Song Chaser (Chasers) (36 page)

“That’s what I thought, you can’t do it.” She turns once more to walk into Diggs, her head held high in triumph. I almost let her walk away, but I refuse to let her win
. I can do this.
I’m ready for a change and I don’t need anyone, especially not McKenzie, to tell me what I can and cannot do. I grab her hand and whip her back to face me again.

“No! I can do it. Like I said, it’s really not that big of a deal. In fact, I’m stoked to prove you wrong,” I lie, shaking her hand like I’m the cockiest bitch in the world.

McKenzie smiles, her eyebrow still raised at me. “Great. Now, what are the terms?”

I snort, “Terms? What terms?”

“Of the bet,” she states matter-of-factly.

I roll my eyes at her and try to lead her toward Diggs where she’ll hopefully drink too much to remember this conversation, but she blocks me from walking past her. “I’m serious! What are the terms? What do you want if you win?” she asks.

I sigh, frustrated that I’m not two shots in at this point. “Fine! If I win, I get those bad ass glittery pumps of yours,” I say, hoping this strikes a nerve.

“My Jimmy Choos?!” I think she might faint as she clutches her dress over where her heart is. I laugh in response and urge her to finish this craziness so we can drink.

“Yes, so what about you? What do you want if you win, which you won’t by the way,” I add in, crossing my arms and waiting for her response.

McKenzie steps close enough to me that I can hear her without her having to scream over the music. She’s stopped laughing and she leans in to look me in the eyes, “If I win, you have to tell me the
real
reason why you’re a tag chaser. Not the bullshit answer you always give me before you change the subject, but the real one.” She steps back from me and her eyes are softer now, the way they are when I need her to eat a gallon of Moose Tracks ice cream and watch
The Notebook
with me after a bad week. Wow, what a best friend I am.

I almost call the bet off, anything to avoid bringing up my past that really means nothing to me anymore. I don’t want to think about Dad or Mom or any of it, but I want to win this – to prove her wrong. I nod in agreement, and add in one final question, “Okay, but when do we judge who’s won? We obviously can’t wait out my entire life because I want to wear those pumps before my age exceeds my bust size.”

McKenzie laughs, tossing her blonde hair behind her again. “And I don’t want to have to put in my hearing aide to learn what I should already know about my best friend,” she chimes in. I feel shitty again seeing the truth in her eyes behind that statement. The only person who knows anything about the real reason behind my dating preferences is Tanner, my best guy friend from college. I think it always upset McKenzie that I was closer to Tanner than I was to her, at least until he left for grad school.  I wonder if I should just make something up to tell her so she’ll feel more connected, but that would probably make me even worse of a person. God, I’m such an asshole sometimes.

“Okay, so how about a month?”

“A month!? That’s nothing!” McKenzie yells back, obviously not satisfied with my proposal.

“So what then?”

“A year. One full year of no tag chasing.”

I grit my teeth at her response. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea, how am I going to stay away from the one type of guy I’ve found solitude in for the past four years? I sigh, so eager for a drink at this point that I would agree to sell my kidney, “Fine. One year. Now, Ms. I-need-a-drink-but-not-until-I-harrass-my-best-friend-about-stupid-shit, can we please go inside?”

McKenzie links arms with me and smiles like she’s won a wet t-shirt contest, “Yes we can. And I’ll buy your first shot to make up for the loss of time.”

“There’s my best friend!”

We both laugh, but inside I feel like banging my head into a wall. What did I just get myself into?

*     *     *

Diggs is a little bar on Church Street with loud music and decently priced drinks. Compared to all the other places downtown it’s practically free. McKenzie and I found it on the night of our graduation when we were stumbling from bar to bar to see how many wristbands we could get in one night. I remember we were both wearing our grad caps and yelling in the streets, “We’re the smartest bitches alive!” Needless to say, no one else was quite as amused as we were.

It’s been our favorite spot ever since. I’m not sure if it’s the drinks, the local art strewn all over, or the fact that most of the employees know our names but we’ve made it our regular spot. Thursday night is our favorite night to come because it’s ladies night which means free everything. We may have day jobs, but who can say no to free? Plus, they have the best burgers in town which makes for the perfect drunk food.

“Hey ladies,” Drew says as he slaps wristbands on us. “You both look stunning, as usual.” McKenzie bends to give him a kiss on the cheek before practically skipping inside, “Race you to the rum!” I shake my head and laugh with Drew before following her inside.

It’s definitely more crowded than usual, but at least there is room to breathe. I don’t see any stools open so I follow McKenzie’s lead to squeeze in at the bar for a drink. She’s leaning over trying to get Sean’s attention behind the bar and balancing on her tip toes when I see the scruffy looking guy beside us checking out her ass. I roll my eyes and try to ignore him, hoping Sean will notice her soon.

Finally, Sean gives McKenzie a nod and a smile before pouring us the usual starter – two shots of Captain. “Captain and Coke tonight, ladies?” he asks, adding a slice of lime to our shots.

“Like it’s even a question!” McKenzie laughs as she takes her shot and hands me mine. Sean starts in on making our drinks when she turns to me, “Alright, princess. Time to finally get the night started.” She lifts her shot to mine, “To you hopefully overcoming your crazy obsession with military men.”

“Here, here!” I laugh and we clink our glasses together before downing the shot. I can feel it burn in my chest as it goes down and Sean is right on cue with our drinks. As I sip from the glass I notice the guy next to McKenzie again, still eying her greedily and nudging his friend to look, too. Seriously?

I grab McKenzie’s arm and tug her away from Sean as she slides him a tip. I can see he’s enjoying her company, but I can’t stand to be near Mr. Creepster any longer, “Come on, Kenz. Let’s go dance.”

She’s draining her glass through her straw and her eyes light up as she nods, “Yes! Let’s go.” She chugs the rest of her drink and slams it down on the bar and I follow suit.

When we reach the dance floor after pushing through a few people I finally start to relax. Work has been hell all week and I’m on the verge of getting a whole new list of clients, so it’s not getting easier anytime soon. The last thing I want is any added stress or I’ll be baking up everything in my apartment tonight. Who cares that I made a bet to not date military men? I knew one day, eventually, I would have to let it go. I’m twenty-seven, I guess that day can be today. Besides, it would be nice to not date someone just because I know they aren’t permanent.

McKenzie is slowly winding her body with her eyes closed and her hands up when a waitress brings us two more drinks. We take them and cheers Sean across the room before chugging them down as well. We had a late start but getting caught up is no problem for us. As I dance, I soak in the smells of one of my favorite places – beer, smoke, and sweat. God, I’m such a class act.

I can feel the alcohol buzzing through me.  The music is thumping loud and McKenzie and I are laughing as we dance when suddenly Mr. Creepster pops up behind her. He grabs her waist and pulls her into him, grinding his pelvis on her. Usually, if the guy was hot, she wouldn’t mind. But when she sees him she steps toward me, declining his advance.

“What’s wrong baby?” he slurs, trying for me this time. “Let’s dance.”

“No thank you,” I spit back as I pull away, not even bothering to hide my disgust. Is it so hard for guys to
ask
a girl to dance anymore? Or is throwing their penis on our asses the only way now?

Creepy guy’s eyes narrow and his dirty hair falls in his face, sticking to the sweat on his forehead, as I grab McKenzie’s arm and turn to leave. Suddenly, I’m ripped back around and he’s crushing me in his grip. I can smell the tequila reeking
off his hot breath as I squirm. “You’re not going anywhere, sweetheart,” he breathes and I almost vomit from the stench. “I said I want to dance, and we’re going to dance.”

I feel my chest tighten and I try violently to squirm free but his grip locks tighter. McKenzie is pulling on the sleeve of my dress and I vaguely hear her muffled screaming. Everything is slow, morphed. The smell is so strong, overpowering every other sense. I try to scream but my voice is frozen in my throat.

Suddenly I feel arms wrap around my stomach and rip me from Creepster’s grasp. As soon as both of my feet are back on the ground I’m immediately engulfed by McKenzie’s hug and she’s checking me for wounds.

“Are you alright?!” she shrieks, pulling my arms toward her and checking me like a toddler. I’m still shaken, but this is just ridiculous. I nod in half shock, half wonder and gently push her off of me. “Yeah, yeah I’m fine,” I mumble, but my interest is now completely locked on the arms that were just wrapped around me.

And damn, are they big, muscular, incredibly sexy arms.

There’s a space forming around us as the crowd backs away. The music is killed and I can vaguely see the bouncers making their way over, but I can’t pry my eyes away from the man holding Mr. Creepster up on his toes by his shirt. He’s wearing a white t-shirt that’s blazing against his incredibly tan body and his jeans are hanging around his waist and accenting what I can only imagine is the tightest ass under the sun. I can only see the back of him and I’m mesmerized. I must look like a fucking idiot, standing here with my mouth all open but I can’t move an inch. Luckily, no one is looking at me since he’s the center of the scene, anyway. I’m sure I’m not the only one with my jaw on the floor.

“I think she made it very clear that she didn’t want to dance,” Dreamboat says, still holding Creepster inches from his face and clenching onto his shirt. Creepster doesn’t look as intimidating, now. His eyes are wide and he looks about three feet tall as he stares up at Dreamboat. I wish I could get a glance at his face, but there’s no way I’m moving from McKenzie’s side – she’s got a death grip like no one I know and right now it’s latched onto my arm. His dark chocolate hair is shining in the bar light and once again I’m locked in on him, biting my lip like a fool. I haven’t even seen this guy’s face and I want to take him home.

What is wrong with me? I was just assaulted and all I can think about is Dreamboat whisking me away. Am I having post-traumatic stress?

“Y-yes, she did. I’m s-sorry, won’t happen again. Let’s just d-drop this now and have another drink, eh?” Creepster pleads, his eyes still wide. I’m actually quite amused at the sight, even though McKenzie’s grip is still locked tight on my arm and she’s looking at the scene like she’s witnessing a drive-by shooting.

Dreamboat cle
nches his free fist and I know he’s about to throw it into this guy’s jaw. That’ll get him thrown out, and that can’t happen.

“It’s okay! I’m okay,” I scream, breaking through the crowd and throwing myself between them as much as I can. “I’m fine, really it’s all good,” I try to sound convincing as I spout out randomness. My heart is pounding in my chest so hard I think I might fall over. I have no idea what I’m doing, but I definitely don’t want to lose sight of Dreamboat. Creepster looks over at me and smiles nervously.

“See? She’s cool, man. We’re all cool. My mistake.”

Dreamboat seems to hesitate, but he lets go of Creepster’s shirt and relaxes his shoulders a bit. As soon as he releases his grip, Drew and two other bouncers are escorting Creepster out of the bar. Dreamboat melts into the crowd  as the music roars to life again. Everyone around us goes back to drinking like nothing happened at all, filling the silence with laughter and ice clinking in glasses.

I inhale a large breath as McKenzie grabs my shoulders and turns me to face her, my eyes still searching for Dreamboat, “Oh my gosh! You are crazy, you know that? You should have just let that guy have at that creep!” Her eyes are still franticly searching me for bruises.

I laugh and pull my arm away. “I’m completely fine, Kenz. Really. I promise,” I lie, still shaking a bit. “Let’s just go get a refill on these drinks. I’m completely sober after all that.”

McKenzie exhales in relief, “Okay, yeah. To the bar!” She pumps her fist into the air in declaration and I stifle a laugh.

“I’ll buy,” I hear a smooth, rich voice reply. I just about melt into a puddle right there on the dance floor but somehow manage to calmly turn around. Fierce, icy blue eyes gaze back at me, lighting my insides on fire.

“After all, I am the one who spilled your drink.”

Hello, Dreamboat.

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