Just A Small Town Girl (3 page)

Riley’s cry in the background pulled me from the kiss and urged me across the room to hold the squalling bundle to my chest. 

“I didn’t realize we had company,” Puck stepped inside and pulled the door closed behind him, running his fingers through the flat hair on the top of his head as he eyed Riley warily.

“We were equally surprised to see you,” I smiled, letting him know it was a joke, as Riley quieted, “What brings you here anyway?”

“I missed you today on the site,” he shrugged, his cheeks coloring slightly.

“You can’t miss me, you don’t know me,” I waited for him to agree or disagree, but when no response came I added, “Site? What site?”

“I work in construction,” he stepped closer to touch a strand of hair his fingers had pulled from the messy bun I wore.

Puck’s fingers on my hair reminded me of his heated kiss, sending a deep blush to my cheeks. I placed a calm Riley back on his play mat, gently tugging my hair from his fingers and giving me the perfect distraction from the burning memory of his lips on mine.

I wasn’t surprised to hear he worked in construction, his broad shoulders and generally beefy appearance suggested daily strenuous physical activity without maintaining a gym regimen.  My eyes naturally scanned his arms, focusing on the bulge of his muscles where the sleeves of his t-shirt fit snugly. My fingers itched to trace the lines of his perfect muscles, both the ones I could see and the ones I would have to remove his shirt to discover.

“Are you making dinner?” Puck asked, distracting me from drinking in his body. He wore an amused grin that suggested he knew exactly what I’d been thinking about moments before.

“Yeah,” I shook the thought of Puck shirtless from my mind and gestured toward the kitchen, “I was just working on some chicken and mashed potatoes.”

“Chicken and mashed potatoes are my favorite,” the crooked grin on his face suggested I could have told him I was making dirt and he would have claimed it was his favorite.

Puck followed me into the kitchen and watched me peel potatoes, telling me about growing up in Dunesville as I prepared our meal. He made me laugh with stories of the trouble he and Rick used to cause and made my skin burn with the seductive touches and kisses he placed on my body as he told his stories. I fed and bathed Riley while the chicken baked and put him to bed before we sat down to eat. Puck found excuses to touch me while we washed dishes and seemed reluctant to leave when I reminded him that I had work in the morning.

“You’re special Piper,” Puck whispered, cupping my cheek in his hand and ducking his head to kiss my lips firmly. We were standing in the threshold of my open front door and I was trying to make him leave so I could curl up in my bed. I’d enjoyed spending the evening with Puck and his kiss was sending shocks across my skin, but I really just wanted to sleep.

I placed my hands on his chest, using the leverage to ease my body away from his and break the kiss. “Goodnight Puck,” I smiled as I tugged myself out of his arms and wrapped my hand around the wood of my front door, making my intention clear.

“Goodnight Piper,” my clear dismissal didn’t stop him from brushing his lips against mine one last time before turning away from my front door.

Before I closed my door I caught sight of Puck talking to someone at the end of the hall. A dark head of hair peeked a few inches above Puck’s flat blond hair and somehow I knew it was the dark haired stranger I’d run into on the day I moved in. The men exchanged growled words before Puck brushed past the other man, shoving his beefy shoulder into his chest hard, but not making him stumble.

The deep brown eyes met mine for a moment, communicating a message I didn’t understand, but my body considered reason to release a swarm of butterflies in my stomach, before I shut my front door.

“Come on girl, we’re going out,” Seph pushed my front door open further and shoved her way into my apartment, throwing her purse and a plastic grocery bag on the couch.

I watched a few articles of clothing fly out of the bag as it rolled off the couch, my mind failing to understand what Seph was talking about.

“We’re going dancing with the Henry brothers so get your ass in gear,” she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped the toe of her cowgirl boot.

I thought about arguing, but I was honestly so excited to have a friend who wanted to take me dancing I just forgot about it.

Instead, I shimmied into the tight denim miniskirt she brought for me and plain white tanktop to match.

“Hm,” Seph stood back to take a look at my outfit. She grabbed the skirt, which was so small I’d worried I might flash my goods like some sort of unfortunate pop star turned trailer trash, and jerked it down, setting it lower on my hips, so more of my stomach peeked out of the bottom of my tank top. ‘And,” she muttered to herself, reaching inside my shirt and pulling my breasts higher so more cleavage peeked from the neckline of my top, “Perfect, now go throw some makeup on.” Seph shooed me toward my bathroom.

I looked in the mirror and noticed the turquoise of my bra could be seen through the almost sheer shirt, but when I mentioned this problem to Seph she laughed, telling me it was better that way.

In five short minutes we were walking toward the bar a few blocks away from my apartment. Seph put a deliberate sway in her step and I wasn’t surprised when a bright yellow mud covered Jeep with a few guys our age drove by catcalling.

One waggle of Seph’s fingers was all it took to get them to pull over.

“Hey ladies,” the driver licked his lips as his eyes roved our bodies.

“Hi Brad,” Seph bit her lip and looked up through her eyelashes before greeting the two passengers, “Stu, Ben.”

“Who’s your friend?” the guy in the back asked, I wasn’t sure whether he was Stu or Ben.”

“She’s fresh meat,” Seph rolled her eyes and her voice took on a slight twinge of annoyance, “This is Piper.”

“Hello, Piper,” the guy in the passenger seat ran his eyes over me and I felt naked.

“So, Brad,” Seph leaned toward the jeep a little, giving them a good look down her tiny black halter top and effectively diverting their attention from me. I heaved out a relieved breath as she went on, “What are you guys up to tonight?”

“Just cruising,” he raised his eyebrows, “Or maybe we’re going where you ladies are going?”

“Oh, we’re okay-” My words were cut off by Seph.

“Sounds good to me and we’ll even let you give us a ride,” she hopped up into the open backseat and waited for me to follow.

After a short internal deliberation during which the guy in the backseat eye fucked me aggressively, I climbed into the back of the jeep less gracefully than Seph had and settled in, holding on as Brad drove well above the speed limit.

If this was what being a wild girl looked like, constant recklessness and nervous tension, I wasn’t sure I was cut out for it.

The Jeep came to a stop in front of a small bar with every window lit up in neon advertisement and we all climbed out. Seph claimed we had to use the restroom and led me to a table in the back where Puck and Rick sat. They raised their mason jars full of beer in greeting and returned to their conversation about tits versus ass as if we’d never arrived.

“Want a drink Piper?” Seph adjusted her boobs as she asked.

“I’m only 19,” I shrugged, smiling shyly.

Seph laughed at me, “So? Nobody cares here, or really anywhere in town to be honest,” she pulled me to the bar by my arm and force fed me three shots before placing a frosted margarita glass into my fingers and leading me back toward the table.

Halfway there Stu or Ben from the backseat of the Jeep stopped me.

“Oh I thought we lost you,” he smiled wickedly, probably completely understanding we only used them for a ride, but unwilling to let me get away with it.

“I, I um…” I craned my neck in search of Seph, but she was gone.

“She’s here with me Stu,” Puck’s voice emerged as his arm wrapped around my waist.

“Sorry Puck,” Stu put his hands up and backed away, intimidated fear washing across his features.

“I’m here with you?” I asked, smiling up at Puck’s boyish face.

“For now,” he laughed out, using his hand on my waist to pull me toward the dance floor, “don’t spill your drink on me Piper,” he warned and I felt like a naughty child, but I still danced with him, being very mindful of the glass in my hand.

After the song was over the owner stepped onto a small platform that served as the stage.

“Karaoke’s open ya’ll,” he announced and stepped off the stage as if everyone was supposed to know exactly what that meant. A few seconds later I realized everyone did know exactly what that meant. I watched as drunk girls stepped up and sang songs by pop idols very badly and everyone else danced. During a rousing rendition of
Like a Virgin
I decided I’d had enough and made my way back to the table for more shots and another margarita.

“You should sing Piper,” Seph cried, pushing me out of our booth.

I just stared at her harshly. I didn’t sing and I definitely didn’t do karaoke.

“Okay fine Pipe, be a downer,” she frowned into her drink.

“Be a
pipe
dream,” Rick supplied, trying to please Seph.

“Fuck that, be a wet dream,” Puck smiled at his joke and I glared at all three of them.

I downed the rest of my margarita before excusing myself to the bathroom. I wasn’t having fun and I wasn’t sure if the appeal of having a friend was worth the peer pressure and resulting mild annoyance.

When I walked out of the dimly lit hallway where the bathrooms were located a drunk girl was belting out the last lines of an 80s power ballad and I watched an attractive guy with a shaved head jump on stage after her.

I started to make my way back to my table while he spoke into the microphone announcing something about a preview of talent and a show later, then the crowd screamed wildly and I turned back toward the stage to see the dark haired man of mystery who’d run into me the day I moved in and scolded me for sleeping with Riley.

“I’m from Fisherman’s Wharf and Kyle is making me do this,” he took a sip of water from a mason jar and pulled a piece of paper from the giant speaker where everyone was signing up for their turns at karaoke. “Okay, I’m singing a duet, but I left the other part blank because I have no partner.” He took a second to read the paper and threw it back to the speaker before raising the microphone to his lips again. He lowered his voice, toying with the crowd and murmured, “Well that’s okay because someone signed up to sing with me,” he paused for effect and I turned back toward my table, finished with the spectacle, “Piper, thank you for volunteering now please make your way to the stage.”

I ignored the request, relying on the fact that I didn’t know that many people and doubled my efforts to get back to the table.

“Piper?” he asked from the stage.

I kept my head down instinctively, shoving a petit redhead to the side, so I could get back to the table.

“She’s right here!” Stu’s obnoxious voice screamed out, yes screamed because it was extremely feminine.

I watched as he pointed down at my head and shoved me forward a little. I wanted to kill him and I wanted to kill Seph for introducing us. Random members of the crowd began pushing me forward while the guy on stage started a slow chant of my name and it felt like I was in a bad dream. I moved forward for lack of a better escape plan and stumbled forward when my toes hit the edge of the platform stage.

I watched as the guy on stage bend over, his dark hair falling into his eyes, and wrap his hand around my arm, effortlessly pulling me up to stand beside him.

“Now I assume you know the words or you wouldn’t have signed up,” he said to me, but into the microphone, his eyes full of a playful glimmer that matched his tone.

I shook my head a little, silenced by nerves and anger directed at the booth where I could see Seph laughing at her practical joke. Someone shoved a microphone into my hand and the music to the song I vaguely recognized began.

My eyes snapped to the other half of my duet as the first words emerged from his lips and I instantly identified the song as Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow’s
Picture
.

“
Livin' my life in a slow hell
,” he sang the first line as if it was coming from his very soul and I couldn’t help staring at the way he emoted with the crowd, pulling them into his words and seeming to beg them for help.

“
Different girl every night at the hotel

I ain't seen the sunshine in three damn days

Been fueling up on cocaine and whiskey

Wish I had a good girl to miss me
,” he looked at me and winked, soliciting catcalls from the audience and causing a blush to spread across my cheeks.

“
Lord, I wonder if I'll ever change my ways
,” his body turned to face mine and he sang the next part as if I was the only person in the room.

“
I put your picture away

Sat down and cried today

I can't look at you while I'm lying next to her