Page 11 of Trouble in Love
Every bone in my body pulsated to the heavy bass of Timberland and Nelly Furtado’s Promiscuous as I sashayed through the crowd at SWING, our favorite boutique club. Its open-minded, why-choose ethos, and convenient dark nooks, made it ideal for someone like me who craved the thrill of multiple partners. who needed to feel wanted. Whether good or bad, to me, sexual attention was still attention, and I craved it.
And why shouldn’t I? I was a hot, single, bisexual woman in her prime. I had my best wing woman and fuck buddy on my arm and pineapple mocktail tingling my tongue. The world was my oyster.
“This is going to be a good night, babe,” I whispered in Luna’s ear, adding a wee nip of her lobe ‘cause I knew she loved it. “I can feel it in my waters.”
“Yeah? I feel something, too.” She whacked me in the arm, sending my drink flying, before spinning me a hundred and eighty degrees, and positioning herself just to the right of me so I could see her hands. “Smack bang in the center of my vajayjay.”
“Fuck, Luna. You shoved the frickin’ straw up my nostril.”
“Who cares? Look. Who is that?”
“Hopefully, someone with a first aid kit. I think I’m bleeding.” Wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I did the best and most discreet blood inspection possible in the dim light.
“Stop being a baby and look. But don’t.”
“Tell you who it is and look, but don’t. Gotcha.” Still sulking, I raised my head and followed the direction of Luna’s wide-eyed gaze.
Woah.
Tall, dark, and carrying the distinct whiff of trouble, our mystery man strutted through the heavy metal doors that shielded the more… private area of the club from the street and let them close behind him. His white tee stretched over his shoulders, clinging to pecs, stomach, and biceps, and damn, Luna was right to freak out. He was the hottest guy I had ever seen… beyond hot. Nuclear. Heat originating at the base of my skull surged down my spine, igniting that special kind of fire in my belly and throbbing ache between my legs. “Holy hell, I have no idea who that god is. There’s no way he’s been here before. I’d notice him with a hessian sack strapped over my head.”
Luna prattled on as I sipped from my drink, twirling my tongue around the straw to stop me from drooling.
Pity it’s so dark in here. I’d love a closer look.As if on cue, lights flashed in sync with the thick bass, illuminating his face, and highlighting eyes a shade of blue that needed to be chartedand named in his honor as they did with the stars. Those crystal orbs, a breathtaking contrast to dark hair and olive skin, stayed locked onto mine.
Making a beeline to us, the closer he got, the wider his smirk became, and the deeper my pulse thrummed through my veins. It was maddening. Unprecedented. Otherworldly. Love at first sight was a scam equal to that of Santa, perpetrated by Hollywood and pious assholes desperate to push their puritan agenda, so I knew it was not to blame for the weakening of my knees and soaking of my panties. No, all that was pure, unadulterated lust.
I wanted that boy and I wanted him hard.
Either oblivious to my suffering or struggling similarly, Luna squirmed and bounced on the balls of her toes. “He’s coming straight to us, Pol. Shit, smile. Do I look good? Sniff me, do I stink? Hey, stick your boobs out.”
“Shut the fuck up, he’ll hear you.” With a giggle, I placed my drink on a nearby table, gave my hair a quick fluff, and stuck out the girls exactly as Luna directed, my gaze shifting from him to her for the first time since he entered. “No sniffing and no more Polly. It’s time for Jasmine and Katie to make an appearance.”
This guy had swag, was a definite lady killer, and hopefully as big a ho as me. After what seemed like an eternity, six-foot-something of living breathing sex was standing over me, brushing dark locks from ice-blue eyes and assessing me hungrily. One tendril remained, curling against unfairly long lashes. I had to force myself not to reach up and brush it away. “Ladies,” he nodded, bottom lip firmly between teeth. “Hasn’t anyone told you it’s unsafe to leave your drink unattended?”
Ignoring the flip his grumbling American accent caused in my stomach, I tossed my hair over my shoulder and gave Luna my let’s-do-this-together, wink. “I’m not going back to it. I think I just found something else I’d rather swallow.”
Dimples I could easily have taken a bath flashed as a killer smile graced his lips. “And I think Sydney just became my favorite place ever.”
Luca
Fuuuccckk, she is…. Fuck. I shouldn’t go over there. Shit, she’s looking right at me. I have to at least say hi. Can’t be rude. Do not limp. Do not trip. Christ, look at her suck that straw… oh, her friend’s hot, too. Be cool dude, be cool. Shit, they’re whispering. Touching. Shit, are they a couple? This is a bad idea.
All or nothing. Three little words Ma always said should be engraved in my tombstone when my day should come. As usual, she was right.
I couldn’t just skate, I had to be the fastest. If my hair wasn’t long, straggly, and hanging in my eyes, it was shaved into a buzz cut. If I wasn’t chowing down burgers and fries, I was cleaning eating mung beans and quinoa. Rookie NHL life had been no different.
“Look at those dimples,” my then-captain, Lance Ryan, taunted during my first team training. “Kid, you are going to get so much pussy you’ll need to buy a scratching post.”
Willing puck bunnies made it too easy to live up to that prediction, and the playboy life my teammates declared was a God-given right was fun. The sex was good but rarely great, and in all honesty, the scene got real, old real fast. One night, after a particularly wild orgie, drunk, alone, and feeling used, I decided I was done. I wanted a wife or husband once I’d retired. Maybe a family, too.
The pendulum swung, heralding the era of no relationship, no sex,
My six-month skin-on-skin detox ended spectacularly the night of Dallas Brookes’ twenty-fifth birthday, and once again, it was all or nothing. Day or night. Black or white. I couldn’t just go out, have a few drinks and pick up. No. I got drunk out of my mind, found a sexy married couple looking to fulfill a fantasy, and fulfilled it good and proper.
Look where that got me.
I’d promised Coach I’d keep my nose clean. Vowed to focus on recovery. But not ten seconds after entering the club I was infatuated, dropping the worst line in the history of predatory sleezebags, and stumbling into a hotel room with a girl sucking on either side of my neck.
