Licentious (12 page)

“Have a good day, Joey,” I tell her smiling as I open the door, gently moving her
through it, and shutting it again. Walking away, I smile wide, knowing that I’m getting to her. Soon. Soon, I’ll have her again.

Joey

“What the fuck just happened?” I mutter to myself in disbelief. I can still feel
Alé’s lips on mine, my blood hot with need. My nerves are on high alert, my mind boggled with that man at the piano. I didn’t recognize him, but that song.
That
song. I don’t even know how to react to it. In a way, I want to run far away and never come back to this place. But on the other hand, I
need
to come back. I need to figure out how he knows that song.

I get into my crappy looking car, which
, despite its horrid appearance, runs like a champ. I turn my car on, rolling down the window to let some of this heat out, and grab my phone from the cup holder. Turning the screen on, I see I have a text from Addison.

Addison:
OMG! I told you
Louey’s
was a hot spot! Meet up?

I push the icon to call Addison while I put my car into drive. After it rings three times, she picks up.

“Hey! Where the fuck have you been?” she nearly screams into the phone.

“
Wow, yell much?” I laugh into the phone. “For one, it’s a Saturday morning, and it’s not even noon. Isn’t it odd for you to be up already? Especially with the drunken state you were in last night?”

“Hardy
har har!” she mocks. “I didn’t go home last night, remember? Hence, I’m up early.”

“Okay, I’m heading home to shower
. I just got done with a session. You wanna meet somewhere?” I ask.

“Umm. Since when do you work weekends?” she asks confused.

“Since today. I’ll explain later,” I mutter.

“Hm. Okay! I’ll pick you up in an hour.
Shopping, some lunch, and we’ll go from there. Good?”

“Yep. I’ll be ready,” I reply.

“’K. Love yah!” she says cheerily before hanging up.

Well, someone’s in a good mood.
I hear my phone blaring Paramore. I pick it up and see that Cam’s calling me, and I can’t help the groan slipping through my throat. I almost hit the ignore button, but then I instantly have a pang of guilt hit me. On the last ring before the call would go to voicemail, I decide to answer it.

“’
ello?” I answer.

“Hey,” he says quietly.

“Hi. Why so quiet? You okay?” I ask a bit concerned. Normally, he’s a little over-chipper on the phone.

“Yeah. Just wasn’t sure how hung over you were. Didn’t know if you had a raging headache or not
.” He laughs.

“Actually, I’m not too bad today. Thank God! I woke up feeling like hell, but it went away quick, so that’s cool,” I tell him as I maneuver my car down the busy roads cluttered with Saturday morning traffic.

“So how’d everything go last night after I left?” he asks.

“You sound weird,” I tell him before I can catch the words.

“What do you mean weird?” he asks.

“You know…
weird. Like… are you fishing for something?” I suddenly blurt out as the thought hit me.

“Did you stay with them last night?” he asks, anger edging his words.

“What? Who?” I ask before the realization that he’s talking about the De Luca’s. “Oh! The thugs?” I ask sarcastically. “And if I did, Cam?”

“Jo,” he sighs. “I’m just…
worried about you. Besides, you said they hired you as a trainer. That means they are clients,” he reminds me.

“Yes, boss,” I bite. “However, I think
you forget that Frank De Luca hired me for his daughter. Alé has nothing to do with the contract. And even if I
did
spend the night with him, it’s none of your damn business.”

“Jo,” he starts but I cut him off.

“Joey,” I correct him harshly after the second time calling me that. No one but Addison calls me that. That name is reserved for people that I consider family. I love Cam—he’s a friend of mine. But he’s not my family. “It’s always
been
Joey. It will always
be
Joey,” I add.

“Wow. Okay then.
Joey
,” he says sarcastically, “I’m just worried about you. You’re my friend. At least, I
thought
we were friends, and friends talk to each other, and they tell each other when the other is about to fuck up or get hurt. Well, this is me telling you.”

“Well
, thank you for the concern,
Cameryn
,” I mock his tone. “But last I checked I was an adult. And if I want to sleep with someone, I will. And I don’t need—”

“I know!” he yells. “I know you don’t
need
me to tell you, but guess what,
Joey
, you’re turning into a damn whore!”

“Whoa! What?” I shriek. “Did you just call me a whore? You know what
,
Cameryn
? Fuck off!” I yell into the phone as loud as I can before I end the call and throw it on the seat next to me. If phones weren’t so damned expensive nowadays, I’d chuck the bitch out the window.

*****

I just finish pulling my hair back into a low, messy side braid when my phone started serenading me. I don’t even bother answering it. Looking at the screen, I see its Addison, so I head out to my living room and grab my purse from the couch before going outside to meet her. Walking up to her canary yellow Mustang convertible, I see clear disdain written on her face as she tips her head down and pulls her sunglasses down the bridge of her nose.

Stopping right outside, I ask, “What?”

“Really, Joey?” she says disgustedly.

“Really, what?” I’m clearly confused. I hold my arms out to my sides before shrugging. “I don’t see the problem. It’s
not
sweats of any kind.”

“Close enough.
It’s jeans and a tee. With chucks!” She grimaces. “Jo, if you’re gonna pull off the casual jeans and tee look, you at least have to pair it with some killer heels!”

She’s clearly serious. I can’t help but laugh. “Yeah! Because a shopping adventure with you is clearly painless. And short! There’s no way in hell you’d ever catch me wearing heels for the hell of it.
Especially
to go walk around and shop for hours!”

“You’re too dramatic
.” She sighs before putting the car in gear and pulling into traffic.

“Whatever,” I shrug. “I am who I am,” I remind her with a smirk.

“While we’re on the subject of you,” she says slyly, “why don’t you fill me in on what happened with Mr. Fine Ass Alé.”

“Really? That’s the best you could come up with?” I tease. “Nothing happened.”

“Nothing?” she asks surprised.

“Nothing
.” I shrug. “That I can remember,” I add quietly.

“Ah ha!” she smiles, pointing her finger at me.

“Ya’ mind watchin’ the road, please?” I nearly shriek as the car starts to drift.

“She softly corrects it before telling me, “
Spill it.”

I sigh loudly so she gets the hint that I don’t really want to. “Not much to spill since pretty much the last thing I remember is you all hot and
heavy with Tommy in the booth.”

“OMG
, Jo! So much happened!” she shrieks. “God, how do you do that?”

“What?” I ask confused.

“Drink so much that you blackout, or nearly blackout, and yet you never puke?” she asks in all seriousness. “Or die?” she adds.

“I don’t know. I don’t puke
.” I shrug. “Eve was the puker. I was the hangover bitch.” I turn to look out of the side of the car. The top and windows are all down, and the feeling of a warm breeze against my face is refreshing.
Free
.

“Must be nice for those mornings you wake up and are horrified by the sight
lying next to you,” she says with a grin. I just shake my head.
Only Addison
.

“So, what
did
happen last night?” I ask. My curiosity piqued.

“Well, we ended up spending the rest of the night hanging out and dancing with
Alé and Tommy. His Dad and uncle left shortly after Cam left. Speaking of Cam,” she rambles on, “he was super pissed.”

“Huh? When? About what?” I ask. Did he seriously call her to tell
my
best friend of our fight?

“Last night. We bailed on him. And when you do decide to clean the cobwebs from your vajayjay, it’s never with him,” she pushes are bottom lip out in a mocking pout.

“That’s,” I freeze. “True. But he’s my friend. My business partner. I would never risk that! Besides, he’s not my type. I just…” I trail off shaking my head, moving my bangs out of my face, “I don’t see him like that.
But
I got into it with him on the phone on my way home from Alé’s,” I tell her.

“
Alé’s?” she says confused.

“Yeah, I’m training his sister
, Maria. She’s getting married in a few months and decided it’s time to change a few things,” I tell her. I’m actually super proud of Maria for making that step.

“Yeah, so shouldn’t you be saying, Maria’s? Not,
Alé’s?” She smirks.

“
Ugh. Whatever. It’s the same place.”

“Mmhmm.”

“Okay, so he’s super-hot! But he’s arrogant. And there’s just something about him… I couldn’t even tell you what, but it’s not what I’m looking for,” I tell her before she gets any crazy ideas in her head.

She pulls into a free parking spot before unbuckling her belt and turning to me. Grabbing my hand she looks at me with almost what I would
call pity. “Honey, you always do this.”

“Do what?” I pull back, unsure of where she’s going with this.

“Push men away. You don’t have sex unless you’re completely wasted. I mean, last night should have been a time to remember if the sounds from the room you and Alé were in are any indication,” she teases.

“Shut up!” I slap her hand lightly. “Was I loud? Oh, my God, people heard me?” I freak, my hands cover the
embarrassment on my cheeks.

“Yeah, kinda,” she laughs. “But you weren’t the only one,” she winks.

“Alé’s loud?” I ask a little weirded out. He said he talked dirty to me.
And that I liked it
. Did they hear that?

“No! I didn’t hear
Alé… vocally.” She laughs. “
I
was loud!”

“Oh! Yeah, I knew that. I think the whole world knows that!”

“Do you remember Alé and Tommy standing up for you last night?” she questions.

I jerk my head back a little shocked. “Tommy? Tommy hates me. He was rude the entire time,” I remind her.

With a puzzled look she says, “Honey, you guys got a long great last night. In fact, Alé was a little jealous over it until I told him he had nothing to worry about. You’re just friendly with everyone.”

“Really?” I’m shocked. I really didn’t think Tommy and I hit it off on
any
level.

“So…
what did they have to stick up for me for?” I go back to the original conversation.

“Oh, some guy you fucked and ran from a few months ago saw you. Got in your face, called you a whore, and a cunt because you didn’t remember him and you ran before he could even talk to you the next morning.” She says it so casually it’s a little unnerving.

“Oh, my God. Cam’s right,” I whisper, my fingers resting on the outside corners of my eyes. “I’m a whore,” I shake my head.

“No. No, Joey, you’re not a whore. And I don’t want to ever hear you say that again, or I’ll kick your ass!” she warns me. “Jo, listen to me,” she orders. I lift my chin until our eyes are level
. She grabs my hands with hers and rests them on the arm console between us. “You have a very valid reason for why you do it. I get it. But, eventually, you need to find a way to get through it. You’re too good to let it control you. You
deserve
to be happy. You
deserve
to have a man love you. Like
really
love you. You know? Like a soul mate. Like those book boyfriends we read about. And I know that book boyfriends don’t really exist. Everyone’s flawed,” she rolls her eyes, “but perfect for
you
does exist. You just have to stop running.”

I pull my hands from hers and turn forward in my seat
. I wipe a few tears that escaped. I’m a little dumbfounded. I mean, I told Addison about my past one night in college after we got drunk drinking a few cheap bottles of wine in our dorm room. But we never really talked about it after that. She never brought it up or said shit about it to me. I’m taken aback that she did after all this time.

“Let’s go,” I tell her as I start to get out of the car.

“Jo?” she says quietly.

“Yeah?” I ask as I turn and shut the door. Watching her get out, she turns to shut her door, smiles at me, and says, “I’d never let you turn into a whore. You get laid like
every two months or so. If anything, you’re kinda a prude.” She winks and laughs as she walks around the car toward me. She slides an arm through mine, and says, “I love the shit outta you, Joey.” She squeezes my arm before collecting herself.