The VIP Room: Teased Part 6

Vida unlocked the apartment door, turning to wave back at Henry that everything was okay before going inside. Flipping on the light switch, she turned and locked the door. Dropping her backpack onto the chair, she went into the small kitchen to get a cold bottle of water before she took a quick shower to wash away the filth from the club she still felt clinging to her.

She refilled the bottle with water from the sink and was putting it back into the refrigerator to get cold when she heard the bedroom door open and footsteps coming down the hallway. Vida kept her face expressionless as the waitress from the Waffle House came into the room looking disheveled and stinking from s.e.x. Colton walking behind her paused as they both became aware that they were no longer alone. The waitress, now in jeans and a pink top, was obviously on her way out. Colton, wearing only jeans that he had zipped but hadn't b.u.t.toned, was s.h.i.+rtless, exposing his chest covered in a variety of tattoos.

"I didn't know you lived with her." The waitress looked accusingly at Colton.

"He doesn't, I'm just a temporary roommate," Vida explained quickly. The woman looked like she was about to throw a hissy fit. She was all about letting Colton handle it, but Vida was tired and didn't want to listen to yet another woman take another sarcastic remark from Colton, which she could tell from the steely look on his face he was about to give her.

"Oh, then I guess that's all right." Suspiciously she glared at Vida, who decided the best thing to do was to ignore them both. Getting her nightclothes, she went into the bathroom, unable to hear the words exchanged between the two of them.

Vida wished just one time she could have an uneventful night without any of Colton's f.u.c.k buddies coming and going. She was beginning to think the room at King's wasn't all that bad.

Coming out of the bathroom after she was dressed in her flannel pajamas and her hair brushed backed into a tight braid, she saw Colton leaning against the counter in the kitchen.

Ignoring him, she plucked her sheets and blankets from the closet and started making up the couch.

"I didn't need you to b.u.t.t in and explain anything to Tammy. It was none of her business."

Vida shrugged. "Sorry, next time I'll keep my mouth shut." Finished, she laid down on the couch and pulled the blanket over her. "Could you turn off the light?"

Colton stood tautly for several seconds before walking to the light switch and turning it off.

Vida heard his footsteps leave the room and then turned on her side to make herself more comfortable. Trampling down the unexpected jealousy, it took several minutes to calm her nerves before she relaxed enough to fall asleep.

Vida woke the next morning, determined to finish the last of her course a.s.signments. She set her computer up at the table and began her work only to stop long enough to fix herself a cup of coffee. She was so engrossed in her work, she wasn't aware of Colton coming into the room. It was only when he sat down at the table across from her that she was drawn away from studying her book.

"When do your cla.s.ses end?"

"This week," Vida answered his question, watching as he took a drink of his coffee.

"After your cla.s.s is over, I want you to leave town, find someplace to hole up. I'll help King find Sawyer and bring her to you when I can."

"Why would you become involved?"

"I'm already involved. It's only a matter of time before Digger finds out you're staying here. It will actually be easier for both of us if you leave town. It will draw Digger's attention away from you."

Disappointment filled Vida; she hadn't thought that Colton would be worried about Digger coming after him. He was right, Digger knew everything going on in town, and he probably already knew that she was no longer staying at the club.

"You're right, I didn't think about your safety. We don't have to wait until my cla.s.s is over, I can-"

Colton set his cup down hard, spilling the remaining coffee over the side. "I'm not worried about Digger coming after me, but if he's as smart as I know he is, the son of a b.i.t.c.h will know your cla.s.ses are almost over. If you went missing, it would make all the papers, the headlines alone of a young college girl's disappearance is the only thing holding him back. Once your cla.s.ses are over, he can make you disappear and everyone will just think that you moved on. Exactly what you said you were going to do last night."

Vida's mouth snapped closed. What he was saying was the truth. She had even told a couple of her friends at school her plans.

"I can't leave without Sawyer. We made a promise when we were kids that we would both leave town together. I can't break my promise."

"Dammit." Colton brushed his hand through his already tumbled hair. "This is a f.u.c.ked up mess."

Vida silently agreed with him.

Standing up from the table, he wiped the spilt coffee from the table. "Get dressed; we're going out."

"Where to?"

"I don't know, but I'm sick of being cooped up. I need some fresh air and, since I can't leave you alone, that means you're coming with me."

Vida started to protest, but she hadn't had a free day in so long she had forgotten what it was like simply to go out and have fun. Closing down her computer, she went into the bathroom and changed into jeans and a long sleeved s.h.i.+rt. Colton had dressed and was sitting on the chair in the living room waiting for her.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

It was early afternoon, so not many people were out on the roads. He drove them out of the city where the light traffic dwindled down until they only pa.s.sed a car every so often. The scenery lulled Vida into forgetting her problems; the drawback was it increased her awareness of Colton. Sitting against his back with her thighs so close had her wanting things her mind refused to acknowledge. Her body on the other hand had a mind of its own.

He handled the bike expertly, making Vida wonder how he had learned to ride the bike so well in the city.

Eventually, they rode through a small town where Colton stopped for gas. It was next door to a restaurant where they went through the drive- thru. Vida sat on the bike as Colton stood next to it, eating their food. When they finished, Colton drove down a small, paved road on a large piece of land. They found a farmers' market, which had been set up on the side of the road.

"Let's check it out," Colton said suddenly.

Vida agreed and they spent an amusing couple of hours going to the various booths. Vida bought some fruit while Colton purchased drinks and a couple of sandwiches. Finding a spot on the ground away from the booths, they ate quietly as they watched the customers shop.

"I love being out of the city," Vida said, looking at the countryside surrounding them.

Colton paused at eating his sandwich. It was the first thing Vida had shared about herself. The woman kept herself so contained, you never knew what she was thinking.

"You don't like the city?"

"I hate it. I like being out in open s.p.a.ces. The idea of having just a few neighbors and having a small town sense of community where they actually care about one another appeals to me."

"But you have that in the city. Your relations.h.i.+p with Sawyer proves that," Colton argued.

Vida shook her head. "Sawyer, Callie and I all lived on the fifth floor in a low income housing building. Sawyer's mother would babysit Callie and me while my mom worked or Callie's was busy. But none of them shared anything about their lives. The apartment building was filled with people who weren't even supposed to be living there. Everyone minded their own business because they didn't want anyone sticking their nose into theirs or the possibility of getting evicted."

There was definitely no sense of community where she had grown up. Vida watched the people at the farmers' market greet each other, standing and talking amongst themselves before continuing with their shopping.

"I see your point." Colton recognized that she wanted a tight community to replace her lack of family until she had one of her own. Colton didn't know why that thought bothered him, only that it did.

Her dark hair was pulled back, showing her high cheekbones and green eyes. Her red lips bit into a piece of melon that had juice running down her chin. Giving her a napkin, he watched as she wiped away the juice from her face and licked her lips to catch the stray droplets. Her unconscious sensuality hardened his c.o.c.k. Colton s.h.i.+fted on the hard ground.

Taking an apple for himself, he watched her pick up another piece of melon and had to force his attention back to what she was saying.

"In a town like this, a child like Callie would never have suffered. A neighbor, school or friend would have reported her mother. She might still be alive if she hadn't had the misfortune to live where she did."

"You don't know that, Vida. Maybe she would still be alive or maybe something else could have killed her. She might have died some other way and never known what it was like to have such wonderful friends as you or Sawyer."

"She was so special, Colton. Her mother would drop her off as often as Sawyer's mother would take her during the day. All three of us didn't realize we weren't sisters until we were about five-years-old; we spent so much time together. Especially Sawyer and me because our mothers were friends and they would swap out babysitting. Brenda, that b.i.t.c.h, would only let Sawyer's mom babysit when she was coming off her high. She wanted Callie by her side all the time, even when she was..." Her voice broke off.

"My mom and Sawyer's mom both reported her to social services when the bruises became worse, but they always gave her back to that b.i.t.c.h, then she started threatening our moms. She held a knife to my mom one night when she tried to talk to her. She even threatened Sawyer and me if they didn't mind their own business."

"Vida," Colton tried to stop her, knowing where this story ended, seeing no need for her to take this trip down memory lane. Goldie had told him about Callie's mother. He had wanted to have a talk with her himself, but Goldie had been terrified that the woman would disappear with Callie.

She continued on, lost in her own story, "The first time Sawyer and I saw Marshall, he scared us; he was so frightening." Vida could still see the white haired, muscular man who had been as large as a giant to the small children they were then.

"He scared me, too, and I wasn't a little girl." Colton tried again to regain her attention unsuccessfully.

"The sad part is, I think he really cared for Callie; she gained weight and didn't have as many bruises. Sawyer and I were happy that he'd moved in with her mom. Do you think he meant to hurt Callie when he killed Brenda?" Vida buried her face in her hands. "I still see her face every day, Colton, wis.h.i.+ng I had smelled the smoke sooner, got to her door faster, knocked louder. There should have been something I could have done."

"I heard about that fire, Vida. It was in all the papers and it was all anyone could talk about for weeks in the neighborhood. There was nothing you could have done. When Marshall caught Brenda in bed with another man, he went crazy and killed them both. Callie must have managed to escape out of the window because they found her body hiding in one of the vacant apartments. She was probably so scared from what she'd witnessed that she had run and hid, and was too frightened to come out when she heard the sirens."

"She was only eight-years-old."

"Sweetheart, you were only a year older. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. You tried to alert them then got outside with your mom. That was why you lived," Colton tried to reason with her.

Vida came back to the present with her hand in Colton's. Self-consciously, she pulled it away and began cleaning up the remains of their impromptu picnic.

They pa.s.sed back through the booths as they left and a young girl with a woman standing by a cardboard box drew Vida's attention. She paused and looked into the box where a reddish-blond ball of fluff stared back at her.

"Awe, isn't it cute." Vida bent down and petted the squirming puppy that promptly started smothering her in puppy kisses. Giggling, Vida stroked the curly soft fur. "Is it a girl or boy?"

"It's a girl," the little girl replied. "It's the last one I have left. Mama wouldn't let me name her cause we have to sell them, but I think she looks like a Chloe."

The little girl cast her mother a sidelong look. Shaking her head at the little girl with a soft smile, the mother reached into the box and handed her the wiggling puppy. Burying her face in the soft puppy fur, this was what Vida wanted out of life, normalcy. It sounded boring, but Vida could easily see the love and happiness s.h.i.+ning from the mother and child.

"I'm selling her for two hundred fifty dollars. She's a malti-poo." Vida stroked the soft fur one more time before regretfully giving it back.

"I wish I could buy her, but right now I don't have a permanent home. It's going to be a while before I can have a puppy." Reluctantly, Vida gave the puppy back to the little girl, who took it back with a relieved smile.

"I wish you could have taken her. I can tell you two would have made a great match." The woman smiled. Vida glanced down at the little girl who didn't try to hide her joy at having her puppy back.

Vida said goodbye with a last look at the wiggling puppy in the little girl's arms. Her stomach clenched as she tried to gather her emotions around her while they walked back to the bike. Colton stiffened as they drew closer, not understanding why until she saw two men touching his bike. One kicked the wheel while another messed with the handlebar.

"Get away from my ride," Colton said as he moved toward the men.

"We're just lookin' at it." The man had tobacco in his mouth, spitting a stream of juice near Colton's foot. Vida a.s.sumed the man was an idiot until her gaze went to the side and saw another large man leaning against the side of an older model truck.

"Go find something else to look at, like your wife f.u.c.king your brother."

The man c.o.c.kily pulled up his saggy pants and raised his hands in the air.

"I don't want no trouble. What make is it? You get plenty of p.u.s.s.y ridin' on those nut busters? Been thinking of getting me one. If it gets me a piece of p.u.s.s.y that looks like her, I might need to buy one."

"s.h.i.+thead, you couldn't afford what a bike like that costs, but you go ahead and buy one you can afford because a dumb f.u.c.k like you would be road kill in a hour."

The man turned red. Vida thought he might have swallowed the wad of tobacco in his mouth, instead he let go of another spew of juice and this time it landed on Colton's boot.

Vida was watching it and still didn't see it happen. One minute the man was standing there and the next his face was planted in Colton's boot with Colton's hand in his hair. He was using the man's face to wipe the offensive stuff off his boot.

"What the f.u.c.k." His friends rushed forward.

Colton used his other foot to kick the downed man away from him. The first man to reach him had a fist shoved in his nose and blood flew as he was knocked back into his other friend that was also coming at Colton, causing them both to lose their balance. Before they could right themselves, Colton beat the men mercilessly.

Vida stood there, open mouthed, as people from the farmers' market tried to break the fight apart.

"You need to get the h.e.l.l out of here," the friendly mother told Vida and Colton. "Those boys have several friends in town. They won't like it that one man beat up all three of them."

"We're going." Colton waited until Vida was on the bike before he got on and started the motor.

Colton drove them back to the city, and as each mile brought them closer, Vida felt the return of all her worries that she had been able to briefly put from her mind.

As soon as they were back in the apartment, Vida took a quick shower before going back to her homework. The life that mother and daughter shared was the future she was working so hard toward. She had to keep her mind on that, not the reaction Colton aroused in her. He was nothing more than a one-way ticket to reliving her mother's life.

Colton had watched Vida shut down her emotions when she walked away from the small girl and puppy. She had wanted that small dog so much it was almost tangible. Colton had begun to notice during the short time Vida had been around him that the more strongly she felt about something, the more she shut down her emotions.

He couldn't understand it. Goldie had been a good mother, she had constantly talked about Vida when they had been at the same party or hung out with mutual friends. He was sure that she hadn't secretly abused Vida, so he couldn't understand why she was so closed within herself. The only thing he could think of was that with her mom dead and Sawyer gone, she was overwhelmed and closing down was her way of dealing with the situation she had found herself in.

He had to respect the way she handled herself. Vida was determined to make a successful life for herself, wanting her friend by her side when she accomplished her goals.

Colton remembered seeing Sawyer before he went to prison. She had come into his shop for a small tattoo on the inside of her wrist. She was tall and curvy. He could easily see why she had been kidnapped with her fresh-faced beauty. Others of a more corrupt nature would seek to destroy that beauty and innocence that was easily discernable, even if all she was wearing were cheap jeans and a t-s.h.i.+rt.

He didn't know why, but for some reason, her tattoo came to mind. He had given hundreds and actually remembered only the ones he had created or he had done extremely well in spite of their difficulty. Sawyer's had been simple and straightforward. She had only wanted a simple word on her wrist. Freedom.

Colton was beginning to think that the three young girls he remembered playing outside when they were little had been imprisoned much longer than he was.

Deciding to take a shower, he left Vida doing whatever it was she did on her computer. Was.h.i.+ng his body then his hair, he thought about getting it cut, he always wore it long, but now it was brus.h.i.+ng his shoulders, and he was becoming aggravated when he forgot to tie it back.

He leaned his head against the shower wall. His c.o.c.k was driving him insane after feeling her lush body against his back all day. He had known it would be a mistake to spend the day with Vida, but hadn't been able to resist the temptation to get to know her better.

Colton got out of the shower, drying himself off and wrapping a towel around his hips before going into his bedroom. Forcing himself not to check out what Vida was doing, he shut the bedroom door behind him.

Picking up the cell phone on the table beside his bed, he made a call that he hoped would keep him out of trouble.

Vida heard the knock on the door and was rising from the table to answer the door when Colton's bedroom door opened and he came out dressed only in jeans. Sitting back down, Vida lowered her eyes back to the computer, already knowing it was a woman at the door; it just remained to be seen which woman he'd called.

Vida recognized the voice of the woman that he had given a tat to last week.

"What's she doing here? I thought it was just going to be the two of us. I'm really not interested in a threesome." Vida would have laughed if she weren't so miserable.

"It's just us. Vida is just my temporary roommate. Let's go back to my bedroom."

Vida couldn't resist looking up for a second to see Colton take Lara's hand and lead her down the hallway to his bedroom. She turned away before they could catch her staring. Vida continued working for another hour, having to turn up the volume on her headphones to drone out the female screams and moans coming from the bedroom.