The Neighborhood Series (The Neighborhoood) Read online

  “Because I had been drinking,” she nods and says as if to herself.

  “Exactly. I didn’t want to take advantage of you and that is not what I would have done before you. There’s just something about you that makes me want to try.”

  “What prey-tell is that all about?” She asks.

  “I don’t know, but I want to find out. I’m normally more sure in my prospects, but with you – I’m out of my element, completely. I’m not going to lie, I’m confused by it, but I don’t want to ignore it. So, yes – I’m trying to – I guess you would call it to ‘woo’ you, but I’m also not at all sure of what I’m doing either.” I admit.

  “Okay,” she says carefully and seemingly unconvinced.

  “Let me prove it to you. Let’s keep our date tomorrow night and I’ll show you that I’m trying to not be the sleaze ball that I have been, that Lewis says that I am and that this whole town knows me as.”

  She looks me up and down, then she nods after a moment. “Okay, let’s do this thing.”

  Chapter Five

  “Alright. Let me get this straight, you Noah Baker, the guy who doesn’t date women is suddenly going on a date with that hot brunette who keeps coming in here.” Micah, my bar manager asks folding his arms and leaning against the side of the bar, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

  “I’m not sure why this is a surprise to anyone. I can be interested in someone.” I feign indifference and continue to polish the tumblers.

  “Yeah, you have a reputation for only being interested in one night, strike that – a few hours at the most.” He laughs.

  “There’s something about her and I can’t quite figure it out. I’m acting like a complete pussy with her. We could have hooked up the other night, the offer was on the table, she was ready and willing. But I grew fucking ovaries and suddenly put a halt on the night, because she was fucking drunk and I didn’t want her making a rash decision.”

  Micah pushes off the bar and walks towards me, with the back of his hand he feels my forehead before I can push him away.

  “The fuck you doing?” I sneer stepping back in the limited space we have behind the bar.

  “You must be sick. I’ve known you since your old man passed, that’s what six years? I’ve never ever seen you hung up on a chick. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad for it. I’m tired of the chicks around here flocking to your ass and then being bitter betties because you fucked and ducked them.”

  “Fucked and ducked?” I ask hiding my laughter.

  “That’s what you do. You’re known to duck out after fucking the chicks. The chicks know it around here, anyone who doesn’t is completely stupid or has their own ideas that they can change you. I imagine that this chick has friends, friends who would likely steer her away from a guy like you. Which begs the question, how did you get the new chick to give you the time of day?”

  “I charmed her, I guess.” I shrug, wondering the same thing.

  “And when are you guys going out?”

  “Tonight, that’s why I’m here now, rather than later on tonight.” I explain, doing my best to not get annoyed.

  “Dude, you fucking own the joint – you can basically do whatever you want.” Micah points out.

  “While that is true, I like to show integrity in my job, and treat it as such.” I remind him.

  “Why do you have me here as the manager when you could just do it? Don’t get me wrong, I love working here and doing what I do, I’m just curious,” he asks.

  “Remember when I hired you, I said that paperwork sucks and we won’t fill out an application?” I wait for his response, when he nods – I continue. “Being the bar manager means that there’s a shit ton of paperwork. I still don’t like paperwork. You’ve been here for six years and have kept this place running, so why would I step up and do something that I don’t want to do and take away from you something that you enjoy?”

  “You really have grown ovaries.” Micah laughs. “I’ve got a shit ton of paperwork to do, so I’m going to get back to the office. If I don’t see you tonight before you take off, break a leg.”

  “That’s what is said if I was an actor, about to go on stage.”

  “You know what I mean.” Micah disappears down the long hallway and up the narrow stairs to the management office.

  It’s not long before the shift is over and I’m driving home to get ready for this infamous date, as Micah would consider it.

  Chapter Six

  I knock on the white door and wait nervously for Valerie to answer the door. I try to curb the anxiety and look up to the ceiling of the apartment porch and notice the multiple layers of paint, as the paint is chipping away in different parts of the ceiling. Why am I even noticing or caring about this? Oh that’s right, not to be nervous about the first date that I’m going on in… years.

  Valerie opens the door as my gaze is still directed upwards and steps out of the doorway to also look up to see what has my attention.

  “What’s going on up there?” she asks.

  “Just observing the structure.” I reply.

  “So, you’re not just a bartender, but a civil engineer as well?” she folds her arms over her chest and tilts her head.

  “What? No, I just -,” she stops me with laughter.

  “I’m kidding. Do you want to come in? I need to put some finishing touches on my make-up and then we can get going.” She moves aside so I can enter.

  As I walk past her, I catch a drift of her scent. She smells like vanilla, cupcakes and something that I cannot place. I walk inside and note the mixture of eclectic furniture that she has in the main and only room of her apartment. She has a decent size bed against the far wall and opposite of that is a couch, facing said bed- a television on a cart with wheels in the middle. I point to it in silent question as she’s bent slightly at the waist in front of a full-length mirror beside her bed.

  “Oh, that’s the TV,” she explains simply.

  “I know what a TV is, this isn’t the stone age. I mean, why is it on that flimsy looking cart thing?”

  She finishes adding her lipstick, pops her finger in her mouth, releases the finger and smacks her lips together with a pop and smiles. She walks over to the cart, turns it so the television is facing the couch and sits on the couch. When she’s satisfied – she then gets back up and turns the cart so it’s facing the bed and sits on the edge of the bed and observe in amusement.

  “It’s so that no matter where I am, if I want to watch something on the TV, then I can,” she smiles.

  It’s a creative way to save safe and not have to have two of the same thing in such a small area.

  “Cool. Nice way of, um using your space to the maximum.” I note.

  “I saw it on the Home Network and thought it was perfect. I refurbished the cart myself, it used to be from some audio-visual place that was housed in my old building when I lived in Hollybrooke. You ready?” She jumps up from her seated position and practically skips to me.

  “As ready as can be. I hope you’re hungry, because I’m starved.” I wink at her, not implying an innuendo, but it works.

  Dinner is simple and delicious, you can never go wrong with a small-town café. I took her to one of the only date-like places within Mercy, and I knew it wouldn’t disappoint. Valerie and I enjoyed the food, one another’s company and even some awkward silence. So far, I was killing it on this whole date thing!

  I smile at myself and mentally pat myself on the back for the good job that I’m doing as the front doors open to the café and two women walk in.

  They stop short as soon as they see me, whisper something to one another and then briskly walk past our table, while laughing lightly. They take a seat somewhere behind me and seem to have captured Valerie’s attention.

  “I know that Mercy is a small town, but is there a woman that lives here that you have not pissed off in some way?” she asks.

  “I’m not really sure I do anything to piss anyone off. I don’t make promises and I sure as
hell don’t imply that whatever I do will be anything more.”

  “Then why are those two chicks looking like you being here is a breaking news story?”

  “Have you ever seen a lion in the wild?” I lean closer to her.

  “No,” she responds.

  “It’s like the very rare thing, seeing something that isn’t natural. Like seeing me, in public eating a meal with a beautiful woman that I’m clearly not related to, which in other words, can be described as a date. This is a first.”

  “Are you referring to yourself as a lion?”

  “Rawr.” I smile at her with a flash of my teeth.

  “You’re not the king of this jungle, you know.”

  “I’m not?” I mock surprise.

  She rolls her eyes and leans in closer to me. “So, how long has it been since you’ve been on a date?”

  “Long enough to not know.” I shrug tearing off and chewing on a piece of breadstick.

  “Alright, the standard thought of a bartender is that they lend their customers advice, many times someone will come into a bar to get advice on dating, if you don’t date – how do you offer advice?” she questions.

  “That’s easy, I don’t.” The people who come to the bar know me, they know I would be the last person to ask about that topic, unless all they wanted is a meaningless hook-up.”

  “A meaningless hook-up, and how does this start?” she asks quizzingly.

  “It’s mainly a pick up line, a few drinks, a ‘hey wanna get out of here’ and that’s it.” I shrug nonchalantly.

  “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what the hell are we doing here then? You’re a self proclaimed playboy, you don’t date and you seem to not really care. So, while I like you, I don’t want to be mislead to think that this will go any further if you don’t think it will.”

  “With you, I seem to do things differently. From the moment you ignored me to the night that I said no to sleeping with you to tonight. Nothing about you has made me go about the way I would approach a woman.”

  “Okay,” she sits back in her chair, picks up her fork, pierces a piece of her tortellini and plucks it into her mouth.

  “Okay? That’s it? You’re satisfied with that?” I ask in confusion.

  “What? You explained and it sounded good, so yeah. Okay.” She shrugs taking another bite.

  This dating thing isn’t as horrible, confusing and dreadful as I was thinking it was.

  I walk her to her front door at the end of the night and gently kissed her lips. I don’t press her for more, as much as my body wants it. I don’t try to invite myself into her place and I didn’t grope her. I have done the exact opposite of what I would normally do and went home with my cock hard as stone and my balls bluer than the color itself.

  Chapter Seven

  I invited Valerie to come over to my house two days later. After our date, we had exchanged some playful banter and she’s hung out at the bar as she has since we met. I figured that I would try to cook her dinner and we would watch a movie or something like that.

  I had Googled what people did for dates in small towns and considering that it was getting chilly, I think that lighting up a fire and my plan would be an excellent idea.

  She arrived on time, which was impressive and even brought a six-pack of beer.

  My kind of gal!

  She looked around the house with inquisitive eyes silently as I gave her a quick tour before ending in the kitchen. I was proud of my kitchen, it was definitely a kitchen that someone would be proud of. This home is my family home, it’s a small two-story craftsman style home. With a front porch that my mother used to sit on the floor and play with me on. The exterior of the house was mustard brown, that I haven’t had a chance to paint since I took over ownership with a darker brown roof. The stone fireplace was on the driveway side of the house, which lead to a matching garage in the back of the house, which was annoying during the snowy winters. The kitchen was the only thing that I’ve had the time to have redone, so it’s a feature that I’m particularly proud to show off. Even though, I’m usually just showing it off to my friends and not women. I’ve never brought a woman to my home, so Valerie being here right now is straight up a new experience.

  After dinner, I add another log onto the fire and hand her the X-Box controller as she looks at me in confusion.

  “We’re playing video games?” she asks looking between the controller and my face for clarification.

  “I mean we can, but I read that I shouldn’t dictate what we watch, so you have control over Netflix.” I smile.

  “How about we both decide on what to watch?” she hands the remote back to me; our fingers brush and electricity shoots down from the skin to skin contact of our fingers to up my arm.

  We settle on a comedy and with my arm lightly around her shoulders she snuggles into me. Halfway through the movie, she puts a hand on my thigh and lightly pushes to a sitting position.

  “Can I try something?” she asks looking up to me. I nod, unsure what to expect.

  She leans in and her lips gently graze mine sending a jolt through my body that I tell myself to control. Her tongue licks the seam of my lips and parts my lips her tongue teasing and tasting. A moment later, our heads tilt in opposite directions to deepen the kiss as she moves to seat herself on my lap. My cock is at attention just underneath her, that I’m pretty sure she can feel as she lightly rocks her hips against me, driving me to groan into the kiss. My hands wrap around her middle pulling her body flush against mine as we deepen the kiss. With each kiss more demanding than the last, we build up into a frenzy that leads to both of our shirts on the floor, her hands fumbling with the buttons on my jeans and my hands squeezing her ass cheeks.

  My right hand palms her breast and I push it up, lean down to place open mouthed kisses along the curvature of her breast, pulling down the cup of her bra and suckling her nipple. My tounge swirls around her harden peak and with my teeth I gently tug on her as she throws her head back while clutching onto my head.

  A moment later we pull away from one another, our eyes meet, both hooded with desire and in an unspoken moment, I lift her off the couch and replace my mouth on hers as I blindly find my way upstairs into my bedroom. I lay her down on my bed and admire the view. Her cheeks are flushed and I can see her hardened nipples through her laced bra. I continue to unbutton my jeans and slide them down my legs. I grasp her leggings by the waistband and tug down slowly. With ease spans of skin that is revealed, I lay a kiss in the wake.

  Her panties are simple and one solid color, which is now my favorite color; teal. I’m on my knees and moving back up her body, I graze the space between her thighs and feel her body shudder from the contact. Watching the goose bumps rise on her skin, I lightly chuckle.

  “I want you, but I’m not sure that I should have you.” I admit quietly.

  “Take me.” She replies in a sultry tone.

  With that, I lean over her body and dig into the dresser beside my bed for a condom. Once my fingers meet with the foil packet, I chuck off my boxers and pull her panties down. I sheathe myself quickly and that I am face to face with her pussy. I lean in and with tenderness, I run my fingers along her silky center. I replace my fingers with my tongue to an instantaneous bowing of Valerie’s back off the bed. I tongue fuck her with vigor as my hand strokes my rigid cock in anticipation of replacing my tongue momentarily.

  “Noah!” she exclaims, her fingers digging into my hair as I work the bundle of nerves and my other hand is finger fucking her in tandem with the movements of my hand on my cock. “Noah! I’m coming!” her back bows again and I feel the clenching of her walls tightening around my fingers.

  She’s reeling in her orgasm when I move quickly and enter her in one swift movement. The clenching of her pussy from her orgasm squeezing my cock with a perfectness that I’ve never felt before. My cock fits perfectly in her as I pump my hips with her hands clutching my sides. We moan together as I piston into her over and over again.
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br />   “Shit. You feel so good, your pussy is so fucking tight on my cock.” I grunt as I lean down taking her lips with mine roughly for a quick moment. With my cock driving in and out of her, all resistance disappears to hold off on my orgasm. Her pussy begins to tighten again around my cock just as my release hits me. With wild abandon, I lose all control while I release into the condom, with her nails digging into my skin, a soft moan escaping her lips and goose bumps erupting across her beautiful ivory skin. My mouth slants over hers as I kiss her passionately. The room spins as her body possesses me as my hips continue to rock back and forth.

  “If you keep this up, I will come again.” She says into my mouth.

  “If that is a challenge, I’m all up for it.” I declare with a grin.

  She doesn’t back down, as I hook my arms in the crook of her knees and surge my hips forward again to build up the momentum to get my girl to come undone again. It doesn’t take much and when I can feel her pussy clench, I change my tempo and slowly drag my cock in and out of her with my thumb caressing her clit as whimpers erupt from her throat, her eyes pinch shut and her back bows from the bed.

  “I’m… I’m…. I’m…” she says.

  “Come baby. Come all over me.

  With languid movements, my hips thrusts into her, as we both catch our breaths from our orgasms. My heart is thundering out of my chest as I drink her in and bend to capture her pebbled nipple in my mouth.

  While I should be embarrassed for the quickness of coming, I’m basking in the perfectness of what we just did.

  I peel myself off of her and as I pull my cock out of her, she whimpers from the absence and I lightly chuckle, pat the inside of her thigh, kiss her neck and move to dispose of the condom. I return with a glass of water and a glass of orange juice.