My Mind's Eye (Pub Fiction #1) (16 page)

Moving through the crowd, I lead us closer to the bar and the table section. I might not like to go out clubbing very often, but I welcome the sounds and smells around me as we walk. I love the mix of cologne and perfumes battling for dominance; it’s the perfect reflection on life. I can’t help but smile at the analogy I’ve just made.

Now, months post-Seth, I finally feel a change in views. My body is awakening and it’s wanton, craving things it never knew it wanted. My libido seems to be coming out of hibernation with a roar, yelling at me to feed it. Truthfully, I can’t blame it. My body’s sexual energy has been sparked by Ryker, and it seems the fire has no intention of dwindling any time soon. I can’t help but note the correlation between this new energy since I began working at Pub Fiction. I chalk it up to me getting comfortable with wearing the sexy uniform and the constant male customers attention that, honestly, has me buzzing with desire at the end of each shift.
Ha! Who am I kidding? I know with certainty there is more to it than just that.

Standing here now, scanning the room as I’m taking in the scene of the huge dance floor, the sexy dim lighting, and the crowd as a whole, seeing people dancing so close and intimate, helps me realize it’s definitely time. Especially when I think about how much use my Rabbit has been getting as of late. A lot of use, by the way. I’m like an addict. I’m in some denial and will not willingly admit to myself that this abuse of my buzzy little friend, as well as my impure thoughts, have anything to do with a certain honeybutter-eyed boy
. Liar.

As part of my current state of Ryker-denial, I think it’s most definitely time to trade up for an anatomically correct, real, lifelike model.
I can do it
. I can set my emotions aside and be like normal girls my age. Fuck it.
Adieu, Rabbit…w
ell, maybe just for tonight, anyway.

Chapter 16

Ryker

Y
ou’ve gotta be fucking kidding me! As soon as we stroll into the bar, Matt notices a sweet little number sitting on a barstool with her girlfriends.

“Dude, blonde chick, black dress, sitting at the bar. Check her out, man. Fourth chair on the left toward the washrooms, the one sandwiched between the two brunettes. Yep. That’s mine for tonight,” he bellows over the music, which is pumping out the bass and lyrics of Pitbull and Ke$ha’s “Timber.”

This place is jammed tonight. I’m shocked he spotted someone who caught his interest so quickly, to be honest. Me, I’m planning on scoping out the selection a bit more slowly. I need an extra hot piece tonight. I’m not settling on the first girl to catch my eye, that’s for sure.

“It’s as if she’s calling out to me. Can you hear her? She’s calling to my cock, whispering, ‘Come to me, Matty. I will be yours.’ And my cock is never wrong about these things. Besides, you know how I’m a sucker for blondes!” Matty smiles with an excitement that has me laughing as he stalks off in her direction before I even get a chance to check her out for myself.

“You coming, Ryk?” he turns and shouts as he keeps pushing through the crowd ahead of me.

“Yep, but all I care about, buddy, is if she’s got a friend who’s pretty, stacked, and willing to play a little round of hide the stick with me tonight, if I happen to deem her worthy of my time. Lead the way, my friend, lead the way. Let’s see the offerings.”

I get a better look at the girls he’s leading us toward. From behind, the girl Matty has picked for himself for tonight seems smokin’, and is wearing a tight black dress, the ass-end of which would make any man drop to his knees. Especially the way she’s perched up on that barstool. She starts to turn. I struggle to focus, because there is no way in hell I see what I think I do.
Fuck me!

It’s Melissa. Fuck. Me.

Once I manage to get over the initial shock, I try to catch up to Matty. “Shit,” I mutter. He’s almost made it to the bar.
Damn it!

I tried, but with Matt’s one-track mind, there was probably no stopping him anyway. I wanted to warn him before he made a huge mistake. But now, I guess, I’ll just have to stand by and watch this train wreck play out.

I laugh at his earlier “my cock is never wrong” comment.
I can’t wait to rub his face in this later.
I will get sweet pleasure from it.

Matt clears his throat behind her; he’s practically rubbing up against Melissa’s back. Yep. Karma is an asshole.

I stand beside Matt, leaving a good amount of distance between the group of girls and myself. There is no way I don’t want an easy escape route once this scene turns to shit, but with the bar jammed packed, I know it’s not going to be a quick getaway, so I distance myself as best as I can.

“Hey, sugar, care to allow me to buy yo—aahh…
shit.”
He barely finishes his sentence because as she turns around. Matt instantly realizes his big mistake, looking to me for a clue about what the hell to do. Shrugging my shoulders, I simply grin, as if to say, ‘This is all you, buddy, all you.’

We broke up because I caught her cheating on me with some older guy. I had walked in on them while she was riding him as he sat on one of her kitchen chairs, a chair upon which I had once sat, enjoying the same act, not to mention breakfast from time to time. Obviously, when I’d seen that balding, fat fucker with a ton of gold around his neck enjoying sex with
my
girl, I’d lost my shit and made my presence known before slamming the door as I stormed back out.

And now, her eyes find mine, and all the hate and animosity of our breakup comes barrelling back.

Melissa wanted to be a model and actress; to her, it was all about the
connections.
According to her, this guy, Quinton, was some bigwig at one of the top modelling agencies in the area. He was helping her, giving her some tips on things she could do to help her stand out compared to the other girls. Yeah, clearly his biggest tip was the tip of his dick inside my girlfriend’s pussy. The bitch went so far as to try and convince me it was
me
who was the problem, that I was an asshole for not supporting her dreams.

Fuck. That. Shit.
Cheating is a deal breaker. Always.

I ended it with Melissa in a face-to-face blowout after she showed up at my place later that same night, as if everything was okay between us. However, Melissa turned into this crazy stage-five clinger who relentlessly tried to convince me we still belonged together. It took my brother threatening to call the cops one night, when she showed up at Pub Fiction and made a scene, to finally get her to back the fuck off.

I haven’t seen Melissa Foster in almost two years.
Thank God
.

But now I hear Melissa’s voice, like nails on a chalkboard, irritating as fuck.

“Oh,
hey
, guys, fancy meeting you two here. It’s been forever since I’ve seen either of you,” she says, leaning in toward us, eyeing me up and down, focusing on the front of my fly. “Ryker, baby, you look really good. How are you?”

Oh, fuck me
.
I need to get the fuck outta here, now.

“I’m great, Melissa, really good. Just out with the boys,” I curtly tell her.

“I’d really love to catch up. It’s been way too long, Ryk, and I’m sure we could have a little fun while getting reacquainted,” she says with a flirty tone and a familiar gleam in her eyes, a look that brings back memories. Memories I’d rather forget than revisit.

“No. That’s the last thing that’s going to happen, Melissa. You know that.” She gives me a pouty face, but lets it go nonetheless.

“What were you going to ask, Matty?” she asks, batting her eyes, trying to come across seemingly sexy and innocent, rather than the whore she really is. Too bad both Matt and I know better.

Fuck me. This little act just goes to further prove what a schizoid bitch she turned out to be. Looks clearly can be deceiving; that’s what I’ve come to know for sure. In spite of her cheating on me, she had always been possessive as fuck. Possessiveness, now that I come to think of it, was something I’d never really felt toward Melissa, eventhough I cared about her a lot when we were together. Even when I’d seen her fucking that other guy, I was just more disgusted than anything else. I never really gave a shit at all when other men checked Melissa out; it didn’t bother me. But I suspect possessiveness is a trait I have lying dormant within me, just waiting for the right girl to awaken the beast. If I think about the way I feel when I see other dudes checking out Kat at work…
Fuck, where the hell did Kat come from?

In the end, I think Melissa did me a favour. I’d been too caught up in her, naïve and blind. Seeing her cheat on me had been, I admit, a kick in the guts. Being too starry-eyed is a mistake I will not repeat again, ever.

“Oh, hey, Melissa, actually, Ryker and I were just looking to move in closer to order our beers,” Matt stammers. “This place is hoppin’ tonight! We didn’t realize it was you. It’s been a long time, eh? But, hey, this works out perfectly. You mind scootching over a bit or flagging down the bartender for me? If you get him before me, I need two Stellas.”

Melissa looks at us with uncertainty, but then waves the bartender over our way. With a huff, she places the order, staring as if she’s thinking of something to say.

Matt hands me my beer as he tosses some bills on the bar. I manage to stifle a laugh as I take my glass from Matt. I nod to Melissa before she can continue her attempts to engage me in conversation. I made it more than abundantly clear where we stand, so I’m pretty confident she won’t follow us if I move fast enough and get the hell out of there.

Matt slaps my back. “Dude, did you know that was Melissa? Fucking psycho. That chick is all kinds of crazy. No man deserves that shit. I have the fucking jitters now, just thinking how I thought she was hot. Fuck, clearly my cock is in need of a stern talking-to.”

“Naw, man, I didn’t clue in until it was too late. Believe me, I would have stopped that shit on the spot if I had realized. That chick is nothing but trouble.” I chuckle before making a jab. “Maybe your cock was really just trying to help find you a beer? ’Cause clearly no sane cock would whisper in that bitch’s direction.”

“Ha ha ha, you’re such a dick, man,” Matt shouts.

“I see the guys; they’ve got a booth,” I say, pointing. “Come on.”

Once we’re a safe distance from the whore, I turn back around to face the crowd after fist bumping my buddies and chatting about how busy it is. My eyes roam, scanning the crowd for the night’s endgame, the chick I’ll want in my bed. Then I see
her
.

OH. MY. FUCK.

Right in front of the stage, wearing a sexy-as-sin black dress that fits like a second skin over her curves, is none other than hot girl. Immediately, my cock catches up with my eyes at the realization of her presence and I’m hard—like ‘a teenage boy seeing naked boobies for the first time hard.

I need to sit my ass down before anyone sees what I’m sporting in my pants. I would never live that shit down, especially with these assholes.
Fuck me,
she is all kinds of luscious, and those amazing tits of hers are calling out my name as they bounce while she sways her hips in time with the music.

I can’t stop staring.

***

Opening the door to exit the washroom, I’m met with a very drunk Kat.

“Shit, Ryker, sorry. I wasn’t paying attention. I didn’t see you there,” she slurs, stifling a giggle. Looking around, making sure no one is watching, I pull her inside the men’s room, locking the door behind us. I want some alone time with her. I need to make sure she’s okay, seeing as she’s drunk; I know this because my gaze has been set on her and her alone—her curves, her smile, her eyes…everything that makes her Kat—since the second I spotted her tonight.

“Kat,” I whisper, looking into her jade eyes before walking toward her. Her back smacks into the countertop as she tries to back away from me. I end up pinning her hips against the counter, my arms trapping her on either side. I lean in close to her, but I want to be closer. Her hands have nowhere else to go, she rests them on my chest, and I feel her touch pulse through me.

“Are…are you actually talking to me now?” she stammers, then gives a small hiccup, and I swear it takes everything in me not to carry her out of this place caveman-style to my bed, where I know she’ll be safe. I don’t like seeing her like this, drunk and vulnerable.

I smile at the shock in her question.
I know, I’ve been a dick, baby
. “You’re drunk. You’d better be a good girl tonight, baby. No guys are to touch you. Get me?”

“What do you care, Ry-
ker?”
Kat enunciates my name in a cute slur. “I mean, you can’t talk to me in full sentences most of the time, or at all in over a month now. Then you’re hot one second, then cold the next…” she trails off. “Speaking of hot, you’re so
hot
, did you know that?” Her drawing out my name like that was sexy as fuck and has me imagining her screaming it out in ecstasy. And her calling me hot makes my dick ache and my heart pound.

“I don’t care that we haven’t talked in a month. I just don’t wanna see anybody get hurt tonight, believe me, sweet girl, just behave. You and me, we’ll talk again. Soon. I promise, beautiful.” And with that, I kiss her nose before guiding her out the door. I wait there, watching her for a second, making sure she makes it to the ladies room before I disappear into the crowd.

She never looked back at me, which only makes me smile.
Stubborn thing.

In spite of myself, knowing I should just leave her alone, I can’t stop myself from looking out for her, watching her after she emerges from the washroom. I keep my eyes on her all night. Running into her by the washrooms served to make me all the more aware of her, and her every move. From that point on, I was sunk. Game over. I can’t help it. My dick is straining my pants so badly; I couldn’t stand up even if I wanted to.

“I’m just gonna stay here,” I tell Matty and Justin, who want to take a prowl around the other side of the club, “and have a beer or two and chat with Roger and Bryce. You guys go on. I don’t see anything I’m interested in yet. Besides, Bryce needs a job, so I’m gonna tell him about Pub. I’ll catch up in a bit.”