K. Linde - Take Me for Granted

“Hey, Grant,” Shelby said when he finally stopped in front of us.

He nodded in Shelby’s direction, but his eyes were fixed on me. “What’s your name, darlin’?”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Darlin’? Really?”

He took a swig from his pint, unaffected by my laugh. “I still didn’t get your name, babe.”

“Grant, this is my friend Aribel,” Cheyenne said. “I’m Cheyenne, and this is Shelby and Gabi. Did Vin tell you that I know him?”

Grant outright ignored my friends and continued to talk to me as if there hadn’t been an interruption. “So, Aribel, you don’t like darlin’?”

“I might like it if you happened to be from a fifties Western movie,” I said.

Grant cracked a smile. “Not a Western, darlin’. Try Southern gentleman. Rhett Butler.”

“Are you going to try to peddle Gone with the Wind to me?”

Shelby bumped me. “Um…Aribel, now might be the time to not.”

I ignored her. “No, really,” I said, “have you ever read anything longer than a Penthouse magazine?”

Shelby smacked herself on the forehead and turned away.

“There are articles in Penthouse?” Grant asked.

I snorted and turned away. I had standards, and if he thought that calling me darlin’ and talking about Rhett Butler would make me fall all over myself to be another one of his groupies, he was sadly mistaken. I started walking back to the bar. I needed to get rid of this drink and then get out of here. I was over this scene and wanted to get back to my life.

“Hey, where are you going?” Grant asked.

He tailed me as I walked to the bar.

I groaned. “Why are you following me?”

“Mouthy little thing, aren’t you?”

“Okay,” I said, stopping and shaking my head. “Let’s get this straight. I am not your darlin’ or babe or little thing. My name is Aribel, and usually when a girl walks away from you, you should get the hint and leave her alone.”

“I’m not good with hints.”

Grant’s smirk turned into a full-blown smile. The arrogance was still there, but what was underneath made me pause. The smile was genuine, not contrived like his smirk. I’d actually amused him, and he’d reacted in a way that showed me that few people did. His eyes lightened, and the gold ring around his pupil was more prominent. There was an openness, a vulnerability, in his expression as he dropped some of the playboy look that I was sure he didn’t actually want people to see. It kind of took my breath away.

He took the few steps to clear the distance between us, and I retreated, my back pressing into the bar. I placed my beer down and tried to avert my gaze from his face, but it was a struggle with him staring at me so intently.

“So, how about you ditch the hints and just admit that you’re interested in me?” Grant asked matter-of-factly.

I opened my mouth to slap a retort back into his face, but for once in my existence, I had no idea how to respond. Most people weren’t as blunt as I was, and no one came up to bat when I was on the defensive. He was using my own techniques against me, and I was finding it hard to look away from those big brown eyes ringed with gold. I felt like he’d blown my carefully constructed world into tiny pieces.

“Aw, come on, princess. Words failing you?” He dragged his hand gently down my jawline.

I brought two fingers up to his hand and forcefully brushed it aside. “I’m not a princess. My name is Aribel. We’ve covered this. Keep up.”

He leaned forward, and I watched as he put his beer down to the right of my glass. His face was only inches from mine, and I could practically taste the alcohol on his breath. I should have been disgusted, but it kind of smelled good on him.

I had no idea who the person was thinking these traitorous thoughts. I was not attracted to someone like Grant McDermott.

“All right, Aribel it is.” He drawled my name across his tongue, like he was experimenting with the taste of it.

“Are you always this forward with someone you just met?”

“Only women.”

“How flattering,” I muttered sarcastically.

“Isn’t it? I could have picked any girl in the room, but I’m talking to you.”

Grant had said that as if I was supposed to appreciate the fact that he had just openly admitted that he was willing to sleep with any of these other girls, but lucky me, I was the winner for the night.

Um…no, thank you.

“Wow. I get the princess reference now. I feel like a fucking Disney princess who Gaston chose instead of whoring himself out to the rest of the town,” I said, crossing my arms.

There was that goddamn smile again. He needed to cut that out.

“Belle wasn’t a princess,” Grant corrected me.

“Another thing we have in common.”

“I’m going to kiss you now.”

His hands tangled loosely in my blonde hair before I could even get a response out.

His lips were soft and tender, but they had a certain authority to them that I had never experienced. It was like being led through a waltz. We were both dancing, but he had absolute control of the situation. I found myself wanting to kiss him back.

No, I am kissing him back.

And just as I felt my entire body practically quiver with desire, he slowly released me, his lips lingering oh-so invitingly in front of me.

As soon as I opened my dark blue eyes again, my body straightened, and I snapped out of my trance. Oh, he’s good. He’s really, really good. But if he was going to be a total douche bag and then think he could kiss his way out of anything, he had another thing coming.

“So, are we getting out of here then?” Grant asked.

“Yeah,” I said, plastering on a fake smile. I reached for the drinks on the bar and handed him the beer that had been spiked earlier. “Finish our drinks, and then we’ll head out?” I even giggled for added effect.

I raised my glass to cheers, and then I started chugging.

When I woke up, my head felt like it had been split open. What the fuck had I drunk last night? I couldn’t even fucking remember, and I always did. I might not have a knack for names or faces, but alcohol and I were old friends. I must have gone way over my personal limit.

Then, I something came back to me—a flash of blonde hair…a pair of dark blue eyes…a giggle.

I reached over to check out who was in bed next to me. I didn’t think I’d taken someone home, but if all I could remember when waking up was a chick, it was a pretty safe bet that she was in my bed.

The girl rolled over and smiled at me, and I had absolutely no recollection of who she was.

Brown hair, brown eyes. No, this couldn’t be the same person. Then, who is the girl from last night? I’d kissed her. I’d tasted her. She’d been mine for the taking. And if I remembered her so vividly, then why the fuck hadn’t I fucked her last night?

I swung my legs over the bed and stood. I was going to fucking find out.

“Hey, where are you going?” the chick asked. “Aren’t you interested in round three?”

Round three? Shit, had I fucked that girl twice?

“Not interested. Find your own way out,” I said, throwing on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.

“Grant! We had such a great time last night.”

“I don’t even remember fucking you.” My dog tags swung around my neck as I surged out of my room.

I probably shouldn’t have left a crazy bitch unattended in my bedroom, but the only things of value I had in there were my half ounce of weed and a 9mm.

I barreled down the stairs and banged on Vin’s door until he answered. Sweat pooled on his brow. He must have already started his morning workout.

“What the fuck, bro?”

“What the fuck happened last night?”

Vin scratched his head and looked at me like I was out of my mind. “We played a show at the League. What do you mean, what happened?”

“I know that, dipshit. I remember the show, but then everything else is fuzzy. I have some chick in my bed, but all I remember is another girl.”

“Whoa! Is my main man, G-man, G-money, G-dog, the one and only man in this house who cares to hit the G-spot, pining over a girl?”

“I don’t even know who the fuck the girl is, Vin. You can’t pine after someone you don’t know. I just want to know what the hell happened. I remember one blonde chick, but I have another dumb brunette in my bed.”

Vin laughed in my face. “Blonde chick, huh? That’s real specific.”

“Fuck you, man. I’m going next door to see if Miller or McAvoy will be more helpful than your ass.”

I slammed my palm down on the doorframe, then turned and walked toward the front door just as the chick from upstairs stopped on the landing.

“Why aren’t you out of my house yet?” I demanded.

The girl glared at me. “Aren’t you at least going to give me a ride back to campus?”

“Fucking walk home for all I care.”

“You know, I didn’t believe my friend when she said you treated girls like dirt after sleeping with them, but damn, she was right.”

I shrugged, and she started to walk out.

Then, I had an idea. “Hey!”

“Yeah?” She turned and batted her eyelashes at me.

Even after I had just been a total dick to her, she was still interested. Why would I act any other way?

“Do you remember me talking to a blonde chick last night?”

“Oh my fucking God, Grant,” she cried, throwing her hands in the air. “You are at an all-time low. If you weren’t amazing in bed—”