Fools in Love(6)
Author: J. Sterling
“I take it, you don’t want to be here.”
He looked around at the room, the frown back on his face. “Great observation, Captain Obvious.”
This guy was an absolute prick.
Nice gift, Sheila. You can have it back. I sure as hell don’t want it.
“For the record, I didn’t want to come tonight either. This isn’t my scene or something I’d normally attend. I did it as a favor.”
A strangled laugh escaped from somewhere deep in his throat, and I watched as his Adam’s apple bobbed. “I can see that. Winning bidder of bachelor number seventeen.”
“I already told you”—I started to get fired up—“that wasn’t me.”
He stood tall and sucked in a breath before pinning me with those green eyes. “Then, how come I don’t believe you?”
“I couldn’t care less what you believe.”
I looked around the room and noticed the older woman I’d been in the bidding war with staring at us. The second I caught her watching, she put her drink down on the table and fixed her dress with her hands before heading our way.
“Looks like your admirer is coming to claim her prize. I’ll happily give her the date, so you can take her out instead.”
Robbie suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights. His eyes grew wide as she closed in on us, and I swore he checked all the exits for the nearest escape, but it was too late.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he ground out through clenched teeth just as she reached us, her body like superglue to his side as she wrapped her arms around his biceps and squeezed.
Robbie honestly looked like he might be sick.
Oh, this was going to be fun to watch.
THE HELL IS MY PROBLEM?
ROBBIE
I was punishing April for … well, I was punishing her for existing. When I had seen her eyeing me from head to toe, I’d gotten triggered. She was just like every other female, all caught up in my exterior and giving little to no thought about anything else.
I told you already, I was a little fucked up.
Now, I was being pawed by the elderly woman who refused to stop touching me wherever her fingers decided to explore, and I had to just stand there and take it. April couldn’t stop smiling. She was enjoying this. My discomfort and unease.
“It’s a pity I lost,” Grandma Darcy said before squeezing my ass so hard that I figured it would bruise.
Okay, so her name wasn’t really Grandma—I’d added that part—but it was Darcy. It said so right on the name tag pinned to her right breast. Which was threatening to topple out of her dress at any moment. The left boob was firmly in place behind the tight fabric, but the right one was spilling out of the top all haphazardly, demanding to be free.
Please don’t.
“I’m sorry you lost too,” I lied, giving April a quick glance that warned her not to say a word.
If she gave Darcy our date, I’d hunt her down and make her pay. Somehow. Revenge wasn’t my strong suit, but I was sure I could learn a few tips online, maybe read some books on the subject.
“It really came down to the wire, didn’t it?” She was talking to April now, her tone turning more than a little passive-aggressive. “I feel like we could have gone back and forth all night long. I bowed out gracefully because I already know where to find him after your date is all said and done.”
Grandma Darcy licked her lips, and I pictured it in my head without any effort—her showing up at the firehouse, that right boob swinging free for all to see, her telling me all the things she wanted to do to me, my fire captain making me oblige her requests.
“Yeah. You can’t blame me for not wanting to let this one go,” April said sweetly, adding a wink at the end before she placed her hand on Grandma Darcy’s shoulder. “Thank you so much for letting me win.”
The subtle dig was not lost on me.
“I figured you needed it more than I did.”
Damn. Women never stop being mean to each other, do they?
“You got that right. All I do is work. No time for a social life. This will be a great distraction. If only for one night. It’s just what I need,” April continued to explain, and I wondered just how much of what she was saying was true and what was being fabricated.
I focused on her, taking in everything about her. She did seem like the workaholic type, sort of uptight and serious.
“I guess I’ll let you two get back to whatever you were doing before I came over and added some necessary spice to the mix,” Grandma Darcy said.
Before I could even respond, her lips were on mine, moving back and forth like she was trying to wipe off all of her lipstick onto my mouth. I swore that if her tongue made an appearance, I’d scream like a little girl, high-pitched and everything.
I stood there, unmoving, my eyes wide open and firmly locked on to April’s face, which was a mixture of shock and horror. Before I could give her a look that screamed for her to do something, Darcy stopped assaulting me and promptly left.
April moved in immediately, closing the space between us as her eyes widened. She stared at my jaw, her hand lifting to run across it before she instantly dropped it back to her side. “Your face is a very pretty shade of rose.”
“There’s lipstick everywhere, isn’t there?” I managed to ask through my complete embarrassment. “Help me.”
I refused to look away from her hazel irises to see if anyone else in the room had witnessed my humiliation firsthand. I wouldn’t be able to handle it, to be honest, so I kept staring. Her eyes became my lifeline, the only thing I saw in the room. She had flecks of green and yellow in one eye only, and I wondered for a minute if she knew. I thought about telling her.
“It’s all over your face. Literally.” She reached for my arm and started pulling at my body, trying to get me to move. “Come on. Let’s find a restroom.”
My legs started moving of their own accord, clearly willing to follow this woman anywhere she asked. Ten minutes ago, I would have complained, fired back some sort of sarcastic comment, but I needed her help now. We weaved through people, not stopping for anything or anyone as I focused on my steps.
Next thing I knew, we were stopped in front of a large, nondescript wooden door. April reached for the handle and pulled it open before peeking inside.