Until Series: Box set (6 page)

I spin around, almost running into him. I’m so pissed that I can feel my blood heating. “Look here, buddy,” I poke his chest. “I don’t know what your problem is, but you just embarrassed me. God!” I shout. “Why the hell did I even come?”

“He was going to hit on you and that’s not happening, especially right in front of my face.”

“Really, you big jerk. I’m shocked that you noticed because you had big-boobed Barbie basically sitting on your lap when I walked in.” I poke him in the chest again. “And, for your information, all Nick was going to do was shake my hand.”

“Big-boobed Barbie?” He laughs and I want to kick him. “Are you jealous?” he asks, smirking.

“I’m not jealous. I’m embarrassed and pissed off.” Even though I am jealous, there is no way I will tell him that. It seems to me that he probably already has trouble walking into buildings with the size of his big, fat head.

“Okay, I’ll try not to embarrass you anymore. Now, will you please come inside with me?” he asks, giving me puppy-dog eyes. “My brothers are here, but they have to leave in a couple hours and we want to get a few games of pool in first.”

I really must have lost a lot of brain cells when I was attacked, because all I can say is, “Fine.” I walk back toward the bar with him when he puts his arm around me. “God, I must be crazy,” I say under my breath.

“Just so you know, you look beautiful tonight,” he says in my ear. “But if any motherfucker touches you, I will not be happy.”

“Can you please try not to be a jerk or piss me off for the next hour?” I ask, looking up at him.

“I’ll try,” he says, bringing me closer to his body.

I try to pull away, but he just holds me even tighter. So, I do what any woman does when she doesn’t get her way. I cross my arms over my chest to let him know that I’m in no way cooperating. I hear him chuckle. I look up and glare at him, but all it does is make him smile bigger. Back inside, we walk up to the table he was sitting at earlier. The girl is gone but the other three guys are still sitting here. And they are all beautiful.

“Guys, this is November, Big Mike’s daughter.” All the guys are sitting so I can’t tell how tall they are, but they look big and gorgeous.

Trevor has dark brown hair that is cut short like Asher’s. He has brown eyes with the longest lashes I have ever seen, his jaw is square with a couple days’ worth of stubble on it, and he has an amazing smile but no dimple.

Nico has dark blond hair that needs to be cut. He looks like the baby of all of them with darker blue eyes than Asher’s and his face is more round than square. He has his left eyebrow pierced and gauges in his ears. If I had to use one word to describe him, it would be ‘trouble,’ but the good kind that you sneak out of your bedroom window in the middle of the night to go look for.

Cash looks the most like Asher with light blue eyes, dark brown hair, and a square jaw, but his smile is sweet and he’s blessed with two dimples rather than one. I feel like I just hit the hot-guy mother lode. If my best friend, Tia, were here, she would be freaking out.

“Shut the fuck up,” Nico says, jolting me out of my hot-guy daze.

“I didn’t know Big Mike had a daughter, let alone a daughter who looks like you. What did he do, hide you away all this time?” Cash asks and I laugh.

“Um, no,” I say, feeling heat hit my cheeks. “I’ve been living in New York with my mom.”

“Why did you move here?” Nico asks.

“I just didn’t feel safe staying in the city anymore, so I moved down here. I was already planning to move to Tennessee in a few months, but with what happened, I just came earlier.” I could feel Asher’s arm around my waist tighten so much that I could make out each of his fingers.

“What happened?”

“Just a wrong place wrong time thing,” I say, not wanting to talk about it.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Nico says.

“Yeah,” they all agree.

“Yo, bro, you may want to loosen your grip before your hand fuses with her waist,” Cash says, laughing. The whole situation starts to feel uncomfortable and I need to put some space between Asher and me.

“Well, I came here to have a beer and play a game of pool so that’s what I’m gonna do,” I say and try to walk away toward the bar, but quickly feel an arm go around my chest.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Asher whispers in my ear. I can feel the warmth from his breath against my skin and I have to fight myself to keep from leaning into him.

“To get a beer?” I tell him.

“What kind of beer do you want? I’ll get it for you while you sit with my brothers.”

“Are you always this bossy?” I ask, trying to tug free.

“Nope, just with you, baby,” he chuckles.

“Oh, joy,” I say, sarcastically. I can feel his body shake with laughter.

“So what do you want to drink?” he asks.

“Corona with lime,” I tell him, debating on whether to take off the minute his back is turned. He must see my intention because he pulls out a stool, picks me up, and sits me on it.

“Sit here. I’ll be right back.” He looks at his brothers. “Watch her,” he says and they all look at him like he’s gone crazy. I’m glad to know that I’m not the only one who thinks so.

“So how did you meet our brother?” Trevor asks, looking across the bar at Asher who has turned around and is watching me.

“I started working for my dad and—”

“What?” they all cut me off. “Shit, when do you go on? I’m so gonna be there,” Nico says with a goofy smile on his face. Then I realize what I just said.

“What?” I shriek. “No, I mean I work for him doing the books,” I say, laughing and shaking my head. “Sorry, no. I’m not a stripper.”

“Damn, that’s a shame,” Cash says, smiling and I laugh harder.

“What’s a shame?” Asher asks while walking up to the table with two Coronas. He hands me one.

“That November is not a stripper,” Cash says and they all laugh. I can feel my face getting red.

I look at Asher and see his jaw tighten. “Anyway,” I say, cutting in, “your brother thought I
was
a stripper. He made a big deal about me going to my car without an escort.” Thinking back on it, the whole thing is pretty funny. “He even thought I was sleeping with my dad because I called him ‘Daddy’. I mean, ewww,” I say, scrunching up my nose. “The look on his face was priceless when my dad came over and introduced me as his daughter.” Everyone started laughing, even Asher. “So I work for my dad doing the books for the club. It should take me about a month to get organized and then I won’t even need to be there.”

“That’s cool,” Trevor says and they all nod their heads in agreement.

“Do you want to play pool?” Nico asks, looking over at the now empty pool table.

“Sure.” I shrug and get off the stool. I take off my hoodie and wrap it around my purse. Trevor grabs it and puts it in the booth, then I start walking towards the pool tables with the boys following behind me. I can feel Asher’s hand on my lower back, guiding me through the bar. We’re a few steps from the table when big boobed Barbie steps in front of our group. I step around her and leave them to deal with her.

“Where are you going?” I hear her whine. Why women do that, I will never know. Do they not know that it’s annoying?

“We’re gonna play pool,” I hear Asher tell her.

“What? Wait,” she says. I turn around and see her grabbing on to his arm. “I’ve been waiting all night for you to get here and you’re going to ditch me?”

“You can’t ditch someone you’re not with,” Cash mumbles from beside me.

I turn around and start setting up the table. I have no interest in watching her throw herself at him. “Okay, guys. Who’s gonna break?” They all look confused. “Are we gonna play or what?” I ask, looking at each of them.

“I’ll break,” Nico says, walking to pick a stick from the wall.

Standing near the table, I feel heat at my back. “You keep walking away from me,” Asher says and I almost laugh because he sounds upset.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize I was supposed to stand there while you got rid of big-boobed Barbie.”

“You could have taken me with you when you went.”

“I’ll try to remember that next time,” I say, shaking my head.

Nico, standing next to us, starts laughing. “Wow. The first one who is immune. I smell a recipe for disaster brewing,” he says. Asher smiles down at me like he’s happy about something.

“Whatever.” I give him my most sarcastic smile. Playing pool with the guys is fun. Asher and I are laughing and having a good time. The guys are telling me funny stories about people in town and Asher introduces me to some people who know my dad.

A ton of people drop by the table, talking to his brothers or just introducing themselves to me. After an hour, I start to notice there are a lot of women gathering around us. Whenever I try to make eye contact with them, they give me a dirty look. It’s odd and I have no idea who any of them are. Then, more and more women start coming around the table. There are so many that it’s hard to shoot without ramming the stick into one of them.

Asher is standing near me when a very pretty woman with a perfect body, deep red hair, and milky white skin comes up to us. She is wearing an outfit similar to big-boobed Barbie except her bra is black. I’m starting to wonder if this is some kind of dress code because they aren’t the only two women wearing something similar.

“Hi, Asher,” she purrs, placing herself between me and him while pressing her boobs into his chest.

“Jen,” he replies without really looking at her.

She stage whispers in his ear so that we can all hear, “Are you coming to my house tonight?”

“Why would you ask that shit? I haven’t been to your house for over a year,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest. She is almost as tall as him. I realize they would make a beautiful couple and would give Miss Alice amazing looking grandbabies. That’s when I know I need to leave.

Yeah, he’s hot but it’s clear that he’s a player. Not only that, but I would say we don’t fit at all. I’m cute but not beautiful. I’m also not skinny. I have a tummy, big boobs, and a bigger butt; on top of all that, I’m short. It will never work. Not when I can see the women he normally goes after. They all are perfectly skinny women who look like models.

I keep telling myself that this isn’t a date and I don’t want him like that, but honestly, no woman in their right mind would look at a guy like him and not get their hopes up. And, after hanging out with him and getting to know him a little, I find out that he’s kind of sweet and really funny. But now I’m done. Date or not, having women come up and rub themselves all over him with looks that say they know exactly what to expect if he takes one of them home is too much. I know I need to bounce as in B-O-U-N-C-E on out of here.

I don’t want
to make it obvious that I’m leaving because of the women that are hanging around, so I’m biding my time and talking to Nico. Then some girl named Becky comes over and I’ve had enough. I can’t hold it in any longer and I know if I don’t leave, I’m going to ask all the women standing around how the hell they made it into the girl’s club. I’m pretty sure there is a rule against acting desperate written on the first page.

“Okay, guys,” I say, looking at my watch, or where I would have one if I ever wore a watch. “I gotta go. I need to take my dog for a walk before it gets too late.” All the guys turn to look at me.

“You’re leaving to walk your dog?” Cash asks in a tone that says he doesn’t believe me. But I don’t care anymore. I just need to leave quickly.

“Yeah, I walk him every night. So, I guess I’ll see you guys around sometime. It was nice meeting you all.”

I walk to the booth that has all of our coats and dig mine out from the bottom of the pile, along with my purse. Turning around, I bump into a solid wall.

“Sorry!” I say.

Asher is glaring down at me with a look of disbelief and what appears to be anger on his very handsome face. I want to laugh. What does he really expect? He brought me to a place where every five minutes, he’s getting hit on. It was totally rude! He has so many females vying for his attention, I am sure he won’t even notice I was gone. Plus, I’ve lived with a woman who had to be the center of attention and I refuse to date someone who has the same problem. Not that this is a date…I’m just saying; I won’t do that to myself.

“Excuse me,” I say, trying to walk around him. He grabs my hand and starts pulling me out the door behind him.

“Later, November.” I hear from behind me along with a lot of laughter.

“Yeah, later, guys,” I yell back, trying to pull my hand free without making a scene.

“Can you slow down, buddy? Your legs are a lot longer than mine,” I say to Asher’s back. He doesn’t say anything but he does slow down. Whatever. I just need to get home and forget this day ever happened. Once I’m at my car, I pull my hand free and start searching for my keys.

“Well, thanks for the beer,” I say, looking in my bag. “It was um…fun. Ah…there you are, you sneaky little buggers,” I say when I find my keys. I go to unlock my door and my keys are snatched out of my hand.

“Hey, I need those,” I yell, trying to reach for the keys that are now in Asher’s hand.

“You can have them back after you tell me why the fuck you’re leaving.”

“What? I already told you I have to walk Beast. He’s looking forward to it,” I say, and his lips go into a flat line.

“Yeah, you said that about your dog. But I know that’s not the real reason, so tell me why the fuck you’re really leaving.”

I put my hands on my hips, realizing I’m pissed off once again. “Listen, buddy, I have to go walk my dog. I’ve told you three times now.” I show him three fingers just to make sure my point is made.

“What the fuck? We were having a good time then all of a sudden, your face looked like someone stole your ice cream and you had to leave.”

“You’re so annoying! Can’t I just want to go home to my dog?” I ask.

“I know there were a lot of people in there and—”

“A lot of people in there?” I ask, completely shocked. Did he not notice the harem of women gathered around us? Yes, his brothers were there and they are just as hot as him, but they didn’t ask me to come here. Asher did.