Needing You (4 page)

Before I have a chance to say anything Marcus yells, “Hey Harper, Eddie wants to talk to you.”  So I yell back to Marcus, “Okay, tell him I will be right there.”

Again, before I can say anything to Tucker he says, “Harper I like it, it suits you, I’m Tucker.” And then he walks away. Ugh seriously. I had planned to make up some stupid name to give him and damn Marcus.

I make my way to Eddie’s office and ask what’s up? He tells me to come in and have a seat, oh shit what did I do? I’m now nervous; I never get called into the boss’s office. Yikes!

Eddie must be able to tell I am a freaking nervous wreck because he starts laughing and says, “Calm down, you ain’t in trouble.”  Phew thank God!

So I relax and say, “Okay that’s good to know!”

He just talks to me about the schedule for next week and tells me he needs me to work on Thursday night in two weeks because King Dread is playing and it’s gonna be crazy in here. I tell him it’s not a problem!

I can work every now and then during the week, plus the tips for them will be amazing! I am looking forward to seeing the guys play again after hanging out with them at the diner.

The rest of the evening is pretty much a blur, went home, showered, and fell fast asleep.

Chapter 5

The last two weeks has been crazy, I’m working my butt off with school crap and trying to keep up with my job.  I start working a couple weeknights, but I may have to cut back to only weekends because this school shit is tougher than I thought.  I’m not dumb and I love to learn, but it feels like all I have been doing is
‘paper, paper, paper then test, test, test.’
UGH. I need a break.

Fortunately for me, I have only run into the sexy brown-eyed devil once and I thought it was awkward! He comes up all flirty and shit when he sees me walking on campus but as he’s talking to me some long leggy blond girl comes over and seems pretty pissed that he’s talking to someone other than her. Again I say
AWKWARD
. Not sure if it’s his girlfriend or what, but I gracefully say bye and get the hell out of there and haven’t seen or heard from him since.

I also hung out with the guys from King Dread a few times during the week and last weekend. It is amazing how easy it is to hang out with them. They are so laid-back and funny it’s ridiculous. I could not tell you a time I laughed so hard; I seriously thought I was going to piss myself but luckily I didn’t!  They are playing tonight at PowerTrip, so it’s my night to work and tips should kick ass again.

By the time I get to the bar it’s packed with people. Wow, even Thursdays draw a huge crowd.  I figured it would be busy but not this busy considering we do have classes tomorrow, but I guess people do like their alcohol.  Well that and the band of hotties. I get to work with Marcus and Greg. Greg is pretty new to bartending but he’s good at it. The three of us take the first floor bar where the stage is so I know it’s gonna get crazy. 

Halfway through the first set Greg leaves. I have no idea why but whatever. Shortly though Natalie shows up, I wondered where she was. She tells me Greg was just covering for her until she could get here. I don’t ask questions because that allows for people to ask me questions and so, not going there.

The customers continue to get hammered and we end up going through so many bottles of Jack, it’s unheard of. I can’t believe it, but man do I love these tips!  I saw a bunch of people from some of my classes here tonight, but it’s not like I know any of them.  I recognize faces but that’s it. Maybe I should try to get some friends, but friends ask too many questions. No, I am just better-off keeping things how they are. This way works for me.

My feet are killing me and the bouncers have cleared all the drunken idiots out of the bar, so we are quick to start stocking so we can all get the hell out of here.  The band is at their usual table having drinks with Eddie.  Before I leave I make sure to stop over to the guys and tell them how awesome they were tonight!  Then I say my goodbye’s and make my way out the door.

I make my way toward the side of the building before I see Tucker walking towards me, “Need a ride home?” he asks rather sweetly.

Ugh damn it…I forgot I’m not supposed to walk home after King Dread’s shows. Before I can respond Parker, Declan and Natalie all come running out the door yelling my name.  They all look at each other and then to Tucker and then back at me.

Natalie is the first to speak up, “You okay Harp?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” I respond looking confused.

Natalie is clearly not done, “Harp you know you cannot walk home after the guys play” she says in an irritated tone.

“I forgot, but I should be fine tonight, people have classes tomorrow,” that’s my still answer.

Then Tucker speaks to everyone. “I’ll take her home, it’s on my way anyway.”

I have no idea what to say, Parker, Declan, and Natalie all look dumbstruck. What the hell is going on?

Parker states “Like hell you will. Harp I’m taking you home, let’s go now.” Obviously I don’t get a choice and Parker looks pissed.

Wow, am I missing something?  The way Parker just yelled at Tucker makes me feel that they have some bad blood between them. I follow Parker and get into his car and away we go. I have no idea what to say to Parker because honestly I have no idea what the hell just happened back there. So instead I just sit quietly giving directions as needed.

Finally Parker speaks up, “Sorry about that back there, he just gets under my skin.”

“Clearly, I’m just confused as to why.” I say honestly.

“Stay away from him Harp he’s nothing but bad news.” Parker says with a concerned look.

Wow, both him and Natalie said the exact same thing, what the hell am I missing?  “Look Parker, I don’t know the guy, he seems like an arrogant ass and trust me, I’m not into that, so you don’t have to worry about me. But can I ask why he’s bad news, because you aren’t the first person to tell me that?”

Parker doesn’t say anything at first, and then replies with “He’s just an asshole who treats everyone like they owe him something. He’s not a guy you can be friends with Harper, he doesn’t know how to have friends.”  Parker’s face shows a flash of sadness though I have no idea why.

Wow, I may have something in common with Tucker with not knowing how to have friends, but I don’t tell Parker that. I just shake my head and say, “Okay.”

Parker drops me off and I head inside to get ready for bed because I do have classes in the morning, and luckily I am able to drift into a peaceful slumber.

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So Friday goes by in a blur, classes were well classes. Nothing fun and exciting that’s for sure. The whole day flies by.  At PowerTrip, Natalie informs me that there is a fight tomorrow night to be prepared for a big crowd. I have yet to see one of these so called fights so I am pretty excited, even if I am working.  The rest of the evening is done and before I know it I am headed home and getting ready for bed. I’m happy I haven’t had a nightmare in a little while and I hope it continues that way.

I wake up early and I know it’s because I am excited for this fight at work tonight.  I can’t stop thinking about what happens, how it works, all that crazy stuff.  I hope no one gets seriously hurt.  From what Natalie was telling me, there are mini-fights first which are guys up-and-coming and then the big fight is between two of the better competitors.  I should have asked names but it’s not like I would know who they are anyway.

I decide to go for a run and get some of this energy out of me before my day.  As I start my morning run I pass Tucker, but I don’t say a word.  What is there to say anyway?  I continue running and through one of the different ways I go I end up running towards Tucker again, apparently we are running the same route just in opposite directions, this time he stops me. 

He says, “I see you run pretty regularly, if you ever want a running partner just let me know.” Of course he shows his sexy smile when saying that. Damn this brown-eyed devil man.

“That’s okay, I tend to get lost in my own thoughts so it’s better that I run by myself. I wouldn’t be good company.” I say.

As I get ready to start running again Tucker touches my arm and says softly, “Well if you don’t mind I would like your company and I promise you don’t have to say a word the entire time.”

I just shrug and start running in the direction I was going with Tucker running by my side.  Now my thoughts are going crazy, why am I letting him run with me?  Why does he want to? Damn he’s sexy; I wonder what he looks like without that shirt on…oh shit, stop thinking like that. He’s bad news, he’s bad news, I keep repeating to myself hoping it will stick in my brain but I am failing miserably.  He doesn’t seem like such a bad guy, he’s arrogant and an asshole but he hasn’t been rude or anything to me. 

I decide I am going to complete seven miles this morning and I still have three more to go, I wonder how long Tucker is going to run with me.  All I hear is my music blaring in my ears and my feet slapping pavement.  God I love listening to hard rock type music to motivate me during my run, it gets my blood pumping.  As I continue my run I notice Tucker is keeping right with me, I wonder how long he has been running but I don’t dare ask, I just keep running.  When I finally reach my seven mile mark I slow down and Tucker slows down right with me.

“How long did you run today?” I finally find the courage to ask.

He replies, “Oh probably about ten miles today,” with a smile on his face.

“You didn’t have to keep running with me you know, you could have stopped.” I say with a slight tone to my voice. I don’t want him to get hurt because he decided to stay running beside me.

“Maybe I wanted to run with you, plus a couple extra miles won’t hurt me,” he says like it’s nothing.

I stop and look him dead in the eyes and ask, “What do you want from me?”

Clearly he finds this amusing because the stupid smiley smirk on his face shows I humored him. He replies, “I think that’s pretty obvious don’t you?”

Okay now I am getting annoyed. “Look I’m not one of those girls, I’m not going to sleep with you or do anything else with you for that matter. Why don’t you go after those girls that are easy that want to give you what you want?”

He looks at me and says all seriously, “Because I like you and want to get to know you better Harper.”

This makes me laugh a full out belly laugh and say, “From what I gather, you don’t want to know any girl better only what’s under her clothes.”

Tucker looks at me like I just slapped him and quickly says, “That’s not true. Yes there are girls that I want to know more about and then there are girls that I only look at as a good time for a night. But Harper I can guarantee I can get to know a girl and for more than what is under her clothes.”

Okay, clearly I have offended Tucker and after that last comment I have no idea what to say so I say the lamest thing…,”Okay.” Ugh, where was my witty comeback when I needed one? I just didn’t think Tucker would say something like that and it threw me for a second.

Tucker can tell I’m dumbstruck because he starts laughing and then says, “Why don’t you give me a chance and prove it to you? Then you can be the judge for yourself.”

What the hell am I doing, is this line he uses to get what he wants and then bam fucks the girl over? Well not this girl it will never come to that.

“What do you have in mind?” I say giving in.

He responds with, “Hang out with me tomorrow afternoon, we can just talk.”

Now I am the one that laughs and says, “Well I can assure you that is all we will do.”

So we decide that on Sunday we will hang out. I tell him which dorm building I am in so he knows where to come to meet me to hang out and talk. Then we say our goodbyes and head in different directions.

Yes, Sunday should be interesting but I can guarantee he will get nothing out of me.  I am not a big fan of talking especially about my family so now I am thinking maybe I should have declined. Crap what did I just get myself into? Oh well I can’t think any more about it. I get showered, eat, and then decide to dive into some homework and research that I need to work on for classes this week. 

Before I know it the day has flown by and now I need to get ready and head into work.  This should be an exciting evening with the fights at PowerTrip, hopefully there’s a good turnout.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I get to work at 8 p.m. tonight because some of the fights start earlier so we are all scheduled to start earlier than a typical band night.  As I walk around the side of the building, I see it’s going to be a crazy night because the mass amount of people outside tells me so. I make my way over to Davie and he waves me in then, I find Eddie and say a quick hello, then head to my station with Natalie and Marcus.  The fights are also set up on the first floor and I am amazed at how big the room looks with a ring in the middle.  It’s like the walls were moved which is absolutely crazy, there’s so much space and seating set up for patrons to sit and watch.  There is also lots of standing room for people to stand and watch the fights as well. I can tell this is going to be a freaking crazy night and I just hope no one gets hurt too badly. 

Natalie informs me that people bet on the fights, which is why it gets crazy in here.  Eddie makes sure the fights don’t get too out of control which I am glad for. I can see the people that are inside are already on their way to being drunk and the fights haven’t even started yet.  This is going to be a great night for tips!

As the first fight begins the crowd goes crazy over the two fighters, clearly it’s an even fan club for both sides. I catch quick glimpses but that’s about all I can see because we are slammed. Hopefully I can watch more when the main event is on.

The night is flying by and the fights are crazy. There was one fight that had so much blood I guarantee someone’s nose or face was broken, it was disgusting, but so exciting to hear. The crowd has been intense which makes this a different atmosphere than I have ever been in before. The main fight doesn’t go on until about midnight so there is still a little ways to go before that. A few of the fights have been quick because they were knocked out fast which was also crazy.