Chapter 12: Fishbowl

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Against my better judgment, I left Molly with Bobby for a long weekend in Tahoe. There was a horror convention that my manager BS’d me into going to. I hated that kinda shit. I was a writer so I didn’t have to deal with hordes of assholes. I didn’t mind book signings, but big ass conventions bothered me.

 

Either way, that’s how I ended up cornered by some guy named Adam, rambling on and on in his fake British accent about Gray Matter, a book I wrote about a guy that chopped the tops of people’s heads off to eat their brains. It was a classy book. It surprisingly had a cult following. I didn’t get it. I started it when I was twenty, but didn’t finish it until close to seven years later.

 

“Wait, what?” He mentioned something about a movie that made me stop to actually listen to him.

 

“It would make a fantastic film,” he said. “It could be an homage to the grindhouse movies in the seventies.”

 

It never occurred to me to turn any of my books into movies.

 

“I don’t know about that,” I chuckled. “It’s… dribble. I know it was a bestseller, but to me it was never that great. I can’t imagine people would want to watch some of the sick shit I wrote.”

 

“Mate, that’s precisely why it should be in living color,” he argued.

 

“Don’t listen to this fuckin’ hack. It should be in black and white.”

 

“Bugger off, Reese,” Adam replied.

 

“Reese Dixon,” the new guy said, extending his hand to me.

 

“Good to meet you, Eric Northman,” I replied, although something told me he knew exactly who I was. “So you’re just as twisted as this guy?” I joked.

 

“Fuck no,” Reese replied. “Unlike this Tarantino/Korman lovechild, I actually respect the horror genre. It’s real easy to throw buckets of blood on a set and call it a horror movie. It’s way fuckin’ harder to make people shit their pants out of fear.”

 

“That’s very true,” I agreed. I wasn’t a huge fan of tons of blood. There wasn’t much mention of blood in my books either. “You know I just came to this thing to sign autographs and do the panel interview, right? I’m not really looking to make movies.”

 

“That’s too bad,” both men said simultaneously.

 

“Jinx, you tea drinking fairy!” Reese shouted.

 

I had no clue what to make of these jokers. If either one of them was truly interested in making a movie I wouldn’t think they’d quit trying to sell me on it the first time I said no.

 

“You know the Crane twins have expressed interest in playing the roles of Sonya and Svetlana,” Reese told me, referencing Double Vision. That one was about a set of identical twins and one faked her death so her sister would be accidentally killed by a nefarious husband that had a hit out on her.

 

“The Crane twins, huh?” They were very pretty girls. Very pretty. “When did they say that?” More importantly, were they in Tahoe?

 

“About twenty minutes ago before they went to do the panel for the show they’re on.”

 

“How about you give me your card? I’ll call you in a few days and you can tell me what you have laid out in a storyboard, and we can talk,” I suggested. I needed a drink.

 

“My card? How about my Twitter handle, Mr. Last Millennium?”

 

“What can I say, I’m old school,” I smirked. Hell, my books took place in the nineties. “I don’t tweet, Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest. It’s just not for me. I do business on the phone or in person.”

 

Reese looked at me like I had three heads.

 

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ I thought your kind was extinct.”

 

“Not making a very compelling argument,” I shrugged. “I’m not a techie guy. I think social media is shit and turns brains to mush.”

 

“Plus he’s a very hands on kind of guy,” a familiar voice said.

 

I looked back to see Sookie standing there. What was she doing at a horror convention?

 

“Indeed I am,” I purred in her direction.

 

“Well hello future Mrs. Dixon,” Reese said, making Sookie smile.

 

“This young man is trying to get me to turn some of my books into movies,” I told her. Just to be a dick I leaned down to place a lingering peck on her cheek.

 

“Oh yeah? Which ones?” Sookie asked.

 

“Which is your favorite?” Reese countered.

 

“Well truthfully, I haven’t read any of Eric’s books yet. They keep recommending them to me on Facebook and whatnot,” she said, causing Reese to look at me pointedly, like Sookie was proving his point. “But I’ve heard a lot of good things about Murder of Crows.”

 

“That’s my highest grossing book,” I told her. “You can get a signed copy when we get home,” I winked.

 

“Lucky me,” she smiled.

 

“You two live together?” Reese asked, looking back and forth between us. When I looked down I noticed Sookie’s wedding rings were gone from her finger.

 

“Not yet,” I deadpanned. I liked Sookie well enough, but I wasn’t actually looking for a relationship. “She keeps showing up on my doorstep, though. Maybe I’ll take her in.”

 

“See it’s sweet talk like that, that keeps me coming back for more,” Sookie replied. “Plus he’s got a huge cock.”

 

She wasn’t even drunk.

 

“You have a card, kid?” I asked. “Or a cell phone I can call you on?”

 

Reese reached into the inner pocket of his leather jacket and produced a card for me. “Use it,” he said seriously. “You won’t be sorry.”

 

“I’ll talk it over with my advisor here and let you know what I think either way,” I assured him.

 

“Hypnotize him with those killer jugs and talk him into it,” Reese told Sookie.

 

“I’ll do what I can,” she replied.

 

Reese walked away and I looked down at Sookie. “What are you doing here?” I asked. I didn’t know what came over me, but I reached down to play with her bare hand.

 

“I took the advice of a friend and decided to get out of town for a few days,” she answered. “I’m staying at the hotel across the street but someone told me this place made one of those punch bowl drinks so I thought I’d see how much damage I could do to one of them.”

 

“I see. I’ll buy you your first drink if you don’t mind hanging out with me,” I smiled.

 

“I don’t mind at all.” Sookie looked better than the last time I saw her. If nothing else she didn’t look so tired anymore. “How long are you here for? I didn’t know about this convention, by the way.”

 

“I’m here until Monday afternoon. The convention is over Sunday, but I like Tahoe. It has a small town feel, and I’m able to get shitfaced, and lost two grand playing craps all in the same place.”

 

Sookie laughed and said, “I think your luck is changing.”

 

“Because I ran into a pretty girl with great tits?”

 

“Because you ran into me.”

 

“Mmhmm, a pretty girl with great tits,” I winked. Damn, she was sexy. It was probably because I knew her. A familiar face in a sea of strangers. Or it was the fact that she had a genuine smile on her face? She had a gorgeous smile.

 

“That’s me.”

 

I tugged her hand to follow behind me through the convention. I was a big man so people easily got out of my way. The bar with the fishbowl drinks was on the other side of the room. When we made it the bar was full so I allowed Sookie to sit on the one free stool and I stood behind her. There was a menu of different drinks. I knew immediately I wanted the gummi bear fishbowl.

 

“That one.” I reached around Sookie to point at the drink I wanted. My chest was pressed against her back and I had to lean down to talk to her over the din of the crowd.

 

“That’s the one I want too,” she replied. Her head turned so her lips were closer to my ear.  “I’ve been meaning to say thank you for… well, a lot of things. You’ve been a good friend and I’m sorry I’ve been such a nutcase.” She kissed my jaw a few times and rubbed my cheek.

 

My eyes fluttered closed for a moment. I tilted my head to capture her lips in a soft kiss.

 

“You’re welcome,” I replied when I pulled back. “A real friend can see you at your worst and not think any different of you.”

 

Sookie smiled and nodded. The bartender appeared so she turned around to order our drinks. Afterward she turned toward me again and asked, “So what do I have to do to convince you to hear Reese out?”

 

“Depends. What are you offering?” I asked.

 

“I was thinking we’d play for it.” She pointed to a video poker machine. “If I win you make a deal with Adam.”

 

“And if you lose do I get a strip tease?” I was serious.

 

“Is that what you want?”

 

“It’s been a while. It would be nice…”

 

“Okay,” she agreed. “Strip tease it is.”

 

I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and handed it to her to put into the machine.

 

“Whoever has more money after ten minutes of play wins,” I told her. She could play, cash out, then I could play.

 

“Deal.” She fed the bill into the machine.

 

“Have you ever played video poker?” I asked when she just stared at the machine.

 

“Nope, just real poker.”

 

I gave her a quick rundown. It was obvious which button was to deal or draw. Tapping the cards held them and the rest was up chance. When she dealt the cards I started to massage her shoulders. I leaned down to whisper in her ear, “After your strip tease you’re more than welcome to play with my big cock.” It was going to be hard as a rock anyway.

 

“We’ll see.” Her body relaxed a little.

 

I kissed the side of her neck before I straightened up so I could continue to rub her shoulders. Video poker stopped for a moment when our fishbowl was delivered.

 

“Jesus, that’s bigger than my head,” I commented. I had a huge head.

 

“And that’s not easily done,” Sookie agreed.

 

“You can have the first taste.” I started to rub her spine with my thumbs.

 

“Keep that up and I’ll be a puddle on the floor,” Sookie warned. She leaned forward to take a drink and moaned. “Damn, that’s dangerous. I don’t even taste the booze.”

 

Because I couldn’t help myself I turned her head toward mine licked her lips.

 

“Mmm, yep, delicious,” I smirked before leaning over her to take my own drink. Fuck, I wanted to order one for myself.

 

Sookie took another drink and then went back to her poker game.

 

Running into her was a surprise, but it was a good one. In the short time I’d spent with her I knew she was already doing better. I assumed she decided to get her head on straight. That was what she needed. And apparently to talk me into allowing a guy to turn my books into movies.

 

SPOV

 

Running into Eric was unexpected. At first I was just going to keep walking but then I noticed he was talking to Reese Dixon. Eric had no way of knowing it but I loved scary movies and Reese had directed a few of my favorites. He was the kind of guy who worked wonders with a small budget and really made a viewer afraid of what was happening.

 

After ten minutes of playing I was up sixty-three dollars. I was also making good headway on my drink. Eric was rubbing my back and I was serious about turning to goo. Toting around the great tits he liked so much was hell on the back.

 

“Think you can beat me?” I asked Eric.

 

“Yep,” he smiled. He hit the cash out button and then added a new twenty.

 

“Want my seat?”

 

“Are you going to rub my back while I play?” He was able to reach over me with ease.

 

“That’s a brave question after the last massage I gave you,” I chuckled.

 

“Massage. Not tickle.”

 

“I’ll rub your back.”

 

“Then sure, I’ll take a seat,” he answered.

 

I slid off the stool to trade places with him. Eric scooted past me and as soon as he was situated, I got settled behind him and started to rub his neck. My thumbs pressed up the back of it and into his hair a little bit.

 

“I may forfeit the game if you want to go back to my room to do that,” he groaned, dropping his head forward.

 

I smiled and leaned forward to nibble on his neck just because I could. I felt more at ease than I did the last time I saw him.

 

“Want a shot to go with our fishbowl?” he offered. He tilted his head to the side to give me better access.

 

“Screaming Orgasm?” My hands moved down to where his neck and shoulders met.

 

“I can give you one of those in the room,” he chuckled. He called the bartender over to order us a round of Screaming Orgasm shots.

 

“Too bad you didn’t wager for that.”

 

“I don’t need to bet to give you an orgasm.”

 

“And I don’t even need to take your pants off to give you one,” I smirked.

 

Eric reached up to grab my hand. He pulled it down to rest over his soft cock.

 

His lips were close to my ear when he whispered, “Mmm, nope. You can get on your knees and pull my cock out to suck without taking my pants off.”

 

I smiled and said, “I was thinking about that strip tease, actually, but your idea is a good one too.” I squeezed his cock and then moved around him to take a drink from the fishbowl.

 

While I was drinking I felt Eric’s hand on my butt, giving me a little squeeze to match the one I gave his cock. Our shots were delivered, making him smile. His arm was around my waist as he lifted one of the shots.

 

“To seeing how many times I can get you to scream with pleasure tonight,” he toasted, before tilting his head to kiss my jaw.

 

I picked up my shot glass to clink it against his. Eric was charming and cocky but it was mostly endearing. I drank my shot and then resumed rubbing his back. Either I was distracting him too much or Eric wasn’t as good of a poker player as he thought, because he didn’t do very well at it. At the end of his ten minutes he was only up seventeen bucks.

 

“Looks like you’re getting into the movie business,” I whispered in his ear. “And I don’t mean videoing us fucking.”

 

To me it sounded like a fantastic opportunity for him to reach a wider audience with his work. It was true that movies rarely did justice to the books they were based on, but I had a good feeling about Eric partnering with Reese. Obviously I wasn’t a friend of Reese’s, but he had a blunt way of speaking and he didn’t mince words. I appreciated it, plus I was sure he’d challenge Eric.

 

“Looks like,” he agreed.

 

I moved around him to get back to the fishbowl. My lips wrapped around the straw to take another drink. The icy cold blue liquid was fruity and delicious. It tasted kind of like a blue Jolly Rancher.

 

“We’re going to need another one of these,” I told Eric and resumed drinking. It seemed counterproductive to the healing process but I wasn’t drinking as a way of escaping my life. I didn’t want to get lost anymore. I was out of that phase. That fishbowl was about having fun and enjoying myself.

 

Eric waved the bartender over. “Another fishbowl and two more Screaming Orgasms,” he ordered. He hooked his arm around me to hold me closer while rubbing my hip. He smiled over at me. “The lady gets what the lady wants tonight.”

 

“So the gentleman will get some when I go to his room,” I added. I may have been buzzed. What did they put in that fishbowl anyway?

 

“I’m still going to try to sweet talk you into a strip tease,” he grinned.

 

“You might have the skill to make that happen.” He was a writer. He should have a way with words.

 

Eric’s response was to lean over and kiss me on the lips. He nipped my bottom lip before he pulled back.

 

“That’s not really sweet talking, but I like it,” I smiled.

 

“I do too. You taste like Jolly Ranchers,” he winked, and moved in to kiss me again.

 

My lips parted for him and we were too busy kissing to notice the second fishbowl had been delivered. He really was a great kisser. There was some kind of emotion passing back and forth between us but I wasn’t in the mood to analyze it to death. When the kiss broke I went right back to drinking from the fishbowl. Eric was welcome to keep convincing me, but I was definitely going up to his room before the night was over.

 

***

 

I woke up in a pitch dark room, on comfy bed, with someone’s cock rubbing between my thighs. The sound of the grunt behind me told me it was Eric. Oh right… We met up last night and drank fishbowls.

 

“Morning,” I whispered.

 

“Mmm, morning,” he replied in a groggy voice.

 

My memory of the night before was fuzzy, probably because of whatever that was in the fishbowl. I had a weird reaction to vodka. It either fucked with my memory or made me more emotional than usual. Either way, I was pretty sure it was included in the drink. I remembered checking in at my hotel and looking through the suggestions of things to do in the city. There was a casino in my hotel so I decided to leave my evening to fate. If I won at the slot machine I’d stay at my hotel, have a nice dinner and maybe get a massage or something. If I lost I was going to go exploring.

 

While I was strolling through the casino I heard a few girls talking about the fishbowl drinks. I remembered finding a machine that felt lucky but I must have lost since I ended up across the street. I had no clue Eric was in Lake Tahoe too until I saw him outside the convention area. I met Reese Dixon and I played video poker. There were fishbowls, shots and I distinctly remember hotel security telling us to go to our room or they would be calling the police to have us arrested for lewd conduct and indecent exposure. I vaguely remembered making it to the room and then Eric fucking me up against the wall.

 

“We fucked again,” I said although he probably knew.

 

“Mmm, I can tell but I don’t remember much of it. Should we have a reminder?” His hips continued to slowly move, rubbing his thickening cock against me.

 

“We knocked a picture off the wall,” I told him.

 

“I’ll pay for it if we broke it.” Eric’s lips landed on my neck.

 

“I don’t remember,” I breathed. His lips felt good on my neck. “I don’t remember most of the night. Maybe we got roofied?”

 

“Or we drank our weight in alcohol,” he suggested as he slipped his hand down my belly to gently massage my clit.

 

“Or that.” My ass pushed back on its own.

 

Eric reached back between my legs a little further so he could position his tip at my entrance. When he pushed in it was slow so I was able to feel every thick inch of his cock filling me. I moaned and buried my face in the pillow under my head. He was so freaking thick.

 

“God that feels good,” I moaned.

 

“Mmhmm,” he hummed. Eric’s lips slowly moved along my neck. I felt gentle licks and a slight amount of pressure when he sucked. His hips stayed nice and slow; making us both moan softly each time he filled me. His strong hands ghosted between my breasts and my mound where he would draw light circles around my clit.

 

The friction and how deep he was getting made my walls pulse with every thrust. For once – at least that I could recall – we weren’t just trying to get off.  There was definitely more to it than lust and for a change, I was okay with it. It was part of moving on, right? Opening myself up to someone else was a good thing. It didn’t feel like cheating anymore.

 

I turned my head and rolled my upper body onto my back to pull Eric down to kiss me. His lips felt right on mine. I liked that he kissed me like he meant it. That was always a good feeling. It was also making me wetter.

 

Eric’s hand moved up from my tits to cup the side of my face. His fingers moved up into my hair, holding my head in place as he kissed me. I knew by the way he kissed me he was in the same spot. The emotion passing between us felt like we were right where we belonged.

 

When Eric started to move his hand away I felt a gentle tug on my hair. He slipped his hand all the way down so it was resting on my neck while his thumb gently rubbed circles along my jaw. He pulled back from the kiss, opening his eyes so he could look down at me as his hips moved. I noticed his eyes flick over before his hips went from slow and gentle to a dead stop.

 

“What the fuck happened last night?” he asked quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself.

 

“Wh… Why’d you stop?” I panted. He was doing some good stuff. Really, really good.

 

He released my neck and flashed his hand in front of my face. He was wearing a thick white gold wedding band with an intricate design etched into it.

 

“Do you know where this came from?” he asked me.

 

“No. Should I?” I couldn’t remember if it was there the night before.

 

“I lost my wedding ring years ago, this isn’t mine,” he told me.

 

“So take it off and get back to work,” I told him with a little smile. It’s not like it was welded on his finger.

 

Eric shrugged. He pulled out so I could lie on my back before he got into position and slid back into me. He pushed my legs out so I was spread wide for him, allowing him to get nice and deep. Eric didn’t move any faster than he was before we paused and it still felt fucking amazing.

 

“Oh fuck, you’re getting so deep,” I moaned. I reached up to press my hands against the headboard, but Eric caught my left hand.

 

“Sookie, this isn’t your ring,” he told me. He was still buried balls deep, holding my hand in front of my face.

 

“I took my wedding ring off last week,” I whispered. There was a sinking feeling in my gut. “Maybe we were trying to scam a room upgrade?” I knew in my gut that wasn’t it.

 

At some point last night I married Eric. What the flying fuck was in that drink?!

 

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