Sucker For Pain

Chapter 10

Matt's POV

I have no fucking idea what was wrong with me. I tried to be cool...relax and have fun but I'm pissed and I didn't know why. Okay yeah I'm a liar. I know why but damn...play it cool, Sanders. Don't be that guy.

That's what I kept telling myself as we walked into the loud music of Bar Pink. I trailed behind Val walking slowly with Brian. I told myself I was keeping my single friend company but I was really trying to keep the complete picture of Val and Jess in front of me and in turn, kept my eyes on Jason whose face lit up like a damn Christmas tree when he saw her.

Jess let him give her a kiss on the cheek as she wrapped her arms around his neck for a brief hug. His hand went straight to her back and anchored her to his chest for longer than he needed to. Damn Jason...when did he become such a handsy fucker?

Jess turned her attention to Sara who was standing by the bar wearing cutoff blue jean shorts and plain white v neck tee and some fancy flip flops. She was dressed way down compared to the other girls but she looked good. Real good. Good enough for Brian to smirk in her direction when he saw her.

"What the hell took you all so long?" she yelled to Jess.

"Traffic was a bitch," Johnny answered as he ordered a drink for himself and Lacey.

"And then certain people had to get 'ready'." Zacky said using his fingers to punctuate the quotations. Gena frowned as she swatted at him.

"Screw you Zack," she huffed "we can't all be naturally pretty like you are."

"Well you guys didn't miss anything at Prohibition," Sara interjected "It was dead. I'm glad we came here. It's 90s night."

"Isn't it a little soon to be looking at the 90s nostalgically?" Michelle asked curtly.

"Maybe but then we aren't all as young as we pretend to be now are we? " Sara said flashing a perfect smile and everyone laughed.

Everyone but Michelle and me anyway. And Val noticed it.

"What is wrong with you?" she asked annoyed "you've been fucking crab cakes since we got here."

"Nothing is wrong with me,"I replied trying to keep the irritation out of my voice.

"Then snap out of it and order me and Chelle a drink," she commanded pushing me toward the bar. "And get yourself two shots...you need to loosen up."

"Yeah okay," I replied. She was right. I had no right to ruin anyone's good time. "Anyone else want anything? Zack?"

"Nah man," Zacky replied showing me two glasses on the bar in front of him "already set up."

"Matt?" I pointed to Berry and he declined "Jase?" I spat trying to keep my temper in check.

"I'm still good," he said holding up his beer but kept his eyes elsewhere.

I turned to see Brian handing both Sara and Jess tequila shots and sighed as I ordered my own.

"A toast," Val said loudly "to a great weekend!"

"One where you hopefully don't have to get your ass carried out again," Johnny called and lifted his glass as everyone said "Here, here."

"Very funny," Val stuck her tongue out but smiled. "Are you going to let Johnny say that about me?"

"Well you did get shit faced drunk," I pointed out and the way her brown eyes narrowed let me know I shouldn't have.

"It gave you a reason to fuck around with Brian all night like you were two dumbass 21 year olds so you would think you'd be happy about it," she retorted.

I looked up to gauge Jess' reaction but she was looking away.

"Now now children," Brian soothed. "We're here to have a good time."

Val snarled at me one more time before downing her drink and slamming her glass on the bar as Usher's "Yeah" started to play. "This is my fucking jam," she said as she started to move to the music and grabbed her sister and Jess by the hand, pulling them to the dance floor.

Fuck, I told myself as I slammed my own shot.

It was going to be a long night.

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Jess's POV

It felt good to dance. Just get out there and dance to music that I hadn't heard since I was in middle school and high school. I had a lot better moves as an adult than I did in the school gym.

What people may not know...or even believe is the the guys all were great dancers. Weird, huh? I mean these tattooed metal singers could get down to R&B just as good as anyone else. Maybe they preferred Metallica or Pantera but they could still some damage on the dance floor. Johnny was an especially graceful dancer...and once Jimmy arrived, they both did some major shaking like a Polaroid picture to Outkast's "Hey Ya." Yeah not even a 90s song but whatever.

After a few songs passed, we all convened back at the bar for a round of shots that Jimmy sprang for and it tasted like straight vodka. 

I hated the taste and ordered a beer from the cute bartender with the never missed a night wearing his retainer perfect smile. 

"That'll be 5 bucks," he said as he pulled the cap off of the bottle

"I've got it," Matt's deep voice said as he picked the bottle up and laid a ten down on the bar.  I watched surprised as he wrapped it in a napkin and handed it to me. His fingers grazed mine and I had to pretend that I didn't feel my pulse jump when he touched me. He gave me a dimpled grin and I couldn't help but wonder if he did that on purpose.

"Thank you," I said.

"Anytime," he replied in a voice low enough for me only to hear.

I counted to three before forcing myself to look away.

As the night wore on, I found myself watching Matt and Val interact. She was annoyed with him and he seemed irritated with something...maybe it was her..maybe it wasn't.  Still, they did show affection to each other and something like jealousy bubbled up in my chest. Small things that I had never bothered to notice before caught my attention. She slipped her fingers in the back of his jeans and held on as he bounced along to the beat of "California Love." Another time, he was standing behind her and he lifted all her hair in his large hands and made a ponytail and slapped at the side of her face with it before dropping it.  Or when he leaned in to say something to her and she nodded and smiled. My imagination went wild with what he might have said to her. Maybe he apologized to her for their sparring and told her he'd make it up to her when they were alone. I wondered if they had sex since he and I were together. Surely they had. And that bothered me even more.

I tried to focus on Jason. I stood near him and let him rest his hand on my thigh. We talked and I laughed at his jokes and sipped his fancy brewed beer. When he asked me to dance, I said yes without hesitation and let him take my hand to lead me onto the crowded dance floor.

We worked up a good sweat, dancing and laughing. And suddenly, as I notice that he's dancing with his beer bottle in his left pocket, I realized I was having real fun.

"They're dying to know what happened on our date," he said into my ear.

I looked over to where Matt and Val were standing..both occasionally looking over at us. "Really?"

Jason laughed. "Yeah Val corned me."

"She did?"

"Yup."

"When?"

"Tonight. When you and Sara went to the ladies room."

"Did Matt try to reign her in?"

Jason shook his head side to side. "Nope...not at all. He looked pretty interested too."

"The nerve of some people."

"I know...I told you they were nosy bastards. And don't look now, but they are staring," his face touched mine, his five o clock shadow scratching my cheek.

I put my arms around his neck and pressed my body to his to the beat. "Well then..lets make it worth their wild."