Chapter 22: Chapter 22: Conquering Territory

CARTER

Izzy hurried past Rick and snatched Allison’s arm as if they’d known each other for years. “Let’s go, Allie. We’ll let the boys talk bread while we check out all the other cute guys in line.” She offered Carter a friendly, reassuring wink as she hurried Allison off.

Had Izzy just... snatched Allison’s nickname from him? Allison glanced back once to check with him, but she looked thrilled, not worried. Carter couldn’t help but chuckle as she gave him a little wave. He’d just started after them when Rick hurried up to his side.

“Holy shit, man!” Rick said. “Where were you hiding that hot piece of ass?”

Carter turned on him and scowled. “I’m only gonna say this once. I appreciate you helping us out, but I won’t put up with any of your shit tonight. Not toward Allie. Not toward any woman in there.”

Rick’s eyes widened. “Dude, I’m giving you a compliment!” He looked genuinely hurt. “We’re friends, right?”

What had ever given Rick that impression? Even so, as much a Carter wanted to stay mad at him, Rick’s mournful expression triggered some small bit of empathy he couldn’t completely ignore. So long as Rick watched his mouth tonight, he’d... try to get along.

“Just don’t be a dick, all right? They’re women, not meat.”

“I know that!” Rick insisted. “I mean... I’m trying to remember.” He grimaced and looked toward the line. “Since I got with Izzy, she’s been working with me. She’s made me see how the ways I was letting pretty women know how great they are was... not great.”

Now Carter was actually intrigued. “She told you that?”

“Look, I get how a man with all my confidence and swagger could come off the wrong way. If you’re still mad about all that biz with Allison... I mean, the other Allison, the one we both worked with... back when she was working with us, well, you’re right to be. I did wrong. I’m trying to be better for Izzy.”

Carter hadn’t expected to be shocked tonight. Was Rick actually apologizing for the shit he’d put women through when they all worked together? He’d never thought he’d hear that in a hundred years, but Rick actually looked sincere.

Carter still wasn’t going to forgive Rick for all that. It wasn’t his harm to forgive. Still... he did believe in redemption, and if Rick really was trying to stop hassling women and be an actual gentleman, he deserved the courtesy of a second chance. Carter would give him a shot.

“You stick to that, and we’re good. Now, let’s not keep our ladies waiting.”

Rick’s crestfallen expression instantly converted into a smile. “Saddle up, let’s go!”

They joined the girls soon after, and as the line was a bit shorter, they didn’t have to wait nearly so long. Izzy and Allison reached the bouncer first. This time, Allison raised her new card for all to see. “I found my ID! Here it is!”

Carter resisted another chuckle. They probably heard her all the way of the back of the line. The bouncer gave Allison’s new ID a look, then gave Izzy’s ID a look, then glanced past them at Carter and Rick. He shrugged, nodded, and motioned with his thumb toward the door.

Did he actually buy Allison’s new college ID? Or was he just cutting her a break now that she’d given him a way he could do that? Carter glanced at the man and offered a nod as he moved inside. The bouncer nodded back.

Inside was packed and loud. Red’s had at least a dozen round tables, all full, and people were stacked almost double along the bar as well. Carter was actually excited to see a pool table open until he realized it was missing all its balls. Some idiot had probably made off with the whole rack as a joke. All the other tables were in use.

Red’s was definitely an older tavern, but the owner kept it up. The walls were paneled wood and some of the booths in the corner were too, though obviously, every last one was occupied. The owner had actually hung a few real plants with dangly leaves throughout the space, and there was also glowing neon and a bunch of glistening car parts on the walls. All had probably been pulled from a junkyard somewhere. It was a little gaudy, but only a bit.

Carter almost bumped into Allison as she froze just beyond the entry, then set his feet like he was running interference for a teammate to avoid her getting jostled. Her wide gaze took in the tavern, its people, and everything else in a way that made his heart flutter. She was being all innocent again, and it felt completely sincere. He was so glad he’d gotten them here.

He gripped her arms and gently guided her out of the way of the door. Izzy was already halfway to the bar, and with her small frame, she slipped through the crowd like a pro. Rick glanced between them and then, to Carter’s disappointment, sidled over to join them instead of going after Izzy. Still... at least he kept his eyes on the tavern.

Allison grabbed his arm and pulled him down so she could talk right in his ear. “I love this! This is wonderful!”

He smiled at how happy she sounded and brushed her newly raven hair away from her shoulder. He put his lips close to her ear. “So are you.”

She giggled and clutched him arm. It was a stupidly corny line. Carter wasn’t even sure why he’d dropped it, but he appreciated her cutting him slack all the same. He just... he’d wanted to do this with her since lunch, but he hadn’t expected it to feel this good.

Rick, now standing right at Allison’s other side, put a hand to his mouth and yelled louder than he needed too. “You guys wanna’ go hang out at the bar?”

There wasn’t actually a whole lot of space at the bar, but every table in the place was already packed. There looked to be a spot in the corner that might work, tucked in against the jukebox where nobody would want to sit, so Carter gripped Allison’s hand and led her over that way. She followed eagerly, glancing around in wonder.

Had she really not been out for a night like this since she’d arrived on earth? What the hell had her other partners been doing? Did she... had she even had any other partners? Other than that Ryan asshole?

Carter knew that he couldn’t do anything to change whatever she’d been through, including all the running... but he could damn sure make it better from here on out. When he arrived at the bar, a single unoccupied stool remained jammed into the corner.

The guy next to it glanced over, blinked at Carter, and made some space. Carter hadn’t meant to intimidate him, but he did that sometimes meaning to. He’d take it.

Carter slid the stool out just enough and thumped it with his palm. “All yours, Allie!”

She poked him. “No, you sit!”

“I got it for you!”

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“And I’m going to sit on you!”

Oh. That would be efficient. Carter slipped onto the stool with just enough space to spread his shoulders. He grinned as Allison hopped into his lap. She wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled him, then eased back to look around the tavern some more.

With her on his lap and sitting sidesaddle, any look down offered the best view of her cleavage he could get. He knew he shouldn’t stare and did so anyway, then looked up to find Rick leaning against the jukebox and giving him a shit-eating grin. Carter sighed.

Izzy popped from the crowd a moment later clutching not one, not two, but four longnecks all pushed together between her hands. The caps were off. Carter marveled as he watched her dodge elbows and slide past people like the best running backs on his team. She had to have been a waitress at one point, or still was. Izzy floated through that crowd.

She dropped the bottles of draft beer on the bar beside Carter’s stool. “Good score!”

“There’s not a stool for us!” Rick reminded her from the wall.

“Give it time!” She slapped a bottle into Rick’s hand and then tossed back the other, chugging like a pro. She stopped, wiped her lips, and grinned. “We’ll conquer more territory!”

Carter now actually felt a little guilty about stealing the only available stool for him and Allison, but not guilty enough to give it up. He leaned toward Izzy. “What do we owe you?”

“Ask Rick!” she shouted back. “It’s his money!”

That shocked Carter enough he actually did glance at Rick, who just looked smug. As he thought back on the pockets, Carter wondered if Rick had moved beyond drug smoking and gotten into drug dealing. It would certainly be about his speed.

Meanwhile, Allison felt so good in his lap. Carter wasn’t going to leave this stool. He just sipped his longneck as she sipped hers, and she cast eager glances his way from time to time.

She spent way too much time with her ruby red lips going up and down on that bottle, eye-fucking him all the while. One hand slid down to rest on his ass in the shadow between his stool and the wall. Getting away with that felt naughty, and it made him achingly hard.

Not being able to just drop his face into her tits as she gripped his hair and kept him there was exquisite torture, as was the way she wriggled subtly on his lap. She knew exactly what her ass was doing for him, and while it wouldn’t have been obvious to anyone watching, it felt stupidly good. Was he really going to make it a whole night?

Meanwhile, Izzy had already finished her beer. The moment the guy two stools down from Carter and Allison was foolish enough to leave, probably to take a piss, Izzy swooped in like a hawk. She hopped on the stool like she owned it and then glanced at the guy beside her.

“Can we swap spots?” She pointed. “My friends are over there!”

The guy looked a bit annoyed with her, but after a look between Izzy and Carter, he shrugged and moved. Izzy did the same thing with the next guy, and before Carter knew it he and Rick were sitting on two stools right next to each other with hot women in their laps.

“You’re good!” he shouted to Izzy.

She make a Hook ‘Em Horns sign to Carter, bounced onto Rick’s lap as he gave her ass a squeeze, then smacked him on the chest while laughing. He already really liked this woman, but more importantly, it seemed Rick did as well. And Izzy liked Rick. Who knew?

Meanwhile, Allison continued to wriggle on his lap as one of his hands steadily slipped higher on her warm, bare thigh. The way she moved her ass in those impossibly tight shorts was masterful. It was like she could tell exactly what sort of shift felt best for him, and maybe she could. She was a telepath, after all.

Though she had assured him he’d never be in his mind unless she asked.

The tavern remained too loud for much conversation, but Carter eventually got the attention of the bartender and ordered the whole crew a big plate of nachos. They were probably more expensive than four draft beers, but maybe it’d even out over the night. He fed some nachos to Allison before Rick could get to them. She chewed and smiled in approval.

She then grabbed his chin and started kissing him in the middle of the tavern, tongue and all. Carter was both thrilled by the attention and a little nervous everyone was now watching them, but she kept him so focused on her he didn’t care. So what if people watched?

When she finally pulled back and smiled shyly, Rick whistled from the stool. “Damn, you two, save some for the rest of us!”

Izzy hopped off Rick’s lap, much to his visible disappointment, but then winked his way and slapped his thigh. That cheered Rick up. Izzy then gripped Allison’s arm and tugged.

Allison, visibly surprised, stared at her. “Is something wrong?”

“Bathroom break!” Izzy yelled. “I gotta’ check my makeup!”

Allison glanced at Carter in confusion, and all he could think was to nod. Women went to the bathroom together all the time, and he could understand why Izzy might not want to go alone. Two was better than one when some creepy guy might be lurking around.

“Go on!” Carter assured her. “We’ll hold the stools!”

Allison gave him a curious look and then hopped off her lap. She audibly yelped as Izzy took off, still holding her hand, and led them through the crowd. Even though they’d only just met, Carter instinctively trusted Izzy to keep an eye on Allison. That woman obviously had a great head on her shoulders, even if she had somehow ended up dating Rick.

This could be a good thing. He wanted to ensure Allison got to all the Earth stuff she wanted, but having a girl friend? He couldn’t offer that.

And Izzy already seemed like she could be a whole lot of fun.

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