Wrecking Ball (4 page)

I did as she said, followed her silently. I had no idea what to say, but she went to the counter to pay for her items and when she finished she
looped the plastic bag handle over her arm and took my hand, leading me to the back of the store. The one-stall bathroom in the back was a unisex and we went right in.

“Stand there.” She pointed by the sink as she fumbled through her shopping bag an
d pulled out a bottle of fingernail polish remover. “I did swim team in the summers and we’d always write our sets on our backs and hands in permanent marker so it wouldn’t wash off in the pool. This stuff always worked.” She ripped off a paper towel and poured some of the potent-smelling liquid on it. “Take your hat off.” I did so hesitantly and when I did, she burst out laughing. “Your friends showed no mercy.”

I’m not sure I’ve ever felt more pathetic in front of a woman. Three times in a row I managed to make myself look like an idiot in front of her. Would it ever stop? “Yeah, well this is partially your fault
,” I grumbled as she began wiping my cheek. Her body was almost pressed to mine and I fought the urge to reach out and put my hands on her small hips. She smelled like baby powder, soft and fresh.

“
My fault?” she questioned.

“You kept avoiding me at the bar last night and I kept
ordering beers hoping you’d come over and you wouldn’t, so I got shitfaced. If you would’ve come and talked to me we wouldn’t be standing here while you scrub dick off my face.”

She grinned. “Maybe you’re looking at it wrong. Maybe if I hadn’t ignored you we wouldn’t be together right now. Alone. The
dick on your face tempted fate in your favor.”

“Such an optimist
,” I said dryly. “So why were you ignoring me last night?”

She tossed the paper towel she’d been scrubbing my face with and pulled a fresh one from the dispenser. “Why were you trying so hard to get my attention?”
she replied coyly.

“Because I want you to go out with me.”

Her gaze met mine with an unsure smirk before she started scrubbing my forehead. “Seems to me you have plenty of girls chomping at the bit to go out with you.” She was talking about Laura that approached me the night before. That’s when she started ignoring me.

“Maybe.” I replied confide
ntly. It was true. I was good-looking and never had a hard time with women. “But we’re not talking about them. We’re talking about you.”

“What? Am I like the first girl to ever say no to you?”

My silence answered her question, but after a moment I asked, “Are you saying no?”

She scrubbed my forehead a little more vigorously before stepping back. “You’re good to go.” She tossed the paper towel in the bin by the door. I spun around to the mirror and checked my face. Other than the red areas from her scru
bbing, the marker was gone.

“Thank you
,” I said at my reflection before turning back to her. She was capping the bottle of fingernail
polish remover.

“Anytime.” She smiled as she opened the door and I followed her out.

“So…” I hinted that I was still waiting for an answer. “Was that a no?”

“It wasn’t a yes
,” she replied as we made our way through the store, me nipping at her heels.

“But it wasn’t a no
,” I reiterated.

“You’re incorrigible.”
She laughed as she pulled her blonde hair to one side letting it fall over her shoulder. She was beautiful. She was sexy without
effort. There are girls that work so hard to flaunt themselves, show off their assets. Sophia didn’t have to and I wondered if she knew how good-looking she was or if she was naturally confident.

“
You know you want to say yes,” I teased.

“I’m old enough to know not get
ting what I want won’t hurt me.”

Her words stunned me
, and I stopped moving.
She thinks I’d hurt her?
“I won’t hurt you.” I was as surprised as she looked when I grabbed her arm to stop her.

We stared at each other for a moment
before she grinned; her brown eyes flickered with amusement. “Maybe I’m just not into dickheads.” She shrugged and pulled away. “See you around, Brandon.”

Not the answer I was looking for, but I had to give her credit for her exit line. I also noted, she didn’t say no.
As I watched her saunter off, I made myself a promise that Ryan and Jake would suffer for the stupid dick they drew on my forehead. Then I made a second promise to myself. The next time I saw Sophia, I would
not
embarrass myself.

After that day
, I waited two days to go back to Bradley’s. I hoped if Sophia didn’t see me, maybe she would miss me. That’s stupid, she barely knew me, but I had a feeling—call it wishful thinking—that maybe Sophia found me attractive and it was her
idea
of me holding her back. The idea that I was this player who slept around. I had been with quite a few women, but I was not a player. I was always upfront. Maybe because she thought I was a playboy, she decided to guard herself from me, building a fortress around her body, heart, and mind.

There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to bust that shit down like the Berlin wall and fucking conquer her. I had to have her
, and I was willing to do anything to get her. So when I went back to Bradley’s I decided
no
was not an answer I would accept.

“Dude. You’
re already pussy-whipped and you haven’t even gotten any from this girl.” Ryan laughed at me as we entered Bradley’s. Maybe bringing Jake and Ryan wasn’t my best idea, seeing as they were the equivalent of a fucking punch to the dick when it came to encouragement. The bar was small with concrete floors and metal chairs and tables everywhere. The place was packed and we muscled our way through the crowd towards the bar.

“You saw her, Ryan. She’s smokin’.”

“Yeah, she is pretty hot,” Jake yelled over the crowd pulling his ball cap around backwards.

Just as we were twenty
feet from the bar, the music stopped and the crowd groaned in unison as the dancing ceased.

“Hey, hey you guys. It’s time
to announce the winners of the charity contest. The four people that donated the most money for the Stop Domestic Abuse project will have a shot of their choice served to them directly from our lovely bartenders, Alisha and Sophia. The one who donated the most can pick one of these lovely ladies to do a body shot off of,” the D.J. in the far right corner announced from his booth.

My stomach fisted with his words as my eyes darted to the bar. Sophia was climbing on top wearing little white shorts and a hot pink tube top with cowboy boots. I gawked at her like every other guy in the place until I realized every other guy in the place was gawking at
my
girl. So technically, at that point, she wasn’t mine, but I knew it was going to happen. It was only a matter of time. Sophia walked the length of the bar waving and winking to everyone. Whistles and howls sounded off from everywhere and I clenched my teeth. Another girl with huge tits and jet black hair climbed up on the bar as well and whispered something in to Sophia’s ear. Sophia’s gaze searched the bar until they fell on me. She made no acknowledgement that she spotted me, but when she turned back to Alisha, a slight smile played on her lips.

“The girls are going to do a little warm up dance, hope you folks don’t mind watching.” The D.J. laughed as Salt-N-Pepa came blaring out. The bar roared with shouts and whistles as Sophia and Alisha danced in unison just like in the actual Salt-N-Pepa video.

I couldn’t stop staring at Sophia, the way she laughed and her body moved. She had so much confidence and I hated that the woman that was about to become mine was on a bar dancing where everyone else could see her.

“Guys
, tonight we’ve raised over one thousand dollars for our cause and I know Sophia and Alisha appreciate your donations as this is a charity near and dear to their hearts. So let’s announce our winners. Shots will go to Brian Cramer, James Lewis, and Victor Miles. The body shot with the bartender of your choice goes to Nelson Delet. So everyone clear the way and let these fellas make their way to the bar to receive their prizes.”

“Nelson Delet’s going to be taking a body shot off of your girl.” Ryan slapped my back, laughing hysterically at my expense as I stood stone faced. Nelson Delet
played baseball and was a Class-A dick wad. My sexual escapades were like child’s play compared to his. He’d literally fuck anything with tits. I considered myself somewhat a man of standards—
not extremely high ones
, but standards all the same. A memory of Meghan Collier, two years ago surfaced when he took her to his room to screw her and when she started puking half-way through, he kicked her out before she could even get dressed. The poor girl was half covered in vomit and naked, clutching her clothes as she ran down the hall to the bathroom. The next day, he got kicked out of his frat house for pulling that shit. Like hell Nelson Delet would get anywhere near Sophia.

The
crowd around the bar backed up, pushing us further away, and slowly, one by one, the winners sidled up to the bar, staring up at the beauties each holding bottles of tequila and bourbon in their hands.

“And now let
’s set a little mood music,” the D.J. said and AC/DC’s
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
came blaring through the speakers. Sophia and Alisha started dancing and shaking their asses while they sang along. My mouth went dry watching Sophia’s body move with the music. No way in hell I was letting Nelson take a body shot off her. As she bent down in front of one of the winners and held the bottle of Tequila over his mouth and began pouring, I started pushing my way through the crowd.

I found Nelson staring up at the girls
, arms crossed, a subtle smirk on his face, and I paused. Maybe he’d pick Alisha and not Sophia so I might have nothing to worry about. If I waited it out, I might not have to watch Sophia have some asshole take a body shot off her and make a fool out of myself when I pummeled him. I crossed my arms and stood ten feet behind Nelson, dreading the next few minutes.

After each guy had their shots, the music stopped again and the D.J. said, “Okay, fellas. Thanks for your donations.
Now for the big dog, Nelson Delet. And who will it be tonight, Mr. Delet? The audacious Alisha or the sensational Sophia?”

Please pick the blac
k-haired chick,
I chanted in my head.

Nelson’s gaze moved up and I knew exactly where it fell. Right on Sophia.
Fuucckkk!

“Sophia it is
,” The D’J. announced and whistles sounded from every direction. “Now she’s gotta dance to get herself warmed up for a body shot.”
As if she hadn’t been up there shaking her ass long enough.
“Let’s play her favorite song.” With that, Eddie Money’s,
Take Me Home Tonight
blared over the club and Sophia once again started moving as Alisha climbed down and grabbed a salt shaker and a lime.

My fists were clenched so tight my nails dug into my palms.
Brandon, get your shit together. You barely know this girl and you’re already acting like a fucking jealous bastard.

“Oh my Go
d, Brandon. I’m sorry, but the look on your face is hilarious!” Ryan said through his laughter.

“You look like you’re going to kill somebody.” Jake laughed as well.
Clearly they were both enjoying this way too much.

“He’s not taking a fucking shot off of her
,” I spat out as I moved towards Nelson who was still staring at Sophia with his tongue practically hanging out of his mouth

“Nelson.” I placed my hand on his shoulder breaking his focus on the woman I deemed as mine even though she wasn’t—
yet
.

“Brandon Dalton.” He
squinted at me as if he couldn’t understand why I was speaking to him and I have to admit, it was unusual. He turned his gaze back to Sophia. “What brings you here?” he snorted.

“How much did you donate?” I ignore his question and get right to the point.

“For the charity?” he asked confused, but keeping
his eyes on Sophia who happened to look down and see me. She smirked, but continued dancing.

“Yeah. How much?” I growled losing my mind at the thought of his tongue anywhere near her body.

“Two hundred.” He shrugged.

“Two hundred?” I gaffed.
Rich damn college boys.
I shook my head. “I’ll give you four hundred to let me take your place.” I offered and he turned to me, his lips curving in a knowing smile.

“You’ve got a thing for sweet tits
?” His expression incredulous, as if he thought it ridiculous.

“Don’t fucking call her that or talk about her tits
,” I growled.

He
immediately busted out laughing. “Holy shit, dude. Are you banging her?”

“No. Not yet,” I answered th
rough clenched teeth. This douche wad just called my girl ‘sweet tits.’ He’s lucky I didn’t knock his fucking teeth down his throat right there.