chapter 15
Z
Holding Izzy felt so good. It just felt like we fit together. I could have held her forever, but Mel and Flynn’s fight started escalating. I looked down at Izzy and wondered if she was game to play referee.
“How about a game of pool?” I asked her.
She snickered, “Well, I’m up for it, but I’m not sure if we should put a cue stick in their hands!” She had a really good point and I chuckled as I grabbed her hand to lead her downstairs.
We literally walked into a battlefield. They were yelling about who slept with whom and when and everything that had nothing to do with what they first started fighting about. I looked at Izzy and nodded toward the door. She grabbed her purse and phone and we headed out.
We got out the door and were both stone faced. “What was that all about?” Izzy asked with her gorgeous blue eyes wide.
“I don’t know, but at least they might finally figure it out.” Changing the subject, I asked, “Feel like heading to a great bar for some pool?”
She smiled brightly and her eyes lit up. “Absolutely!” I swung my arm around her shoulders. I just wanted to be closer to her. I gave her a kiss on her cheek. She giggled so sweet. I know I told her we’d go slow, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to hold up my end of the bargain. Especially when she looked so hot in faded jeans and tight t-shirt. I just wanted my arms around her all the time. The way she made me feel so happy when I was around her, it was incredible.
I hopped on my bike and I watched her smile bright as she climbed behind me. She wrapped her arms around my waist and held tight. I could really get used to this. I turned slightly and gave her a kiss on her mouth, then started up my bike and headed toward my favorite bar, where I used to hang out at before I opened Allure.
It was a dive bar on the outside of town where mainly locals hang out. We pulled up and parked next to a sea of bikes. Izzy smiled getting off the bike. Most girls would be a bit intimidated looking at this place, considering all the bikes here and how dingy the place looked. Not Izzy. She looked excited. I grabbed her hand and headed for the door.
We stepped up to the bar and she hopped on a bar stool while I ordered two Amberbocks. She was looking around the bar and checking out the pool tables and who was playing. I hadn’t thought about how she would feel playing in a bar. I wondered if she had bad memories from childhood about her mom picking up guys. I can’t imagine being in bars at such a young age. I put my arm around her waist, pulling her to me and asked, “What are you thinking?”
She was smiling big. “I’m thinking I love this place. Reminds me of when I was young.”
I gave her a quizzical look, “You liked that? I mean I wasn’t sure if you had some bad memories.”
She shook her head as she took a drink from her beer, “No, I mean when it was time to go, that sucked,” she laughed, “you know because sometimes I had to wait for my mom to return.” What the…? She was left alone so young at a bar?
“Wait, you mean she left you there?” I shook my head not able to grasp a mom leaving her young daughter at a bar, let alone bring her there to begin with.
She smirked, “Well, I’d have rather been at the bar then have to listen to them go at it…which, I also had to do sometimes. That really sucked.” Then she shook her head again, “No, when I was at the bar, I had about ten father figures watching over me and teaching me every trick to playing pool. I loved that. I always felt protected and safe there.” She shook her head laughing, “and I always had an endless supply of Shirley Temples!”
“Where was your Dad during all this? I think Mel told me he left when you were young?”
She shook her head. “No, he was never in the picture at all. My birth certificate doesn’t have him named at all.” Wow, this was way worse than I thought.
“Umm...wow, I’m sorry.” I had no idea what else to say. I can’t imagine not even having a name to go by to try to find him, if she even wanted that.
“That’s okay. It’s done with and nothing I can change.” She simply said, smiling. Somehow I found it odd that she could just be so carefree about saying all that. “Come on, a table just opened up.” She grabbed my arm excitedly, holding her beer in her other hand.
She set up and we started playing. I could tell after she broke she was missing some on purpose. Damn she was good and definitely in her element. She was dancing to the music, eyeing her next move and lining ‘em up. While we played we talked about her getting into college and her scholarship, which pretty much paid for most of her costs. She earned what she needed for other expenses by bartending.
“Yeah, I really loved college – just barely getting by, but having so much.” She said smiling.
“What do you mean that?” I was curious why she said that.
“All my friends, the bar. It was like I had my own little family and life going. I finally felt like I belonged.” Her eyes welled with tears, but quickly looked back at the table and seemed to shake off her feelings. “Corner left pocket,” she called out and took her shot. Of course it went in.
“And after graduation?” I knew what was coming, but wanted to hear it when Mel wasn’t around. Her eyes turned sad again, but she continued to look at the pool table searching for her next shot.
“Well, everyone got on with their life. I tried, but working 9-5 in a cubicle, never hearing from your close friends gets pretty lonely. Side left pocket.” She said with a slight pout. She lined up and began to take her shot.
“And that’s when you met him?” Her ball missed the pocket.
I watched her swallow. “Yep…that’s when I met HIM.” She said with a sad smile. “Beer me baby!” She said laughing, changing the subject. I took my cue to stop the conversation and turned to get us another round.
I walked up to the bar to order, thinking about Izzy. She had such a sad life, I can kind of understand why she went for such a controlling guy. I started to wonder if she really was ready to move on to another relationship. I hope she does, because right now I just feel the need to care for her, protect her and hold her the rest of her life. I can’t imagine what she went through as a child.
I grabbed my beers after paying and turned to walk back to the pool table. Looking up, I saw two guys talking to Izzy, smiling and flirting blatantly with her. She didn’t seem to return the flirting, but was talking and smiling. Jealousy tore through me yet again. Shit. Is this the crap I’m going to have to deal with? Flynn is at home fighting with Mel because he can’t deal with it. Was that what I was going to start doing? No, I couldn’t let that get the better of me. She’s hot and I just need to deal with guys wanting to talk to her. Unless she’s a f*cking whore like Sheila and I didn’t realize that. I started to feel angry at that thought, as I stepped up handing Izzy her beer. She took it and smiled warmly at me and put her arm around my waist. I relaxed a little knowing she awaited my return.
“Babe, they want to play us. I told them one game and then we were heading out anyway. Right?” Babe? I quickly glanced at the two guys, trying to figure out why she called me that and quickly realized she might want to try to hustle them.
I smirked. “Yeah hon, that’s fine.” I wasn’t sure where she was going with this. They weren’t big dudes and I could take them if I needed to. I was more curious than anything and it was funny hearing her call me “babe” as if we’ve been together for a while.
“Great then. How about we make a friendly wager?” The smaller guy said as he eyed Izzy’s tits. I tried to contain my anger, knowing she wanted to see where this would go with them.
“Oh, well, I’m not sure that’s such a great idea. I mean, you just saw us play, but we’re not so sure of how well you guys play.” Izzy said twirling her hair trying to come off girly. I just smirked and leaned back. F*ck this was really turning into a fun night. Man, she’s turning me on even more. I looked over to the guys, she had them hook, line and sinker.
The taller one chuckled, “We saw you play. At least you know what you’re doing! Come on, it’ll be fun. Just a friendly bet.”
Izzy looked at me and bit her lip pretending to be nervous. Her eyes were shining and you could tell she really wanted to have some fun. “I don’t know. Honey, what do you think?” She asked me putting her hand on my chest. I resisted the urge to kiss her. She was turning me on with her little act.
“Well, it could be fun, sweetheart. I know how much you love to bet, although you do lose a lot when we go to Vegas all the time. On second thought, maybe we shouldn’t. We usually lose so much.” I tried to act resistant to her wanting to play. Her eyes were full of excitement now, which was only turning me on more.
“Aw, come on. Please? Just like Vegas, it’ll be fun!” She said bouncing up and down giving them a show. I had a hard time not laughing out loud. “All right baby. Just this one time, but then we need to get going. We need to get the babysitter home.” She almost burst out laughing on the last part, but held it back.
“Thank you, honey!!” she said clapping her hands and then turning to the guys said, “Okay, we’re in! How much are we talking? Like $10?” She added, sounding maybe a bit too dumb. She was really playing it up.
“Oh, well, we were thinking more like $100.” The taller one said.
“Oh,” Izzy frowned looking up at me. “I’ll use my own money this time.” She said to me pleading.
“Okay, but just this once, honey.” I replied, taking a sip from my beer before I burst out laughing.
We put our money on the table and started the game. The tall one broke and called stripes. Izzy was up and tried to look like she was concentrating on where to go. “Side left,” she called. Aced it. One after another she hit them all in. The guys just stood there with their jaws open. She finished, looked at them and shrugged. “Wow, I really played well tonight, huh, babe?”
They guys just shook their heads and the shorter one asked, “How the f*ck did you do that? We watched you earlier missing several easy shots.” She glanced at me and swallowed. It wasn’t like I didn’t know she was missing shots on purpose to make me feel a bit better.
The taller one angrily shook his head. “That’s bullshit!” and started getting closer to Izzy. I stepped in front of her, blocking the guy and clenched my fists, ready to beat the piss out of both of them.
“Hey, you guys approached her and wanted to play. She played. Done. Now, move the f*ck along.” They glanced at each other while I waited, looking at each one wondering who would try to take their first shot at me. The tall one glanced over at me and looked at me as if he was going to start. I smirked and shrugged my shoulders. “I’m ready when you are, a*shole.” It’s been awhile since I’ve been in a brawl and I was looking forward to it. I was still pissed about missing the one with Mark, although, glad it turned out the way it did. They looked me over again, shook their heads and walked away, leaving the $100 on the table.
Izzy grabbed the money and tucked it in her bra, smiling brightly and then kissed me. “Thanks, Honey, for letting me play.” She purred continuing the charade.
“F*ck, you keep doing shit like that and I’ll be bending you over the table!” I whispered in her ear.
Her eyes lit up as she teased, “Promises, promises.” She winked at me and started walking towards the door. I took a deep breath watching her walk. Between the adrenaline pumping through me from almost getting into a fight and kissing her earlier, God, it’s going to be tough going slow with her.
We got to my bike and she was jumping up and down. “That was so much fun!! I haven’t done that since college!” She hugged me tight and kissed me. I grabbed her and kissed her back hard. Thoughts of taking her right here on my bike went through my mind. I deepened the kiss and realized if we didn’t head back, I really would take her now.
We hopped on my bike and headed back toward her place. I pulled up in front and she jumped off.
“Coming in to the battlefield with me?” She asked smirking and tilting her head towards the townhouse. I got off my bike and walked her to the door.
“Nah, I probably should say goodnight right now, although I don’t really want to.”
She swallowed, “I had a lot of fun with you today. I don’t really want to say goodnight either, but I probably should go in since we’re supposed to take it slow and all, right?” She was looking like she wanted confirmation. I wanted to just take her up to her room, but figured Mel or Clark would just interrupt us.
I shook my head trying to get grabbing her and throwing her down on the stairs out of my head. “Yeah, I should probably get going.” I bent down to give her a kiss and she opened her mouth. Like hell if I was going to turn that down. She had the most incredible lips ever. Soft and sweet. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close. She wrapped her arms around my neck and then thrust her hands through my hair, pulling me closer for a deeper kiss.
“No shit! Didn’t you guys f*cking figure out yet to get a room with a door?” Clark snorted, shaking his head as he ran up the stairs and into the townhouse.
“I can’t believe he keeps doing that. Does he plan it or something?” She asked frowning and rolling her eyes.
I just laughed and kissed her again. “I’m thinking that was a sign that I should take off or we’ll be in your room soon.” She smiled and took a deep breath and sighed. She turned to go in the door.
“Hey,” I called to her and she turned back to me smiling. “Think I can get your number so maybe we can get together tomorrow before work?” She came back down the stairs and pulled out her phone, looking up her number and gave it to me. I called it so she would have my number too. I kissed her again and she went into the townhouse.
I drove off wondering if a couple days constitutes going slow because if we keep kissing like this, a couple days is all I’ll last.