Player (2 page)

But this was different.

This was Fitzy.

Once again, fuck me.

Chapter Three

James

“What can I get you?”

I smiled charmingly at the waitress. I’d been watching her since we sat down. She’d taken her sweet ass time getting over here.

Those long legs of hers had basically fucking strolled across the room. Almost like she was being dragged over. She hadn’t even glanced our way as she tended to all her other tables.

I noticed she hadn’t bothered to introduce herself either. None of that chirpy waitress talk that I was used to. Zero feminine wiles.

But damn, if she didn’t look good.

Grouchy, but good.

Really, really good.

I smiled at her, hoping to cut to the chase.

“Hi sweetheart. What’s your name?”

She stared at me, a look of incredulity on her face.

Then slowly, in the most condescending way possible, she lifted her finger and poked her chest.

Right on her fucking name tag.

Nadine.

I almost laughed. She was being such a bitch, it was like she didn’t want our money. But she was going to get it anyway.
 

A really, really big tip.

My tip, if I had anything to say about it.
 

I leaned back, letting my eyes slide down her body while everyone else ordered. By the time she turned to me, I’d leisurely inspected every inch of her. Twice.

She knew it too, judging from the bright red blush staining her cheeks.

The glare I was getting would have deterred a lesser man.

But I liked challenges.

Hell, I fucking lived for them.

And this one had a sweet ass reward at the end. I smirked, imagining her underneath me. I’d make her squeal for me.

I liked the sound of that.

I handed her my menu, making sure our fingers touched. She froze, staring at my hand on hers. Tingles shot up my arm. And that was just from our fingers touching.

I couldn’t wait to see what happened when we bumped nasties.

Nadine

Men were idiots.

Dogs.

PIGS.

And James Fitzgerald was the worst of the bunch.

The King of the Morons.

UGH!

I put the order in and went to pick up their drinks. They were all drinking beer except Fitz. He had been staring at my tits when he ordered his soda. I wanted to pour it over his damn head!

I smiled to myself suddenly.

Maybe I should.

All I had to do was trip…

I shook my head. I needed this job. I couldn’t risk it over a guy- especially one who didn’t know I was alive until he noticed my boobs! To think I’d once thought he was special! He was just like every other guy on the planet.

Gross.

I carried the tray over and handed out mugs and two pitchers of beer. I went back and forth to the bar twice to get everything. James kept checking out my ass every time I bent over. I could feel his eyes on me. It was almost like he was touching me.

I couldn’t help myself. I slammed his drink down but it only made him chuckle. Then I hurried into the back to hide.

Damn him.

I felt hot and cold all over. Nervous. Angry. Excited.

I realized I was on the verge of tears. Not sad tears. Angry tears.

Very, very angry.

Nobody got under my skin. Not the drunks who tried to paw me here. Not the rich kids on campus who took college for granted. Not even the girls who threw money around like it was nothing.

James had gotten under my skin without doing a damn thing. All he’d had to do was look at me. Express interest… it’s too bad he couldn’t have done that when I really needed it.

Back then, I would have done anything for him.

But now? Hell to the no.

I almost laughed when I realized he was about to get the surprise of his life.

Girls bent over backwards for him. They always had. But tonight, things were not going to go well for him.

At all.

Fitzy was just going to have to deal with disappointment.

“Order up Nadine!”

I’d been mindlessly cleaning the sides station when Dave called out my order. I swallowed, brushing my cheeks. They were dry.

Good.

I never cried.

Not since I was eleven and my mom’s boyfriend had given my dog away. That was the last time. I swore I would never cry again.

Except sometimes I woke up with wet cheeks.

I guess even I couldn’t keep my demons at bay in my dreams.

Chapter Four

James

“You’re in my E-Con class.”

The waitress froze as she bent forward, placing my ribs in front of me. She was so close I could smell her hair. I inhaled deeply. Vanilla and something else… Something warm and spicy. Edible. Cinnamon maybe.

Fuck, she smelled good.

Good enough to eat.

Abruptly she straightened up. Right as I’d been about to reach out and touch her. She gave me a look of pure disdain.

“Yeah, so?”

“So, how do you work here and go to school full-time?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. She was pissed. It just made her look sexier.

“How do you play ball and go to school full-time?”

I leaned back, grinning at her.

“So, you do know who I am.”

She rolled her eyes and stomped away, not even bothering to ask us if we needed anything else.

She was a terrible waitress.

The worst I’d ever had. The other guys had even noticed, and they didn’t notice much. It was almost as if she had taken a dislike to me.

Me, in particular.

It didn’t matter. I wanted her. And I was going to have her.

I ate my food, enjoying watching the girl try to avoid my gaze. She was a feisty little thing. I liked that.

I liked it a lot.

I licked my fingers, imagining it was her I was licking. She had lots of different yummy parts I’d like to get my tongue on. She glanced over and scowled at me. It was almost as if she knew what I was thinking.

Fuck, with those piercing eyes, maybe she did.

By the time she brought over the check, my cock felt like it was going to tear its way through my jeans. It lurched as she stood there, avoiding my eyes. I needed to get home and spank it.

Fuck, I needed to go to the bathroom and spank it. Or the car. I groaned, realizing how much longer I was going to have to wait to rub this one out.

Getting home with a car full of guys was going to be torture.

It’s too bad she seemed uninclined to take me in the back and provide relief… a lot of girls wanted to blow me just for kicks. Just for the story. Our pretty little waitress was definitely not in that category.

I had a sudden vision of her scratching the fuck out of me during sex. Biting too. Damn, if that didn’t sound good.

“Can I get you anything else?”

Everyone said no. She started to rip off the check and I grabbed her wrist, holding it.

“How about your number sweetheart?”

She narrowed her eyes at me and shook me off. Then she slowly peeled off the check and let it flutter to the table. She leaned towards me and crooked her finger. I leaned in eagerly, not seeing the mocking look on her face until it was too late.

“Sorry Fitzy. You’re just not my type.”

The guys started laughing. I cursed and stood up. Fuck it.

I’d try again tomorrow.

No girl had ever turned me down before.

Fuck if I’d let her get the last word.

Well, maybe if the last word was ‘Yes Fitzy, please Fitzy, oh God YES Fitzy!’

Then and there, I decided. This girl was going down.

By the end of the week, I was gonna own her ass.

Nadine

I woke up, a scream on my lips. I touched them. I could never tell if I’d really screamed or not.

I’d had the dream again.

It was not so much a dream as a memory. Of the night I ran away. It had been a while since I had it though. Seeing James must have brought it back.

He was just another ghost from a time that I didn’t care to revisit.

I shook my head, trying to banish him, and rolled over. My body was sore from standing on my feet all day and night for weeks. It felt like I’d been unable to rest for months really.

Years
.

I glanced at my phone.

5:40 am.

There was no way I was getting back to sleep before my 6 am wake up call. I decided to take a long, hot shower and blow dry my hair. Something I rarely had the leisure time to do.

I rolled to my feet and into my shoes.

With all the creepy crawlies I’d seen in this place, I never went barefoot. Ever.

I grabbed my little bucket of toiletries and shuffled towards the bathroom, thoughts of shaving and loofahs, and actually taking time to condition my hair floating through my head.

Maybe I’d even put on make up for once.

I pushed the door open and froze.

The bathroom was a disaster. Towels on the floor, hair in the drain, a ring in the tub. Even the wastebasket was overflowing.

Disgusting.

I sighed, realizing my extra fifteen minutes was going to be spent cleaning this mess up. It wasn’t enough time to really even do it justice, but fuck me if I was going to step into a dirty shower.

I grabbed the can of scrubbing powder and a clean sponge. I got to work, feeling a sense of accomplishment as the dirt disappeared under my hands.

Twenty minutes later I stepped out of my short, unsatisfactory shower. At least I was clean. And the bathroom was less horrifying than it had been.

I towel dried my hair and stuck my wet feet back into my sneakers. Then I shuffled back into the kitchen to change. A clean pair of jeans, bra, t-shirt and my ancient denim jacket. It was worn through in spots but I loved that stupid old thing. Then I grabbed my bag, not forgetting to shove a can of cat food inside.

Honeysuckle was waiting for me as usual.

Each time I saw her, my heart melted just a little bit. Most of the time, I made myself stay hard. I had to.

I spent the rest of the day dealing with assholes and reminding myself how shitty life was for someone like me.
 

Toughening up.

It was vital that I kept a thick skin.

Especially today.

It had been in the back of my mind all morning. There as no use denying it. I was dreading and looking forward to it in equal measure.

Today I had my economy class.

I’d known he was there of course. The moment I walked in the door during the first class. I’d seen him and I’d felt my heart leap into my throat.

But I’d been careful to sit out of his sight lines. I hadn’t stared at him, or even spared him more than a glance. Even though I’d wanted to.

Tall, dark hair, blue as sky eyes.
 

Damned if he wasn’t the best looking boy I’d ever laid eyes on.

Scratch that. He was a man now.

Boy was he ever.

And now that he’d noticed me, there was no way I was going to be able to avoid him. I could drop the class. But then I’d lose the money and the credits. And my scholarship might be in danger.

Still, I seriously considered it for a minute.

Then again he could just come into BB Smith’s any time he wanted to eat ribs, or hit on the surly waitress. I hadn’t dissuaded him by being rude. No, it had the opposite effect.

Somehow, I’d made myself into a challenge for the mighty, mighty James Fitzgerald.

Fuck that! I was not about to let myself be turned into a prize!

I stood on the steps leading to the E-Con building for almost ten minutes, willing myself to go in. I was nervous, yes. But I was also feeling a strange sense of excitement. That pissed me off.

I didn’t want to want to see him.

That’s when I felt it.

A hand slide up against my lower back.

“Well, well, well.”

Speak of the fucking devil.

I turned sharply, trying to dislodge his hand. Instead I ended up smashing my nose into his chest. He grinned at me, his body throwing off waves of heat.

“Waiting for me?”

“You wish.”

I rolled my eyes, trying to step away. But he boxed me in against the wall of the building. His thick arms creating a blockade on either side of me. His hand came up and stroked my cheek.

Despite myself, I felt a thrill at his touch.
 

The bastard.

“I do wish.”

My mouth opened. The man had nerve. He really did. He cocked an eyebrow at me, still grinning like a predator.

“So what is your type?”

I tilted my head to stare at him coldly. Even though inside I was hot.

Very, very hot.

“Someone who doesn’t make me late for class.”

James was staring at my lips. Like he might kiss me. For a second, I almost hoped he would.

Then he stepped back abruptly and opened his arms.

“By all means, let’s go to class.”

Chapter Five

James

I leaned back in my seat, letting my arm slide across the chair beside me. Nadine glared at me, but I didn’t care. I had three blissful hours of sitting beside her, touching her, smelling her.

And she was hating every second of it.

For some reason, that just made it more fun.

I tilted my head to the side so that my lips almost brushed her ear.

“Where are you from?”

She ignored me, trying to focus on the professor. So I upped my game, running one finger along her neck. I smirked when she scooted to the side, making the guy on her left turn to look at her.

The guy did a double take, his eyes raking over her. He smiled at her like she was a delicious little morsel.

Which of course, she was.

Now it was my turn to get annoyed. Nadine gave me a look and then smiled flirtatiously at the guy.

He had no idea that his life was in imminent danger.

I reached down and dragged her chair up against mine, making a loud noise. People turned to stare and I waved at them. Then I slung my arm around her and stared straight ahead, focusing on the class.

That should make sure every guy in here knew she was off limits.

She elbowed me and I ignored her. Finally she gave up and went back to listening to the lecture. I grinned, enjoying the feel of her sexy little body pressed against my side.