Lacey leans in leaving sloppy kisses on my cheek before shutting the door and skipping with all the carelessness of a drunk girl toward her apartment. I laugh a little as the Uber drives away. When we get to my place, I refuse to let myself glance anywhere near Axel’s house. I’m still hot and bothered from his lap dance. I wasn’t ready to sift through the feelings he caused just yet. Axel’s lap dance destroyed me, and I think about my own lap dance maneuvers, wondering to myself if I even have what it takes to turn him on like he did me. I guess there’s only one way to find out.
7
Axel
The air is hot and sticky, and I should go inside where the air conditioner pumps its icy wind. Instead, I sit out here on the porch swing my dad bought my mom for one of their anniversaries, waiting like a chump for my neighbor to come home. I finish my beer reaching over to pop open another one. Yes, I’m fully prepared to wait Emma out. It’s time to talk.
I straighten in my seat when a car stops in front of the house I’ve been staring at since I got home. Emma gets out and I watch as she walks to her house. Her shoulders are back as if she’s having trouble keeping her focus off my house. I shake my head, a tiny bit freaked out at how bad I want that to be true. After a fortifying swig from my beer, I clear my throat, and call out her name.
The tiny scream and jump makes me smile. I’m glad I left the porch light off. Her hand is over her chest as if she’s trying to keep her heart inside. I watch her, holding my breath, the indecision on her face as she weighs her choices, wondering if she should continue to her house or if she’s going to acknowledge me.
“I promise to be good. I just want to talk,” I say.
She crosses the distance between us, squinting her eyes since I’m still shrouded in darkness.
I let out the breath I was holding, squeezing the beer bottle in my hand so I won’t reach out and touch her. The lap dance was a huge mistake. Big.
Being so close to her, touching her, left my dick hard to the point it hurt. Seeing Emma in the front of the stage changed my whole night. I’ve always been the defective Trifecta, hating going to the club and being viewed as an object instead of a person.
Only, tonight, when I saw Emma poured inside a tight purple dress, I wanted her to see me as a man. A man who was worthy of releasing her from that sexy garment. I wanted her to lust after me, like all the women at the club who can’t resist running their fingers over my bare chest, do. The women who go home and finger themselves to the thought of me. I wanted Emma to orgasm with my name on her luscious pink lips.
The tight smile is the best I can do when she makes it up the steps. Her eyes adjust to the dark as I watch them roam over me, taking in the porch swing, and beer dangling from my fingers.
“Why are you sitting in the dark like some creepy weirdo?”
A laugh burst from me as I scoot over on the swing, patting the empty space beside me. “It’s too hot to turn on the lights.”
“Why aren’t you in your house with the air conditioning?” She sits down next to me, surprising me further when she takes the beer from my fingers. And then, she raises it to her sinful lips and drinks. She hands me back the bottle. I place it to my lips wanting to get a taste of Emma that’s lingering on the rim. It’s there, a hint of her. I savor it as much as I can without looking like the creepy weirdo she mentioned. I even resist licking the edge of the glass to get the remains of her taste.
“So?” Her prompt makes me lick my lips before answering.
“I wanted to talk to you.” My voice is husky just from the tiny taste of her. I can’t imagine what it would be like if I had the real thing. She’s dangerous, and I don’t see a way to get her out of my skin.
“Stalking me?”
“Says the girl who just happens to show up at my work.”
“I had no idea you were part of the Trifecta.”
“That’s what they all say.” She opens her mouth to argue, but stops when she sees the smirk on my face. “I know you didn’t know I was a Trifecta. Although, I will admit it hurt a little not to be recognized.”