Beautiful Misery (The Beautiful Series) (25 page)

Then I thought about the lie. He chose to let me hurt instead of telling me the truth. I couldn’t handle hurt. I needed time to sort everything out. I wasn’t sure if my love could survive the hurt.

25

Gage

I
loved New Year’s Eve. It was a fresh start. A new year, a new chance. Everything I needed.

Leigha promised me she would get Annie here tonight. I was counting on it. Annie wanted to play hard to get…I could play right back. I wanted her, she knew it. She wanted me, I knew it.
Now, I just had to prove it to her.

Annie

I
didn’t want to be here. I didn’t want to face Gage. I hadn’t seen him since Christmas. I wasn’t ready. Damn Leigha. If it wasn’t for her and my unableness to tell her no I wouldn’t be here. I could be sitting at home snuggled on the couch with Gabe. Instead, here I am. I’m holding some fruity mixed drink and watching people have fun. Well woo fuckin’ hoo!

My drunk best friend grabbed my drink and held it to my mouth. “Drink up, bitch. I just put in a few requests to Jase and the boys. Hope you remember the dance. We about to get crunk up in this motha fucka.”

Letting the alcohol run down my throat, I drained the glass. “Did you just say crunk?”

Leigha giggled. Holding her hands in the air, she shook around. “Sure did, babycakes. Now, let’s go boogie.”

Boogie…crunk. Oh yeah, she was toasted. “Wait. What dance?”

“You’ll see. I only asked Jase to play one song. He insisted on playing another song. He said it’s dedicated to you. Hurry your ass up. Lydia is at the bar waiting on us.”

Drunk Leigha attached herself to my arm and drug us through the packed dance floor, straight to the bar where Lydia was downing a shot. “What are we doing?” I asked Lydia, hoping to get an answer from her.

She handed me a shot glass and said, “You need to loosen up and have fun. Jase, Leigha, and I decided to make that happen.”

Taking the small glass I tipped it back. The tequila burning all the way down. Slamming the glass on the bar I looked from Leigha to Lydia. “Now what?”

The both held up a finger, telling me to wait one minute. Then I heard it. The Devil Went Down to Georgia. “Coyote Ugly?” I laughed

Both girls nodded and climbed onto the bar. It had been years since we did this dance. The guys used to play the song all the time and we took it upon ourselves to learn the dance from the movie Coyote Ugly. What the hell. Why not?

Hopping on the bar with two of my best friends I fell right into the steps they had already started. I still remembered the dance, thank God. It would have been embarrassing as hell to get up here and my mind go derrr. Letting myself go I shimmied, and shook, and popped. I could hear all the cat calls and hollering coming from the crowd. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t care how slutty I looked. I wanted to have fun and forget.

Looking out at the crowd my eyes instantly found Gage’s. He was at a high top table a few feet from the bar with Trent and a few other guys they played football with. Even from here I could see how dark his eyes were. He was watching me like he was a jungle cat that hadn’t ate for months and I was a juicy steak dangling in front of him. He licked his lips. His mouth twitched. A part of me wanted him to grab me off this bar and take me in the back, fucking me senseless. The more coherent, wiser me wanted to jump off this bar and run. Far, far away. He smirked. He knew.

The song ended and Tristan talked into the microphone. “Ladies and Gentlemen. We have three sexy little ladies waiting at the bar. Five dollars plus tips for a body shot. Go get ‘em.” When he stopped talking the band started playing the beginning cords of Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard.

I had to laugh. Leigha leaned into me. “Jase said this was his song to you.” Body shots. After the guys had a show they would always do body shots off of us. This brings back a lot of memories. Happy memories.

There was a hand being slammed down on the bar by my foot. “One hundred fuckin’ dollars and I want her.” Gage yelled, pointing up at me.

Shit.

“What’ll it be, sir?” The makeshift bartender asked.

Gage looked me in eye and winked. “Tequila. Make it a double.”

Lydia yanked on my arm. “Lay down for that sexy paying customer. He just paid a hundred fucking dollars to lick alcohol off of you when we all know he could do that for free.”

Glaring at her, I said, “I have to pee.”

“Bullshit. Lie down and let him run his mouth over you.”

I could do this. I could play his little games just as good as he could. Taking a calming breath I sat so my legs were hanging over the edge of the bar, spread just enough for Gage to stand between them. Hooking my finger so he would come closer I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth. I knew exactly what that did to him. I heard him growl as I whispered, “You know what I like. You know how to use that tongue of yours. Make me earn that money, baby.”

I leaned back. His eyes were so dark they looked black. Sexy. His eyes were half lidded. He was turned on.

Gage pushed my shoulders back until I was flat on the bar. He lifted my shirt and watched as the bar tender sprinkled salt up my stomach. He looked at Gage, asking, “Mouth or breasts?”

Flicking his eyes to me, Gage answered, “Mouth.”

The bartender nodded and placed the lime in my mouth. He took the bottle of tequila and poured it into my belly button. I tried to keep from squirming. I failed. The way Gage was looking at me had me involuntarily rubbing my thighs together. Thus causing some of the alcohol to spill over and run down my sides.

“She’s all yours, sir.” The bartender said, stepping away.

Gage slowly ran his tongue across his top teeth. He bent over top of me. The moment his tongue hit my stomach I had to grip onto the bar to stop myself from running my hands through his hair. He circled my navel slowly, keeping his eyes locked on mine. I couldn’t watch him any longer. I pinched my eyes shut. He nipped just below my navel before sucking the alcohol up. Then his mouth was on mine. Not long enough. When his lips brushed mine he pulled back, the lime wedge in his mouth. What I wouldn’t give to be that lime.

What started out as me trying to turn him on ended up with my turned on, covered in alcohol
, and him smirking before he walked away. Fucker!

Six body shots later the girls and I were hopping off the bar, making our way to the bathroom to wipe our sticky stomachs off. Wiping at my stomach Leigha said, “I didn’t expect Gage to do that. He was totally hot in a macho, me is man and she is my woman kinda way.”

“I tried fucking with him but he totally turned it around and turned me on. Now I’ll have to go home and see if my B.O.B still loves me.”

Lydia shook her head. “Screw that. Have you seen some of the men out there?”

Honestly, no. All I’ve seen is Gage since August.
“Yeah,” I lied. “I am not going to start my new year off with some random Ronnie from the bar.”

Leigha shook her head. “That’s not what she’s saying. Just dance with a few of them. Caveman Gage will appear and swoop you away. Then y’all can fuck out your frustrations.”

Gage and I might not be the best at communication, but we had the fucking down to perfection. That’s what we did instead of talk. Now we were paying for it. “As much as I would love to have him rip my clothes off and let him have his way with me. We have a lot we need to work out first. I don’t know if we can ever work through our issues.”

“Do you want to be with him?” Lydia asked.

Staring at her like she was a moron, I said, “Duh.”

“Then you’ll make it work. Do you think Jase and I get along all the time? Hell no. He drives me absolutely fucking insane. But, I love him and he’s worth the fight. You just have to ask yourself if Gage is worth the fight. No one can answer that but you.”

Leigha hugged me. “Gage is a great guy. Look at everything he has done for you and Gabe. Hell, look at what he did for my brother and the band. They are recording an album because of him. I know you want to hear him tell you he loves you, but look at all the ways he has shown you he loves you. He loves you, anyone can see that. He’s scared, just like you. And your skittery ass isn’t helping. You can’t run every time something isn’t perfect or you get nervous. He has to know you’re in this, too.”

I hated when my friends were right. Crossing my arms, I sulked. “You know, I really hate when you two are right.”

Lydia smacked my ass. “Get used to it. I’m always right, just ask Jase. Let’s go dance.”

I tossed my wet paper towel into the trash. I wanted to find Gage and dance with him. I wanted to feel him close to me. The girls didn’t give me a chance to look for him. The each grabbed one of my hands and pulled me into the middle of the crowded dance floor. The beat of the music pulsing in my veins.

“The guys will be taking a break soon. You can go find Gage then.” Lydia yelled over the band.

I nodded and started rocking to the beat. I felt hands on my hips, pulling me back. I didn’t fight and kept with my rhythm. Smiling I looked at Leigha and Lydia. They were both laughing and dancing together. Their eyes widened, smiles fell from their faces. They stopped dancing and froze.

“Get the fuck off of her.”

Looking to my left I found Gage. He was inches from me. Looking at the guy behind me I offered an apologetic smile.

“I’ll tell you one last time, Davis. Take your fuckin’ hands off my girl. Now,” Gage bit out.

The guy known as Davis dropped his hands a scooted away. Unphased, he grabbed the next girl and started dancing with her. When I turned back to ask Gage what the hell he was doing, he was gone.

Lydia and Leigha pointed to the bar. Leigha smirked. “Told you. Caveman Gage is hot as fuck.”

Huffing, I stomped in the direction on the bar. Gage was sitting on a stool surrounded by other guys he played football with. Stopping just behind him I tapped his shoulder. He glanced over his shoulder before swinging his legs around to face me.

“Can I help you?” His voice was cocky.

Putting one hand on my hip I flung my other in toward the dance floor. “Yeah. What the fuck was that?

He lowered his head, making me squirm under his heated stare with those bedroom eyes, I shifted on my feet. My panties were soaked. I was pissed.

Leaning in just enough so his breath brushed my ear Gage growled
, “Oh sweetheart, don’t be so naive. Your sexiness is so damn distracting. The thoughts I have about you are so fuckin’ filthy the EPA should arrest me.” He lightly bit my earlobe as he leaned back. He took a long pull from his beer. Pulling the bottle from his lips he winked at me and gave me that panty melting smile before turning his attention back to his friends. Like he didn’t have a care in the world, he continued his conversation as if he didn’t just fuck me with his words.

Damn that guy and the
things he does to my lady parts…even when I don’t want him to.

Forcing my way between Gage and some huge guy to his right I got the attention of the bartender. “Shots. Tequila. Keep ‘em coming.”

The bartender nodded and grabbed a shot glass, filling it up. I threw it back and sat the glass down. He filled it back up and I swallowed the alcohol, setting the glass back down. We kept up the routine until I had seven shots in me.

Big guy to my right asked, “Darlin’ you sure someone your size should be slammin’ shots back like that?”

I wrapped my arm around his shoulder. “Are chu jusa sweetheart? I’an handle s’alcohol. Dat right, Misser Tucker?” My words sounded like a jumbled mess even to me.

Gage gave a quick nod to the bartender who sat another shot glass on the bar and filled it up. Gage wrapped his mouth around the glass and tossed the glass back. “Don’t worry, Mike. She’s mine. I got her.”

Big guy to my right smiled. Gage and I did three more shots before Leigha joined us. She looked pissed. She grabbed my shot and drank. “Bitch. Get’r own.”

“Fine. I’ll take what she has. A never ending supply please.” Leigha batted her lashes at the bartender.