Start the story

11 pm. It was just a simple night out - a couple of friends hanging out late at the bar, letting loose after a hard week of work. I personally felt that I needed this the most. My job as a high school teacher was a real mess. Sure 47K looked like a pretty good salary, but with the loud and obnoxious students that I had to deal with, every day felt like a huge chore. I whined to Amy, while Henry- my husband - sat next to me while he drank his second cup of beer. He laughed at a joke that Ryan made, which could only mean one thing...he was getting tipsy already.

"Oh babe, you're such a lightweight," I said with a quick laugh, Amy grinning at the sight of Henry. His skin flushed red.

"I am not! Seriously."

"It's fine. I love you anyway." I then said a soft kiss delivered right on his cheek.

He grunted in disapproval while our group laughed. The entire time, I could feel Nick staring at me, practically undressing me with his eyes. I didn't look back, mind you - I knew better. He always enjoyed getting a rise out of me, despite being the wife of his supposed friend. I honestly, for the life of me, didn't know why Henry was so insistent in inviting him. Sure, they were friends since high school but he was such a perv and an asshole!

"Well, I'm going ahead and play darts. Anyone want to join me?" Nick finally spoke, his eyes moving towards me. A sly grin appeared on his rugged face, his five o'clock shadow looking rough as always. Something about Henry's jerk of a friend gave out a type of allure. Sleazy, sketchy, and almost primal in a weird way. The complete opposite to my husband's more professional clean-cut look. "Henry?"

My husband laughed, shaking his head.

"No, I'm good. It's always money for you and I'm broke."

Henry recently lost his job and it was up to me to make do with my teaching job. It was great that we saved up a couple of months' rent ahead of time, otherwise, I think I would have been a nervous wreck. That said, he had a couple of leads that we were very optimistic about.

"What about you Heather? Why don't you join me?"

"No way," I said with a laugh. There was no way that I was going to be hanging out with that perv.

"Come on, please. I can't play alone."

"I can play - " Ryan interjected before Nick cut him off.

"Well, I can't play with someone who isn't good. There's no fun in that."

"Seriously Nick, I don't want - "

Again, cutting people off again. Nick was absolutely shameless...

"Henry! Tell your wife to just play darts with me. If you do, I'll buy us another round!"

"Heather, kick his ass." my husband said with a grin before I scoffed and began to scoot out of the booth. Nick laughed, raising his hand and telling the waitress "Hey, another round with my friends here!"

Nick seemed happy - which was almost scary. Almost as if he wanted to show off his newfound wealth - recently inheriting his dad's business - he took out a couple of bills and waved them in the air before placing them on the table. I rolled my eyes before heading over to the dartboard and felt his eyes roam all over my body.

"You know that I'm just going to beat you at darts, right? I've played this since high school!" I said confidently as I picked one right off the board. I smiled, figuring that I could put this cocky man back in his place.

"Okay, Heather." Nick said with a big stupid grin on his face, watching as I stood there, a hand on my hip as I gauged the situation. "Since you're such an expert, why not have a little wager? I'll bet real money that I can beat your sexy ass by at least twenty points."

"Okay, twenty bucks says I can beat you by at least twenty points!" I answered back eagerly. Nick wasn't good at anything except maybe drinking, fixing his car, and smoking pot.

He shook his head in disapproval.

"Twenty bucks? What are we, sixteen? Make it a hundred."

The music, this far from the booths, was pretty loud. The crowd around the area made it hard to hear, so we practically had to yell in order to make sure the other heard. Still, some things were impossible to miss - the way that Nick was looking at me and how his eyes went over my body, from hips to face, told me crystal clear that he was up to something.

"A hundred bucks?! I don't have that kind of money on me!" I said, shaking my head. There was no way that I could just part with that much money like this.

"Okay, how about we bet something a little different, something that's not money?"

"Like what?"

Nick, with a hand on his jaw, made it seem as if he was in deep thought. I scoffed, knowing that he was going to suggest something that would put me on edge.

"Well, you know that I want to tear your clothes off Heather. But I'll take it easy, at least for now. If I win..."