Hustle Me (Bank Shot Romance #1)(27)
Author: Jennifer Foor

It figured that one of the first girls I actually wanted to bang again wished it never happened. Talk about crap luck.

It took me a few minutes to find out what car was hers. Luckily, she had a pad on her keychain that unlocked her doors. I kept walking down the street until I found the car it unlocked.

Even though this wasn’t the neighborhood that I grew up in, it was close enough to know my way around. Baltimore was a big city and living on the opposite side of town from my parents was far enough for those five years.

Tippy’s house was about ten minutes from the Tavern. Since it was during the week, I was hoping that Jaye would be working somewhere, doing whatever she did. I was wrong though. She was sitting on the couch, looking all sad when I walked in. I lifted my head to acknowledge Tippy and his girlfriend.

“Yo, man, I was just headed over to bring you your shit.”

I saw my bag sitting on the floor next to where Jaye sat. When I reached down to grab it, she grabbed my hand. Jaye poked her head around me. “You guys think you can give us a minute?”

Tippy and his girl left the room promptly. I didn’t feel like dealing with this chick, not at all.

I sat down across from her and folded my hands while I waited for her to speak. “Jammer, did I do something to piss you off?”

“No.” I wasn’t going to give her a long explanation. It wasn’t worth my time.

“Why didn’t you come back the other night? I thought we hit it off.”

I leaned forward, placing my elbows on the top of my legs. “We f**ked. That’s all it was.”

Her mouth dropped open and she looked like she was about to cry. “Didn’t you like it? Wasn’t it good?”

This chick was the same as all the ones before her, except normally, I didn’t stay in town long enough to deal with this type of shit. Why couldn’t they get that it was just a one-time thing? Sure, if the Charlie thing wouldn’t have happened, I probably would have hit it again, but things had changed.

Last night, I’d hooked up with someone who didn’t want to ever do it again. It figured that the one girl I actually wanted to keep banging didn’t want to. Instead, I was stuck with these crazy bitches.

I looked up at Jaye. “Look, it was fine. I know what you want me to say, but I’d be lying to you if I did. I’m not interested in a relationship. I don’t do them at all.”

She leaned back and crossed her arms. “Oh really? So, are you hot for that bartender? You think I didn’t notice how you acted around her?”

Jesus Christ, this chick was batshit crazy if she was jealous of Charlie for watching me play pool. “Look, I don’t really care what you saw. Charlie and I are friends and there ain’t a damn thing you could say to me to make me change my mind about that.”

“Oh, so if you’re really good in bed, you are considered a friend? I see where I rank.”

I stood up. I wasn’t going to let some bitch get up in my shit about what I was doing. Nobody knew what happened in Charlie’s room last night. They weren’t going to find out. “We’re done here.”

My foot was at the threshold to the door before she got to me and grabbed my arm. “Jammer, wait, I’m sorry.”

I took her hand and removed it. “The next time you f**k someone the first night you meet them, remind yourself that they don’t want to get to know you. You women need to learn that guys like me want the girls that play hard to get, not the ones spreading their legs before telling us their names.”

I felt annoyed on my drive back to the tavern. The only good thing was the idea of getting a shower and wearing clean clothes. Charlie was busy when I got back inside. I waved her keys, but kept walking toward the stairs.

When I opened the door, I had no idea that a chick would be sitting there on the couch, like she owned the place. “Oh, wow. She did not tell me you looked like that.”

She was a pretty girl, but I could smell her daddy’s money on her from where I was standing. “So, who are you?”

She got up and stuck out her hand. “I’m Elle, Charlie’s college roommate.”

“Jammer, Charlie’s temporary roommate.”

She bit down on her lips while she looked me up and down. “Let me guess, she’s been a ray of sunshine so far?”

I laughed. “Yeah, she’s alright. It just takes a while.” Was I really taking up for her?

“I guess. So, Charlie tells me you play pool.”

Charlie talked to her friend about me. I wondered if she told her what we’d done last night. “Yep.”

She turned around and walked back to the couch, swaying her ass to get attention. Once she was back to sitting, she grabbed the remote, but kept her eyes on me. “You think that while I’m visiting you could teach me how to shoot?”

She did have a nice ass. “Sure.” It wasn’t like Charlie was asking. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to shower before my shift starts. I don’t want my boss getting all mad and shit.”

She giggled as I started walking toward the bathroom.

The shower felt good and it was nice to have different clothes to put on. I put gel in my hair and sprayed my favorite cologne. This would be the best Charlie had ever seen me look. After checking myself out in the mirror a few more times, I wondered if she would notice. Then I wondered why I even cared.

Elle tried to talk to me before I left, but I was in a hurry to get downstairs. Charlie spotted me as soon as I came around the corner and I could tell she was trying really hard not to smile. I walked behind the bar and got up close to her. “Hey, you ready for me to work?”

She gave me a weird look and moved her hands between us. “Are we cool?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we be?”

She shook her head. “It’s just that last night, well, I was vulnerable and…well you know the rest.”

I put my hand on her shoulder. “Let’s just be friends, Charlie. It makes things a hell of a lot easier.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I’m glad we talked last night.”

I looked at her eyes and it brought back the memories of last night and how close we were, but she didn’t want that and I had to respect her. I was lying about who I was and it was obvious that I wasn’t capable of being more than I was right now. She’d be smart to keep us on a friend level, especially knowing how explosive we were when we were together.

Chapter 17

Charlie

Against my best judgment, I’d slept with Jammer. I could blame it on being vulnerable all I wanted, but the truth was that when he came to my rescue and stayed with me, after saving me before, I couldn’t help myself. I knew I shouldn’t have given into temptation and it wasn’t like he was forcing me. I made the choice. I was the one that took the leap and started it all.