Sweet Little Bitch, Page 2

  “Mary Mother of Jesus. So help me if this bullshit attitude of yours is because of Mary Grace . . . Because seriously, bro? She was sweet and pretty, but damn, she ain’t the only female on the planet. You need to move the fuck on.”

  Mack had never had a serious relationship—or any relationship—in his life. We were almost twenty-one and he’d never called any female his girlfriend. Exclusivity wasn’t his thing. I doubted it ever would be. Mack loved females. All of them. If they had an attractive face, he was interested. It was shallow and I hated to admit I often envied him that outlook.

  Apparently, I was the only one with the actual heart or ability to love deeper than a hot fuck. Sucked to be me.

  “Brian isn’t expecting us until nine. We might as well eat. Because Brian’s parties are fucking insane. We need to have food in our stomach before we get to the apartment.”

  Brian was Mack’s current roommate. He was moving next week and heading to California to pursue his future career in porn. Freaking porn. Who even pursues a career in porn on purpose? Brian had gotten a job as a leading man in skin flicks. He was very proud of this too. Brian was also proud of the size of his dick and tonight he’d pull it out of his pants and swing it around to show it off. He didn’t need alcohol to do it either. The first time I met Brian, he pulled it out and asked me if I’d ever seen one that size. Honestly, I hadn’t.

  I wasn’t sure going to any party Brian had planned was a good idea. I wasn’t in the mood for the bullshit he thought was fun. I wanted a beer and possibly a dark room where I could be alone and stare at the wall.

  “Not sure I want to celebrate my new job with porn stars,” I said leaning back in the booth and crossing my arms over my chest.

  Mack smirked. “The porn begins in Cali. His connections here have nothing to do with that. That pretty face of his has gotten him a lot of modeling gigs. He has friends from that world and the females are for fucking real. He introduced me to a girl last week that was in the latest lingerie magazine I got in the mail.”

  I didn’t ask why Mack was getting lingerie catalogs. I already knew the answer. Instead, I sighed and picked up the menu. “If he knows real models, not involved in having sex for a paycheck, then why does he need to pursue porn?” I asked the obvious.

  Mack rolled his eyes at me as if I was naïve. “Because modeling underwear, swimsuits, and fucking clothes doesn’t pay anywhere near what getting your groove on does. He has the cock for it. He loves showing that shit off. Might as well get paid for his love of voyeurism.”

  Shrugging, I decided I’d order ribs. Eating meant I could be silent.

  “Marty,” Mack said seriously getting my attention. Mack was rarely serious. The tone of his voice was so foreign when he spoke to me like this that it was startling. “You loved her. She moved on. It’s the past. First love and all that bullshit. But it’s over and it’s time you got a taste of another pussy. Hell, you need a taste of about ten other pussies. Just let it go. You’ve got great memories. Hold onto those. But let her go. Let. Her. Go.”

  I knew he was right. I knew his words weren’t meant to be callous. He didn’t understand what I’d felt and that didn’t matter. He was still right.

  “Let’s go to the party. I don’t need ribs to face a night planned by Brian,” I said feeling confident that I could do this.

  Mack frowned. “You sure? Because these ribs are amazing and I’m starving.”

  “Get them to go,” I replied.

  Mack nodded slowly, studying me closely. “This city, it’s new. Everyone here is new. It’s a chance to start over. I want that for you. I want to see you smile again. Fucking smile like you mean it.”

  I couldn’t promise him I would be smiling soon. I was, however, willing to try harder. Focus on making this city my home. Letting the past go and moving forward. “I’m ready to move on.” I meant that. I was.

  Mack didn’t respond. He didn’t appear to believe me. He stayed quiet and I let him think. No one knew me like Mack. Having a twin had its issues but it also gave you the constant assurance you were never alone. Even when your world was falling apart, you knew they were always there.

  “She was special. But, Marty, she wasn’t unique. She was just your first experience with a female who had depth. She won’t be the only girl you meet that makes you crave being near her. There are more. And dare I say there is a woman out there more intelligent, with a bigger heart, a brighter smile, and the power to own you. Opening yourself up to find her is up to you. When you realize that life is just beginning you’ll have the world at your fingertips. Because the truth is, you’ve got a damn good face. Your looks stop traffic.” He ended that with a cocky smirk. There weren’t many guys in this world as self-confident as Mack. I hated and loved that about my brother.

  DID THE OTHER RESIDENTS IN this apartment complex not complain when Brian threw parties like this? I frowned as we walked into the building and made our way to his second floor apartment. I wasn’t crazy about the location of the apartment. There had to be better options in this city. But Mack still had four more months on his lease. My hope was I would convince him to move to a nicer area by then. If I was paying half the rent I preferred to like the place.

  “Mack!” a redhead called down the hallway when she spotted us walking off the elevator. Several doors were open and it appeared that the other residents had joined the party. “We’ve got Jell-O shots!” she told him.

  He gave her a limp wave. “Save one for me,” he muttered halfheartedly. “Crazy doesn’t begin to describe that one. She left fifteen messages on my voicemail after I made the mistake of fucking her one night.”

  “Then why are you going to get a Jell-O shot from her?” I asked the obvious.

  “I’m not. That was called avoiding her the nice way.”

  Rolling my eyes at his callus handling of the woman, I followed him to the apartment I would be calling home. The music was loud, the laughter and voices louder. “Do you not have complaints from people who live here?” I was amazed they were getting away with this scene.

  “This complex is full of college students or college students that have dropped out. It’s a join the party kind of place. One of the many reasons I love it.”

  This would be a regular thing? The noise? Fan-fuckin-tastic.

  “Sounds swell,” I drawled annoyed.

  “What you need is to lighten the fuck up. Relax. Enjoy life. Stop acting like a sixty-year-old man.”

  “And you act like you’re still in high school,” I shot back.

  “We’re twenty years old, Marty. We should act like it. These are the best years of our life. It all goes to shit after our twenties. We’ll get married and have kids and jobs and talk about the good ole days.”

  Before I could respond Brian appeared in the doorway. He was shirtless. His tanned chest was oiled up and creepy as hell. The shorts he wore hung loosely on his hips and he was already staggering a little as he tried to stand there and focus on us. His smile was white and straight. Brian’s slightly long blonde curls that he normally tucked behind his ears looked like they’d been played with or pulled on tonight. Brian was a nice enough guy but I wasn’t sad to see him go.

  “It’s about time y’all got here! The rum is almost gone!” he laughed after he said it as if that was hilarious. A tall brunette with a model thin body that was barely covered walked over and draped herself on his side.

  “This is Kierra,” he said to me. “Kierra this is Marty and he needs to stop sulking over a woman. Show him a good time.”

  Kierra turned her attention to me giving me a slow grin as if she liked the idea of a challenge. “Hello, Marty,” her voice was sultry and thick with a southern drawl I hadn’t expected.

  I nodded at her. “Hello.” I turned to face Brian. “You can continue to entertain Brian. I’m good. I only need a beer.” Before either of them could say anything more, I walked past Mack and into the apartment. If I could find a beer and a room to lock myself in alone then maybe I
’d survive the night.

  “Come on, Marty boy! You’ve got to have some fun. If Kierra isn’t your thing then there are plenty others in there. Might find one better than Mary Jo!” Brian’s words were a touch on the slurry side. I ignored him.

  “Mary Grace, dumbass, and don’t talk about her,” Mack snapped at him.

  “You’re the one who wants to get his mind off her. I’m only helping.” Brian didn’t seem concerned at all with his mess up.

  Pushing through the crowd I made it to the kitchen without making eye contact with anyone. The whole scene annoyed me. I’d thought this was a good idea, no, I never thought this was a good idea, I fucking went along with it. Because if I didn’t I was never going to hear the end of it from Mack. Right now, I figured listening to Mack bitch about my sex life was more appealing.

  “Excuse me,” a woman’s voice said, annoyed as I felt, catching my attention. I turned my head toward the source as she repeated, “Excuse me,” but this time louder and feistier. She was shoving a couple making out against the counter so she could fit through the small space and escape.

  Her dark hair cascaded over her shoulders ending with thick curls on the ends. Her startling eyes were a unique shade of green framed by eyelashes as thick as her hair. Slightly slanted, the shape give them an exotic appearance that caught your attention. Without looking at the rest of her I knew she was a model. She had the bone structure and poise even while pissed off. As stunning as she was, knowing she was one of them, Brian’s bunch, immediately turned me off.

  “If you could get the fuck out of my way then you could go right back to sucking face and catching STDs!” She was angry and disgusted if going by the harshness of her words. Her irritated expression made me grin.

  She was definitely more annoyed than me.

  “Jesus, Fiona, leave if you’re just going to be a bitch,” the guy currently getting ready to screw the girl right here in the kitchen said.

  Fiona rolled her eyes and shoved the entwined couple hard enough that they fell backward, causing the guy to let go of the blonde in his arms to catch himself. The blonde fell forward hard and the guy made a loud grunt. But they were both now out of the brunette’s way.

  “Thank you,” Fiona said with an arched brow before walking past them. Her gaze never met mine or looked my way. She was avoiding eye contact with everyone else. Much like I had. I wasn’t interested in models or females that cursed. It turned me off. But something about this woman was entertaining. Little entertained me lately. I waited until she had left the kitchen before turning to follow her. I was curious now. The beer could wait.

  “Fiona! Baby! You’ve not given me any goodbye lovin’.” Brian hollered out across the living room.

  “I’ve never given you any kind of loving, Brian,” Fiona replied matter-of-factly as she walked toward him and a new girl was by his side now. Fiona stopped and took the drink from the girl’s hand. “You’ve had enough, Chantel,” she told the girl.

  The blonde she was speaking to had a drunk grin on her face and reminded me of a Barbie doll.

  “Don’t be a buzzkill, Fiona,” Brian said leaning in like he was going to hug her or kiss her. She quickly stepped back and he stumbled.

  “You’re taking advantage of her. You know she’s upset about Kel. She’ll regret this in the morning,” Fiona said to Brian.

  Brian sighed loudly then his eyes met mine across the room. A big smile lit up his face. “HEY! Marty! I found you one. Fiona here is as boring as you are! It’s a match made in heaven,” he then clapped gleefully.

  Fiona glanced back at me over her shoulder frowning. Her eyes were concerned. She wasn’t interested in me. She was worried about her friend. Her gaze swung back to the girl. “Let’s go, Chantel,” she said ignoring Brian’s comment.

  Chantel looked like a child who had been caught misbehaving and nodded agreeably.

  Brian was already focused on someone else when Chantel stumbled on drunk legs to Fiona who wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her. Both women were tall and slender. Chantel’s gaze shifted to me. Her watchful eye didn’t leave me as they walked in my direction to exit the living room. Fiona wasn’t making any eye contact again. But Chantel was studying me. As they got closer, she smiled. “Why did Brian call you Marty?” she asked.

  “Excuse me?” I wasn’t sure I heard her correctly.

  “Brian called you Marty,” she repeated. I understood then. She knew Mack. She thought I was him. Even at twenty years old we were identical.

  “That’s not Mack,” Fiona said with her no-nonsense tone.

  That caught my attention. There was no doubt in the way she said it.

  “Yes it is! Look at him! It’s Mack’s pretty face!” Chantel said happily as if this was a game and she had won.

  Fiona looked at me. And although it was brief, the depth and weight of her attention stuck with me. She saw past my face. “Mack has a brother. That’s him.”

  “But he looks just like Mack! It’s you isn’t it Mack?” Chantel asked.

  I opened my mouth to reply, but I wasn’t fast enough.

  “That is not Mack. He doesn’t look exactly like him. There are obvious differences. Come on, we are getting out of here.”

  Chantel shrugged, then waved goodbye to me before heading down the hallway and out the door with Fiona. I stood there quietly watching them. I didn’t want them to leave. At least I wanted Fiona to stay. She was everything I wasn’t attracted to, but I had a couple questions for her. What was different about Mack and me? How she knew with only two brief glances?

  Mack walked up beside me. I didn’t have to look to know it was him. Our connection worked that way. “See something you like?” he asked.

  “Who is she?” I asked already knowing her name.

  “Which one?”

  “Brunette.”

  “Fiona, and you don’t want to go there. She’s gorgeous, and that body is sweet. But she’s a bitch. Fiona is everything Mary Grace isn’t. Not what you’re looking for.”

  THE PAST TWO MONTHS IN this apartment with Mack had made me even more determined to find a new place. Anywhere had to be better than this. Without Brian throwing parties the complex was quieter. However, that didn’t fix the location or the amenities—which were sucky and zero.

  I had made the mistake of going on a date with a girl on the first floor. She appeared sweet and intelligent. She had been both of those things. We went out twice. The first time because I thought we might enjoy it. The second time because I wanted to make sure I was as bored as I remembered. There was nothing there. No spark. I was sure she felt the awkwardness too. However, the sad smile she gave me whenever I passed her or spoke made me think she hadn’t thought our dates were bad. She was going to settle one day. Her bar wasn’t very high if she had been happy after going out with me. I wanted to stop running into her and wished I hadn’t tried dating again. She was another reason to get out of this place.

  Without talking to Mack about it I began searching for apartments. I knew my brother well enough to know that if I found somewhere I could sell him on before talking to him about the move that it would be easier. He wouldn’t want the hassle of looking. I could eliminate that.

  Over two weeks, I had checked out four different places. The most expensive out of the four had been my favorite but the smallest. The complex gym and pool had sold me. The bedrooms in the apartment could have been closets though. I knew Mack wasn’t going to give up space for a gym and a pool. He’d tell me he was fine with the gym he currently went to.

  Yesterday I’d heard about a historical building that some guy had bought and turned into apartments. Harry, one of the guys at our firehouse said he’d been sent for the fire code inspection and that the place was amazing. It was restored to look like it had in the 1920’s when it was built. The owner was living there already and intended to rent out the other two floors. From his description of the building I already guessed the price for the available apartments wasn’t going to be d
oable for us, but I was curious. Harry had made the place sound like something out of The Great Gatsby.

  I found nothing online about the place being rented and there wasn’t a sign in front of the building saying there was apartments available. Parked in front of the place I stared, taking in the architecture and the street. I already liking the secluded area it was tucked away in. Still in the city but it felt as if there was privacy. With no other car parked outside, I doubted ringing the doorbell to the front door would get a response.

  Just before I gave up and drove off, a black Range Rover pulled up beside me. The windows were tinted so dark that I couldn’t see the driver. I waited and saw a guy about my age step out of the vehicle. It could be the owner’s son. With a car like that one it could also be a renter or someone else interested in this place. My old Ford F150 that was costing me more in repairs than it was worth didn’t belong here. Needing a new vehicle was something I’d focus on after I got us moved out of that hellhole.

  The guy frowned as he studied me and stood there in front of my truck as if he was waiting on an explanation for why I was here. I didn’t like his stance. He looked annoyed. I could drive off but then this may be the only chance I got to find out how to contact the owner Sucking up my dislike for the guy, I opened my door and stepped out.

  I was expecting, “Can I help you?” or some other question from him, but he said nothing. After a few seconds, I figured he was waiting on me to speak. I didn’t care to explain myself to this guy. I was going to have to do it anyway.

  “Hello, I’m Marty Oliver.” I stepped closer to him, holding out my hand in greeting.

  The guy glanced down at it and for a moment I wasn’t sure he was going to shake it. But after an awkward moment he uncrossed his arms from his chest and clasped my hand firmly with a single shake. But he didn’t offer his name or anything at all. He still studied me.

  “One of the guys at the station told me about this place. He inspected and gave the fire code approval. I’m looking for the owner.” I didn’t explain that I wanted to rent it. It wasn’t this guy’s business. Maybe if he thought there was a safety issue I could get the owner’s number from him. I could elude to that.