Naughty But Nice: A Bear Shifter Christmas Romance Page 8

  “Well, it’s true,” he replied. “So, what are you doing tomorrow?”

  “I’m going shopping with my mom and Nia most likely. Then we will probably grab some lunch somewhere and do more shopping.”

  “I meant tomorrow night,” he said. “What are you doing tomorrow night?”

  “Nothing that I’m aware of,” I said.

  “Well, how about we go out? I’d like to take you to dinner.”

  He was actually asking me out on a date. Wow, this was interesting.

  “Yes,” I said quickly. It came out a bit quicker than I really meant it to, but I wanted to go out with him badly. There was this great connection between us and I wanted to explore that so much more.

  “Great. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

  “Sounds good to me,” I said.

  He stared into my eyes and gave me that sweet, yet devilish smile once again. Wow, he was fine. I was excited to see what would happen, how things would go, and if this would actually start to progress towards something. Did I really want that to happen? I was only here for a week, as was Tyler, and long distance things never worked out. But I decided wasn’t going to start pointing out all the things about this that would make it a bad idea. I was going to go with it and just see what happened. It was time I had some real fun.

  Chapter Eight

  Tyler

  This was the most amazing evening I’d had in so long I couldn’t remember. I’d never expected things to fall into place this way. One moment I was nervous as hell about even approaching Angie and talking to her, and the next I was there and we were locked in interesting conversation. It was all so different now. The way she looked at me, the way she responded to my jokes, how she leaned in very engaged in what I was saying, and even the way she casually touched my hand when she was making a point. These were all subtle signs that she was attracted to me. That body language course I’d taken as an elective freshman year was really coming in handy right now.

  And I’d just asked her out. She’d said yes. Those were the words I’d been waiting to hear since I first met her our freshman year of high school. I had told her point blank here that I’d crushed on her then and I was pretty sure I was clear that I still found her enchanting now. She was amazing, even more beautiful and sexy than she’d ever been. I wondered how the years would have changed her and if she’d still be the same girl I’d known before. She wasn’t. She was even better.

  The rapport that we had with each other was enough to totally block out my goofy friends and hers as they talked and rambled loudly right beside us. We were in our own little world and nothing else really mattered. I was happy with that. This was going to be the type of week that came along once in a lifetime and really changed my life. I could feel it. I hated to get sappy about it, but those were the feelings I was having. I really felt like it was finally going to happen. I was going to be with the girl of my dreams and this time she was actually going to like me back.

  “Hey, look who it is!”

  The loud, boisterous voice cut through the conversation that Angie and I were having. In fact, it basically began to dominate the entire room. I was caught off guard with it, but the moment I turned my head towards it, I began to have crazy flashbacks, almost like déjà vu. It was like my worst nightmare coming in to ruin my beautiful dream that had finally come true.

  Standing beside us now with a big grin on his face, looking about forty pounds heavier and already starting to go a bit bald, was my old high school nemesis Oren White. In school he’d been the big jock, the star quarterback who was destined to go play ball for some big school somewhere and possibly go pro. But I never really believed he was that good. There was talk that he might have been all-state, but I prayed that he would never know that feeling of being a real winner, because as a human being he was the biggest piece of trash I’d ever met. Whether it was beating me up just for being in his way walking down the hall, or treating Angie like shit until she finally dumped his ass, the man was a piece of human trash.

  I saw the horror in Angie’s face as she realized what was happening. This had to be even harder for her. After what Oren had done to her, the way he had turned everyone against her and treated her like she was an awful person when she was the exact opposite was absolutely disgusting. I felt the rage welling up within me. I wanted to smash his fucking face in and leave it even more mangled than it was becoming due to his obvious alcohol addiction.

  When Oren hurt his leg while playing the biggest game of the season, I cheered out loud. I couldn’t help it. The prick had finally gotten what was coming to him. He had torn all the cartilage out of his knee and torn a big ligament. He was out for the rest of the season, and then he was out for good. He tried to make a comeback and play some college ball at a smaller school to start with, to prove that he was back and ready for the big time, but he barely made it half a game before he was hobbling off the field after a hard hit. He was done for.

  “Oren,” I said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Just having a drink, enjoying the atmosphere, and then I saw you two over here all nice and cozy,” Oren said. “That’s a party I had to get into. How are you Angie? You look amazing as always. Damn… I’ve missed you, sweetie. And how about you? Tyler? Wow, you got a lot bigger. I’m impressed. You must have been hitting the weights, or maybe you just stopped being a crybaby finally.”

  Oren grabbed Angie’s beer and took a swig. Then he sat it back down as if it was his. He was obviously drunk already. The guy was pathetic.

  “Yeah, we are having a private conversation. So, if you wouldn’t mind…” I said.

  “No, I don’t mind at all. What are we yapping about over here?”

  “Seriously, Oren,” Angie said. “Why don’t you go away? I’ve got nothing to say to you.”

  “What? Is that any way to speak to me? You and I had a great thing together. We were hot. Hell, we did things together that I will never forget. I know I got pissed and handled the breakup badly, but you never should have dumped me. You couldn’t have done any better and instead you just ended up running yourself practically out of school.”

  “No. You did that. You piece of crap. You tormented me and ran my name through the mud. And all because I wouldn’t put up with your abuse. You haven’t changed a bit. You are just a mean, bitter drunk. Hell, you’re only twenty-two. And look at yourself. I guess Karma is a bitch, right?”

  Oren got pissed. I saw the anger flashing in his eyes as he leaned in close to Angie and growled. “You bitch! How dare you—“

  I was up in a flash and stepping between him and Angie. Oren was shocked that I was standing up to him, and I was looking down at him now. He was no match for me and if he’d been sober he might have known that.

  “Oh, tough guy now?” Oren said. “What? You think you have a shot at hitting that? I’ll tell you, that pussy is too sweet for you to handle.”

  “Get the fuck out of here you degenerate piece of shit,” I said.

  “You punk! You think you can swoop in here and take my girl from me? Is that what you think?”

  “I haven’t been your girl for a long time,” Angie said. “You need some help.”

  “Help? That’s a laugh,” Oren said.

  I saw it coming. I hoped he wouldn’t go there, but it was happening. I saw his shoulder drop, his body weight shift, and that evil gleam in his eye as he reared back and threw a hard haymaker right hand at me. I swiftly ducked under it and came up with a hard left hook to his jaw. Oren went down hard to the floor. The look on his face was amazing. It was full of surprise, shock, and then fear. He hit the ground hard like a sack of bricks and I saw his eyes rolling up in his head. I’d hit him very solidly on the jaw just above his chin and he was stunned.

  It felt so good to deck that prick. I’d waited so many years for this opportunity and now it had happened. This evening was turning out to be a night of firsts, a night of retribution, and redeeming myself. I was undergoing such an extreme transformation
it seemed.

  Angie was standing up now, her hands over her mouth as she gasped. She was also trying not to laugh, but I could see it in her eyes that she was overjoyed by what had just happened.

  “Yeah! That’s the shit!” Drake yelled.

  “Whoo! Fucking Ass! Yeah!” Cam followed.

  My friends had been waiting for this to happen as well. Oren and his buddies used to torment them and beat them up in school also. We were all a band of victims and I had finally defeated the instrument of that victimization.

  The bouncer headed over quickly and stood in front of me. He had seen the whole thing happen. He picked up Oren and helped him stumbling out of the bar.

  “Wow! That was amazing!” Heather whooped.

  I nodded at everybody’s excitement and then I sat back down. My heart was pumping and I was still ready to fight some more. I hoped that Oren wouldn’t have gone down so easily. I wanted to bash his skull in. I had tasted this victory and now I wanted so much more. Oh, yeah. I wanted to beat him within an inch of his life. I had to be careful though. The anger, the exhilaration, all of this could easily trigger the bear to come through and the last thing I wanted was to change into the bear in the middle of the bar. It would be quite the spectacle and I didn’t really want any more attention right then, especially not that kind.

  “I can’t believe you just did that!” Angie said. “Oh, I’ve wanted to see that jerk get his ass beat for so long. That made my night. How could he have the nerve to say that shit to me?”

  “He’s an asshole. And he’s drunk,” I said. “It’s really that simple. He will probably still talk shit. He would probably still come back and pick another fight with me because he is that stupid and full of himself. And if he does, I’ll really kick his ass the next time.”

  “It happened so fast. I didn’t even see him punching you until it was almost done. If he’d hit you with that punch…”

  I smiled. “Yeah, but that’s true with anyone. Almost anyone can knock someone out with a sucker punch. That’s essentially what it was. He expected to catch me off guard and he didn’t. I know him and I figured he’d try something like this, especially when I stood up to him.”

  “That was classic,” she said. “That was just classic. I bet this is going to go all over town now. Remember how fast word spreads in this town.”

  “I do,” I said. “I remember well. But I expect a retaliation. That just makes it all the more likely to happen. With a guy like Oren, that’s a given.”

  “Yeah, I see your point,” Angie said.

  “Well, let’s not have this spoiling our night,” I said. I ordered a couple more beers from the waitress and Angie and I continued our conversation.

  I wasn’t sure, but I thought that Angie might have become a bit more turned on after seeing that little scuffle. I wondered if I was imagining things, or if I was right on the money with my assessment. I could tell she was leaning in more, she was smiling a bit more flirtatiously, and she seemed that she was much more open. Or that could have been the alcohol.

  “So, how many fights have you been in?” Angie asked me.

  “That was the first actual real fight I’ve been in since I started training,” I said. “Mostly it’s been sparring, and some competitions. Tournaments are fun.”

  “Wow, you’ve been in martial arts tournaments?”

  “Yeah, they are pretty fun. I’ve won a few, but I’ve lost more than I’ve won,” I said. “I’ve only been training for a few years.”

  “I see,” Angie said. “You mentioned before that you do other things, right? Would you say you are an extreme sports guy?”

  I laughed. “I guess you could say that. I just like to have fun. Remember, experiences. That’s what it’s all about.”

  “I feel so inexperienced now,” Angie laughed. “What else do you do?”

  “Well, besides martial arts, I do snowboarding, I do surfing when I can get to the ocean, rock climbing, hiking, bike riding, mountain biking, I swim a lot, and every year the past three years I’ve entered about five different fitness events, like I’ve run a few marathons, I’ve done a decathlon, and I’m actually training for a 240 mile race.”

  “I feel so lazy now,” Angie said. “I can’t believe that you are doing so many things, and you still find time to work as much as you do. I’d be going insane. I need time to relax.”

  “I do relax,” I said. “I admit that I don’t do it as often as I should, but I do try to relax as much as I possibly can. I just get very jittery if I’m in one place for too long. I have to keep moving. It sounds weird to say, but self-improvement has become like an addiction to me the past few years. The better I get, the more I improve, the move I want to improve.”

  “I might want to try one of those fitness challenges,” Angie said. “Maybe I’ll sign up for a 5k or something.”

  “Hey, that is a great place to start,” I said.

  I noticed then that Angie’s hand was touching against mine. I took the initiative and covered her hand with mine completely, feeling her softness and warmth. It felt really good, her hand in mine. And I loved the way she stared warmly into my eyes. She was so amazing, so beautiful and kind. She was every bit of the woman that I had always dreamt of being with.

  “Well, I guess we had better get going,” Angie said. “It is getting really late, and if I know my mother as well as I know I do she will have us up at the early crack of dawn to go shopping. She has been chomping at the bit for this for a long time.”

  I nodded. “I understand. Get home safe. And I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  “I can’t wait,” Angie said.

  She and her friends said goodbye to me and mine and then headed out of the bar. I watched her go and I wished that the night did not have to end, but it was heading towards midnight. I was so wired. I felt like going for a run. Hell, I felt like turning into the bear and running through the wild woods tonight, but I knew that I would do no such thing. That was a bit too much, to tempt fate. There was always that fine line where the bear would take over and start controlling me instead of the other way around.

  I had to be very careful. I was always just one wrong move away from total oblivion.

  Chapter Nine

  Angie

  “So, are you going to fuck him?” Nia asked when we got back to my parent’s house. They were both in bed already and Nia and I stayed up a bit to talk and have a couple more beers. The house was nice and quiet. I thought I’d be far more tired than I was, but I was surprisingly wide awake. I think I was just so damn excited. I hadn’t been this excited by a guy for a long time.

  “I doubt it,” I said with a grin. “”Come on. It is a first date.”

  “With an insanely gorgeous, crazy wealthy guy, who you are already sort of friends with. That kind of skips over several of the getting-to-know-you steps. You are like on date five already.”

  I chuckled as I sipped my beer. She had a point. “I don’t know. We will just have to see how things go. So, don’t get your hopes up just yet.”

  “What did he look like before? The other girls couldn’t get over that.”

  “I’d have to show you. My yearbooks are all at home. But he was a bit nerdy, very skinny, and about six inches shorter.”

  “Well, college has been good to him.”

  “I’m just amazed at how well we got along and how there was a romantic spark now where there was none before.”

  “Well, he looks way different, right?”

  “Yeah, but I hate to be that shallow. Is it just because he is hot?”

  “And rich. Don’t forget that.”

  “I don’t care that he is rich Miss future Gold digger.”

  “No, but it does show he has ambition and passion. That is very sexy in a man. I love it. That just makes me wonder how much passion he will put into a relationship.”

  “Ok, I can see that,” I said. “I think it’s also that he is so much more confident now. He used to be shy and very laid back. He was pi
cked on a bunch by the jocks and pushed around a bit.”

  “Yeah, now I have a feeling he’d be making them eat shit,” Nia said. “He is so buff looking. And didn’t you say he was like a karate expert or something?”

  “He mentioned he does kickboxing and martial arts,” I said.

  Nia giggled. “I’d like to see him shirtless beating some dudes senseless, or maybe showing me a thing or two…”

  I threw a pillow at her. “That’s my date,” I said.

  “What? You don’t even know if you are going to like him that much or not,” Nia joked.

  I finished my beer and leaned back against the couch. It was true that I didn’t know where things with Tyler might lead, but I hoped they led somewhere full of passion and fun. I really needed that sort of thing in my life right now I felt. It had been too long since a man had looked at me the way that Tyler did that night.

  We were different people now. Whereas the younger versions of ourselves did not fit romantically, the current versions of ourselves really did.

  Nia and I chatted a bit longer. Then we turned in and went to bed. I stayed in my old room and she stayed in the guest room. I had trouble winding down and going to sleep. I was still too wired by the eventful evening I’d had and I was super excited about the date tomorrow night.

  I just hoped that Tyler really wanted me as much as I wanted him. Just thinking about him got me all hot and bothered. I needed this in my life right now and for the first time I was so excited that I’d come back home. This was starting to feel really good.

  Tyler pulled me close to him and kissed me softly on the lips. His mouth was warm, smooth, but yet so masculine. I could feel his sensuous energy leaping from his body into mine and stroking the fires of my desire. I’d been thinking about him almost nonstop since last night at the bar. And after the amazing date we’d just had, it was inevitable that I was going to have sex with him. I couldn’t hold it back if I wanted to. I was out of control with desire for this man. He was proving to me more all the time that he was the perfect guy for me. And I loved that. Even though we were just getting to know each other again, it felt in a way as if we’d been waiting for each other. At least that was what I felt in my heart, but something told me that Tyler did as well.