“I just want to go out!” Mel sang. “And my sister said she’d watch you-know-who, so why are you telling me no?”
“Because I don’t want to go.”
“Sure you do. You love hanging out with me and you love beer.”
“I don’t want to get dressed and wear makeup. I just want to hang out in yoga pants and eat my weight in ice cream. I’m fucking exhausted.”
“Please?”
“Melanie,” I warned.
“Please? Please? Please?” Each time she said the word, she changed her tone of voice. I knew from experience that she’d just keep going if I didn’t stop her.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “But I’m not getting all gussied up.”
“Totally cool,” Mel said quickly, lifting her hands in a placating gesture. “Wear whatever you want.”
I huffed as Rebel began to laugh at something in her book.
“You want to hang out with Heather tonight?” I asked Rebel, lifting her out of the basket.
“I’m just going to go call the sisterbeast while you’re still telling me yes,” Mel said, skipping out of the room.
“You realize your Auntie Mel is annoying, right?” I asked Reb as she watched me with wide eyes. “I mean, she’s fun sometimes, but man does she drive me nuts.”
Rebel reached up to put her hand on my cheek.
“Can you say Mama?” I asked softly as Reb tilted her head to the side. “I know you can. I heard you saying it in your room the other day. You want to try? Ma-ma.”
She quickly shook her head.
“Yes. Say Ma-ma.”
Another head shake.
“Ma-ma. Ma-ma. Ma-ma.” I said over and over, my voice growing growly and making Reb burst into a fit of giggles.
“You’re so stubborn,” I exclaimed loudly, kissing her on the forehead.
“We’re set for tonight!” Mel called from the doorway.
* * *
A few hours later, Mel’s seventeen-year-old sister was pushing through the doorway, her bright purple mohawk sticking up at least six inches from her scalp.
“You changed the color,” I said with a smile, walking over to pull her into a tight hug. I loved Heather. She looked so much like Mel, but where Mel always dressed super trendy, Heather made sure she stuck out in a crowd. Hence the purple mohawk that had been red the last time I’d seen it.
“Yeah, the roots were out of control,” she said, hugging me back. “Now, where’s my baby?”
“Sisterbeast!” Mel called as she came out of the bathroom.
“Gerta,” Heather replied, calling Mel by the middle name she hated.
“We shouldn’t be very late,” I started, stuffing my phone into my pocket.
“Yes, we will,” Mel cut in. “Very late.”
“No worries.” Heather shrugged. “I’ve got no place to be.”
Just then, Rebel came out of her room, waddling down the hallway with a huge smile on her face.
“Reb!” Heather called excitedly, dropping to her knees. “You’ve got hair just like mine!”
Rebel giggled as she threw herself at Heather with all the force of her twenty-pound body. I’d used some of the colored hair goop that Heather bought her for her first birthday to spike up the top of her hair, so she looked like a little blue dinosaur.
“Just make sure you wash it out before she goes to bed, okay?” I said as they giggled together on the floor. “That stuff stains everything.”
“No prob, mama,” Heather said, flicking her hand at me in a shooing motion. “Get outta here.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, leaning over to kiss Rebel on the cheek. “Thanks, sisterbeast.”
I followed Mel to the car and climbed in her passenger seat, immediately turning to her once I had my seatbelt on.
“Do not leave me in the bar again,” I warned. “You can drop me off at home if Rocky decides to rock your world again.”
“Look at you with the puns,” Mel replied happily.
“I’m serious, Melanie.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s just see how it goes.”
I huffed and fell back against the seat. I really didn’t want to go out, and I was still irritated that she’d talked me into it. I hadn’t actually left the house in yoga pants, though I’d considered it. Instead, I’d pulled on a pair of loose jeans and a t-shirt I’d gotten at the Down Syndrome Buddy Walk a couple years before. I was PMSing, I had a zit on my forehead, and I’d refused to put any makeup on in a lame attempt of protest.
As we pulled up to the same bar we’d gone to three weeks earlier, I wished I’d used at least a little foundation to cover the zit.
The place wasn’t as packed as it had been before, but there was still a pretty big crowd of people playing pool and sitting at the tables around the room. After a quick look around, I deflated a little when I realized Will wasn’t there.
Good. I didn’t want to see him anyway.
“Come on,” Mel said, grabbing my hand. “I’ll grab our drinks, you grab that table in the back.”
I made my way across the bar, wishing I’d gussied up a little as I passed a bunch of women who were obviously looking for a hook-up. Their hair and makeup were flawless and almost every one of them were wearing dresses.
I looked like a hobo in comparison.
Oh, well. I lifted my chin a little as I pulled out my phone and placed it on the table as I sat down. Hopefully, Mel would have a drink or two and we could leave. I glanced down at my shoes and felt my face heat as I pulled my feet under my chair. The checkered Vans I was wearing were at least ten years old, and I’d worn them out forgetting that Mel had filled in some of the white checks with Sharpie so it looked like I had a digital dick and balls on the toes of my shoes.
“Beer for you and beer for me,” Mel announced as she sat down across from me. “See, isn’t this fun?”
“We could’ve drank beer at my house,” I replied flatly.
“Oh, come on. You’re not going to be like this all night, are you?” she complained. “Bottoms up—once you have a couple drinks in you, you won’t be in such a pissy mood.”
“I’m not in a pissy mood,” I bitched. I was in a completely pissy mood.
“How’s work been going?” Mel asked, ignoring me. “And have you and your dad made up yet?”
“It’s fine, and yes. He never stays mad for very long, and then he feels like shit about it.”
“He should have,” Mel grumbled. “It’s not like you’re some skank. He overreacted big time.”
“I think he was just surprised,” I said, taking a large sip of my beer. I’d only drank about half by then, but I could already feel the tension in my shoulders fading away. “He was used to Mase, ya know? He’d be completely freaked out if I started seeing someone now.”
“Well, what does he think? That you’ll just be single forever? That’s ridiculous.”
“I can’t really see me dating anyone.” I shook my head. “I like being by myself too much.”
“Yeah, right. You just haven’t found the right guy yet,” Mel replied, making me wince. “Or maybe you have.”
“Don’t go there.”
“What?” she asked innocently. “I’m just saying, you weren’t all ‘I’m going to be a lonely old spinster’ after that night with Will.”
“Yeah, and look how that turned out.”
“You got smokin’ hot sex the next day? Poor baby.”
“Until he ran out of my house!”
“Maybe he had shit to do.”
“I haven’t talked to him in weeks, Mel. Drop it.”
“Well,” she said softly, glancing over my shoulder. “I have a feeling you’ll talk to him pretty soon.”
“I’m going to fucking kill you,” I hissed, my entire body freezing in place.
“No, you won’t. You’ll be too busy—oh, hey, Rocky.”
I sighed in disbelief as the handsome guy from that first night rounded our table and leaned down to kiss Mel lightly on the lips.
&nb
sp; “I didn’t know you’d be here already,” he said quietly, smiling.
“We got here before the rush,” Mel said with a shrug of her shoulders.
“You wanna come sit with us?” he asked, glancing at me before quickly looking back to Mel.
“No,” I replied curtly.
I hated that I could feel Will watching me. I hated that I’d worn old baggy clothes to prove that I didn’t care, and now I just felt stupid. And I hated even more that underneath the baggy clothes, I was wearing one of my only matching bra and panty sets—just in case.
“Molly,” Mel scolded, looking at me in disbelief.
“Go ahead,” I told her like a pouting five year old. “I’m going to stay here, though.”
Rocky chuckled, glancing back over his shoulder at the group he’d come in with. If Mel left me to sit with him, I was going to walk my happy ass home.
“It’s all good, girl,” Rocky said to me, pulling out a chair. “I’ll sit here.”
“She’s in a mood,” Mel said tightly, glaring at me over her beer.
“Oh, fuck off,” I murmured, picking up my phone like there was something super important I needed to check.
“Seriously,” Mel continued. “She’s not usually like this.”
“I’m right here,” I snapped, not looking up from my phone.
“I’m guessing my boy pissed her off,” Rocky said, leaning back in his chair.
“He didn’t piss me off,” I mumbled.
“He didn’t call, he didn’t write . . .” Mel said dramatically, batting her eyelashes.
“Will you shut the hell up?”
Rocky laughed again, and I seriously considered throwing my phone at Melanie’s head.
“Are we sitting over here?” another voice piped in, and I turned to see Homer sauntering over toward us. “Table’s a little small.”
“Looks like it,” Rocky answered. He stood up from his seat and pulled Mel with him, sitting back down in her chair and pulling Mel onto his lap. “There—we’ve got more room.”
I clenched my jaw as Homer took Rocky’s seat, leaving the chair right next to me vacant.
“How you been?” Homer asked Melanie, like they were old friends.
My eyes narrowed.
“Good. Just working a shit ton.”
My body tensed as a big hand grasped the chair beside me and pulled it out, and seconds later, Will dropped into the seat. I wanted to freaking scream.
Melanie had obviously been hanging out with these guys and she hadn’t said a word. She’d made it seem like she was just hoping that she’d run into Rocky, but she must have known they’d be at the bar that night.
“Molly,” Will greeted, leaning toward me.
I refused to look up from my phone. Instagram was hopping and I needed to check out everyone’s photos. It was imperative I didn’t miss a single one.
“Hey, Will,” I greeted my phone.
“You pissed?”
“Why would I be pissed?” I asked, looking up. He was staring down at me, his entire torso turned in my direction, and he’d leaned an elbow on the table in an attempt to close us off from the others.
“Uh—”
“You’re in my space,” I told him flatly.
“You liked me in your spa—”
“Unless you want me to embarrass you in front of your friends, you’ll back up,” I warned, narrowing my eyes.
Instead of doing what I’d ordered, Will just smiled. “Not easily embarrassed,” he murmured, lowering his face close to mine.
“I’m not into pegging, Will,” I replied loudly. “Stop asking me to put things in your ass.”
Will’s head jerked back in surprise and his jaw dropped.
“Jesus Christ,” Homer mumbled in disgust across the table.
“I’m out,” I announced, pushing my way past Will’s broad shoulders. “Anyone want another? No? Good.”
My face burned as I stomped across the bar. I thought I’d embarrassed Will, but I’d completely embarrassed myself, too. Talk about cutting off my nose to spite my face.
I’d just reached the bar when all of a sudden, a large hand was gripping my arm tight and pulling me away.
“Knock it off.” I jerked my arm back, but Will didn’t let go, and soon he was dragging me away from the crowd and into the short hallway that led to the bathrooms.
“The fuck was that?” he asked, crowding me until I’d backed into the women’s restroom.
“I told you to get out of my space!”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Get away from me,” I snapped, pushing at his chest.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He stepped back and closed the door behind him, turning the lock with a quiet snick.
“Maybe I’m just not interested,” I said finally in exasperation.
“You’re interested.”
“Not anymore.”
“Bullshit.”
“Why the hell are you being such a dick?” I threw my hands in the air. “We fucked, big deal. I’m not your fucking girlfriend.”
Oh, good move, Molly. Pretend like he’s the one freaking out because you guys never made any promises. Turn it around. Deflect!
“That’s what this is about?” he asked in disbelief. “Got your panties in a twist ’cause I didn’t call you?”
“Oh, fuck off. I didn’t even notice,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.
“You noticed.”
“Nope.”
“Sugar, I was outta town,” he said, taking a step forward. “Don’t have your number.”
“I don’t care.”
“Come on, Moll.” He took another step closer. “Don’t be like that.”
“I’m not being like anything. We done here?”
Instead of answering, he moved even closer, blocking me in with his hands braced at my hips on the sink.
“You didn’t miss me?” he asked, leaning over to press a gentle kiss on the space where my neck and shoulder met. “Not even a little?”
“No,” I replied. However, I didn’t move away as his lips ran up my neck.
“I missed you,” he said, his lips brushing against my earlobe.
“I doubt you even thought of me.”
“Hell, yeah, I did. Every time I jacked off, I thought about your cunt squeezing my dick. You think about me when you got yourself off?”
“Nope,” I lied, swallowing hard as one of his hands slid under the side of my t-shirt.
“You still mad?”
“Yes.”
“You wanna have an angry fuck?”
“You’re such an asshole,” I murmured as his hand slid to my belly.
“That’s not an answer.” He dropped to his knees in front of me and grabbed my hips, holding me in place.
I dropped my arms as he began to slip my t-shirt up my belly, then braced them behind me as I felt his lips against the skin there.
“You’re so damn soft,” he said quietly, his short beard scratching across my skin.
“Hey, I need to use the bathroom!” someone called from outside the locked door, following up with a series of knocks.
“Use the men’s,” Will yelled back, not taking his lips from my skin.
I heard them huff, then nothing, as Will continued to run his lips and tongue across my skin, moving higher and higher with each pass until my t-shirt was bunched above my breasts. Goose bumps covered my arms as Will gently bit the skin under my right breast.
“You wear this for me?” Will asked, staring at my bra as he got to his feet.
“No,” I lied again. “I didn’t even know you were going to be here.”
His nostrils flared as his eyes finally met mine.
“That right?” he asked angrily.
I opened my mouth to reply, but snapped it shut again.
Why the hell was he pissed? He was the one who hadn’t called! He’d taken off after getting off. Hit it and quit it. He didn’t get to be pissed.
“I figure
d, I might as well be prepared for anything,” I said with a shrug after a moment of tense silence.
“Good thing you came prepared,” Will whispered, leaning down until his lips were just barely brushing mine. “So did I.”
He reached down and pulled a condom out of his pocket, slamming it down on the sink.
My eyes widened as his meaning sunk in. “Fuck off!” I yelled, my voice trembling. It was one thing for me to insinuate I was looking for a hook-up, it was something completely different if he was. I’d been lying about it!
I pushed off the sink to storm past him, but before I could move, he’d spun me around and pinned my hips to the sink.
“Calm down,” he growled, trying to catch the elbows that I was swinging back at him.
“You calm down,” I screeched.
“Molly,” he said again, his voice growing deeper. “Knock it the fuck off.”
I threw my head backward in an effort to hit him.
“I brought the goddamn condoms for you, you crazy bitch,” he hissed as he dodged me.
I froze, giddy that he’d come looking for me and pissed as hell that he’d called me a bitch.
“You did not,” I argued quietly, meeting his eyes in the mirror for the first time.
“Mel told Rock she was bringin’ you tonight. Why you think I’m here?”
“You were here before.”
“That’s ’cause Trix likes it here, and she barely gets outta the house, so we let her pick.”
I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t quite believe what he was saying, even though I really wanted to.
“I came for you,” he said seriously, still holding my gaze in the mirror. He reached down and cupped between my thighs, jerking his hand up. “I came for this.”
His words were both appalling and a bit of a turn on.
“Molly?” Mel yelled through the door. “You okay?”
“Tell her you’re fine,” Will said quietly.
“I can hear you, asshole!” Mel yelled. “Open the fucking door!”
I pressed back against Will, and he let me push away from the sink so I could let my best friend in.
“I came to find you and heard you yelling,” Mel said flatly, glaring over my shoulder at Will.
“Told you she was fine, babe,” Rocky said, reaching out to grab Mel’s arm. “Leave ’em to it.”
“Fuck off, Rocky,” Mel replied, dodging him so she could grab my hand. “We’re leaving.”