Page 23 of Keeper
And why am I letting that hot guy get away?
He’d given me one compliment, and there I was, struggling to keep my head above water.
But the least I could do was use his company to kill a little time, right?
I flung the curtain open and called after him.
“Hey! Wait!”
8
Tanner
There was an elephant in our restricted access club VIP room. I loved hanging out with the boys, don’t get me wrong, but I could tell everyone felt guilty about celebrating their win around me—since everyone knew I was theoneguy who maybe shouldn’tfeel like a champ tonight.
I felt like a burden.
Fuck this.
I told the boys I had to go to the washroom and excused myself. Where I really went, though, was to find someplace quiet.
But good luck finding that in thisclub.
Upper level, lower level, dance floor—where I went didn’t matter. Everywhere I went in this damn club, everyone knew me and my struggles.
Random dudes clapped me on the shoulder, the sour stench of alcohol heavy on their breaths as they drunkenly reassured me, again and again, that they knewI’dput it all together eventually.
Random girls threw themselves into my personal space, running their hands all over me, promising that they knew how to take my mind off the game,wink wink. As if they possessed amagical pussy that was the key to all my problems.
As if I hadn’t already triedthat approach.
I headed elsewhere.
Upstairs, almost all the booths were filled, nonstop shouts and laughs coming from behind their privacy curtains. I found a quiet booth—an empty booth, thank God.
I swiped the curtain open … only to find out it wasn’tempty after all. Inside the booth, sitting all alone, was the most gorgeous girl I’d seen all night.
She wore a racy dress and, although she was simply stunning in it, her beauty was so natural she didn’t even have totryto look good. A lump began to swell in my throat. I was fighting a losing battle against baser urges that demanded that I run my hungry eyes all over her tight, luscious curves.
Our eyes met and my motor revved with instant attraction. One look into her eyes and I sensed this girl was somehow different than the all the others. More than that, I felt like we knew each other, understood each other. A single unexpected thought ran through my mind, one that felt so grand and important that I couldn’t begin to explain it or where it came from. It went like this:
I didn’t expect to meet you here.
“You scared me,” she panted.
Her hand went to her heart, drawing my eyes at last to her round breasts. But one quick glance at those wasn’t enough to quell my appetite; now I was hooked. I wanted, no,neededmore.
“Sorry. I thought the booth was empty.” I looked around. Why was she alone? Where were her friends? What moron of a guy left a girl like this sitting all by herself? Didn’t he know assholes like me were around, wanting to steal her away? “You’re sitting here all by yourself?”
The caveman inside me won out and stole another glance at her tits. She caught me peeking again and didn’t look happy about it. She folded her arms, hiding her cleavage under her arms, so I wouldn’t be tempted to look.
Good,I thought with a sense of relief that surprised me. I badly needed the help. I guess it was nice to be toldnofor once.
“Well, yeah,” she said. “I’ve been here the whole time, waiting for you guys. Youdidfind her, didn’t you?” she asked.
Her words confused me. Then again, I was distracted and half-drunk on her beauty.
“Hm?” I asked.
