Take Me for Granted

Chapter 21: Grant

Date Ten

This thing with Ari—I didn’t even have words for it. It was just fucking good.

I wanted to fuck her more and more every single fucking day, but now that she was handing out blow jobs, I didn’t feel like I was going to explode every time I saw her. I had my standard that the girl either sucked or fucked, and I’d been amazed at how truly bad she was to start out with. For a split second, I’d thought about fucking her mouth until I finished or throwing her on the bed and having her prove to me that she fucked better than that.

But she had looked so damn concerned when I stopped her that I just wanted to show her. I’d never fucking done that before. And fuck, once I’d told her what to do, she was a quick study. I’d be okay if she was studying all the time like this.

The strangest part of all was that as much as I wanted to push for more, I was having such a good time with her—dating her, laughing with her—that I wouldn’t. Each time I thought she was going to turn me aside for asking for too much, she would give just a little bit more of herself. Like the cupcakes. She had fucking baked me cupcakes. And the concert. I hadn’t been sure what I was in for when we walked into the venue, but not only was the show surprisingly good, Ari was also totally into it, which just made it that much better.

I’d been planning to take her out dancing on Halloween, but at the last minute, Miller had gotten news that ContraBand was being plugged in at the exact party I had been planning to attend with Ari.

We were scheduled for the eleven o’clock slot right before the club would switch to some techno DJ for the rest of the night. Ari and her friends showed up about fifteen minutes before our set. She was in a fitted white dress with long gloves, and she was holding an elaborate mask in her hand. I could see her from backstage, and it was fun to watch her search for me in the crowd.

“Bro,” Vin said as he took the spot next to me. “Halloween is the best fucking night of the year. So many chicks, so little clothing. I think I want a French maid, a Playboy Bunny, and a nurse all tonight.”

“Good luck with that,” I said.

“What are you going to take home? I saw a really hot referee.”

When Ari couldn’t find me, she secured her mask back in place and turned to talk to her friends.

“I’m thinking a masked angel.”

“That one?” Vin asked, pointing Ari out.

“Yeah.”

“Good choice. I’d bang her.”

“No chance in hell.”

The production manager popped his head backstage. “You guys are up.”

It was our first show in weeks, but we got right back into our rhythm without a hitch. I played the crowd the best way I knew how. Drunken girls in lingerie were throwing themselves toward the stage, and I even heard a few screaming for me to take my clothes off. I obliged them by shrugging out of the jacket of the military fatigues I’d worn for the occasion. The fans screamed even louder when I tugged up my shirt to expose my abs beneath. I laughed softly into the microphone, pulled the shirt back down, and continued on with the chorus.

“This is our last song, and I know that you’ll all be so sad to see us go. This one’s called ‘Letting You.’ Come out to our last show of the semester at The Ivy League on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.”

The crowd cheered.

I found Ari swaying and dancing all by herself in the second row. Her friends were grinding against guys who they’d found in the crowd, but she only had eyes for me. Right as we moved into the instrumental break, I pointed her out to the crowd and motioned for her to come onstage.

Her mouth dropped open, and she shook her head. I could see her mouthing, No, over and over, but the crowd roared and pushed her forward. I had the masses on my side, and soon, she was up the stairs and walking straight toward me. When I reached her, I swung her around into a dip and kissed her in front of the sea of people.

To everyone in attendance, this was nothing more than the band putting some random girl on display for the drunken Halloween crowd. But for me, this was new territory. I hadn’t picked Ari at random. It felt more like…I was claiming my girl.

Date Eleven

A week later, I picked up Ari from school. I’d dropped her off that morning after she stayed at my place. Ari was talking to some chick when she saw me pull up, and then she jogged over to my truck.

“Hey, Princess.”

Ari hauled herself up and into the passenger seat. “Hey. My professor loaded us up on homework because he’s worried we won’t cover everything before Thanksgiving. I guess we got behind a week or something. Ugh! It’s going to be terrible. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see you all weekend.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Do you want to cancel our date?” I asked anyway.

She chewed absentmindedly on her bottom lip. “No, it’s already planned.”

Good. She was going to go crazy for this one, and I didn’t want to have to wait another week. The Weather Channel was predicting a drastic drop in temperatures over the next couple of weeks, so this might be the last chance we had.

I drove back to Ari’s so that she could change before heading out.

“Do you want to come up?” she asked innocently.

“Babe, I don’t think we have time for that,” I said with a wink.

“I wasn’t…” she began and then tilted her head and stared at me funny. “Who are you? And what have you done with Grant McDermott? Since when are you turning me down?”

I grabbed her chin hard in my hand and pulled her in close to me. Our eyes locked.

“You tell me you want to have sex with me, and all plans are forgotten.”

“Maybe another time,” she said casually as if her pupils hadn’t dilated from the way I’d grabbed her.

One of these days, I was going to fucking take advantage of the situation, and then she wouldn’t be the biggest cocktease I’d named her to be. But not today.

We walked inside, and as she darted into her bedroom, my phone started buzzing. Miller.

“What’s up?”

“What are you doing the second weekend in December?”

“Nothing. Why?”

Miller sounded practically chipper. “Someone saw us at the Halloween show, and they want us to play a music festival at a ski resort in the Poconos.”

“Dude, I barely know how to ski.”

“Shut the fuck up! We’re talking about getting picked up for a major event.”

My smile grew. It sounded like a great opportunity, and since it was late enough in the semester, maybe I could steal Ari away with me.

Whoa, seriously, who the fuck am I? Two months ago, I would have been dying to go to a ski lodge to bang a bunch of snow bunnies. Now…Ari.

“Babe!” I called as soon as I got off the phone with Miller.

“My name is still Aribel!” she called right back as she stumbled into the living room.

Ari’s roommates came out of their bedrooms when they heard my voice.

“You like to ski, snow bunny?”

“Is this a euphemism for something?”

“ContraBand got picked up for a music festival in the Poconos.”

“That’s great!” Ari cried.

I glanced at her friends, who were staring at us. “We’ll have a couple of rooms the second weekend in December. Do you guys want to come to the show?”

“Oh my God!” Cheyenne piped up. “We were just talking about going on a ski trip. Weren’t we, girls?”

“Ari?” I asked. All I could think about was spending three days with her in my room. I needed her in my bed. I needed to fuck that.

“I’ve only been skiing in Vermont and Colorado.”

I gave her a pointed look. We didn’t need to hear about her rich life right now.

“Yes, that sounds fun.”

The other girls grabbed her and started jumping up and down. They were already planning out way more details than I was sure Miller had.

Once I got Ari back into the truck, it was a forty-five minute drive to where we were going. Ari seemed lost in thought, and I let the radio kill the silence. She perked up as soon as we entered the grounds.

“Hamilton Farm?” she gasped.

“You said you like horseback riding, right?”

She gaped at me. “I’m…wow, I’m a little speechless.”

“That’s a first, isn’t it?”

“Grant, this means a lot.” And then, she smiled one of those rare smiles reserved for me.

Date Thirteen

A week later, I finally got Ari on the back of my motorcycle.

It didn’t matter that I’d gotten on a half-ton animal for her or that she’d broken into a hotel swimming pool with me or that we’d made out onstage at a concert. She claimed to be utterly terrified of motorcycles.

“You won’t go too fast, will you?”

“Nope.” I didn’t ask for clarification on what too fast meant to her.

Ready to feel the hum between my legs again, I slid my leg over.

Ari took a deep breath and then let it out slowly. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“It’ll be fun. Just get on.”

She threw her leg over the bike, and her hands came tentatively to my waist. I grabbed them both in my hands and pulled her arms around me until her chest was flush against my back. I could feel the uptick in her heart rate. I knew mine was going to match it but not out of fear.

“Just follow my lead, Princess. Move with me.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

I started out slowly, but as soon as we hit the interstate, I kicked it into high gear. Soon, we were zipping past the other cars. At first, Ari would lean against me when I turned or switched lanes as if she could counterbalance the momentum of the bike, but once her fears had lessened, she did as I’d instructed. I thought I’d start her off easy the first time, so it wasn’t a long ride.

When we reached our destination, she stood on shaky legs, handed me the helmet, and shook out her blonde hair. “That was…not so bad.”

“I knew you’d like it.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“But I like to,” I said, pulling her close and kissing her on the lips.

“I can’t believe you convinced me to do that.”

“And now, we’re going to work on your aim.”

Her eyes lifted to the sign. I expected her to groan, shoot me an angry look, or tell me off for the very thought of bringing her to a shooting range.

“You know…I’ve always wanted to fire a gun.”

“What?” I asked incredulously. “You didn’t want to get on a motorcycle, but you want to fire a gun?”

“A motorcycle could kill me! A gun in my hands would only kill someone else.”

Excruciating pain cracked through my skull, and I squeezed my eyes shut to ward off the blinding torture. My hand dropped down onto my bike to hold myself steady. I couldn’t keep the memories back.

“Are you okay?” Ari asked, resting her hand on mine and bringing me back to reality.

“Yeah. Sorry. Headache.”

“Did you have one when you were driving? Do you need anything?”

“Nah. Just came on suddenly.”

“I can get you some Tylenol.”

“Ari, no. Let’s just get you out of the cold.”

I ushered her inside and paid for a rental gun and extra ammo for Ari, and then we entered our booth.

After I explained the mechanics to her, we took turns firing at the target across the room. She actually wasn’t bad. I was pretty surprised since she had never held a gun before. She hadn’t even seemed that freaked-out. It was hot.

I finished my last round of ammo and then set the gun down.

“You’re kind of amazing at this,” Ari said.

“Practice. You’re damn good for a beginner.”

She brightened and leaned forward for a kiss. I fucking loved when she initiated. It took all my control not to push her against the wall. She was so different from the girl I’d met who had dosed my drink, yet she was the same exact person who had intrigued me. She still intrigued me all the time.

Like she had grown accustomed to doing over the past couple of weeks, her fingers toyed with the dog tags around my neck. She softly kissed me once more. “Why do you always wear these?”

“Always have.”

“I don’t think I could picture you without them.”

“I’ve had them since I was a kid.” I wasn’t sure why I’d told her that. I never talked about it with anyone, not even the guys. They thought, like Ari, that the dog tags were just a part of me.

“Is someone in your family military?” she asked curiously.

I tensed. “Yeah, my dad.”

“It’s so honorable to spend your life fighting for your country.”

“Yeah,” I said tightly. “The tags remind me of the man that I want to be.”