Chapter 4

I hope that I ain’t freaking you out

You probably hear it all the time

But I swear that I ain’t like the other boys

I’m a special kind

This ain’t impossible, This ain’t improbable

You are my baby tonight, And I’m your daddy

I’m Your Daddy- Weezer

Ch. 4

“Taylor, you are coming along tonight!  I already got two extra tickets and I talked to Rachel; she is excited to go as your date…”

“Wait, what?!  Tell me, how a date between you and Biz constitutes as me and Rachel also going on a date?!” I stressed into the phone.

“It works perfectly, don’t you think?!” Ari asked nervously into the phone, obviously already second guessing her split-second decision of saying yes to Biz.

“No, it sounds more like you want someone to bail you out if things go bad.”

I heard her huff into the phone and I couldn’t help but smile knowing she was going to come back with some spry remark.  “Really, Taylor.  Can you blame me?”

I snorted, thinking about how I found Biz in the bathroom the last time we went out and admitted, “Nope, definitely can’t blame you.  What time should Rachel and I meet you guys there?”

“Um, I figured we could go together…”

“Oh no!” I exaggerated into the phone as I waved my hands in a stop motion, even though she couldn’t see it.  “I plan on taking Rachel out for dinner first.  I’d like to get to know her a bit.  If I’m going to get pulled into something like this, then I’m going to take advantage of it.”

“But that means I need to be alone with Paul for the 20 minute ride into the city,” she whined.

“Yup.  This is supposed to be a time for you to get to know him, Ari.  It wouldn’t be fair if he didn’t get a reasonable shot.”

There was a pause before she mumbled in agreement.

“Besides, I need to call my date to let her know what time I’m going to pick her up,” I said, surprising myself that I was actually kind of excited to be taking Rachel out.  She was a tall, slender brunette that had a bubbly personality that I found adorable.  She had shining green eyes that seemed to light up the room every time she smiled.

It’s going to be a good night.

BizNasty2point0: Double datin’ it up with Pyatt. Two hot guys with two hot chicks. Boom!

I was nervous as hell driving over to her house.  Not quite sure how this could be worse than mowing someone’s lawn in just Speedos and work-boots, but right now it definitely seemed that way.  My goal for the evening was to get to know her.  This was something I was definitely not used to.  I was more into the whole, “Let me make your panties drop and I will show you what you’ve been missing.”  Obviously, that was not going to work with this one.

I even pulled out the nice preppy clothing for the occasion and already it was bothering the shit out of me.  I hated having my collared shirts buttoned up to the 2^nd to last button, but I assumed she wouldn’t be cool with it opened half way down my chest.  I chose a long sleeve, sea-foam green shirt that made my skin look darker than normal and I rolled the sleeves up to my forearms.  I wore my dark khaki colored cargo shorts and my new Etnies kicks that were an awesome brown color with some funky subtle pattern on them.  The ensemble was topped off with my favorite Yankees hat and a freshly shaven face.  I thought I looked damn good and hoped to impress my date.

I arrived at 7:45pm, and it was probably the first time in my life that I had ever been early for a date.  I parked behind her bright red Jetta, in the driveway and hopped out of my truck.  I took a deep breath and rang the doorbell, awaiting my date.

The door swung open and there stood my Señorita. 

Ari was in a pair of dark-washed, boot-cut jeans, a black halter top that dipped low enough to get a glimpse of some cleavage and black healed ankle boots.  She had her hair pulled back in a simple, low ponytail with just a few straight wisps’ of hair that had seemed to rebel, but they framed her face like a picture.  From what I could tell, she barely had any makeup on except for some mascara that dramatized her hazel eyes.  Her necklace with the ring just grazed the top of her cleavage; a spot that I hoped to some day place my lips.

She was a vision; all except for the fact that her plump lips were pursed tightly and she looked to almost be in pain with the thought she was going to be spending an evening with me. 

“Hey Ari,” I said with a weak smile.

“Paul,” she said as she stiffly nodded her head, reluctantly inviting me inside.

On the outside her home looked like the other homes in the Southwest.  It had stucco on the outside with a slight pitched roof in an adobe style.  Inside, I was pleasantly surprised to find that her walls had warm inviting colors on them, including yellows and reds.  There were sky-lights allowing the evening sun to penetrate into the home and she had wrought iron light fixtures and candle holders hanging on the walls and setting on tables.  It reminded me of a medieval palace of sorts.  As we walked down the hall and into the kitchen, I noticed some pictures of Ari with other people that resembled her.  There were also a few pictures of her with the Doan kids and one with a blonde, preppy looking guy looking at her possessively.  I could only assume that it was probably her late fiancé and that the photo was from their engagement.

“Drink?” she asked as she poured herself a shot of liquor and slung it back.

I cleared my throat while I blinked at the scene and mumbled a no thank you because I was driving.  She walked towards me, making me think she was going to change the no touching rule right off the bat.  Instead she flicked the collar of my shirt as she walked by and snapped, “Glad to see you decided to show up at my house this time with clothing.”

“I don’t like being different and I don’t need everyone staring at me,” I shot back as I walked down the hall after her, imprinting the shape of her ass in my head.

I heard her basically snort as she opened the front door and motioned for me to walk through, back into the evening desert heat.  I had a feeling it might just get hotter as the night progressed, unfortunately probably not the way I hoped.

His truck had too high of a lift that I was unable to climb up without some help from him.  Surprisingly he was a gentleman in helping me, and I was buckled in by the time he climbed into the driver’s seat.  As much as I didn’t want them, the butterflies seemed to churn as the tension in the cab of the truck built almost instantly.  He looked fucking hot.  His attempt to look all preppy was a nice gesture, but when a shirt clings to the arms and chest the way his was, it kind of put me in a vulnerable position.  The color made his skin look even darker and the erotic aspect of him made my hardened edges melt just a bit.  I was forever intrigued by the tattoos on his left arm, even though I had never thought them sexy before on any other guy.  I just kept my eyes focused out through the front of the windshield, waiting for him to start the truck, but after a few minutes of not moving I looked over to see what the problem was.

I found him turned towards me, waiting patiently, with his left arm draped over the steering wheel, holding a simple yellow rose as a small smirk stretched across his face.  I took in a short breath of surprise and instantly felt embarrassed.  Before I could say anything he spoke.

“Arianna.  I understand that you are not 100% okay about going on this date, and I’m pretty sure you said yes so that I would leave you alone…”

I attempted to stop him here but he just lifted a finger and placed it gently against my lips.

“Let me finish, please.”

I nodded and he went on.

“I want you to realize that I have never been so persistent with a woman before and probably would have given up a couple hours after you blew me off the first time if I wasn’t so damn attracted to you.  So, I am just asking you to give me a real chance tonight to show you that we can have a good time together.  This yellow rose is to show that I don’t expect anything more than what I am asking of you this moment.  Will you accept it?”

It took all I had not to crack up laughing at his sincerity because personally I felt like I had been thrown into an episode of the Bachelorette.  Oh holy hell, is this guy for real?!  Instead I just smiled sweetly and took the rose.

“Thank you Paul.  It’s a very nice gesture and I do promise to give you a chance tonight,” I said, actually meaning the words I spoke, even though I was still trying to figure out what his real intentions were.

The drive to Phoenix was a little awkward because it was insanely quiet.

“So, please don’t be offended, but what is your background?” I asked him, unable to take the silence any longer.

“My background?” he asked with a confused smile.

I looked down at my hands because I had all of a sudden become shy when he looked at me that way.  He looked straight into my eyes whenever he spoke to me and it completely unnerved me.  I hesitated as I reworded my question.  “Um, where are you from?”

He started out serious and slow, “Funny, I figured you would know where babies come from, but if you need me to explain, my mother and father got really drunk one night…”

I busted out laughing and swatted at his arm without even thinking.  “Seriously?! I think I know that you came from your mom and dad…”

He was laughing with me at first as he shrugged, “Well I at least know for sure I came from my mom; not totally convinced my dad had any part in it.”

I stopped laughing because he said the last part so serious-like.  “Wait, are you being serious?” I asked with big eyes.

He looked over at me and I saw the smile in his eyes.  “I didn’t take you for the gullible type, but obviously I can have a lot of fun with you,” he said with a snort as his joke finally got the best of him.

I took a deep breath, held it, crossed my arms and looked out the window, slightly annoyed because I was not the type of person who appreciated being made an ass of; even if it was in fun.

“Well, I live in Welland, Ontario which is just 25 miles north-west of Buffalo.  As for my heritage, it’s kind of a complex mathematical equation as you’ve probably already noticed.  I’m ¼ African-American, 1/8 Mike Tyson, 2/7^th’s Caucasian, 1/15^th Black Rapper, 1/16^th Coyote, and the rest of me is Canadian-Savage,” he said with another sly smirk.  As he was speaking I got over my pouting session and looked over at him.  When he finished speaking he looked back over at me and said softly, “I didn’t mean to make an ass out of you.  I’m a bit of a jokester so never take it personally.”

I gave him a weak smile and looked back out the windshield, at the road.

“So what about you?  What is your background?”

“My father was Mexican and my mom is Navajo Indian,” I said quietly.

“Well that explains your exotic beauty and raven colored hair…” he said almost to himself.  Of course this made my nerves double and I could feel the heat flush my ears and cheeks.

I had been out of the dating scene for too long it seemed.  I didn’t know how to take compliments anymore and I felt uncomfortable with anyone who put on an advance, even if it was just words.  Paul put me at the edge and I was afraid that just a weak breeze might push me over into the abyss, leaving me incapacitated without a chance to crawl back out into the real world again.  I wanted to be able to fall in love again but my scars were so deep that I just didn’t think I could put myself in the predicament of them being ripped open again, especially by a guy who thrived off of being the center of attention.  At the moment, I felt Paul was either very superficial or just trying to damn hard to get my attention.

He must have picked up on my uneasiness and realized our conversation was finished because he leaned over and turned up the music that was on his IPod.  I was surprised to hear the Deftones filtering through the speakers.  I looked over at him and said, “Good tune.”

His face lit up like a child’s when I spoke the words.  “Are you saying you like the Deftones?”

I just nodded my head in response.

“Well, I listen to everything, just so you are aware.  So, if you don’t like something, let me know.”

“Okay,” I said quietly and went back to staring out the windshield listening to the melodramatic words of Cherry Waves… “If you should sink down beneath, I’ll swim down.  Would you? Is that what you want? Escape…below…”

We arrived at the Hard Rock and drove into the VIP parking garage.  It was definitely one of the sweet perks of being a professional athlete in the town.  Even though we were basically the red-headed step children of Arizona sports life, the city still treated us well.  I quickly hopped out of the truck and ran around to the other side quickly so that she didn’t fall out of the truck.  She was a little small for it, but I thought she looked damn good sitting next to me, and I was hoping that at some point she would be cool with sitting in the middle, right beside me.  Surprising me, she put her hands on my shoulders as I put mine around her waist and lifted her down on to the ground. 

I couldn’t help but keep my hands there a minute longer than I should have.  We kept eye contact for a split second before she nervously looked away and I left go of her, trying to keep my promise of not touching her tonight.  My head was still a little fuzzy from the ride here.  It didn’t go overly awesome, but it wasn’t a complete disaster either.  I at least learned a couple new things about her and plus I had 20 minutes to fill my senses with her lavender perfume.  It has definitely been forever since a woman has had such an effect on me. 

I wanted to take her hand in mine, but I kept my distance as we walked to the elevators and into the café.  She kept her arms tightly tucked underneath her breasts and I hoped she would at least loosen up enough to enjoy the evening.  My wish was granted when I heard Py yell out behind us to grab our attention.  He and Rachel were already sitting at a table with a couple drinks in front of them, looking like they were having a good time.  A big smile came across Ari’s face as she leaned in to hug both Rachel and Pyatt.  She looked happier than she did the whole ride here and I instantly got the distinct feeling that she wasn’t too fond of me yet.

“Would you like a beer or some other kind of drink?” I asked her after she separated from whispering into Rachel’s ear.

“Sure, I’ll take whatever you are having,” she said with a smile.

“Um, I’m having 7 and 7,” I said hesitantly.

“Then I’ll have that,” she said as she turned back towards Rachel.

I raised an eyebrow at her choice as Taylor announced he would be accompanying me to the bar.  I watched with some jealousy as he kissed Rachel’s hand, telling her he’d be back soon.  “So how is it going so far, Biz?” Taylor asked as we walked away from the girls.

I took a deep breath and said, “Um, not quite sure.  Sometimes I think I’m getting somewhere and then the next minute she is zoning out and getting all nervous again.”

“I’m sure she’s scared.  This is basically her first date in a year and a half,” Taylor said, honestly.

“Really?”

“Yup.  Andre and Shane have been on her case for a while now, but she just hasn’t been ready; and truthfully, I understand where she is coming from.”

“Yeah, but you seem to have hit it off with Miss Rachel already.”

Taylor grinned, “She is really fun and sexy.  Probably something I need to get started…”

“Told you that you make panty soup wherever you go!!” I exclaimed as I patted him hard on the back.  We got the bartender’s attention and placed our order.  “Dude, does Ari always drink hard shit?”

Taylor thought a moment and said, “Um, not usually, but I have seen her drink the hard stuff when she’s really nervous.”

“Huh, okay,” I said as we paid for the drinks and headed back to the table.

By the time Maroon5 came up, Ari had drunk at least 4 glasses of 7 and 7, putting herself on the way to a damn good buzz.  Not that I’m completely complaining.  With her half drunken state she began to be more touchy feel-y with me, even snuggling into my side when I placed my arm on the back of the booth, behind her.  At one point Taylor and Rachel got up, leaving Ari and I alone.  She leaned over, pressed her nose to my chest and took a deep breath in.  I looked down at her, trying not to laugh as she looked up at me with big doe eyes and said, “Bizzzz you smell really good.”

It took all I had not to wrap my hand around the back of her neck, thread my fingers through her hair and kiss her sweet, full lips.  Of course my thoughts were left by the wayside when Maroon5 struck their first cord, causing Ari to spider climb over top of me and run out to the dance floor, attempting to get as close to the stage as possible.

I got up and used my size to push through the now crowded floor to get to her.  She was already dancing along to their new single, Misery when I got over to her.  I couldn’t help but laugh and dance along side of her.  I was mesmerized by how she got into the music and finally let herself go.  I knew she couldn’t be uptight all the time.  Halfway through the set and at least 2 more 7 and 7’s later for Ari, the group broke into Secret.  It’s a sexy song on their Songs About Jane album about a hook-up that is slow moving and definitely easy to move to with a partner. 

I couldn’t help but grab her and pull her into me so that we could move as one to the song.  She obliged me by wrapping her arms around my neck as I rested my hands low on her waist, guiding her along to the beat of the song.  The whole place was intertwined, yet it felt as though she and I were the only two on the floor.  I was drawn into her beautiful hazel eyes.  Her body moved as one with mine and every nerve ending was on fire wherever her body touched mine. 

It was all too easy to let go of her hip with my hand so that I could touch her cheek, feeling her body purr as I touched her.  She nuzzled her cheek against the palm of my hand and I was a goner with no more chance of my restrain holding me back.  I leaned down and guided her soft lips to mine.  They were full and I could have sworn they tasted like a ripe, juicy peach.  My world split apart when she opened her mouth to me, allowing my tongue to take a dip in the cool waters.  The kiss quenched my thirst like no other and I could only think about how I wanted to drink from her more.  However, before I knew it, the song was over and everyone around us was back to bouncing around.  I reluctantly pulled away from her lips as my eyes saved the picture of the aftermath of our kiss.  Her eyes were still closed but a closed lip smile graced her face.  That was the face that made me realize that this girl was more than anything I had ever known.  Too bad she is trashed and most likely will have any recollection of what we just shared.