Under Contract (The GEG Series) (31 page)

“Both. But she seems so confident.”

“Yeah ... she’s a great actress. Truth is, she’s very awkward around good guys, especially if she likes them.”

“Baby ... CiCi is awkward around everybody.” He laughs. I snort. He’s right.

“I can’t believe you invited everybody,” Mitch says for the millionth time as we pull up to Mick & Marley’s Pub.

“I’m not going through this again, Mitch!” I snap as I open my door.

“Hey! C’mere.” He pulls me toward him.

“What?”

“Stop. I don’t want to argue.” He caresses my left cheek. Slowly, he leans in, nudging my nose before his lips entice mine to part for him. Just as I give in to his advances, the girls pound on the hood of his Benz, making us both jump. “What the fuck?” Mitch yells at them.

“Let’s get our drink on, bitch!” CiCi bellows.

“Kyle really doesn’t know what the fuck he’s getting into.”

“Maybe CiCi won’t go for Kyle anyway.” I shrug. We both let out a big exhale to prepare ourselves, then climb out of the car.

“You know we’re totally gonna hump your girl on the floor when the band starts, right?” Julie asks him as he puts a protective arm around my shoulders.

“I’m looking forward to watching that.” He bites back his smile.

“We’re gonna give it to her, Mitch—like really, really give it to her.” She widens her eyes.

“Whatever you guys do, Julie, is no competition for what I can do, so I’d stand down if I were you,” he says, trying to be serious.

“Nobody can pound her ass like we can, Mitch.” She opens the door to the pub.

“Oh my God—shut up!” I laugh.

“Pretty sure Charlotte would disagree with you, Julie,” Mitch continues.

“Mitch, you’ve never pounded me in the ass.” I turn back to look at him as we walk in.

“Yeah, Charlotte, and I’m pretty sure Julie and the other girls haven’t, either.” He says in an exasperated tone. “It’s just a joke.”

“Oh my God! We need to leave now, guys!” CiCi turns around and makes a beeline for the door.

“Why?” I ask, eyeing Mitch.

“Because the guy over there waving us down?” She jerks her head in his direction. “I had his balls in my hand earlier.”

I grab her by the arm and pull her back. “Why do you think we’re all here, Ceese?”

“What?”

“He wanted us to meet him somewhere. He’s into you.” I waggle my eyebrows at her.

“How can he be into me? I grabbed him by the balls and twisted them!”

“And now he’s obsessed.” I laugh.

“He’s not my type.” She shakes her head.

“He’s cute.”

“He’s hot as hell.”

“What’s the problem, then?” I lower my voice and lean in toward her ear.

“He’s not my
type
,” she repeats.

“What are you talking about?”

“He has his shit together. He’s not going to want a fuckup like me.” She tries to pull away.

“You have your shit together!” I yank her back.

“Stop it! I’m not the kind of girl he’s looking for.” She fights against my hold.

“Maybe
he’s
not good enough for
you
, Ceese!” I snap and stare daggers at her. “Stop being such a pussy and get in there!”

“What’s going on here?” Julie walks over to us. CiCi’s eyes go wide, pleading with me not to say anything to Julie, who intimidates her the most because she’s just as bad as she is, if not worse.

“Nothing, we were just heading over.” I smirk at CiCi, who rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh in irritation.

The three of us head over to meet up with everyone. Kyle stands as CiCi approaches and pulls a chair out for her. He seems nervous, and she’s a little fidgety. I pull out my phone and take a picture. They both look at me.

You know when you’re in the middle of a moment you wish you could somehow capture and keep forever? I did just that. I captured the moment I realized my sister met “The One.” Of course, she doesn’t realize this yet.

She finally sits as the waitress brings our drinks.

“Mitch said you like Malibu Bay Breezes.” Kyle points to her drink.

“Uh, yeah ... thanks.” She picks it up. Kyle grabs his beer to take a swig. “How are your balls?” CiCi asks, as if this is a normal question. Kyle spits his beer out as he chokes on it. I facepalm, then elbow Mitch, whose shoulders are shaking in an attempt to hold in laughter.

“Um ... chilly, now that they’re not being warmed in your lovely palm.” He gives her a half smile.

“If you’re just looking to fuck me—you can forget it!” she says, challenging him.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Kyle quips.

She thinks for a moment. “For now,” she finally says, then grabs his beer. She takes a swig and leans back in her chair. Kyle signals the waitress to ask for another round of beers. When she brings them, Kyle grabs one and leans back in his chair as well, his eyes glued to CiCi. And so begins their stare down. I’ve never seen anything like it.

Swig.

Stare.

Swig.

Stare.

There goes that imaginary tumbleweed rolling through again.

The local band that was setting up when we arrived finally starts playing.

“Let’s go, girls! I can’t watch these two eye fuck anymore!” Julie gets up and looks at us. We all get up. “Did you climax yet, Ceese?” Julie asks, extending a hand to her.

“C’mon, Julie, you know it takes a lot of work to get me to climax,” she says, not taking her eyes off Kyle. He licks his lips and takes another swig of beer. CiCi grabs Julie’s hand and stands.

Kyle stands, then grabs her free hand as she walks away and turns her back toward him. He pulls her to him ‘til they’re nose to nose.

“I’m a very hard worker, Ceese,” he says over the music. “There are no limits, no boundaries that I won’t push to get the sweet end result I’m looking for.” Kyle sweeps her lips quickly. CiCi stands there—paralyzed, I think. I’ve never seen my sister speechless. “Go dance with your friends, beautiful,” he says before leaning near her ear and nipping at her lobe. I stand in a trance, like I’m watching my fucking soaps, ‘til Mitch smacks my ass to get me going. I grab my sister and drag her to the floor.

“Holy shit, Ceese, that was hot as hell. That was like a Mitch move.” I look back at them and see Ava and Trent walk in. The men shake hands and Ava runs up to us.

“So, you’re the guy who’s going to impregnate my girl?” I ask Trent as we sit.

“Wait.
What?
” Kyle turns his attention away from CiCi.

“Yeah, this dude’s gonna get Charlotte pregnant.” I’m trying to tease, but it’s hard. I’m still pretty pissed.

“Mitch, Ava told me you were cool with this,” Trent says, sounding unsure.

“I’m cool with it, man. I’m not as cool with Charlotte being the incubator. That’s the selfish prick in me, though. I’ll get over it.” I reach across the table and slap his shoulder.

“Again ...
what
?” Kyle whacks my shoulder.

“Charlotte is going to be the surrogate for Trent and Ava,” I say, then drink some beer.

If it weren’t for the band, you could have heard the faint sound of crickets. Kyle is speechless, his eyes wide, and Trent looks uncomfortable as hell. “Trent, what do you do for work?” I wave at the waitress for another round.

“I’m a computer scientist. I—”

Kyle cuts him off. “Dude, for what company?”

“Gen-Tek in Boston,” Trent says. He seems a bit taken aback.

“You like it there?” I ask.

“It pays the bills.”

“So you hate it there?” Kyle asks and smacks me on the arm. I see the wheels a-turnin’.

“I have been passed up five times for promotions that should’ve been handed to me on a silver platter,” he finally says, giving in. “Motherfuckers!”

Okay. I think he’s pissed off.

“Trent, polish up your resume and bring it in to us! We’re always looking for computer research scientists,” Kyle offers.

“What company are you guys with?”

“Colton Technologies,” we say at the same time.

“You think you can get me in there?”

“We may be able to pull a string or two.” Kyle shrugs. “As long as you can show us that you can bring it. Colton Technologies only hires the best and the most dedicated.”

“I’m their man then, Kyle!” He nods and glances at the dance floor. “Ha! Looks like CiCi’s nabbed a real winner there.” He jerks his head in her direction. Kyle and I both turn to look.

“What the fuck?” Kyle asks angrily and jumps up from his seat, knocking his chair back.

You know that moment when you ask yourself why the fuck it has to be
your
friend who causes a bar fight? Yeah, I’m having that moment right now. I jump up and run after Kyle. Too late!

“Get the
fuck
off of her!” He pulls this huge lumberjack-looking dude away from CiCi.

“Fuck off and mind your own damn business!” CiCi yells, trying to act like she was okay with this dude manhandling her.

“You heard the lady,” Lumberjack says, and grabs Kyle’s shirt. He pulls his fist back—only Kyle goes all ninja on his ass. Within two minutes, the guy is down and out. Kyle is still in his tae kwon—
who the fuck is this dude I’ve been working with for ten years?—
do stance, just waiting for somebody else to attack. Apparently, nobody is dumb enough to join their buddy on the floor. Kyle straightens himself out and walks over to CiCi.

“When you’re ready to be treated like a real woman and not a fucking lady of the night, call me!” He pulls a business card out of his wallet and flings it at her. “I’m outta here, Mitch.” He heads to the bar, where he throws down a few hundreds. “For your trouble,” he says to the bartender.

“Man, what are you doing?” I grab his money.

“That’s what they do in the movies when a fight breaks out,” he says. He looks flustered, cursing under his breath with his chest heaving as he glances back at CiCi.

“This isn’t the movies, for one. Two, you didn’t destroy any property. C’mon, man, you need to walk this off. Actually, we should all leave before the cops get here.” I slap his back and wave for the others to come with us.

“One thing is for sure, Mitch,” he starts when we get outside.

“What’s that?” I grab his keys.

“We’re no longer boring.” He watches CiCi walk out.

“I guess not.” I nod. “Let me drive you to Charlotte’s so you can cool off.”

“Fine.” He sighs and climbs into his Lexus GX 460.

I throw Charlotte my keys. “Take her to your house.”

“Okay,” she says, then mouths, “Sorry.” I wink at her.

“Mitch, what the fuck kind of game was she playing?” he yells.

“I told you to buckle in with her, man. She’s going to give you a run for your money.” I start the car.

“I just don’t get it.”

“Okay. This is between you and me—you got it?” I glance over at him.

“Yeah, of course!”

“CiCi tends to go out with guys that don’t really deserve her. I guess some supposedly nice guy in college really did a number on her, so she trusts the good guys less than the bad. Do you understand?” It’s hard speaking “chick” to my buddy.

“I guess. I don’t know. Should I be a badass, then?”

“I think you covered that back there, sensei. What the fuck was that shit? You went all ninja warrior on that guy.” I still can’t believe what I saw. “I’m gonna call you ‘Bruce’ from now on!”

“I’ve trained in karate all of my life. I’m a 10
th
-dan black belt.”

“Whatever that means.” I chuckle.

“It’s the highest level. Listen, what am I going to do about her?”

“You still want to pursue her?” I ask in disbelief.

“You ever know me to quit on something? I want her, man. I know she wants me, too.” He lays his head back against the headrest. I pull up to Charlotte’s, and she drives around me and into the driveway.

“Drive CiCi home.” I turn his SUV off and hand him the keys. We both get out and head to my car. CiCi closes her door and turns, only to realize Kyle and I are both there.

“I’m going inside,” she says quietly to Charlotte.

“No, you’re not.” I gently grip her wrist. “Kyle is taking you home,” I say when she turns back to me.

“No, he’s not. If I were you, Mitch, I wouldn’t push it with me right now. You’re still on my shit list!” she snaps and pulls her arm away.