounded. No one here is aware of how I can dance; they all just
know me as the sarcastic self possessed girl who stays away from
men in a sexual way. The band has stopped playing and the DJ puts
on a dance song,

I look up just as two men
step forward and grab my arms to help me down off the bar when I
catch sight of the band. They are all watching me; four of them
grinning at me as I watch them take in my body hungrily but the
fifth one who has just put the microphone down is just staring at
me blinking. I feel myself do the same as I lock gazes with Tucker
Lloyd.

Before I can react I’m
back down on the floor and being pulled into a hug by Mel and
Jess.

“
You killed it!”

“
We had no idea you could
dance like that”

They both exclaim in my
ears, I frown and shake my head forcing a smile and trying to relax
through the shock of seeing him again.

“
Were you a stripper?” Jess
asks laughing

“
Umm, no I did dancing when
I was younger and took a few pole dancing lessons for fitness” I
reply automatically.

I feel two arms wrap
around my hips and I’m spun around. “You cheated!” Andrew shouts
down at me.

“
It was your bet” I smirk
“beside I can still loose” we both turn to look at the bar that is
overflowing with people trying to get a drink.

“
I think you might have won
this one, everyone needs a drink after seeing that, I’m sure even
the women’s mouths dried up after watching you shake your ass like
that” He lifts me up and puts me over his shoulder I screech out in
surprise and he pushes through the crowd once we are on the now
empty stage he takes the mic and the DJ stops the music, everyone
turns to look at us and I shift uncomfortably.

“
Did you all enjoy the
dance?” he yells into the mic and laughs as the crowd erupts once
again in cheers.

“
Even if Brooke doesn’t win
the bet, I think she deserves something for that anyway, what do
you think guys?” Cheers go up around us again and Andrew turns to
me, lifting the mic up again “What’s it going to be Brooke? What do
you want?” He smirks at me as if he already knows the answer and
then it dawns on me that he knows exactly what he’s doing and I
glare at him.