Bare Skin (Skin Deep 5)

Chapter 3

Calland

I unloaded my car and put what little groceries I had purchased away. Then I sat on my couch and wondered what the fuck was wrong with me?

Why had I baited Dani so much? I mean, I love the sparkle she gets in her eyes right before she shoots me down, but damn. I really didn’t want her to shoot me down. And what kind of secrets was she keeping, that included a baby and a mysterious person she was on the hunt for?

All questions that I really wanted to find the answers to, but…was the rejection worth it?

The niggling little voice in the back of my mind kept saying yes, it was. That Dani was different, but hell. One look at her and that was obvious, though she clearly thought she had me pegged as a playboy, especially with the comment she’d made about Buffy.

Okay, so she wasn’t wrong there, but…

“God, I need a beer,” I sighed, letting my head fall back onto the cushion behind me.

My phone rang and I answered it blindly, not bothering to even look at it.

T.J.’s voice boomed across the line and I winced.

“Griff’s tonight, nine. Yeah?”

“Jesus, man. Why the fuck are you yelling?” I asked, scowling at my phone.

“I’m not yelling,” he replied. “I had you on speaker, it must be echoing. So we on? Allie’s got some party tonight, so of course all the women are going. Luke, Brandon, Jacks, and I will all be there. I don’t know about Ian. Leah’s pretty much had him tied up non-stop-”

“Dude,” I cut him off. “Don’t go there.”

He only laughed, waiting for my answer.

“Yeah, I’m in. I need a beer or two anyway.”

He grunted, much like my father does when he’s communicating, which I took to mean okay, and hung up. I tossed my phone on the couch cushion beside me and tried to think of something to do until it was time to go. My stomach growled then, so I took that as my answer.

***

I shrugged and shoved my phone back in my pocket after reading the text I’d just gotten from T.J.

Got a late appointment. Last minute, but can’t turn it down. Won’t make it. Sorry, man.

I was sitting at our regular booth at Griff’s waiting for the guys to show, but apparently it would be one less tonight.

My phone buzzed again and I pulled it out to see a message from my brother-in-law, Luke.

Allie’s party was cancelled, kid’s still going to grandparents’. Sorry bro. Won’t be there.

And in rapid succession, I got similar messages from Brandon and Jacks, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out that none of them were going to turn down alone time with their wives to come shoot the shit with me. At least they were nice about the way they put it. I mean, they were married to my sisters (or in Allie’s case, ‘adopted’ sister), after all.

“Fuck,” I mumbled, realizing that I was sitting in the bar by myself, and my Friday night suddenly seemed to stretch out in front of me in the lamest way possible. I glanced around, trying to see if there was anyone else I knew out tonight, but there wasn’t. Most of my other friends, like my family members, had all hitched their wagons to the marriage train, and had kids, too.

I didn’t fault them for that. In fact, I almost envied them. And, for the first time in a long time, I wondered if maybe it was time for me to quit playing around and serial dating every cute little thing that crossed my path.

I moved from the booth to the bar, signaling for Griff. He made his way down to me and I ordered some pizza rollers and a beer. As he ambled off, I felt movement at my side right before I was enveloped in a cloud of perfume. It was followed by a hand sliding up my back and over my shoulder, then a totally female body pressing against my back.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Buffy leaning against me, her face heavily made up, body scantily clad.

“Hey, baby,” she purred, leaning towards me with her lips puckered.

I shifted away from her smoothly, telling her ‘hi’ as I avoided her lips while trying not to offend her.

I needn’t have worried. Her confidence seemed to be on another level tonight. “Pretty sure you got shot down by that girl you wanted me to look up. Of course, I think you have some making up to do to me.”

She pouted, puffing her lips and cheeks out in a way you could tell she thought made her look cute. And at that moment, I wondered what in the actual fuck I ever saw in her.

“Oh, yeah?” I asked, reaching up and removing her arm from my shoulder. “And how do you figure that?”

She simpered. I shit you not.

“That girl came down and yelled at me for giving out her information to you. She said she was gonna get me fired!”

Her voice was grating on my nerves, and again, I had to wonder. What. The. Actual. Fuck.

“Wow. That was fast. Begging me for dates this morning and already moved on to the next by evening.”

My head jerked to the side, looking beyond Buffy to see ‘that girl’ standing there. Smirking at me with an expression that totally said she thought I was a douche. Grimacing, I realized that I probably looked like one at that moment.

Buffy followed my gaze, turning around to see that Dani had popped onto the stool beside her, her lips turned up in a caustic smile.

Buffy squealed and pressed into me again. “Oh, God! Now she’s following me, baby!”

I ignored her, grasping her shoulders gently and pushing her away from me, my eyes never leaving Dani.

She gave me a mocking smile and turned to flag down Griff.