Faith (The Fast Love Collection Book 1) Read online

  Or at least girls that really were girls.

  Blue lights lit up the darkened corridor that led to the main bar and dance floor. Pixie and I had a ritual. Sit at the bar and scope the wildlife, dance with prospective interests and then watch Pixie drink. Faith would drink her non-alcoholic drink.

  After finding and dancing with said prospective interests, we would retreat to the secluded alcoves on the next floor. It overlooked the dance floor and was a more quiet place to hang out.

  It seemed that Pixie was in the mood for dancing tonight, she'd been out there for a good half hour now. Every now and then she would come back for a breather and two drinks, one water and one alcoholic.

  I was on a stool at the end of the bar, my feet were killing me and these shoes were in the bin as soon as I got home.

  People would wander to the bar, some would stagger, others would jiggle. Rarely did they stay.

  At the other end of the bar I saw one man waiting to be served. Or at least he looked like he was waiting to be served. The fact that the barman was almost ignoring him was a little odd.

  More odd than that was the stare that I was getting. Creep factor was high.

  I'd never struck a creeper in Honeys before. Usually they went to the seedier side of town where the drinks were really cheap and the women got drunk a whole lot faster.

  But this guy wasn't bad on the eye, which was just plain rude in my opinion. Creepy and good looking, just my luck.

  Beneath the band shirt was rippling muscles that were easily seen under the tight shirt. Tattoos peeked out from under the sleeves, another on the neck just above the collar.

  His hair looked like it could be black or brown, at this distance I couldn't tell. The fringe hung into his eyes, the length at the back and sides sat just at the collar of shirt.

  “Phew.” Pixie huffed as she climbed onto the seat beside me.

  I turned and looked at her, looking back to creeper and saw that he was gone. Damn it.

  “Found anyone worthwhile?”

  She twitched and twisted her lips, shaking her head with derision.

  “No one worth an all nighter. Maybe we should try again tomorrow night.”

  “I can't do two nights in a row Pix, I've really got to get my head in the game.”

  The barman wandered over with a drink for Pixie and a wink which instantly put her in a good mood. She pulled out the cherry and sucked on the little fruit as she watched him waggle that gorgeous ass as he moved around.

  “I hate you.” I muttered, just before downing the last of my cola.

  “I know, he is divine. Oh and look.” She said with a smug grin. “An invitation to a gala that's happening in ten minutes time.”

  “In the fabled lands of the men's room, perchance?”

  Pixie said nothing as she sipped on her cocktail, the delighted grin unable to be hidden.

  The ten minutes passed with nothing interesting happening. I drank yet another drink and Pixie had another cocktail. As much as it might be rather one sided, I couldn't complain. Pixie bought every single drink that I had ever had in this place.

  The lovely Pixie had gone off to the fabled lands for her gala and even though it looked like the bar staff were seriously under staffed the barman went on break.

  While I waited I watched the people dance and mingle, drawing in all sorts of mini-scenes. One woman slapping a man, another smug woman watching on.

  Bodies were gyrating against other bodies on the dance floor with little care for the gender. Hands wandered, lips kissed.

  On the next floor up was the alcoves at one end and pool tables at the other end. It was frequented by bikers who seemed to like the club mixed into a pub setting. I hadn't been up there but I knew there was a second bar that had more of a beer selection rather than the pretty cocktails offered down here.

  As my eyes wandered across the few visible pool tables I saw him. Creepy guy was up there with the bikers, playing pool.

  I couldn't tear away from him, now it was my turn to stare like a freak.

  “Mm-mm, scrumptious.”

  I gasped and turned, seeing Pixie standing behind me.

  “Why don't you climb the stairs and get yourself a bed time buddy? He's pretty damned hot Faith.”

  “No thanks.”

  “Maybe a ticket to the fabled lands then?”

  As I shook my head I looked at Pixie and giggled, adjusting the wig.

  “Did you have fun darling?”

  “Oh my god.” She whispered, drawing closer. “He was so good. You know I don't kiss and tell but oh boy.”

  Pixie sighed, looking a little wistful.

  She didn't kiss and tell, she screwed and screamed it from the roof tops.

  “I'm ready to go home, take me home you tart.”

  “Sure thing.” I chuckled.

  We were back in my car before we said anything more, no matter which one of them I was with we always found ease with silence. There was no awkwardness in the quiet, no weirdness in trying to make conversation.

  “He's rather cute.” Pixie said rather quietly.

  “Who, the barman?”

  She nodded as she looked out the window at the passing buildings.

  “Do you ever think of settling down Pix?”

  “All the time. Just got to find the one, you know?”

  “Yeah. All too well. Did you get his number?”

  Pixie shook her head, a small smile slipping into her smudged glossy lips. I could see little sparkles below the lip line, a sign of some serious heavy kissing. Or maybe something else.

  “He's got mine. Somehow I don't think he'll call. I guess it's common for him to have his fun and pretend it means something.”

  “Well you don't know that Pix, maybe he's been watching you for some time and finally got the courage to do something.”

  “What by fucking me in the men's toilets? Ha!” She snorted with a huff.

  I shrugged, unable to answer the question or the dilemma that was her love life.

  “Did you at least get his name, did you tell him yours and which one?”

  “James and yes I did tell him mine. I said Pixie and he wanted to know my real name so I told him.”

  Now to me, that sounded like the guy wanted more than just a bathroom hook-up but I didn't want to get her hopes up so I remained silent on that subject.

  Chapter Three

  The sun blistered its way through the window, reminding me how I had forgotten to shut the curtains yet again. It would have been a blissful morning sleep in except some jerk was riding a rather loud motorcycle around.

  A groan emanated from behind me, momentarily I'd forgotten that Pixie had stayed and crashed in my bed. We had decided to continue the party and finally I could drink. So I couldn't remember much of what we did.

  I could smell nail polish, I poked my foot out from the under the sheets and saw bright orange toenails. Nice.

  My body hurt in the most weirdest of places as I sat up. Mindlessly I wondered if I'd played on the jungle gym at the park last night. Though I could feel that certain soreness that would make a girl believe she got laid last night. If only that was possible. Maybe Pixie had gone home for a few minutes and I'd brought out my special friend.

  No, that wasn't possible. My special friend didn't make me hurt like this. This was definitely inflicted by a male of some sort.

  Remnants of the drunken haze filtered in and out of my mind, coherence wasn't here today, missing in action.

  With a yawn I got up and shut the curtains, turning back to look at my bed. It was a mess of sheets, Eddie was a messy sleeper.

  A sharp cold wind whipped past me and I shivered, looking down at my naked body.

  Holy shit.

  I grabbed the top cover off the bed, looking at Eddie's naked back. As I wrapped it around me I carefully pulled back the sheet that was covering his ass and saw that he was naked too.

  Crap.

  Beginning to panic I saw condom packets, opened and sitting
on my bedside table. It was beginning to fall into place like some bizarre puzzle. Naked, in bed together, used condoms, soreness from sex. Yep, I'd definitely had sex last night. But was it with Eddie?

  He was the obvious and only choice unless Ken decided to finally make his move. But that did not explain Eddie being naked in my bed.

  “Eddie, wake up.” I said with slight panic, kneeling on the bed and pushing against his back.

  He groaned and complained.

  “Bi-atch you'd better have a good excuse.”

  “Did we have sex last night?”

  “Well darling, I did. What you got up to when my back was turned I do not know.”

  With that smart ass response he rolled over and sat up, looking at my partial nakedness. I could see myself in the mirror, it wasn't pretty. Hair was messed up and looked like a bird had recently scratched around in it. Panda eyes and rather drawn out tone in my skin. Yes, I looked lovely.

  He lifted the sheet and raised an eyebrow, then looked at the bedside.

  “Well I'll be damned, I guess we did. Didn't think spanky would get up for a chicky but there we go.”

  “Hey, you're awake.”

  I shrieked and turned to the door, then fell off the bed. As I wrangled my way out of the cover that had fallen over me, I sat up and looked at the very fine view. James the barman was in my apartment.

  “Are you okay?”

  He rounded the bed and helped me to my feet, notably Eddie had not said a word. The man that could not be quiet if he was paid to was suddenly absent from the conversation.

  “I'm fine. Just rather shocked that there is...”

  So many things that are wrong at this very moment. I cleared my throat.

  “It's James, right?”

  He nodded with a smile. I could understand why Eddie was smitten, he was undeniably gorgeous. Sandy blonde hair that was short and messy, tanned skin, beautiful glowing smile.

  “Don't mean to be rude but I have no memory of last night and I don't remember letting you in or you even turning up for that matter. And I'm naked in my bed with my friend who is also naked and supposedly gay but I see a lot of used condoms. I know I've been busy in my drunken and missing hours so if either of you have any recollection of what happened I'd be grateful if you told me.”

  James chuckled and turned to Eddie, shining that pretty smile at him. I think I heard him whimper with ecstasy.

  “I rang when my shift ended, Ed said that you two were continuing the party here so that you could drink and find some inspiration. It did not make sense to me so he said to come on over and give you some inspiration. I think you were drunk but you said that you wanted to write about a gay couple but didn't know the mechanics of it. You were talking about watching porn on the internet but then the drunk one over there suggested that real life was much better.”

  “Oh god.” Eddie groaned.

  His head fell into his hands as he groaned loudly, muttering that he was never going to drink again. I had to say, I was inclined to agree.

  “Uh-huh. So tell me, which one of you two tarts flipped teams.”

  “Me again.” He smiled a charismatic smile. “I'm actually bi so unlike Ed, I can actually get my spanky up for a chicky.”

  Eddie groaned again.

  “It's okay James, you can use big people words if you want. Us big people call it a penis. Eddie likes to play with them but can't actually say the word.”

  “That's because it's such a horrid word!” He cried out just before falling to the bed and covering his face with a pillow.

  “Well anyway, I went and got breakfast. I was going to make something but you're rather lacking in the pantry.”

  James stood and pulled the bed sheet with him, Eddie shrieked and tugged it back.

  “Faith doesn't want to see me naked.”

  “She saw you naked for several hours last night. Jeez you must have drunk too much. That's the last time I make my brew for you two.”

  Eddie bolted upright, casting the pillow aside.

  “Were you making drinks for us? No wonder I can't remember anything.”

  “Get dressed and hurry up, breakfast is going cold.”

  James walked out of the room, Eddie watching him the whole way.

  “Told you.”

  Eddie was speechless as he stared at the door, I poked him just to make sure he was still alive. He turned with a grin and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me hard.

  “Oh my god.” He whispered happily.

  He pulled away with the largest smile I'd ever seen. His happiness stirred something within me, I smiled back at him with a slight laugh.

  “You're not going to screw this up, are you? You're going to keep Pix in line, right?”

  Eddie nodded.

  “I love Pix just as much as you but that girl will ruin a good thing if you're not careful.”

  “He does seem like a monogamous type, doesn't he?”

  I nodded and prayed that Eddie got the message.

  “You want something long term, something good? You like him and clearly he likes you. Am I getting through Eddie?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He leaned forward and looked at the hallway that was empty.

  “But do me a favor, be the concerned friend and make sure that he's on the same page.”

  “Sure, one monogamy check coming up.”

  Eddie dressed quickly and rushed out of the room, allowing me to dress in private. He said he was going to go home after breakfast and get changed, giving time for the concerned friend conversation.

  But we had to get through breakfast first. I found Eddie and James on the front deck, on the table was a pile of pastries and three takeaway coffees. Yes they were from the shop that Elise frequented. James smiled when I sat down and looked at the coffee that was waiting for me.

  “Saw your neighbors there and here.”

  “Oh how lucky for you.” I said dryly.

  He chuckled with a nod.

  “The woman complained that we were too loud, the man smiled.”

  “I'll bet he was jerking one out as he listened. Doubtful that Elise would give it up.” Eddie said rather abruptly.

  “You aren't friends with them?”

  I shrugged, looking at Eddie as he rolled his eyes with a grin.

  “Faith wants their apartment, Elise is always complaining about something that she does and Ken pervs on her all the time.”

  “Ah, so I guess it's okay that I maybe said that it wasn't just you and I that was too noisy then.”

  Mid chew of the pastry I stared at James and wondered what he'd told the prude and the pervert.

  “I asked if they knew Ed and they both nodded, are they phobic or something?”

  “Barely tolerant.” Eddie sniffed with a slight sneer.

  I wanted to say that it had nothing to do with him being gay that it was probably closer to him walking to the letterbox in his g string. Or the time he was hanging his washing on the line and the towel fell from his waist, leaving him rather naked in front of Elise's family. Or maybe it was when they returned from their honeymoon, he'd blown up and strung colored condoms from their balcony with a big welcome home sign that was written with penis lettering.

  “That explains the look when I told them that you were the loudest. They seemed rather mortified when I went into great detail at how you decided to explore the other side of the fence.”

  Eddie went pale as he stared at me, I looked at James who was grinning like a madman.

  “I'm kidding. Sheesh.”

  The color started to return to his face, James leaned over and pouted at him. Eddie could not stay mad at him. I watched with amusement as he tried and failed, leaning in and kissing those sweet lips.

  Envy was a bitch. How easy had Eddie just found someone so perfect?

  Rather than watching and increasing the stupid and unnecessary envy, I looked out to the view of the picturesque street.

  Trees lined the street, green and lush. It was a
beautiful morning, warm and pleasant. And my new neighbor was outside. Or at least one of them was. How many there were I did not know, this was the first time I'd seen anyone other than the two moving guys.

  This one however was definitely a resident. He was working on an old car, his head under the hood and doing something in the engine. I couldn't see much other than jeans and a blue singlet.

  The houses on that side of the road were done in pairs, two close together that mirrored each other with a large expanse of lawn between the next house.

  With this particular house the large lawn had been turned into a driveway that led to a shed in the back yard.

  I patiently waited for my new neighbor to stand up and be free of the shadow of the car or maybe his partner to come out. Maybe he had kids, maybe Eddie's days of running down the street in a g string were at an end.

  Okay so it was once and to be fair, we were doing shooters while watching the telecast of the New Year's festivities and fireworks. Every time someone said that it was an exciting night we upended a drink, so we blamed the television for our drunken state.

  Then we somehow managed to rope each other into a stupid dare. If either of us was wearing a pair of underpants that matched the very first fireworks of the night, we'd have to do the run. Lucky for me I was wearing black and sadly for Eddie, he was wearing red.

  The neighbor lifted his body from under the hood and removed his shirt, tossing it to the ground and returning to the darkness of the engine before I could get a good look.

  “Would you like to borrow my binoculars?”

  With a gasp I turned and looked at Eddie and James who were smiling at me. I'd been caught perving on the new neighbor like a total deviate.

  “I'll be fine thanks.”

  I heard the giggles as I sipped my coffee, my eyes casually slipping back across the road. Maybe the binoculars weren't such a bad idea after all.

  Chapter Four

  The love birds disappeared after breakfast, retreating to Eddie's apartment. As sweet as new love was, I was kind of grateful. Watching them was depressing. Sitting at home was worse. I could not get out of the rut in this frame of mind. So I went shopping instead.