"Let me get this straight – you punched a cop in the face and got away with it?" Pete stared at Josie in astonishment as she gave a slight scoff.
"It was an accident! …Sort of. And of course I got away with it; will you look at this smile?" Giving a ridiculous, slightly drunken grin she pointed at her face, nearly poking herself in the eye before continuing, "I apparently looked like the cop's daughter and he took pity on me being a drunken idiot who steal's bums beers and accidently hits cops. It was a hell of a mess to explain to my dad when the policeman was kind enough to escort me to the front door and explain –in detail - everything that had gone on that night."
Pete and Josie were seated at the bar of the Abbey; both with swimming heads after having each drank a bottle of wine at the French House. They had begun swapping stories and Josie had just finished the story of her 21st birthday while Pete sat there nearly pissing himself with laughter. He gave her a sidelong look to see her clinging onto the counter in the same state, it seemed the wine had gone straight to her head and they were currently shooting the shit while waiting for Terry to deliver their dinners.
"Ere you are, bangers and mash for the beautiful lady and shepherd's pie for the homely gentleman." Terry smiled at Josie as she giggled back at him while Pete simply glared at him but smiled again as he saw Josie begin to shovel her dinner down as though it was her last meal.
"Oi love, you're gonna choke on that if you don't slow down." Looking at her again he saw her glaring back but unable to reply due to the amount of food stuffed in her mouth making her look like a chipmunk. Even with food filling her mouth she looked adorable and he simply stared back at her as she tried to talk.
"Ef ou."
"Eh, come again?"Raising an eyebrow at her, he watched as she chewed and chewed, finally managing to swallow the mouthful, she calmly turned to him and said, "Fuck you."
"Now now, that aint very ladylike, is it? I'd like an apology please miss."
"Hah, you'll be waitin' ages for that then mister. Now eat your food before it gets cold." Turning back to her dinner he continued to stare over at her in wonder, a small smile playing on his face. He was slightly shocked at the amount of food such a tiny girl could pack in but thrilled that she wasn't the one-glass-of-wine, I'll-have-a-salad type girl but instead seemed to be an I'll-drink-you-under-the-table then eat-a-burger type girl.
"Ere love, compliments of the gentlemen at the end of the bar." Looking up Pete watched as Terry set a full pint in front of Josie and he glared down to the end of the bar only to see Dave and Swill staring down at the two of them with matching grins on their faces. Rolling his eyes slightly at the smirks they were giving them he glanced over at Josie as she squealed with delight. Who gets that happy about a beer? He thought gruffly and with a twinge of jealousy that he wasn't the one making her that happy. He continued to glare down the bar until he realized she was looking up at him with a devilish look sparkling in her brown eyes.
"Stop looking so surly, I'm about to make you a very rich man, babe. Wanna win some money off your friends? They seem like the bar game types and I have the most perfect plot ever."
"I'm all ears, love." Leaning in to hear her plan he smirked down the bar at Swill and Dave, knowing they had no idea what they were getting into, while the two men just stared down at the couple waving at them to join their table.
"Aw, beat us three in a row – oh well, least we weren't gambling!" Josie took a large gulp of her pint and squinted slightly at the scoreboard of the cricket game they'd just finished. In the mean time Pete watched as Swill and Dave exchanged sly looks.
"Wellll, how about we place a slight wager – closest to the bull's-eye wins? I'll put 10 quid down." Dave waved the note in front of Josie's face, she sighed as though thinking about it before smiling back at him.
"Alright, fine you're on. Petey boy, you gonna put 10 on me to beat your mate here?" Smirking up at him, Pete returned her gaze and gave a slight nod of consent.
Josie went first, nearly missing the dart board completely while Dave quickly followed her shot, nearly hitting the direct center of the board. She groaned slightly while Dave received high-fives from Swill, Ike and Ned.
"Pay up Yank, don't want you runnin' out on your tab now do we?" Dave held his hand out while Josie playfully slapped it and laughed back at him, "How's about doubling the wager? I work better under pressure." She looked up at him innocently and Pete watched as Dave's eyes lit up at the prospect.
"I'll throw down 20 on Dave." Swill chimed in.
"Me too."
"And me!" Pete smirked to himself hearing Ike and Ned chime in along with Swill and glanced up as Josie rocked back and forth on her heels, an angelic smile playing on her lips.
"Ah now, that's bollocks. Who's going to bet on me??" Looking over at Pete hopefully he merely nodded his head again and pulled a 20 note from his wallet to throw down.
Pete stared at Josie as she watched Dave go first. Making a noble effort he struck quite close to the bull's eye. Motioning for Josie to take her turn, Pete watched Dave give a self-assured smile to the boys then turned back to watch Josie take her shot.
"Oi love, you gonna throw lefty all night? Thought you said you were a righty…" Pete nearly burst out laughing at the look on Dave's face as his jaw dropped as he watched Josie throw the dart and hit the dead center of the bull's eye. The boys all gave a shout as Josie did a slight leap into the air and an odd little fist pump.
"Boop! Ahh, what would I do without you, Petey Dunham?" Reaching out and pinching his cheek she gave another laugh, "I woulda lost me a whole ton of money if you hadn't so kindly reminded me I'm a much better dart player if I'm throwing righty." Grinning at the boys she laughed outright as they glared back at her before reluctantly breaking into smiles themselves.
"You tosser! The two of you was in league together. Petey I can't believe you brought a ringer in and betrayed your best mates all in the name of a pretty lady!" Laughing slightly at Swill, Pete simply shoved him away and went over to Josie. Leaning down over her shoulder he smiled back at her and took her hand.
"Come on then little miss ringer – time for you to buy a round for the poor sods you just screwed out of all that money."
Throwing her head back in laughter she allowed Pete to lead her up to the bar. Josie was having one of the best nights she'd had in as long as she could remember. For the first time since she'd arrived from the States she finally felt comfortable somewhere. She'd been out a few times with Emma but they'd mostly gone to stuck-up martini bars where Josie felt like the poor American that had been taken pity on by a rich aristocrat. Not that Emma would ever purposely try to put her in that situation but she wasn't exactly the best when it came to recognizing other's feelings. But this was another story, not only was she enjoying the company of the boys but meeting Pete was the bonus she'd never expected to find in her move to London. She didn't quite understand how she'd already fallen so hard for him and she was having trouble thinking of reasons as to why she shouldn't just let herself fall: screw school and screw her plans, what harm could it do?
"So what'll it be there freckles?" Terry laughed at the cross look Josie gave in return and simply waited until she finally cracked a grin back.
"Six pints if you please old man." Josie smirked at Terry who was the one now wearing a glare before he turned to grab their drinks.
Pete smiled down at Josie and leaned in close to talk to her without being interrupted by the loud bar noises around them, "That was brilliant ya know? Where'd a girl like you learn how to play darts like that?"
Raising an eyebrow at him, "A girl like me? And just what is that supposed to mean?" Crossing her arms across her chest she stared up at him accusingly.
"I, uh, I just meant that um, well a girl doesn't usually, um, ah…" Pete was grasping at straws, trying to explain to Josie that it wasn't an insult but was meant to be a sort of compliment. Sputtering stupidly and wondering just when he became a tongue-tied git around girls rather than the suave ladies man he used to be, it finally hit him when she laughed up at the deer-in-a-headlight look he was currently wearing: shit, he had it bad for her.
"Relax you, I was kidding." Lightly touching his arm she continued, "My dad runs a bar back in Boston so as a little girl he used to bring me to work with him on Sundays and while he was working, the regulars used to teach me bar games, mostly darts but I'm a fair hand at pool. Not exactly the best place to raise a kid but I like to think I turned out ok."
Smiling down at her, he lightly touched her face and leaned close to whisper in her ear, "Nah love, you turned out perfect." Feeling her face burn at both his words and his touch, she felt her breath catch in her throat, I am fucked, she thought. The two stood there, lost in their own world until they heard a cough come from Terry.
"Erhm, you might want to tack on two more o' these to your order bruv, looks like Bovver has finally shown his ugly mug around 'ere." Josie glanced over to where the boys were seated and saw Keith had joined them along with another man. At that moment the guy looked up at her, saw her standing close to Pete and she watched as his face turned to a stony glare.
"Whose tha-.." The question died on her lips because at that instant Pete's face had broken into a large grin and he was grabbing a couple of the pint glasses and motioning for her to do the same.
"My best mate, come on then, I want you to meet 'im." Glancing back at Terry she saw a grim look on his face as he handed her the pints.
"Careful love, Bov isn't a fan of outsiders, even beautiful ones such as yerself." Blushing slightly and feeling her nerves on fire she grabbed the pints, took a deep breath and began to walk back to the boys' table.
"Alright there you? Lemme at one o' those pints." Smirking down at Swill she watched as he tried to grab for the drink and she playfully moved it slightly out of his reach, just as she'd done a few nights earlier.
"Oi, I don't like this game at all gorgeous. Pint me, please!"
"Aw, mean boy, you don't let me have any fun!" Pouting slightly she handed the beer over to Swill and he gave her a cheesy grin in return. Smiling back at him she glanced over again at the man they were calling Bovver.
"Hey Joze, come 'ere, want you to meet someone." Looking over she saw Pete smiling at her and beckoning her towards him. Feeling her stomach drop, she slowly walked over feeling slightly reassured when Pete pulled her to him, loving the way she fit perfectly in the crook of his arm.
"Bov mate, this is Josie, 'member the Yank I told you about." So he'd been telling people about her, huh? At least now she knew she wasn't the only one in too deep.
Josie shyly looked up at the grim face staring back at her and offered a hand which Bovver looked down at with disdain then turned his back on, continuing to talk to the rest of the boys as though she wasn't even standing there. Standing there shell-shocked she felt Pete tighten his arm around her and give her shoulder a quick squeeze. A low growl emanated from him as he went to go at Bovver instead he felt Josie stop him as she smiled up softly at him.
"Forget it Pete, you can't please everyone all of the time. I'm gonna take off, yeah?" Turning to grab her coat and bag she went to leave when another voice stopped her.
"I don't think so love, you're gonna park your cute little bum right 'ere next to me, we're gonna rip the piss outta Bovver until he either hits us or cracks a grin at you, and you're gonna buy us some more pints cause after that shit you pulled: you owe us." Gratefully looking back at Dave she gave a shrug and a smile, allowing herself to be dragged back over to the table by Swill who deposited her in the seat next to Dave while Pete squeezed in next to her.
"Fineee, I guess I can be persuaded to stay a little longer, have a few more drinks and maybe beat the pants off you girls in some cricket." Giving a grin to the table that didn't reach her eyes she felt her heart pound at the way Bovver glared at her. As they all talked and laughed she felt his eyes boring into her and she began to question if she'd made the right decision or not. With a slight jump she smiled at Pete as she felt his hand take hers underneath the table and give it a slight squeeze. Feeling herself start to relax she figured she could handle just about anything, as long as she was nestled next to Pete while he wore that smile just for her.
Gold star to anyone who can identify where the dart idea came from.
& of course any reviews would be a delight!