He really hated that nickname, which is exactly why I still called him by it.
"Ignore Kane," Keela sighed and stood up from Alec's lap. "You look gorgeous, pimple or no pimple."
I grunted then jumped when my phone buzzed. I squealed and ran to my clutch purse that was on Keela's kitchen table. I picked it up, dug inside it for my phone, and answered it the second I got it into my hands.
"Hello?" I said a little breathlessly as I pressed the phone to my ear.
"Hello, sexy," Skull's voice purred through the phone as I walked back into the sitting room.
"You can't see me, how do you know if I look sexy?" I flirted.
Keela rolled her eyes at me, Nico and Alec snorted, and Kane just stared straight ahead at the television as he watched the football game on ESPN.
"You always look sexy, dressed up or down, so I don't need to see you to know you look good," Skull said, a smile in his voice. "I'm outside Keela's apartment complex, are you ready?"
"Good answer, and yes, I'll be down now."
I pressed the hang-up option on the screen before he could reply and hugged Keela tightly when she walked over to me and put her arms around me.
"Where are you goin'?" she asked.
I deadpanned, "Where does Skull always take me when we go out?"
Keela paled a little and whispered, "Darkness."
I frowned at her reaction. She looked... scared of something.
I knew she had a bad experience at Darkness, but no one would fill me in on what actually happened that night after Marco's stupid henchmen knocked me out. I've asked all the girls and lads but they're all mute on the subject. Alannah was the only one in the same boat as me because she said she wasn't at Darkness the night some sort of trouble went down. She said she had a bad headache that night and passed out on her bed. She had no clue what problems happened for the girls there that night; she just knew that bad things happened there.
"Yep," I sighed. "Good ol' Darkness. He is workin' from ten to closin', but whatever-I get free drinks."
Keela shook her head at me and smiled. "Just... be careful, okay?"
I winked. "I always am."
I spun on my heel and walked over to the front door. I heard a growl come from inside the kitchen mid-walk then I caught sight of it as it emerged.
I glared at the hundred-pound beast. "Did you eat up the contents of the fridge, you fat shite?" I asked, grinning.
He continued to growl at me, but he didn't move. He was still as he watched me. He was waiting for me to leave the apartment before he walked by.
"Leave him alone!" Keela snapped from behind me.
I laughed as I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. I reached back to grab the handle of the door so I could close it, but it suddenly slammed in my face. I gasped then glared at the door when everyone inside the apartment burst into laughter.
I knew exactly what happened. Storm shut the door with his head to make sure I couldn't get back into the apartment. The fat fucker always did it.
"I'll be back tomorrow, you hairy bastard! You'll never be rid of me! Do you hear me? Never!" I shouted through the door then turned and walked down the hallway of Keela's building.
I walked down the stairs carefully-I was in six-inch heels, I had to be careful-and exited the building and walked straight to Skull's black Ford Mondeo that was sitting out front waiting.
"Damn, babe, you look smokin' hot!" he shouted out the window of the car.
What a romantic.
I snorted and opened the passenger side door of his car and hopped into it. I closed the door, leaned in, and let him kiss my cheek even though he tried for my lips.
"Aideen," he groaned. "You can't come out lookin' like that and not give me a little taste."
Watch me.
"If you're good, then you'll get more than a little taste later." I grinned as I buckled my seat belt. "Now, shut up and drive the car. I wanna dance already."
Skull bit down on his lower lip and smirked. "Yes, ma'am."
I glanced at Skull as he drove and my insides clenched when I took in his attire. He always wore a suit when he went to work-all the bouncers had to wear one since Brandon, Keela's uncle, took over ownership of Darkness-but he had his jacket hanging in the back of the car and had his white shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows with a couple of buttons open exposing a bit of his chest. It was simple, yet so delicious to look at.
"You want dinner first, or straight to the club?"
"I already ate so straight to Darkness," I answered without looking in Skull's direction.
He groaned again, "You kill me when you behave like this."
I snorted and continued to look out the window as he drove. "Behave like what?"
"Like you couldn't care less that you're next to me; it always gets me hard."
I laughed and glanced at him. "You get turned on when I ignore you?"
"Only when you're in me presence. It makes me want your undivided attention."
I smirked and looked forward again. "We'll see how tonight pans out. You might just get what you're lookin' for."
"I better," he growled making me smile to myself.
A few moments passed by in comfortable silence, but Skull broke it when he said, "How is Keela doin'?"
I crossed my left leg over my right and rested my hands on my lap. "She's good, still workin' hard on her book. She is a perfectionist, and it's a strength of hers as well as a weakness. She goes over the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb daily but is worried about it not being ‘right.' Nothin' anyone tells her will relax her about it, it's just somethin' we have to let pan out by itself."
Skull clicked his tongue. "I hope it all works out for her. She's a good girl."
I nodded in agreement. "That she is."
"Is she still with that Slater lad?" he asked.
I snorted. "You know his name is Alec, and yes, they're still together. They're engaged."
"I refer to them all as a Slater lad." Skull chuckled then said, "And people who are engaged can still break up, you know."
I smiled. "Not Keela and Alec, they're solid. Nothin' can break them."
I was certain nothing could anyway.
"Well, that's great; a solid relationship must be nice."
I raised an eyebrow. "Is that a jab at me?"
"At us, not just you," Skull clarified. "We're both great together in the bedroom, it's every other aspect of being in a relationship that we struggle with."
Ain't that the truth.
I sighed. "We aren't goin' to get back together, and we both know it. This ‘date' tonight is for a good time and wild sex. You know it, and I know it."
"I know," Skull grumbled.
I looked at him and frowned. "Why do you seem sad about it?"
Please don't say you want us to get back together again.
"I'm not sad about us. I've made peace with how we are... I'm just gettin' too fuckin' old for one-night stands. I'm thirty-three. Wakin' up next to nameless women, and sometimes faceless women dependin' on how hungover I am, is gettin' old."
I blinked in surprise. "Really? You don't like the club bunnies?"
That was a bit of a shock.
Skull glanced at me and smirked. "I love the club bunnies; I'm just gettin' bored of them. I don't know, maybe I need to find a good woman and settle down. Me ma is naggin' me about givin' her some grandbabies."
I smiled. "Then that is exactly what you should do, honey. Do what makes you happy."
Skull sighed, nodded his head, but said nothing.
I grunted to myself and said, "I'm not havin' sex with you ever again now, not now that I know where your head is at."
Skull burst into laughter. "Should I repeat that to you when you're feelin' me up later in your drunken haze?"
I giggled. "Yeah, say it loud and clear. Pinch me if you have to."
Skull continued to laugh. "I love you, babe."
"I love you, too," I replied, happily.
I loved Skull, and he loved me, we just weren't in love with each other. That ship had sailed long ago.
"Any lads you have your eye on?" Skull asked as we neared Darkness.
I was shocked when the image of Kane Slater filled my mind. I quickly blinked the unwelcome image from my head and focused on Skull.
"Nope, no one. I'll probably do what you're doin' and look for my other half, or I'll just keep me own company and end up an old spinster."
A belly laugh erupted out of Skull. "You're twenty-eight, that's not old."
"Tell that to me students," I muttered and thought of all the kids in my class who thought I was super old.
The little brats.
Skull continued to laugh to himself as he flipped his indicator on and headed into the private car park for the staff of Darkness. Brandon Daley had splashed out on upgrading Darkness over the last few months. He completely redecorated the club-inside and outside.
He added a private staff car park and a brand new level to the club. Hard-core partying happened on the new bottom floor, and the fighting and more hard-core partying happened on the first floor. The first floor still looked the same except it didn't. The platform was in the same spot and had been completely upgraded. It was matte black now, but when blood or any fluids from the fighters touched the surface, it appeared as neon red blood splatters on the platform surface. It was brutal, but awesome looking. There was also an automatic black cage that folded down from the ceilings on Friday nights, which drew in crowds because there were no rules inside the cage. Anything went.