“I don’t want to do that,” he said without hesitation. “If you want to, that’s fine. You do you. But I’m not doing that.”
I shoved noodles into my mouth, not bothering to argue with him. There was no explaining how all of this could go. He probably knew anyway. “Bitch deserves to be put on the spot.”
“Adam,” Cam glared at me.
I shrugged, chewing pointedly. “We could do it pretty easily. Take it all out on her ass.” I looked at him. “I don’t mean literally. I don’t want to go down to Kyle’s level.” I wiggled my eyebrows at him. “But you can’t deny she deserves some punishment after everything she put you through.” I hefted up another helping of noodles. “I bet if I called Darius, he’d be into it.”
“What do you mean, take it out on her ass?” Cam asked.
“A belt,” I suggested, before stuffing more noodles into my mouth. “I could look into a paddle. Everyone gets their fair share of licks.” I considered Grace bent over my knee, her ass up in the air, all red. I wanted it instantly. “Then sex, however we can work it out. Maybe all at once, a train. Pick a hole, fill a hole. Make it so she has trouble walking in the morning, so she stays the night.”
Cam leaned back on the couch. “You suggested it. You see if you can get Grace to agree to it.” He coughed into his fist. “I might have something in my closet. So we probably don’t need to buy anything.”
I snorted, but I wasn’t gonna speak on his tastes. “Did you throw away the handcuffs?”
Chapter 25
Grace
Iwas running on fumes by the time Saturday rolled around. Fortunately, my replacement was behind the bar with Elle and me, so it made things a little easier. Crowded, but another set of hands to make drinks was great.
It made up for the fact that I was tired and not flirty. So I just took orders, made drinks with a heavy hand, and passed them out with no finesse. The tip jar would suffer for it.
All I could think was I just had this one last shift of this shit. Then no more loud-ass music. No more creepy guys. No more being a zombie. No more missed opportunities with my people.
It was the mantra that was getting me through the week.
I barely had time to see anyone, and while Cam was more than willing to entertain text conversations, it wasn’t enough for Adam or Darius. All this work was doing more than just putting a strain on me. It was clear when Adam sent me a message that said I owed them. I didn’t have it in me to question why he thought that.
Well, never mind. It took little for them to figure out that I owed the three of them. I was more surprised that it took this long for someone to make demands.
I didn’t have the attention span to let it weigh on me throughout my last shift. All I could really focus on was not running into Jessie, the new girl, and not dropping any bottles. It was irritating how much of an effort it took.
But it was a relief when the music started winding down and the crowd drifted away from the bar. As soon as it was appropriate, I left Elle and Jessie at the bar so I could clean out the bathrooms. By the time I got back to the bar, Elle was putting money on it. “The last of your tips, bitch. Go home.”
“There’s still cleanup to do,” I protested.
“We got it handled,” Jessie said with a smile. She looked perky for one a.m. There was just a little bit of shine to her dark skin, but it didn’t look like she had a hair out of place. “Besides, you look like you’re dead on your feet.”
“Accurate description,” I agreed. I took the money and shoved it into my pocket. “It’s been real.” Not sure what else to do, I drifted through the shrinking crowd to the door.
“If you change your mind, let me know,” Gary said from the door. “It’d probably be better to balance out the schedule between the three of you than let the two of you do all the hard work.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I said as I walked toward the sidewalk. I had my phone in hand, halfway through ordering a ride, when a car horn honked. I nearly jumped right out of my skin, but I turned to see Cam’s little car parked just under the streetlight.
It started up and pulled up just behind me. Cam rolled down the window closest to me and leaned over so our gazes connected. “I came to take you home. I figured after hardly seeing you this week, you’d be beat, and I’d save you the effort of getting a ride home.”
“I’m too tired to do anything fun,” I said as I approached his car. “If you take me back to your place, I’m just gonna pass out.”
He hit the unlock button. “That’s fine. As long as you don’t mind me cuddling with you. I can’t promise I won’t cop a feel.”
I just shrugged. Cam hadn’t really been handsy, but it had been a little while since I’d last been in bed with him. I leaned over the center console so I could kiss his cheek, buckled up, and as soon as I’d settled in the warm seat, I might have dozed off.
The next thing I knew, the passenger door was opening and Cam was leaning down over me. “Hey,” he whispered low as he unbuckled the seat belt. “I didn’t want to wake you. I was just gonna put you to bed.”
I let him help me get out of his car. “It would be weird if you carried me,” I murmured as I leaned into him.
“I didn’t think I’d be able to get you upstairs without waking you up,” he admitted as he guided me to his door.