Chapter 7

Richie watched her walk away, his cock twitching and aching in a way he'd thought had been long since past. His lips burned where she'd touched him and his fingers itched to get it on a woman, instead of a guitar for the first time in what felt like forever. He glanced at his buddy and growled when he just grinned back at him like a jack ass.

Jon started laughing softly, "Man you're either besotted or crazy, I can't decide which is which at the moment."

"Definitely crazy. We'll revisit besotted in a few weeks. After I've had her under me for at least that long,” Richie muttered.

"Dude, I hate to break it to ya, but she’s walking AWAY from you. Now I don’t know ‘bout you, but to me that don’t seem like naked is going to be on that menu." Jon grinned, his blue eyes following the curvy one wistfully.

Richie watched as they got in line for the teacups and finished off his own beer in one long pull. One taste is definitely not enough. “I'll get to her; just prowling around the games area...I'll get to her." He nodded his head in the direction of the women. "What about Miss Curves?"

Jon punched his arm; "Well before you blew it, CUITE PIE,” he emphasized the word until Richie gave him a dark look. Swallowing a chuckle he went on, “I had at least gotten her to agree to be friendly. Still no name though. You'd think their names were state secrets or something.” He followed Richie’s laser glare and gave a rich sigh. “Damn but I'd like to see what was under those ripped jeans." He punched him in the arm. "And you had to mention all the other girls? WHERE's your brain boy wonder?"

"I was trying to get her to say her name. I thought the darlin' thing would be a challenge. Stepped in that a bit, I think,” he said absently.

"A BIT?” Jon snorted, “Try a lot. With those feet of yours I bet I could smell the shit from the next county." Grinning as the two girls stopped suddenly, the small one intensely talking with mouth and hands.

Richie grinned. "She sure is cute though. Everything about her makes me want to scoop her up and take her back home to see just how cute she is."

A soft rumble filtered through Jon's throat, "I wanna do more than just take her home. Mizz Curves,” he emphasized the z’s in a bad southern accent. “Not, Miss Stick."

His head whipped away from the long, graceful curve of her neck and stared hard at his best friend. "Are you fucking blind?"

Jon shrugged, "Can’t help it man, the curves are calling to me." He continued to watch the girls, wondering what the heated discussion was about.


~


"You wanna do what?" Kate said as she looked up at the monstrous Ferris wheel one ride over.

Elena's head turned a moment to look back at the table, "Ahh hmmm? Oh um, yeah. The Ferris wheel, I wanna ride that. Yeah I really wanna ride that."

"The Ferris wheel? Or tall, dark and grinning over there?"

Elena laughed, “Both,” her eyes crinkled at the corners as her smile went big. “Maybe even at the same time,” she waggled her eyebrows. Suddenly pulling a serious face, she sighed. “I shouldn’t have been so hard on him, I guess. He is hot.” She threw a wistful look over her shoulder. “Lots of girls probably do fall all over him. But I guess I gotta cut my losses, cuz you sure as hell weren’t giving the cute shaggy one a break.” She bumped her hip, “Even though I KNOW he lit a fire under ya."

Ignoring the ribbing she tried to wipe the sneer off her face. "Just because jerk-off wasn't my cup of tea doesn't mean you should shrug off his friend. I don't need to like his friend, just Richie. And I do…he's far sweeter than his friend.”

"Katydid, You’re doing it again you know?"

Kate's eyes strayed to the two men again and tried not to notice how perfectly his jeans fit him. God, you are not looking at him? She jerked her eyes back to her friend. "I'm doing what?"

"You’re getting all swept up in that first impression. You've never been real big on drinking, and he was a few sheets to the wind when you met him. Not everyone is a bad guy cuz they drink a bit.” She gave her a gentle pat. “He didn't have to save my face from that gravel, and he didn't have to try to help you, but he did." She sighed softly, "Maybe, just maybe, you should listen to your instincts for a change and not your head?"

"I-" she swallowed and remembered the harsh echo of cheap scotch in her childhood house. Pushing that firmly aside she shook her head. "My instincts say he's nothing but a boy on the prowl. His friend doesn't seem to be on the make, but jerk face is just looking for his next score."

"Dammit Katydid, how many times you gonna use that excuse without proof?" She glanced around, frowning when she couldn’t find him.

"And why do you keep seeing the good in everyone? Just how many assholes do you have to meet before you figure out that they all end up disappointing you sometime?"

Her humor surfaced, "Well we all have assholes, girl, just depends on how you treat them."

Kate sighed as the two guys had slowly made their way from rides, to games to the Ferris wheel they stood beside. "I guess we'll find out if this one's smeared in shit or sweet as a rose," she said under her breath as Richie stood before her friend.

Elena looked up at the Ferris wheel, a look of childlike glee on her face, totally unaware of who was standing near. She'd been looking for him and now, didn't even realize he had stepped close. "I can't wait to get on that."

Richie swallowed thickly and jammed an elbow in Jonny's ribs when he chuckled. All he could picture was her slim little body crawling up him and folding those disproportionately long legs around his waist. "Mind if we ride with you guys?"

Elena whirled, her eyes widening. "There you go again with the guy thing, I swear, get some glasses, dude." Her voice was breathless with mirth, her eyes again traveling from his face down his chest and further before she yanked her gaze back to the Ferris wheel. "That's my friend’s call. Ask her."

Richie forced his eyes to find her friend and not the distracting length of her neck with the wisps of hair that teased on the breeze. "I'll behave and he'll behave if you let us take a ride with you," Richie asked with a smile.

Elena looked at Kate quietly, her body nearly vibrating with a strange sensation she didn't recognize. She wanted the feel of his arms around her but wouldn’t push her best friend into a situation where she was stuck with some guy she really didn’t like.

She wasn't heartless, Kate wanted to say out loud, but instead she just smiled that smile that all southern women were taught. "I can roll, darlin', but the clothes stay on,” she said with a glare at Richie. The man was nearly undressing her friend with his eyes.

Elena smiled at Kate, gratitude and humor lurking in her doe colored eyes. "This should be interesting to say the least."

Jon grinned, "Well I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I wanna be naked thirty feet up in the air, so that’s entirely doable."

"I just bet everything is entirely doable to you," Kate said with a sugary smile, as she sauntered up to the ticket holder and stepped into the bright red cage.

Jon shook his head, "Nope, some things aren’t worth the effort.” His voice took on a serious tone, “Liars or those who don’t respect themselves, got no time for those.” He shook his head, “Not doable in my world."

Kate turned back to him respect in her bright green eyes for the first time all night. "Guess you get to sit next to me, darlin'. Let those two enjoy a little close time."

Elena glanced up at Richie and felt so tiny "Think you can handle it?” A smile played over her lips, "Not that I mind sitting next to you." She reached up and snagged the large cross that fell between his pecs, pulling his face closer. "Dammit, I'm gonna break my neck looking up all night.” Letting him go, she added an extra sway to her step as she passed a ticket to the teenager collecting them with a smile and stepped into the cage.

Hoping to keep the light in her eyes, Jon gestured to the seat next to her. "Hope you don’t mind?"

"Nope, just remember to keep those hands where they're supposed to be, Sugar." When his grin widened Kate let a little of her ice come through. "And if you need a map, I'd be happy to give you specifics as to where your hands and my body are to be and the definition of vicinity."

"Yes ma'am,” Jon saluted her before throwing his arm over the back of the seat. "I'll take that under advisement."