Sweetest Sin: Bad Boy Bundle (65 page)

We had just reached my house when I started crying. Josh pulled me into a big bear hug. When he pulled away, he looked at me and smiled.

“It will all work out, Lola. This kind of stuff always does.”

He really was the little, naive brother that I needed. Even if the only place where things were going to work out would be his imaginary world, I appreciated it all the same.

Chapter Seven

Vince

It was time to get over Lola. It was long overdue but it was only now that I was realizing how much I'd let her change me. I'd started to long for the days when beautiful women were mere forms of entertainment for me. I could fuck one girl in the morning and fuck another in the afternoon and no one would feel bad about it. I wasn't done with girls. That was bullshit. I was young and attractive and knew how to talk a girl's panties off without any problems. There were plenty of girls in the world who were less complicated than Lola. Millions of them, probably. Almost all of them would be willing to sleep with me. I wasn't done with girls. I was done with drama.

Picking up a new girl would be the key to getting over Lola and getting my mojo back. Then I would be back to my old self again. No commitments, no drama, no problems.

I hated that I even had to get over her in the first place. That wasn't me. I had never allowed myself to become invested in anyone and now the one time I had, everything had gone to shit. I needed to take that as a lesson learned and never repeat the mistake ever again. I just had to get back to my old self. I considered telling Brett about my plans but then I decided that I wouldn't bother. I didn't need him making fun of me for getting my heart broken or something stupid like that. It wasn't broken anyway. I certainly didn't need a wing man. So I decided to work solo. My best work was always done on my own.

When I finally decided to get off my ass and go out it was the Monday night after the shoot. Weekdays weren't exactly the busiest times in the clubs and bars that I frequented, but that was all right. I tried to think of it like a video game. I just happened to be playing the game on hard mode. I don't know why, but the only bar that I was drawn to was The Ruby Lounge, where I had gone with Lola that one night. It wasn't because of her. I had just always like their fancy beers and the female bartenders were usually pretty. At least, that was what I told myself. Maybe if I scored there tonight I would stop associating it with her and thinking about how she had kissed me in the alleyway every time I rode past.

I showed up a little after nine and was disappointed, but not surprised, to see that the place was basically dead. It wasn't completely empty, but it certainly wasn't as busy as I had seen it get on weekends. Luckily, the few customers who were there were all female. They all turned around when I walked in. Judging by the way that they were looking at me, this had been a slow night for them too. All of them were hoping that the one guy in the bar would talk to them. They were good looking too, each one hot in her own unique way. Most of them could have been swimsuit models if they wanted to be. In the past I would have called it a perfect set up, but I found that tonight I didn't really care. I was in no hurry so I strolled past them all to the bar and ordered one of those French beers from that Tom guy. He looked pleased to see me. He obviously remembered that I tipped big. People always remembered that.

“Oh, hey Vince! Good to see you,” he said, putting my beer down on the counter. I took a drink before I spoke to him.

“Nice to see you too buddy. How's it going?” I asked. Though I didn't really give a shit about his answer, he went into detail. I somehow doubted that he had much social interaction outside of work, so I let him yap on without interruption.

“Eh, OK. They're talking about promoting me to bar manager, so that's pretty cool. Also, I was really worried because my vision kept getting blurry at random times and I thought I might have something really bad like eye cancer, but it turned out that I just need to clean my reading glasses more often,” I paused to take a breath, “Are you meeting Lola?”

I shook my head.

“Don't even mention that girl to me,” I said. Tom took this as an invitation to talk shit about Lola, giving me all the information that I really did not want.

“Jesus, I know. She's terrible, right? Even after that fancy date that I took her on she was a total cold fish. I let her get dessert and everything, but I got nothing from her. She barely let me kiss her, for fuck's sake. I was totally in the friend zone, even after spending all that money,” he sighed, obviously not reading my angry facial expression, “Then one night she shows up to my apartment and says she wants to fuck. So I say yeah, why not? And the bitch chickens out before we can go through with it and tells me that we should just be friends. I mean, what the fuck? How frigid can you get? She's just a no good cock tease who likes attention. You're right not to hang out with her anymore. She'd probably end up friend zoning you before you got anywhere too.”

Tom would have kept going if I let him, but I didn't. I looked around to make sure that security wasn't watching before grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pulling him towards me. It wasn't difficult even though he resisted. I was much bigger and much, much stronger than him. That puny mother fucker didn't stand a chance. He gave out a little squeak of terror and cowered before me. “Listen you skinny little prick. I'm not your fucking friend. I'm not here to listen to you talk about your shitty life and offer sympathy because you can't get any pussy,” I said, my face inches from his. I heard a few gasps from the other bar patrons, but I didn't care. I wasn't finished yet, “But I'll tell you something. I am really not here to let you talk shit about Lola. It's not fuckin happening, OK? Lola is a good girl. She's not frigid and she's not a bitch. She's just too good for you. Got it? If I was a girl I wouldn't wanna fuck you either. Buy some deodorant and hit the gym and then maybe things will work out better for you. But don't ever call her names like that in front of me again. You understand me?”

Tom nodded quickly, still struggling to get out of my grip.

“Good. Cos if I hear you say one bad thing about her ever again I will end you, right? I will fucking end you buddy. Understand?”

Tom nodded some more, desperate now.

“Yeah, I understand. I'm sorry. Just let me go, OK? Please?” I did what he asked because he looked as if he might start crying if I didn't. It was a pathetic display, but it made me feel good to have defended Lola's honor. Even if she hadn't been there to see me do it. I meant what I said too. That girl drove me crazy but I would never talk about her that way. Tom was obviously just pissed that he hadn't got his dick wet. If I got laid as rarely as he did I'd probably be a dickhead too.

“Now fuck off and go serve your other customers,” I said. Tom didn't need to be told twice. He ran off to ask a girl at the other side of the bar if she wanted another spritzer, though his eyes kept darting back to me. He was probably terrified that I would change my mind and pummel him in front of everyone. I won't lie, I was tempted.

I turned around and saw that the girls in the bar were still looking at me. The looks of lust on their faces had been momentarily replaced with surprise. Maybe they had thought that my strong muscles had just been something of a display piece. I was glad to have proven that theory wrong.

One of the girls finally gathered up the courage to approach me. She was a brunette, petite but curvy. A little bit like Lola.

“Hey there, stud. You're not gonna grab me like that poor bartender if I talk to you, will you?” she asked. I shook my head.

“Just don't piss me off like he did and you'll be fine.”

She introduced herself to me and sat down but her name didn't even register with me. It was Chris, or Christine or Christina or something like that. I found it hard to focus on what she was saying. Instead of listening to her, I was comparing her to Lola.

In theory, they looked alike but Lola had brighter eyes, smoother skin and longer legs. I had always enjoyed the way she wrapped her legs around me when I fucked her. I would have given anything to experience that one more time. Her hair didn't look as soft and shiny as Lola's and her voice didn't have that sexy, husky edge that Lola's had. There was no comparing. Lola was better in every way. I couldn't pretend that I felt otherwise.

The girl soon got annoyed with my obvious inattentiveness. She waved a hand over my face. “Hello! Are you even listening to me?” she said, outraged.

“Of course I am,” I replied, but I wasn't very convincing. One of the main reasons why I hadn't cheated on a girl since high school was the fact that I was a terrible liar. This chick could see right through me. She could have been blind and deaf and she still would have.

“Then what did I just say?” she insisted. There was no point in lying anymore. She didn't interest me much anyway. Fucking her would probably be fun, but the last thing I wanted was to continue the Lola comparisons with this girl's bedroom technique. That really wouldn't be fair.

“I honestly don't have a clue, sorry about that,” I said, deciding that honesty was the best policy.. The girl gave me an indignant sniff and marched back to her friends, who immediately started talking about what an asshole I was. It was fine. I didn't want her. I didn't want any of these girls. I left the bar alone, feeling worse than I did when I entered it. Where was Lola when I needed her?

Lola

Working from home turned out to be a lot harder than I had expected. Sure, there were a few added bonuses. I could work in my pajamas and order food from my favorite local Chinese place for lunch. I was free to take breaks whenever I wanted and no one cared if I hadn't brushed my hair all day. No one was there to yell at me or to tell me that I wasn't working hard enough. That was all great. Most people would switch places with me in an instant if it meant that they could do their nine to five from home. What wasn't so great was how undisciplined that I felt.

I had so much to do but I hadn't thought to organize any kind of homework schedule for myself. I was supposed to do this week's beauty column but that wasn't particularly inspiring for me. There was only so many ways that you could tell people to try a nude lip smokey eye combo without sounding repetitive. Jennifer had given me some new albums to review for our tiny arts section but when I listened to them the only word that I could think of was 'garbage'. To me if it wasn't country music then it wasn't music, though I tried my best to put aside my prejudice I still couldn't think of anything to say. I figured that I was suffering from writer's block and decided that a walk in the fresh air might help me out with that. So I pulled off my pajamas and changed into the next best thing, a pair of my comfiest sweatpants. Sweatpants were strictly a no go in Jennifer's office, but today my home was my office and I made the rules. I pulled my hair into a cute high pony, dabbed on some lip balm and I was ready to go. Did I look hot? Not really. Did I look like a hot mess? Not quite, I had just managed to avoid that look. Did I look like a professional journalist? Maybe not. I left the car in the house and walked into town, figuring that I might as well do some window shopping. Looking at clothing and makeup that I couldn't afford was always fun. That, combined with the exercise might get my imagination going.

I didn't have a chance to get much exercise done as I was instantly recognized when I tried to walk past a small, local cafe. It had a few tables laid out outside to make the most of the good weather. I heard a shriek come from one of the tables and before I knew it, Janey and Allison were bombarding me with hugs.

“Lola! Oh my god, how lucky to bump into you! We were both on our lunch breaks so we decided to meet up,” said Allison, “Come on, you have to have coffee with us!”

“Yes please say yes! It's so amazing to catch you in the wild like this!” added Janey.

I hadn't prepared for socializing but I didn't really have a choice. Anyway, seeing my friends didn't seem like too terrible an option to me. It was better than the prospect of listening to those shitty albums again, anyway. Maybe the could even help me think of something constructive or interesting to write. Even so, I regretted bumping into them as soon as I sat down.

They were both dressed beautifully in expensive clothing that appeared to be perfectly tailored for their figures. Their hair was perfectly cut and highlighted to accentuate their pretty, perfectly made up faces. Next to them I looked incredibly scruffy. I tried to pretend that they didn't notice, but soon realized that I was fighting a losing battle.

“Wow Lola, you're the only girl I know who can wear sweat pants and no makeup and still look fabulous,” said Janey. She meant it as a compliment but I knew she didn't mean it. It was her way of saying that I looked like a hot mess. Somehow I couldn't imagine Janey wearing sweatpants. Even when she watched movies in bed she probably wore a three piece suit, red lipstick and heels. My friends were always so much more put together than I was and I could tell that they thought I should follow their example. It didn't matter that I would rather die than be so uncomfortable every day of my life. So I ignored Janey's little jibe.

“Thanks, Janey. So how are you guys doing?” I asked. That bought me some time. Their answers were really long, though they basically didn't tell me anything that they hadn't told me last time. The only new information that they had was ridiculously boring. Janey had bought a new sofa for her living room because the old one didn't match the new wallpaper. Allison had a bad manicure. The old lady doing it for her had painted her nails with Tropical Punch instead of Caribbean Punch which was apparently a really bad thing that she probably should have sued for. I felt myself starting to switch off, so I forced myself to listen.