Toldja. Before the weekend.
Thank you for still reading. And don't forget, nominations for the Summer Bellies are in full swing. Also… the Indie Twilight Awards are up… check 'em out!
To jandco, who I dream about being with forever.
To jfly and siDEADde; your advice was sound. Gracias.
Okay, New Guy. Who are ya? (PS- No one got it right. No one.)
Bella
Hmm. The new guy looked like a cross between Michael Vartan and Bradley Cooper. I wasn't often into blondes, but this one was yummy. His hair was a study in disarray. He had that perpetual five o'clock shadow thing, and I wanted to just bite his chin, it was so tasty. I was suddenly glad to have put on a cute top, but I regretted the bra decision for a half-second before remembering that I'm not that kind of girl, anyway.
New Guy was up there, banging away to "Hit me baby, one more time" by Britney, and the girls in the crowd were loving every minute of it. There was one exuberant redhead up on his piano, shimmying and gyrating and all kinds of gross –ings. And New Guy was playing to her hip thrusts. I made myself comfortable at the bar, swiveling the stool out so that I faced the drunks. The other piano was empty, so I scanned the room, looking for someone I knew.
"Isn't he a riot?" James was at my ear, whispering intimately and breathing on my neck. I could smell booze and sleaze, but I smiled despite myself. He was a horndog, but at least he was predictable. It was almost comforting.
"Who is he?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth, keeping my eyes on New Guy. He was very into gesticulating, flourishing cascades by swinging his arms out and banging away on the piano. He looked like he was caressing the mic with his overly large bottom lip. More than one woman in the crowd was mesmerized by that sexy maneuver with his mouth, and I made a mental note to slather on lip gloss rather than lick my lips.
"The new guy. Newton injured his wrist. Sprained it from vigorous jacking, or something like that." I was sure he was kidding, but I wouldn't satisfy the dirt bag by laughing. Instead, I pursed my lips and took a sip of my bottled water, my eyes never leaving the flamboyant new piano player.
"Hit me, baby. One," New Guy ripped the backing off of a sticker as the redhead presented herself on her knees, "more," stretched the sticker between fingers pinching each corner, "time." With a satisfying plop, he smoothed the sticker across her chest. Her group of friends squealed and cheered, and he helped her off the piano like a gentleman would, grinning as he grabbed the mic off its stand.
"Where is that yummy- oh, there you are. Tear yourself away from that tasty brunette and get your tight ass to this piano, Jimmy!" I looked over, slightly shocked, as James ruffled my hair and jogged up to the other piano amongst whoops and catcalls.
"It's time to see which one of us is manlier, darling," James purred into the mic. He banged on a few keys and glissed up and down a few times, settling into a rousing version of "Womanizer".
"Tsk. Garrett really seems to have found a straight match in this bar," a high voice said. A cute, chubby blonde hoisted herself onto the stool next to me, sipping something girlie that had pineapples and umbrellas sticking out of it.
"The name's Kate. I already know Garr's going to want to know who 'his' James was hitting on, so I'm being a dutiful little fag hag and getting the skinny on you. You're adorable, by the way. Garrett's going to love you." She spoke clearly and confidently, sticking her hand out at me. I had no choice but to accept it, telling her that I was Bella.
"Beautiful. He'll adore that. Isn't he a dreamboat? That James guy seems like a douche, though. Are you guys dating?" Her eyes darted from James to Garrett to me, sipping on her drink and sporadically singing along with the song.
I paused for a moment before giggling. "Dating? I doubt James dates. No, we're… acquaintances. He told me I wouldn't want to miss out on tonight, but I suspect he just wanted me here for reasons of his own."
"Indeed." Kate sipped thoughtfully before beginning again. "That other guy's hotter, but Garr likes 'em blonde." She scanned the crowd, looking for Edward, presumably. Unless the bar had another hot non-blonde that I hadn't met yet.
"Hey, do you know what happened to Mike?" I asked. I liked this Kate. She was straightforward, kind of reminded me of Rosalie. Except Rose wouldn't be caught dead wearing flip-flops to a night out.
"Yeah, he was trying out a new piano trick or something and sprained his wrist. I don't know, really, I didn't ask. He called me and asked if my gay boyfriend was still around, so here we are." My blank expression made her pause, so she clarified, "Mike's my cousin."
"Ah." I had no other response, really. After a moment of silence, we turned back toward the duelers, who were in the middle of a furiously hot Britney-off. Garrett was finishing it with a ridiculously wonderful version of "Boys".
"Okay, lovelies. It's time for the menfolk to take a brief break, but Eddo the Great will be up shortly to whip your panties into another frenzy." The squeals in the audience were deafening as James and Garrett climbed off the stage, letting women hug and throw themselves at them. Both made their way toward me and Kate, so I straightened up, ready to meet the new hottie. I guess this meant there'd be more men coming to the bar that I couldn't have once word got out about Garrett.
"Darling," Garrett said, pressing a kiss onto the top of Kate's head. She reached out and smoothed his collar while he fixed the part in her hair. They were fussing over each other like an old married couple.
"And who might you be? You're gorge. I was mighty jealous watching James hit on you, but something tells me you won't have him. Good news for me." Garrett's boisterous voice was low-toned and sex. His mannerisms kind of reminded me of Rupert Everett in My Best Friend's Wedding, and I wondered at my projecting hot actors on him. Wishful thinking, I suppose.
"This here is Bella, Garrett. She and Edward shoot daggers at each other. It's fun, wait for the show to begin." James put his arm around me and leaned on my side, waving his hand for a drink. The bartender slid over some Jack in a glass and he downed it, swiping at his mouth with his sleeve.
"Oh, really? That I cannot wait for. Eddo seems quite the cool customer. This one makes him all hot, hmm?" Garrett regarded me with a critical eye, holding his chin with his fingertips and indicating I stand with the other hand. I humored him and hopped off the stool, mostly to get away from James' heady, rangy sweat smell. If I were drinking, I probably would've leaned into him.
"Understated. Sexy, but demure. Vintage jeans get you fifty extra points. No purse means sensible and unused to clutter. But the shoes… tsk. Teacher? Sexy librarian?"
I put my pointer finger on my nose. "Teacher. Junior high."
"I thought so. You hang out with me and Katie, here, honey. We'll take you shopping."
I groaned in good humor. "But I have an Alice and a Rosalie. They swath me in Chanel and Tinker originals all the time."
"Do tell. I remember the Tinker Spring oh-seven collection like it was prom. Alas, I have to settle for the new fragrance until Tinker condescends to designing clothes for the boys." Garrett was looking me over a second time as I laughed. He was fun.
"Tinker is my best friend, Alice."
His eyes goggled a bit, then a slow grin crept up on one side of his face. "We are having words later, dear Bella," Garrett said, pulling me away from James and holding up four fingers toward the bar. The bartender slid over four shot glasses and filled them with brown liquid. I groaned as Garrett handed me one and clinked his glass with mine.
"To being single, seeing double, and sleeping triple!" James crowed before tossing his back. I grimaced and did the same, feeling the nasty burn. Tequila. Crap.
A sudden cheer went up in the room, and I looked around Garrett and saw that Edward had finally made an appearance, climbing behind the piano and starting off with some bluesy chords before swallowing a mouthful of water. Garrett grinned and gestured for another round to the bartender; Kate and I groaned as we all took the shot glasses, Garrett grabbing his and making his way to the stage.
"I've heard much of the celebrated Edward. Let's hear you play, shall we?" He spoke into the microphone and toasted his glass toward Edward and then the three of us, knocking his shot back and hopping up on his piano. Edward looked where Garrett had indicated and saw us. He sat up straighter and gave a menacing grin before locking eyes with me. His eyes glittered, and he leaned into the microphone and said in his low voice, "What's it gonna be? You guys want a nice little ditty, or something nasty?"
The bar responded with the trademark chant, "Hell yes! Down and dirty!" Edward smirked and saluted, and I knew it was meant for me.
Why can't I get just one kiss?
Why can't I get just one kiss?
Maybe some things that I wouldn't miss
But I look at your pants and I need a kiss
So that's how it was going to be. He never took his eyes off me as he continued, turning the already dirty song into a seriously lewd anthem as he asked me why he couldn't get just one fuck. I gulped and reached for my water, the tequila making me tingle in all the right (wrong?) places.
The song was ending and Garrett looked over at James, waggling his eyebrows and putting his hands out, offering the piano. James indicated Garrett should go, so the tall blonde strode through the crowd. I wasn't the only one who watched his ass as he climbed behind the piano.
As soon as Edward finished with the Violent Femmes, Garrett smoothly transitioned into another anthem from the 80s.
"Shot through the heart," he bellowed into the mic, making eye contact with Edward, "and you're to blame," over to me, "Darlin', you give love a bad name." He pointed right at James before diving in, pummeling the keyboard with gusto and getting several girls rushing the stage, singing along and waving their hands in the air.
"Such a drama queen," Kate clucked, spinning around and diving into her purse for Chapstick.
"But isn't that what you love about him?" I chuckled, uncapping my water and taking a big swig. My mouth had gone inexplicably dry when Garrett had singled me out. Some of the drunk patrons had even noticed, craning their necks around to see who Garrett had been pointing at. I hope they assumed it was Kate.
"It is," Kate agreed, smiling broadly when Garrett kicked over at Edward. As Bon Jovi ended, The New Guy smoothly transitioned into "Come a Little Bit Closer," and Edward took the hint, gamely hopping up on Garrett's piano and buffing the shiny top with his ass. This got raucous applause from the crowd and loud hyena braying from the our end of the bar.
I was laughing with Kate, the two of us holding onto each other's arms, her holding up a fistful of dollars at the two men… and then suddenly, Garrett got a wicked look in his eye and pointed right at me.
"Come a little bit closer, Bella, darling," Garrett sang into the microphone, and Edward's head jerked up, again meeting my eyes. He smirked in challenge and flicked his head toward his piano, silently sending me a dare across the crowded, booze-soaked room.
Of course I accepted. Of course.
Catcalls followed me as I made my way across the bar, elbowing and fighting the throng of sweaty, barely-clad bodies as Garrett played a circus-like march. When I got to the front, both Garrett and Edward were looking at me expectantly, each patting the top of their pianos as I stood between them, trying to decide where to go.
I raised my eyebrow at Edward before turning around, holding both hands up in a "what do I do?" sort of gesture. I put one hand out toward Edward and there followed cheers and applause; I leaned toward Garrett and gestured wildly, getting loud hoots and screams. Garrett it was. Turning and sticking my tongue at the a-hole, I put a foot on Garrett's bench and stepped up on top of the piano.
"This is my new friend, Bella. Say hello to Bella, everyone," Garrett said. I felt prickly warmth hit my cheeks, but I decided for once to enjoy the spotlight. Hell, I'd already pranced on top of a piano, right? I tossed my arms up into the air, the warmth of the shots making me tingle with the attention.
"Hi, Bella!" The disjointed greeting made me grin, and Garrett started to tool around with the music, speaking directly to the crowd.
"Now, ladies and gents. I think you all know by now that our little Eddie here is a dirty fucking little birdie, right?" The answering cheers were deafening. "And I've only just met little Bella here, but I'm thinking she just might be a dirty little chickadee as well." More cheers. "So, let's keep that in mind while I'm pretending that I'm singing this to Edward myself. I think maybe I'm singing on her behalf. These two have been fucking across the room all night. It kind of reminds me of a little song about a girl named Nikki." Oh, no he didn't. And oh, fuck. The song. It was impressive that he could pull off this particular Prince tune on the piano. And his voice- he would lean up and into it every time the lyric was particularly dirty, pressing into the keys to punctuate the rhythm.
Edward was turned on his bench, relaxed and alternating between staring at me and then Garrett as the song progressed. I was feeling it; feeling the slow, sensual pace, feeling Garrett's raspy throat, feeling the grind of the lyrics. What has he thinking as he watched? I could feel Edward's intense stare as he watched me go from sitting somewhat still atop the piano, to swaying my head and letting my hair hang in curtains around me. Feeling the vibration every time Garrett pounded the insistent chords, the notes buzzing into my body, making my nerves hum and quiver, thrum and shiver. And every tingle was intensified by Edward's indecipherable staring. I felt dirty and incredibly sexy, and I wasn't even dancing or on all fours.
Garrett warbled the last few notes of the song to some serious drunken cheering, and I had just gotten up on my knees to lean over and plant a kiss on his cheek when I felt a slap from behind. Or rather- on my behind. I was going to swivel around and mock-slap Edward when he scooped me away, unceremoniously dumping me on top of his own piano.
"Darling Bella, I feel like I'm vying for your attention, and I don't like it," he said, but he wasn't looking at me. I checked to see if he was looking over at Garrett or even James, but it was hard to tell when I was warm and turned the hell on. My ability to multi-task was compromised because all I could see was Edward. He was a dick; he was a jerk. And I was ready to jump him, right then and there. The part of my brain that knew that to be a bad idea was slowly being drowned out by my increasing heart beat; I could feel the pulsing down my torso, in my thighs. Down behind my knees and in between my toes. And I liked it.
"There's something I've been wanting to say to you, Darling Bella," he said, snapping my attention away from my musing and directly into his eyes. He was putting on one of the headsets that had a mic on it, and I knew I was in trouble. He wanted to be able to move around. I regarded him with raised eyebrows, and he looked right back at me without blinking. He seemed angry, possibly; hungry and annoyed and most definitely interested. I found myself wondering if he had a hard-on, or if he was just playing up to the audience and to James and to Garrett and to piss me off. I wasn't sure which one I preferred, and I was trying to make up my mind to be pissed when he licked the corner of his mouth and let out a breathy, lurid, "Darling Bella, I want your sex."
And George Michael's synthesizers were set to piano as the anthem for safe sex was made decidedly unsafe when under the long fingers of one Edward Cullen.
I tried to remain cool. I did. I was moving around, dancing for the audience, keeping myself in check so that I wouldn't come undone right there on the piano. I was even growing confident, and that should have been my first clue. I lied out across the width of the piano, Michelle Pfeiffer-style, turning onto my side and facing the crowd. I leaned up on my elbow, mouthing along with the words. And I was doing really, really well until the falsetto bit.
"Every man's got his patience, and here's where mine ends." He had managed to stand up while keeping a steady, repetitive thrum with his hands. I gasped as warmth hit my ear. He sang breathy and low, right into my neck. Indecent, fleeting thoughts assaulted my head when the words registered-
I want your sex.
His breath hot, making the almost-blonde hairs behind my ear tremor with the very slight, soft caress of his voice.
I want your love
I had every intention of turning my head and looking into his eyes; an attempt to break the seeming sex spell I was under. But I couldn't. I was trapped. The slow, steady pulse of the vibrating chords thrumming under me wouldn't let me.
I want your… sex
He barely whispered the last bit, but the soft hiss of the "sex" made me want to cross my legs. His lips grazed the bottom of my earlobe, and my head jerked back slightly at the contact. I had never been into public sex, but the way I was feeling at that moment, I would have done anything. Anything. As long as I didn't have to see the judgmental look in his face, I would do whatever he asked me.
I flipped onto my stomach and pushed up so that I was on all fours. I do believe it's time to turn the tables, Mr. Cullen.
I hopped off the piano and swayed over behind him, putting my hands on his shoulders and running my fingertips down his arms. I could feel the pull of his muscles as he pounded out the rhythm; hear the soft buzz of the microphone as he sang into it; feel the heat of the stage lights, a single drop of sweat racing down his temple. I leaned over his shoulder, putting my lips next to his. He smirked for a second before we sang the next few lines together. My elbow curled as I lifted my hand to run my fingertips across his sweaty scalp, wrapping his tangled locks around my knuckles and pulling his head to the side, giving me access to the mic.
I swear I won't tease you, won't tell you no lies
Our voices harmonized well; his, growling and low, mine high and dead-on. I exaggerated licking my lower lip, sticking my tongue out and swiping slowly so that I tasted the salt from the corner of his mouth. I felt his muscles tense underneath my arms and grinned wickedly; good to know I'm not the only one feeling it. I could overanalyze how bad an idea this was later. As I was going to bed. Alone.
Edward sang the chorus again… I want your- I stepped up on the bench, putting my palm on top of his head for balance as I climbed up on the piano again, succumbing to the urge to be on all fours, right in front of him.
I waggled my ass right in his face as he sang, and I totally lost track of where I was as I knelt up, palming the back of my neck and gyrating my hips. The crowd was going crazy, getting louder and louder as I slowly lifted my arms in the air. I was vaguely aware of Garrett's catcalls somewhere to my right and I realized that the song was over. Those out in the audience were losing it, loving it. I dropped my arms and grinned, meeting the eyes of James at the back who was looking at me like… I didn't have any clothes on.
I got jerked away from enjoying the admiration by another slap on my ass.
"Well," Edward said, his voice hoarse and husky. "I need to excuse myself so I can pound one out. Care to join me, Darling Bella?" I turned in shock, putting my hand in his as he pulled me off his piano, the disappointed hollering from several of the girls in the room adding to my confusion. I followed Edward off the little stage and out a side door, wondering if I was about to get laid or yelled at or what.
For those who want to youtube the songs, they are:
"You give love a bad name" by Bon Jovi
"Add it up" by the Violent Femmes
"Darlin' Nikki" by Prince (or the Foo Fighters, works just as well)
"I want your sex" by George Michael
And as much as I wish I could… the next update should be next week. I can't do double posts on one story too often. I'd die. But I'm glad yer still with me. 3