Broken #3 (The Broken Series - Book #3) (6 page)

We picked up our shots and both
downed them. As soon as it hit my throat, I gagged. Thankfully I wasn't the
only one, or I may have lost my man card permanently.

“Yikes, that definitely wasn't
Patron.”

She laughed loudly. “Let's go.”

We headed over to the dartboard,
took the darts off the board, and handed me ones that were a shade of yellow
while she kept the ones that were red.

We started taking turns throwing
darts, and it becomes obvious that Natalie is a strong player. It was like
looking at the girl for the first time. I already thought she was really cool,
but not only was she cool, she was a pool shark, and she could handle darts
like a pro. Although I felt like I was a pretty good player at darts, I hadn't
played in forever, and the girl smoked me long before I realized she was going
to win again.

When she threw the last dart and
it stuck straight in the middle, I couldn't help but laugh. She turned to me
with a huge grin on her face.

“So, what are you buying me this time?”

I walked right up to her, wishing
to God that I could kiss her without worrying that she might slap me across the
face.

“Well, I'm definitely avoiding
tequila this time. Let me think about it.”

I left her there at the
dartboard, and made my way over to the bar. When I saw the waitress, I ordered
a couple more beers, and told her I wanted two shots of whiskey and made sure
to specify that I wanted Crown Royal.

“
Ohhhh
,
a fancy guy, aren't we?”

“Well, my dear, you almost killed
me with the last poison you brought to our table.”

She smiled sweetly at me.

“Tell me, is there any game that
girl is not good at? She just whipped my ass twice without mercy.”

She chuckled. “No, I'm afraid
not. Her dad wasn't much of a dad, and the only time they had quality time
together was here, if you can imagine that. He taught her everything he knew
when it came to winning games that you could bet money on.”

I nodded, understanding now why
Natalie had some of her trust issues. I took the beers, while the waitress
brought the shots back to our table.

Natalie met us there. “What, you
don't want to play anymore games with me?”

“No way, you're whooping my butt.
I will, however, play a drinking game with you, because I'm pretty sure I have
you beat on that front.”

She laughed in a way that made me
doubt my confidence. I asked the waitress for a deck of cards, and she promptly
brought them over. We ended up playing black jack. It was one of my favorite
card games, and we started going drink for drink for the loser. We played a solid
five rounds before she started whooping my ass again. I groaned. She had only
let me get that far just to make me feel safe. How could I have been so stupid;
the girl was a shark through and
through.
I should
have asked the waitress if Daddy ever taught Natalie cards.

“Let me guess, your dad taught
you how to play Black Jack?”

She nodded.
“Poker,
too.”

“Of course.
Brilliant.”

We continued the game for the
next hour, laughing together. That was one thing Natalie and I did
well―laugh together. We always seemed to have such a great time together.
We were progressively getting drunk at that point, and I worried that she might
end up throwing up if she drank anymore. Or maybe I was just worried that I
would throw up. We had been doing rounds of shots all night, and at that point,
I couldn't even taste them anymore.

“Well, well, well. Haven't I just
kicked your butt all night? How does it feel, Jet, to have your ass handed to
you?” She slurred as she said it, but her slurring was actually kind of cute.

“Well, I'm not impressed with
you, if that's what you're asking. I was actually going to suggest going for
burgers later, but there's no way I can bring your
drunk
little ass anywhere. They would surely have you arrested for being drunk and
disorderly.”

She giggled. She had totally
embarrassed me when it came to winning any games that night, but I had a hard
time caring; she looked so happy, and that was worth losing any game for. There
was no way either of us was driving home, either, so we definitely needed a new
plan.

“Well, darling, I think I'm
tapping out for the rest of the night. So do you want to catch a cab back to my
place?”

She could suggest going home
alone, and I wouldn't fight her, but I also wasn't throwing away an opportunity
to have that beautiful redhead sleep beside me another night. Maybe I could
even convince her to stay in the morning instead of sneaking off, which seemed
to be her MO.

The waitress came back to the
table, and I asked her for the tab. When she returned, I realized that we had
spent over $100 in booze that night.

I left her with a $35 tip, and
her mouth hung open. I realized she didn’t get generous tips on a regular
basis.

“How are you kids getting home?
You're not thinking of driving, I hope?”

“No, we're just going to grab a
cab back to my place.”

“Well, I'm getting off in a few
minutes, I just have to count my till, and I can give you a drive home. Do you
live far from here?”

“No, I live by the university.”

“Okay, I will get you there. Just
give me a minute.”

“Thanks, Deb,” Natalie jumped in.

“You're welcome, sweetie, and
don't be a stranger next time. Come back soon.”

Natalie nodded. We waited until
Deb had finished work and we walked with her out to her car. She drove an old
station wagon and Natalie and I piled into the backseat. I told Deb where I
lived and she pulled out of the parking lot and headed to my place.

Natalie hadn't argued about our
destination at that point so I assumed she was okay with crashing at my place.

Deb dropped us off at the front
of my building and we both thanked her for the ride. Natalie and I headed up
the stairs, and I realized that the door was open, so I knew that Kyle was
awake. He was watching a movie in the living room, and looked up when we walked
in. He smirked and shook his head, but didn't say anything about Natalie being
there.

“Did you guys have a good night?”

“Yeah, we did; pretty awesome
actually. Did you stay in all night?”

“Yup, just chilled out with a movie and some beers.”

“That's cool.
Anyway,
good night.”

Kyle just nodded as he returned
to his movie. Natalie and I walked down the hall to my bedroom and went inside.
She went and sat on the bed, and I closed the door behind us. I went to the bed
as well and sat beside her.

We started kissing, and it began
slowly. Her soft lips were against mine, and there was no rush. Her tongue
entered my mouth and I liked the way it felt against my tongue. Our kisses grew
more passionate, and the next thing you know, we were full on making out. I had
one hand in her hair and the other was fondling her breast.

She stopped me, and pushed my
hand away. I pulled away from the kiss with a confused look on my face. I
worried that she was upset, but she didn’t appear to be.

“Look, Jet, I'm not feeling so
hot right now. I don't feel very well at all. I think I'm just going to call it
a night.”

“Sure, no problem.
Let's just go to bed then.”

“I want to go home, Jet.”

“Why, Natalie? It's late. I
understand if you don't want to fool around, but it seems silly for you to go
all the way home at this point.”

“I would just be more
comfortable, that's all.”

“If you're worried about getting
sick, it's okay. I can take care of you. I've had many
drunk
friends puke in my presence.” I laughed trying to lighten the mood. I didn't
understand why she wanted to go home, but the fact that she did was a red flag
for me.

“No, I want to go home. I just
don't feel very well, and I would like to sleep in my own bed. I think it's
time for me to go. Please understand.”

I nodded, though I had no
understanding of what was happening. In fact, I couldn't figure it out at all.

“Let me call you a cab, okay? I
don't want you waiting outside for one.”

She smiled and excused herself to
go to the bathroom while I called a cab. I informed them of my address, and
they said they were on their way. I heard the tap running in the bathroom and
assumed Natalie must be freshening up or rinsing her mouth out. I was a little
disappointed by the fact that she wanted to go home instead of staying with me,
but it was something that I was getting used to in regard to how Natalie
behaved. It was probably for the best, considering how she was acting now. She
probably would have left in the morning once again, and I would have awakened
alone again.

She came out of the bathroom
looking a little fresher than when she went in.

“Cab should be down there waiting
for you.”

“Thanks, Jet, I will see you later.”
She slipped out of my room quickly. I lay back down on the bed, imagining the
look on Kyle's face when he saw her leave the apartment again. No wonder the
guy was starting to think I was a loser. I must have looked like I had struck
out with Natalie once again. I was thankful that he didn't come straight into
my room the moment she left the apartment. He was probably sick of saying, “I
told you so.”

I lay there, drunk off my ass,
and vowed to myself that the next time Natalie and I kissed or had sex we would
be completely sober.

Chapter Five

Natalie

After the drunken incident
between Jet and me, I knew when I woke up with yet another hangover that I
needed to get my shit together. I was thankful, however, that I’d had enough
sense to get out of there last night and not have another romp in the sheets that
would have had me slinking out again the next morning. I did, however, remember
Kyle’s rather disgusted look when he turned to see me walking out of the
apartment again. I knew the guy didn't like me, and I knew it had a lot to do
with him not being able to understand why Jet even bothered with me.

He was probably right; however, I
didn't think that I was right for Jet, either. I wasn't his type, and every
time we got together it turned into a situation that I ended up regretting.

I had originally meant to use Jet
as my drawing subject the following day, because it was time, and I didn't want
to get behind on my project. But when I woke up, I knew I was going to have
another day of recovering in bed. I would message him, however, and see if he
wanted to come over in the evening and do the next picture.

Julie came into my bedroom then,
bringing a cup of tea with her. She guessed since it was almost noon and I
hadn't left my bedroom yet, that I must have had a bad night.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she
asked.

“I don't know. What's the point?
All this talking never gets me anywhere.”

“Maybe not, but it might make you
feel better.”

I nodded as she came and sat on
my bed. She passed me the cup of tea, and I took it from her gratefully.

“Thanks, Julie; you're the best.”

“No problem. Just don't vomit,
because I have a weak stomach.”

I laughed. “I don't think that
will be a problem. I have been popping pills all morning, and I'm telling you
they can't even touch the headache I have right now.”

Julie scrunched her face in mock
pain. “Why do you do this to yourself? Isn't it time that you got over Tom? Why
are you still going out and getting so wasted that you're like death the next
day? I thought it was lots of fun at first, but now it's old, Natalie. You have
to get over things and move on.”

“Oh man, this has nothing to do
with Tom. In fact aside from a phone call I got from him a week ago, I barely
think about him anymore.”

“Wait, Tom called you? What did
he say?”

“Nothing.
I didn't answer the call; I ignored it. And he never
called back. I can't imagine what he wanted, but it couldn't have been very
important, or he would have called back, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so. I'm kind of
shocked, though. I never thought he would have the balls to call you after all
that, but it's probably a good thing you didn't answer the call. You don't need
that nonsense.”

“Tell me about it.” I sipped my
tea, and the warmth relaxed me and eased some of the pain my body was in. I
continued to sip, lost in thought.

“Okay, well, if it isn't Tom,
then what's the deal?”

“Couldn't tell you.
It's Jet, and I mean it's not
that Jet is doing anything to cause me to go out and get drunk. He actually has
no effect on me like that at all. But when we are together we're just
ridiculous and reckless.”