Struck By You: Players (7 page)

“Why are you crying?”

“I’m not, I told you.”

“I saw you cry Monday. I know you’re crying, question is why?”

I grabbed my towel and got out of the shower. I dried myself and went back to the bedroom to get dressed.

My hands were shaking so badly I couldn’t do the buttons of my blouse. I got frustrated with it so I threw it on the floor and grabbed a t-shirt instead, not realizing he had been standing there witnessing my breakdown. I looked at him and went back to the kitchen to finish my breakfast.

“I think it’s safe to say we both have serious issues,” he said as he sat down next to me.

     “Yeah well, who doesn’t?” I replied. “Anyway, let’s get this cleaned up and get out of here,” I said, taking my plate and putting inside the dishwasher.

By the time we left my condo it was nearly 11:00 a.m. We got in my car and we set out in our way.

     “Where are we going?” he asked as I jumped on the highway. Truth was, I had no clue but it was nearly the end of summer and I wanted something fun to do, then it came to me. I looked at him and smiled as I drove faster.

Half an hour later, we were outside Canada’s Wonderland. “I hope you have a strong stomach,” I teased as we entered the park.

     “I haven’t been here since I was a kid,” he said smiling wide.

     “Ditto,” I replied.

We spent the entire day at the park and stayed later for the fireworks. We had an obscene amount of junk food and we both seemed to forget our troubles for the time being.
He drove back to my place because I got a little too much sun and felt a bit ill. He loaded me up with water so I wouldn’t dehydrate. By the time we drove into my garage, I felt better. I didn’t have to ask him to stay, he did so willingly and we spent the night pretty much doing what we had done the past two days.

The next morning I woke up alone. I got up and looked around my apartment to see if he had left anything he would come back for, but he didn’t. I also remembered I didn’t have his number or his address. I waited for about an hour, sitting on my couch staring out the window and I realized he wasn’t coming back.
He’d left sometime early in the morning because the last time I checked my clock, it was four a.m. and he was still lying next to me.

     The worst part of it all was that today, I actually felt sick and I had to go to work at both places.

Chapter 8
Mason

    
I
had a lot of messages in my voice mail and texts I had to go through when I got home. Most of them were call backs from women and a bunch of angry ones from Tanner.

I was quickly going through deleting them when I had an incoming call from my brother.

“Where the fuck have you been?” he yelled.

     “Around,” I replied.

“You completely stiffed Carl and me on Monday. You could have sent me a text. I’d cancel for pussy as well you know, but I’d at least let you know.”

“What do you want, Tanner?” I asked. I was in no mood to talk to him.

“Well, Carl got us a permanent in at The Palace and we’re going again this Friday.”

“No.”

“No? What do you mean ‘no’?” he asked.

“I’m not going.”

     “Fuck you, you’re coming. I’m bringing some other people. Dude, we got a private booth assigned to us. Carl is a rock star. Besides, you stood me up you mother fucker.”

“It’s not really my style. I have some shit to do around here and I have jobs to apply for. Dad told me to fuck off for now.”

Tanner was silent for a moment and he sighed. “I knew he was going to that, he’s an asshole, I’ve been telling you that for years,” he began, “and I need you to hook me up with that yoga instructor. I looked for her for me last Friday but she was nowhere.”

“She’s not a stripper, you ass.”

“You asked her, oh you got balls!”

“She’s a bartender.”

“Shit, even better. Introduce me.”

“Stay the fuck away from her,” I warned.

“Well if you don’t come Friday, you’ll never know now, will you?” and he hung up.

Tanner could be such an asshole sometimes. Like my father, he was a master womanizer. He looked exactly like me but dark-haired, slightly dark skinned and slightly taller. Tanner was competitive, not only in his career but at school, at sports, and with women.

When we were younger, he would purposely go after the girls I found attractive and made damn sure I knew when he conquered. “Woo them, wine them, fuck ‘em, leave them,” he would say and turn it into some sort of lesson for me to learn. He eventually stopped when I started college and I kicked his ass one day when he slept with a girl I had my eye on and her best friend in one night. So now I wouldn’t put it past him to try and hook up with Riley.

Riley. I left her place in the early hours of the morning. Sneaked out like I’ve done with many. I spent so much time with her that I couldn’t recognize myself anymore. And what was the point of all that? After the last time we were intimate, I stayed up watching her sleep and then it struck me that I couldn’t continue holding her hostage for my benefit. I was leading her on just to get a taste of what it was like to have a relationship with a woman, but I know deep down I’m just like my dad and my brother –  monogamy was not in my genetics.
Still, I couldn’t get her out of my head and now that my brother wanted a piece of her, I wasn’t about to let that happen.

Friday night came fast. My brother had a nice entourage with him this time. College buddies, work colleagues and friends made up our group of nine rich guys willing to throw money away to have a good time. Once again we were at the VIP line, and once again we were at the front of the line.

     Like clockwork, the limos and luxury cars began to drive in and just like last weekend, the black Camaro with the music blaring came roaring in and stopped fast near the front door.

My brother punched me in the arm – he’d seen it too.

She came out of the car wearing her beige trench coat. Her hair was down, some of it up and curls surrounding her face. She turned around and my mouth went dry when I saw her face. She smiled wide for the valet as she handed the keys to him. I could read her lips telling him to be take care of her baby. She adjusted her hair and the wind opened her coat revealing what she was wearing under it tonight. She wore a deep red corset with very short black leather shorts and high-heeled black boots.

My brother whistled loud. “Take the coat off blondie!” he yelled as his friends cheered on.

     She looked our way and saw me immediately, her smile quickly fading and she began to make her way toward to door. My asshole brother kept telling her to remove her coat and there was not a goddamn thing I could say or do to stop him from making an ass of himself and me.  She gave the security guard a hug and she turned again to look at us, at me.
She smiled wickedly and took her coat off, turning around to give us a show and strutting different provocative poses, and she had all the guys hollering. She continued the charade for a few seconds, until the security guard opened the entrance door for her. As she walked through the glass door, she turned to look at me once again and gave me the finger.  

Our private booth had a clear view of the stage and it was very close to the main bar where she worked.

     As soon as we were seated, Paul the owner came to greet us.
     “Hello boys, welcome to The Palace,” he said, shaking my hand and Tanner’s. “If there’s anything you need, and I mean anything, don’t hesitate to get one of these beautiful ladies to come and get me.”

     “Actually Paul, there is something you can do for me because my chicken shit brother won’t,” said Tanner. “Your bartender, the hot ass in the red corset, can you get her to serve us tonight?” he said, passing Paul a hundred-dollar bill.

Paul looked at the money and put it back on the table. “I’m sorry, but she’s not a waitress,” said Paul.

     “Oh c’mon Pauly, I got another four where that came from,” said Tanner.

     “Fuck off Tanner,” I said.

Paul shook his head. “Sorry Tanner, she’s not for sale.”

“A grand,” Tanner insisted.

Paul’s face changed from pleasant to angry really quickly. “I did your stepfather a huge favor letting the two of you in here. You think I don’t know about the two of you, but word gets around. You spoiled, over-privileged, philandering pricks. So I’m telling you now, my head bartender is not for sale, not for a grand, not for a million. Stay the fuck away from her, you hear me?” he said. “Have yourselves a good night.” And then he left us.

My brother burst out in laughter as Paul walked away.
I excused myself and went to the bathroom but in reality, I just wanted to leave.

Paul’s words kept repeating in my head over and over again and I was sure Riley was going to get wind of it. I knew she and Paul were close friends and she would think I was in on it.

     As soon I walked out of the bathroom, she was coming down the hallway. “Hi Riley,” I said, but she looked angry and stopped dead in her tracks in front of me. “Riley, sorry about my brother, he’s an ass…” I began to say when she slapped me across the face.

“You’re nothing but an egotistical little boy with money. Grow up and stay away from me,” she said between her teeth and walked back to the bar.

I left the bar immediately after that. I didn’t bother telling Tanner or the boys. I went to coat check, got my coat and left.

 
 
Chapter 9

    
I
t had been nearly three weeks since Mason. The Monday after the last time I saw him, he called in and cancelled his membership at the spa.

I never did tell my sister, Jamie or anyone for that matter what had happened between us. After all, what had really happened? We were intimate a bunch of times and then he left without explanation and showed me his true colors at Paul’s bar.

My father’s sixty-fifth birthday celebration and retirement party was tonight. It had gone from a small birthday party to a gala at the Royal York, courtesy of my sister and her husband.

My father owned an accounting firm his entire life, but like with any small business owner, he had no chance of retirement any time soon. So Serena’s husband stepped in, bought him out and took Jones Accounting under his wing and name. Eric made my father a very lucrative offer with profit share, and dad was a happy man after it was all said and done.

     I bought myself a long black velvet dress with a rhinestone detail on the neckline, an embellished waistline and a rather large slit at the front. I also got myself a new pair of platform pumps with matching rhinestone detail and I wore my hair in a ballerina bun.

     My sister arranged for a limo to pick us up, so when I got inside, mom and dad were already in there.

“So does anyone have the final tally on the guest list?”

“Two hundred fifty mentioned your sister. Eric invited many of his associates to the event,” said my mother and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. Mason or his brother were the last men on earth I wanted to see tonight and I hoped to hell Eric hadn’t invited them.

     I walked into the gala with my parents but I quickly lost them as they mingled with the crowd. I walked around looking for a familiar face but I knew no one other than some family.

“Riley,” I heard my sister call out. She was coming toward me with Eric in toe.

“You look stunning,” said my sister, giving me a hug.

“Thanks, I don’t think dad was too impressed with my dress,” I joked.

“If he only knew huh,” she joked.

They told me which table we were sitting at and they left me to go mingle.

     I grabbed a glass of white wine as one of the servers was going by and I walked around to find my table. Luckily it was nearly dinner time and I hadn’t seen either of the Hayes boys around. So I sat down and relaxed while I played with my phone.

“I’d recognize those legs anywhere,” someone said and I looked up to find Paul standing there, grinning at me. I got up and gave him a hug.