Broken #3 (The Broken Series - Book #3) (5 page)

“Wonderful, Natalie.
Okay, this was a great training
session, congrats. We will do some more of that next time.”

“Thanks,” I said.

He turned to Katie. “Thanks for
being here and helping. I think it was good for her.”

“No problem.
Anytime
at all.”

“I'll see you at practice, okay?”

She smiled. “Sure.” She reached
up, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
Body
to body, with no room in between.
They separated, and high-fived each other
before she waved and headed out the door.

I stared at him as he turned to
look and me, and I shook my head.

“What?” he asked.

“What the hell was that all
about?”

“What? I don't know what you're
talking about.”

I snorted. “Did you fuck her
before?”

“Katie?
No, of
course not.”

“Well, you guys sure looked real
close.”

“Oh, come on, Natalie, that's
just the way she is. She's like that with everyone. She's one of those girls
that
has
a lot of guy friends. We look at her as one
of us.”

“Oh, she's just one of guys?
That's how you see her?”

“Natalie, relax. Yes, Katie is
hot, but that doesn't mean I'm interested in her.”

“Cut the bullshit, Jet.”

“Natalie, why are you so mad?
Seriously, what is the big deal here with Katie?”

“I don't like it. The way you are
with her. I thought you liked me. And it's like the two of you were in heat
during training.”

“So what if we were?”

“I think it's inappropriate to do
that with her when I'm standing right there.”

Jet laughed. “You have to be
joking. Natalie, I thought we were just friends. That's what you keep telling
me anyway. I can't count how many times you have walked out on me and made me
feel like you continue to regret sleeping with me. So if you just want us just
to be friends, then why should it matter who I flirt with?”

“I do just want to be friends.”

He looked at me and shook his
head. He wasn't happy with my last statement.

“Look, we just slept together a
week ago. I think it's inappropriate to be hooking up with other girls when you
are sleeping with me. I'm not saying that we ever will again, so please don't
get too excited, but when things are so up in the air, you shouldn't be all
over other girls. It's not nice, and it’s very hurtful to me.”

He stared at me with shock on his
face. Like I said, guys were really clueless sometimes.

“Look, Natalie, despite what you
think, despite what you saw with Katie, I haven't slept with another girl since
I met you. I certainly wouldn't be sleeping with someone else while I was
sleeping with you. I'm not the bad guy that you think I am.”

I just glared at him, wanting to
get out of the gym, and be done with him for the day. I was immensely irritated
by the fact that Katie had been around at all, never mind the way she behaved.
But I was tired of having these same conversations over and over again with
Jet.

“Natalie, please. I don't want
you to be mad at me. In fact, I will do anything to make sure that you aren't
mad at me. So please, let me know if there is anything that I can do.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, of course.”

“I want you to take me to my
favorite place, then, but I'm not going to tell you where it is.”

He stared at me, unsure how to
respond.

He nodded.
“Done.”

Chapter Four

Jet

The next night I was getting
ready to go pick up Natalie to take her to her favorite place. I was a little
conflicted about what was going on between us. On one hand, it seemed like she
wanted more, but she also wasn't giving me more. She was taking me through a
torturous relationship, if it could even be called that, and I never knew if it
was going to get any better. She was just as likely to start something serious
with me as she was to drop me completely. I thought there was always a good
chance for us to be friends, but anything beyond that seemed uncertain.

I wasn't sure how to dress for
our little rendezvous, as she refused to tell me where we were headed. The girl
spun my head in circles sometimes. I assumed, however, that if we were going
somewhere fancy, she wouldn't screw me over completely by not telling me to
dress properly.

Kyle was sitting at the kitchen
table drinking a beer when I walked into the kitchen.

“Hey, man, how's it going? Want
to have a beer with me?”

I checked the time on my phone
and decided I had enough time for a beer. I sat down at the table with Kyle
while he went to the fridge to grab me a beer.

I cracked it open and took a long
swig. The cool liquid tasted delicious as it slid down my throat. There was
nothing like a cold beer to make a day complete.

“So what are you up to, man?”

“I'm picking Natalie up and we're
hanging out.”

“Oh yeah?
Where you guys going?”

“I have no idea.”

“Is this finally a date?”

I laughed. “Again, I have no
idea. She's taking me to what she calls her 'favorite place,' but she won't
tell me where it is.”

“That girl likes to fuck with
your head man. Why do you let her?”

“’Cause I like her.
She challenges me. I'm bored to
death with some of the girls, man, aren't you?”

Kyle shrugged. “I don't know, but
I wouldn't be putting that much effort into a girl unless she was fucking me
daily,
that's
for sure.”

I laughed. “Well, that's probably
why you're single and alone on a Friday night.” I shrugged, too, when he looked
up at me, surprised.

I chugged back my beer, no longer
interested in discussing Natalie with him.

“I'll see ya later, Kyle. Have a
good night.” I set my empty beer down and headed for the door.

I pulled up to Natalie's
apartment, and she was already waiting outside for me. I sighed with relief
when I saw that she was wearing ripped jeans and a faded Pearl Jam T-shirt. We
were obviously not going anywhere fancy, so my attire would suffice for the
evening. She slipped into the passenger side and buckled herself in, finally
turning my way with a big smile.

“You look fantastic, Natalie.
Very edgy.”

She smiled. “Well you don't look
too bad yourself.”

“So, where are we going?”

“Don't
worry,
I will be your guide.”

She gave me driving instructions
that brought us downtown. There were many bars and pubs on the main drag, close
to the university. She had me park there, and we both get out of the car to
walk. We walked for about half a block before I found myself in front of a dive
bar that I used to go to before I was legal enough to drink.

“This is your favorite place?
You're kidding me?”

“No. My dad used to take me here
all the time. He wasn't supposed to, of course, but I had an interesting
upbringing. He taught me to play pool.”

“Are you any good?”

She laughed. “Of course I am, hot
shot.”

We walked into the bar and not
much had changed over the years since I had last been there. It wasn't the kind
of bar that had ever been concerned with checking IDs, which was probably why
Natalie was able to come into the bar with her father when she was young.

We found a booth and sat down. I
knew there wasn’t any point in grabbing a menu; it wasn't the kind of place
where you grabbed food. If we got hungry later, I would take us to a burger
joint to get some grub. A waitress stopped over at our table, and actually
recognized Natalie.

“Hey, sweetie, I haven't seen you
in ages. How are you?”

“Oh, I'm busy with school. I'm
over at the university now.”

“You're kidding! Well, good for
you. How's your dad?”

“Same old guy; he never changes.
But overall, he's doing well. I don't think he would complain.”

“That's great. He hasn't been
around here in ages.”

“No, he moved to a different
area, so he has a new hangout.”

She looked at me, and I smiled up
at her.

“Who's your friend here? He's
cute, but he looks like trouble.”

“Hey!” I said.

Natalie laughed. “This is Jet. I
know him from school, we're buddies.” She winked at me. “But you are right
about the trouble part.”

I shook my head.

“Well, what can I get you two?”

“How about a couple of beers to start.”

“Sure thing, sweetie, I'll be
right back.” The waitress sauntered off toward the bar, and I turned back to
Natalie.

“Well, well, well, aren't you the
one with a shady past?”

“Who says it's shady?”

“Call it a guess.”

She stuck her tongue out at me,
and I realized that I had a damn sexy girl sitting across from me. The waitress
came back quickly with our beers, and left us to them.

“So, why is
this
your
favorite place?” I asked as I took a swig of my beer. She took a
pull on hers as well as she watched me carefully. The girl had zero trust in
me, but I wasn't going to hold it against her. I probably deserved her
mistrust.

“I don't know
,
I like the people here. They are good people; hard workers who just are trying
to make an honest living and be happy. They don't judge you for who you are;
they make me feel safe. I guess I like it because some of the best memories I
have of my dad are here as well. He wasn't the best father I could have asked
for, but he definitely had his moments. He taught me a lot in these walls.”

I nodded. I liked learning these
new little tidbits about Natalie. She was an interesting girl, and this place
certainly threw me for a loop. I had not expected this part at all.

We finished off our first beers,
and the waitress automatically brought us two more. I decided to tip her well
for that alone.

“So, why did you bring me here?”

“What do you mean, Jet, you don't
like beer?” She was smiling, and that was always a good thing.

“No. I mean, let's be honest, you
barely like me, so why bring me to your favorite place?”

“I don't know. I have a feeling
about you. Plus, I hadn't been here in forever, and my girlfriends would never
set foot in this place. So I had to bring a guy if I wanted to come, so why not
bring you?”

I laughed. “Gee, thanks. So
really, it could have been anyone.”

She winked. “I guess so.”

“So, gorgeous, what do you say
that we have a little wager? We'll see just how good you are at playing pool.
The winner buys shots.”

She laughed. “You're on, but be
prepared to buy the shots.”

We walked over to the pool table,
and she racked the balls just like a pro. I grabbed a stick, put some chalk on
it, and did the same for her. I passed her a stick, and gave her the
opportunity to break.

She cracked into the balls so
hard they went all over the table. “Wow, great break,” I said. She sunk a few
different balls, so it was up to her to pick what balls she wanted to go for.

“Solid,” she announced.

We kept taking turns making shots
for the win. Before long, it was obvious that I was getting my butt whipped.
Although I felt like I was a strong player, she killed me, leaving me with four
balls I still had to sink. I laughed. “Well, that didn't go as planned.”

“Order us up some shots. Would
you like to lose again?”

“No way.
Let's try our hand at darts this time. I doubt you're as
good at darts as I am.”

The waitress came over to replenish
our beers, and I asked her if she could bring over a couple of shots of
tequila. She headed off in search of them.

Natalie made a face at me. “Now
you didn't have to go and order the nastiest shot available.”

“Hey, I'm the loser. I can pretty
much do what I want. If you want to pick the shot, then I suggest you lose.”

She laughed. “Not going to
happen.”

The waitress came back with the
shots and set them down on the table. I looked up at her as she walked away.
“Hey, where's the lemon and salt?”

She started laughing as she
walked away. Apparently, they didn't serve that stuff with tequila.

“I told you that you shouldn't
have ordered it.”

“Well, I didn't expect that they
were inhumane here.”

She giggled. “Well, man up,
sunshine. Let's do this, because you have another game to lose.”