39
Emma sold the last tee shirt of the night and pushed her hair out of her face with a sigh. She looked at the person she’d been teamed with for the night and shook her head, “Why is it that the adult fans are crazier than the teenagers?”The man laughed and packed away merchandise, “Because they’re crazy, and they’ve got the money to feed their madness.”
Emma smiled and helped pack up the remainder of the merchandise that hadn’t been sold. It was their first night of four in Vegas and although they’d barely slept the night before and on the bus ride that morning, Emma was shocked at how alert she was. After finishing up her duties as Tee Shirt Girl, she removed all traces of connections to the band from her person, and then made her way up a few floors to one of the restaurants.
While waiting for her dinner to show up, she played Keno and sketched on the placemat to keep occupied. When she paused to light a cigarette she looked out into the area just outside of the restaurant to see Nick standing with security. She chuckled at the look on his face as he looked around quite possibly trying to figure out where to go. Pulling her cell phone from her pocket she dialed his number and with a grin watched him answer her call.
“I was just about to call you…” he said with a smile that she not only saw, but also heard through the phone.
“Bullshit, you were not…”
“I was too…” he laughed and she watched him as he looked around the casino.
“Nut uh, your phone was in your pocket, you weren’t just about to call me. Maybe you were thinking about calling me though.”
Nick smiled again and kept looking around, “Where are you?”
“In a galaxy far, far away waiting for my nachos…” she laughed and took a drag of her cigarette.
“Nachos…” he said and turned around again. “You’re in the restaurant aren’t you?”
“Perhaps…”
He walked toward the restaurant with a big smile on his face and then walked right past the hostess, “I see you…”
Emma chuckled and waved, “Howdy…”
Nick flipped his phone shut when he reached the Emma’s booth and slid in, “Hi…” He leaned toward her and kissed her on the lips then smiled at the look on her face, “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, ya know?”
“Oh yeah?” Emma asked looking into his eyes and noticing how he was sliding closer to her in the booth.
“Yup… I’ve been wanting to do more than that… but I figure the kiss is the safest one to do in public.”
Emma laughed, “And just what were the other things, then?”
Nick bent his face to her ear and she felt his breath on her neck as he spoke, “Everything we did the other night, and more…”
She took a breath and nodded as he kissed her neck and discretely darted his tongue out quickly to tease the spot on her neck just below her ear. “So you just assume that because I slept with you once that you’ve got a free pass to use anytime you want to?”
“I was hoping…” he chuckled against her neck.
She pushed him away so he didn’t feel the shiver that ran through her body. She smiled and shrugged, “We’ll see…”
“Where’s your partner in crime, tonight?”
“AJ?” she asked with a shrug and Nick nodded. “I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him since before the concert tonight. He’s probably sound asleep… he didn’t sleep much on the bus.”
“Yeah, it was a crappy drive. Way too bumpy.”
“I actually can’t believe I’m still awake,” Emma said and smiled. She picked up her Coke and took a drink, “Of course, I have been drinking Coke all day… that might have something to do with it.” They both laughed and Emma’s cell phone rang as a waitress finally stopped by and took Nick’s order. “Speak of the devil…” she chuckled looking at the ID. “Hey…”
“Hey…” AJ rasped into the phone in his, ‘my voice and body is really tired’ voice.
“Are you in bed?”
He laughed, “Yeah…”
“Are you naked?”
He laughed again, “Not quite, but damn close.”
“Well finish the job!” Emma giggled. “Get naked and stroke it for me…”
She cracked up and AJ laughed shaking his head, “You’ve been drinking Coke all night haven’t you?”
“Uh huh…”
“Crazy woman…”
“That’s me…”
“What are you doing?”
“Sitting in a booth waiting for Nachos…”
“Are you in the hotel?”
“Yeah… I’m not braving the other casinos by myself. But I’m kicking ass at Keno.”
“How much have you won?”
“I put down twenty bucks for ten two-dollar games, and so far in the first three games I’ve won about three hundred dollars.”
“Holy shit…” AJ said with a laugh. “I guess you are kicking ass…”
“Yeah, I love Keno.” She watched as Nick picked up a Keno flyer from the middle of the table and read it. “I’m guessing you’re going to crash for the night huh?”
“Yeah… I thought I’d just give you a call and check on you before I pass out.”
“Such a gentleman…”
“I try…” AJ chuckled. “And hey… if you decide you don’t want to room with Skinner tonight, just call me. I’ll get up and let you in the room and you can crash here, okay?”
Emma looked at Nick who was watching her and was running his fingertip along the hem of her shorts touching her leg gently. “I think I’ll be alright… but thanks…”
“No prob… the offer stands…” AJ said with a yawn.
“Call me when you wake up and you can show me around this city a bit.”
“Cool…” Another yawn.
“Go to sleep, AJ. I’ll talk to you later.”
“Night…”
She hung up the phone and looked at Nick, “I was right, he’s already in bed.”
Nick kept running his finger along her thigh and smiled, “Cool…”
Emma picked up her cigarette that had pretty much killed itself while she was on the phone. She finished it off and then put it out in the ashtray. “Can we… talk… about, us?”
Nick looked at her and nodded, his hand still resting on the inside of her thigh. His fingers moving along the soft skin every so often. “What do you wanna talk about?”
She let out a sigh and took another drink of her Coke before talking, “I just… I don’t want to um… you know, lead you on. I like you, Nick. I have fun hanging out with you and, well… the sex is good. Real good…” she laughed at herself and then blushed. Nick smiled at her and kept listening. “I’m not looking for a relationship though, and I want you to know that right away. I don’t want you to fall for me.”
Nick watched her and nodded again, “Okay… so define what is and isn’t cool.”
“I’m just saying that if we do this… the sex… that’s all it’s going to be. I can’t… I can’t give more than that.” She shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair, “It’s complicated… but it’s the way things have to be.”
“So… we hang out occasionally, and when we feel like it, we’re fuck buddies?”
Emma nodded and looked into Nick’s eyes, “That okay with you?”
He shrugged then nodded, “Yeah …” He slid his hand further up the inside of her leg and leaned close to gently put a kiss on her cheek. “If I can touch you when I’m around you, even better…” he whispered into her ear.
She closed her eyes for a moment and leaned her head against his, “Okay…”
He kissed her neck a few more times and then pulled back and smiled at her as he slid his hand over the small of her back. “So are we cool?”
She nodded, took another deep breath, and smiled, “Yeah… one more rule though, okay?”
“Sure thing…”
“When it’s the three of us… When AJ is around… Hands off.”
Nick smiled, “That’s cool. No sense in making things all fucked up and weird when we’re just trying to hang.” Nick grabbed Emma’s hand and held it under the table with a smile, “We’re good.”
“Okay.”
“Now tell me something…”
“What?” she asked with a smile.
“How the hell did you win three hundred dollars playing Keno?”
