CHAPTER FOUR
Aside from the elevator incident, which did lead to more bedroom antics back at the apartment, Perry did feel like going out. I was almost giddy at the prospect of taking her out with my friends. Well, giddy was a pretty girly term, but I did catch myself singing into my comb while I was grooming myself in the bathroom. But I was singing to Dillinger Escape Plan, which negated all girlyness. It’s true, look it up.
Perry wore a simple, long black tank top, ass-tight jeans, and looked absolutely beautiful, no surprise there. Every moment I was around her I was absolutely floored by her. Maybe that’s what every guy in love says, but what really got me, what always got me, was that she didn’t see it herself. No, she wasn’t as thin as a lot of women, she didn’t eat only raw foods or do drugs or workout every day. But just because she wasn’t toned on every part of her body didn’t mean I wasn’t hard 24/7. I’d slept with all sorts of women, big, small, fat, skinny. It didn’t really matter. If I found a woman attractive, then I found her attractive, and sticking her in a box didn’t matter. Women are women are women and they all have parts I love.
And Perry, well she was just perfect for me. She had curves, curves that melted into my hands, into my skin, more than other women I’d been with. Her body molded to mine, soft, sensual, nurturing. It sounded archaic, but she just oozed fertility, and with that fertility came a power that she had no idea about. She looked at herself and hated what she saw, and I was going to do my best to show her that she was beyond beautiful to me. And aside from hers, my opinion was the only one that should matter. Not what other women thought or other men thought and definitely not what Cosmo thought.
Sir Mix-A-Lot and I had a lot of things in common.
“You look stunning,” I said as she slipped on her boots in the hallway.
She blushed. “Really, Dex.”
“Hey,” I said, my voice deepening. I grabbed the house keys off the kitchen table and stopped right in front of her. “I warned you once about learning to accept a compliment. You better start accepting mine.”
She swung her thick, shiny hair off her shoulders and rivaled any shampoo commercial. “Sorry. I’m just not used to all the compliments like you are.”
I smiled. “Kiddo, I rarely get compliments. So I just decide to compliment myself instead. You should try it sometime.”
It only took us about ten minutes to find the bar on 2nd avenue. It was a Thursday night but Thursday was the new Friday and all that bullshit, and the place looked like it was going to get really busy soon. Luckily it was only 7PM for us and we beat most of the crowd.
Everyone was already there, and by everyone I meant Seb, Dean, Rebecca, and a young Asian couple I didn’t recognize. Judging from their nerd shirts that said PWND and I Love Commander Shepard, I assumed they were friends of Seb and Dean.
Rebecca clapped her hands together excitedly as we approached them. They managed to snag a booth near the front of the bar, and judging by Rebecca’s over-excitedness and the range of drinks in front of them, it looked like they’d been sitting there and drinking for quite some time. I didn’t go out all that often, but when I did, things got pretty messy. I made a mental note to try and behave myself, but I couldn’t promise anything. I hoped Perry wouldn’t mind getting groped by Drunk Dex.
We squeezed in the booth with Perry on the outside (I didn’t want her to next to Seb since he also got a bit “ass and tit ogly” when he got drunk), and Rebecca ordered another pitcher while Dean introduced us to his friends Janet and Justin.
“So, it’s nice to see you two here together,” Dean said with a smile, looking between the two of us. I placed my elbows on the table and stared at him curiously. Dean was one of my good friends, if not the best. It didn’t mean we braided each other’s hair and had sleepovers, but he knew me pretty damn well. He was also a bit of a smartass, so I couldn’t figure out if he knew something about Perry and I or not. I eyed Rebecca who seemed preoccupied with her beer. No martinis and fancy drinks for her tonight—the world must have been ending.
“Uh huh,” I said, while Dean continued to grin at us and adjust his glasses. “Nice to see you too, Dean.”
He looked at Perry directly. “How are you liking your new roommate?”
She shrugged and put on a face. “He’s alright, I guess.”
Dean laughed. “I couldn’t imagine living with Dex. I think he’d drive me nuts. No offense, man.”
“None taken. It’s not like I could live with a guy who plays Halo until four in the morning. I’d feel guilty for being the only guy in the house that gets laid.”
“Oh, like you’re getting laid now,” Seb interjected with a lazy laugh. “Didn’t you and Jenn break up?”
I felt Perry stiffen up beside me, and I glared at Seb while I kicked him in the ankle. “Very astute, Seb. Have you even been conscious for the last couple of months?” I asked snidely.
“Ow, dude,” he exclaimed, leaning over to rub his leg. “I can’t pay attention to all the gossip.”
I rolled my eyes. Seb had been there with me while I tried to get over Jenn, when I started to turn over a new leaf. Fuckhead.
I shot Perry a quick glance to see how she was faring. She was sitting there quietly, her eyes sweeping the bar as if she was looking for someone.
“You okay, kiddo?” I whispered.
It took her a few seconds to bring her attention back over to me. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said in a small voice. “Just thought I saw something.”
“A ghost?”
Seb snorted from beside me and I kicked him again. Meanwhile, Justin and Janet looked puzzled at the sincerity of my question. I sometimes forgot that seeing ghosts and hunting them for a YouTube show wasn’t the most natural thing in the world.
Perry shook her head and shot me a tight smile. Maybe all of these questions were bothering her. I wanted to tell Seb that I was getting laid, and by the woman next to me, but I wasn’t sure how she’d feel about that. And I didn’t want to rock the boat.
“So,” Dean said again, “I hope Dex has been putting the sock on the door when he brings a lady home.”
Good fucking god!
“Dean, shut the fuck up,” I snarled at him, and it barely erased the smile from his face. He knew how in love with Perry I was, and now I definitely knew that he knew about Perry and I; he was just trying to be a legitimate shitburger.
“Actually, we haven’t worked out that system yet,” Perry said smoothly. “Dex is more fond of leaving the door open. Scares the poor dog half to death.”
Well, she was certainly handling the awkwardness with ease. I reached under the table and squeezed her knee, smiling at her. She smiled back, but still a little timid. This wouldn’t do.
“Do you wanna do a shot with me?” I asked her.
She nodded enthusiastically. We got out of the booth and made our way through the crowd that was growing larger by the minute.
Once at the bar, while we waited for the bartender to notice us, I put my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. I kissed her long and hard, not caring who saw it.
She kissed me back, hot and wet, before the bartender cleared his throat, wanting our attention. I smiled like a jackass and ordered us two shots each of Jameson.
“Was that okay that I did that?” I asked, brushing her hair behind her ear, staring at those sweet little lips.
“Kissed me?” she asked.
“Yeah, like this,” I leaned and kissed her again, my tongue slipping along her lower lip, my hand holding her firmly in place at the back of her head.