I threw a twenty on the bar as the bartender brought over my pint glass of Raspberry Stoli and 7up. He didn't take it before he walked away to the opposite end to fill another order. This was why most of my friends liked Piper's - you could throw one bill down and drink hefty glasses of top shelf booze all night long if you were a cute girl.

Kim swizzled the straw around in her own pint glass. "What's the deal with the creepy guy staring at you from over by the jukebox?"

"Buzzed head, dark eyes, black jeans and a grey shirt?" There was no need to ask or turn around to know who she meant, but I did nonetheless.

Dom was nodding at something that Kenny said, but he looked directly at me. I smiled but he didn't return it. Instead his tongue came out a little, wetting his lips. Then I turned back to Kim. "His name's Dominic. He plays bass in The Deans with Maggie's boyfriend. She introduced us the other night. When Kenny gave me a ride here tonight, I fell asleep on Dom's shoulder on the way."

Kim peered around my shoulder again. "Well he looks like he wants to eat you alive."

"And that's a bad thing because?" I laughed and sipped my drink. It was strong.

She wrinkled her nose. "I wouldn't know, since I haven't tried that yet. Adam hasn't offered."

This was classic Kim. The girl loved to flirt like me, but she'd never been the one to make the first move. She was lucky that with her long hair and longer legs, she never needed to approach guys first. The downside was that because she was tall on beauty, she was short on balls. Kim didn't know how to ask for what she wanted.

While I'm cute enough to get the top shelf booze at Piper's, I know that I'm not a beautiful girl.

I chopped my hair off because it was nothing special to waste any of my time on. So despite the fact that I'm not even close to the Kate Moss type that generally pulls off a pixie style, I didn't let it hold me back from streamlining my hair or my life. This was the haircut that I wanted, so it was the one I asked for at the salon. A pleasant side-effect of my new hair was it helped weed out a certain caliber of guys, mainly the ones that liked a girl to be quiet and submissive - two things that I've never been accused of.

As far as sex, while I hadn't gathered tons of experience by this point, I beat Kim by a mile since she had only one name on her list.

I rolled my eyes at her. "Let me suggest that you stop waiting for Adam to offer and tell him what you want! Problem solved!"

Kim sighed. "I'll think about it. Maybe when I get back to school I will. But tonight I want to dance and flirt."

As if on cue, the guy standing behind Kim tapped her on the shoulder. He was a suited-up finance type, which meant he was right up her alley. I raised my eyebrows at her and pulled some singles out of my purse. "Well you've got one half covered. I'll play some stuff on the jukebox to cover the other half."

She smirked. "I'm sure that offer has nothing to do with Mr. Hungry Musician that's standing right beside it."

I shrugged at Kim. "I don't see any other likely contenders tonight."

When I put my empty pint on the bar, the bartender picked it up to refill it. My legs felt like rubber as I walked across the room, partly from being on my feet all day and partly from the half pint of vodka I just drank.

As soon as I fed my first bill into the machine, Dom was beside me. Even though I knew exactly what I wanted to play, I pretended to look through the choices. He put his left arm on the machine and hovered over me looking at the album covers too. His voice tickled my ear when he spoke. "You can tell a lot about a person by what they play on the jukebox."

I pushed the first buttons for Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" then quickly followed it with Tom Petty's "American Girl" before I looked at him. "So what do you think you know about me now?"

He smiled. "I know you drive me crazy."

I turned more fully so I could lean my back against the glass of the machine. "Well that's a line, not a revelation. And it tells a lot more about you, than me."

Dom put his other arm up onto the machine to cage me in. "Okay then. Based on those two choices, I would say that you didn't have the easiest childhood."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "That's pretty vague and true for a lot of people."

He leaned in closer. "Well I think that you don't like to look back at things in the past because they make you sad. So you keep yourself busy and focused on your future."

The hair on the back of my neck rose and I dipped beneath his arm. I walked to the corner of the bar to retrieve the pint the bartender held up for me.

Dom's voice came from behind my back as I gulped down some of my new drink. "I was warmer with that one. Wasn't I?"

He was warmer, but it made me feel colder. I came out to have a good time, not to get psychoanalyzed or talk about my messed up childhood.

When I turned back, he was leaning on the jukebox now, with his arms crossed in front of him. I put my glass down on the bar. "I think I'm gonna go home. I'm tired."

Dom didn't say anything else or try to stop me. I hurried back toward where Kim was and pulled her away from the suit for a minute. "I'm not gonna last here much longer. You okay if I leave you with this guy?"

She furrowed her brow. "Want to go somewhere else?"

My high school friends were definitely going to make the rounds tonight, since they'd be going back to their schools on Sunday. It wouldn't surprise me if they finished their tour at Putt & Driver's for after hours. Even if I was able to stay on my feet for one more bar, I knew I wasn't in it for the long haul tonight. Besides I felt no sense of urgency, since I could potentially stay out until five in the morning next weekend. New York is the city that never sleeps, but I needed to occasionally.

I shook my head no. "I'm fine. Just done for the night and need some sleep."

"Okay, as long as you're sure. Laura and Michelle are back from buying cigarettes. They came in through the back door." She pointed to the table where our other friends sat.

"Good. I'll say hi and head out the back door then." We hugged.

As I buttoned my coat, I stopped in front of the other girls. "Hey ladies, I'm out! It's been a long day and I'm toast. Keep an eye on Kim with Brooks Brothers over there."

Laura giggled. "We won't let her do anything you wouldn't do Charli."

"Although, that doesn't leave a whole hell of a lot..." Michelle joked.

Normally I'd have a witty retort, but my brain was burnt. With a small wave, I pushed out of the back door.

Once outside I discovered a thin crust of snow on the ground and Dom waiting, with an icy stare. "I'm not apologizing for hitting the nail on the head in there."

"I'm not asking you to." It was too cold to stand there talking. The alcohol and weariness didn't help. I started to walk down the block.

His footsteps crunched as he followed. "You asked me to tell you what I thought."

"I agree. I did." The wind blew my skirt up and Dom looked down at it. He didn't say anything else.

I stopped moving and looked at him. Had Maggie tried to set whatever this was up on her own? Or did Dom ask her to? I didn't like having more questions than answers. "What are you doing Dom?"

He paused too and shrugged. "I was walking you home until you stopped."

I'd been taking care of myself and the people around me for a long time. "I don't need you to."

Now that I wasn't moving I started to shiver. He took my hand into both of his. "I know you don't. But I want to."

His hands were warm. There was something intense about his gaze. And intense was not something I needed in my life. "I don't have time for a relationship. Plus, I'm not good at them."

I started to walk again. Dom pulled me closer and put his arm around my shoulders. "Me neither."

Although I suspected I knew the answer, I asked the question anyway. "So then why are you bothering with this?"

We hit an icy patch and Dom steadied me. He gripped my shoulder more tightly. "I wanted to make sure you're okay."

Growing wearier of the game tonight, I sighed. "I may not be tall, but I'm a big girl and I'm fine. So that's all that you wanted?"

This time he stopped first and pulled me against him. "No. I want to know what you want."

"Tonight or from life?" I cocked my eyebrow at him.

"Let's start with tonight." He leaned down and kissed me. It was rough and I could tell he wanted to punish me a little for teasing him on Wednesday night and in the car before. Dom bit my bottom lip and brought a hand under my skirt. This time I didn't stop him before he got to my panties. He pressed his fingers against me in a rhythm. In mere moments he had me throbbing like I was his instrument.

I thought of my last acting class where we discussed how actions speak louder than words. Dom was ready to play. I pulled away breathless. "I want you to walk me home tonight... to your home."

He took his hand out from under my skirt and I felt colder for its absence. We walked the rest of the way to his building in silence. Dom never let go of my hand while he unlocked the main door or as we climbed up the flight of stairs to his apartment door. Maybe he was afraid I was going to change my mind and run away. He led me through the pitch black of his apartment, to his bedroom.

Light filtered in from the streetlight on the corner so that he didn't need to turn on a lamp for us to see each other in there. The thump of some dance song came from the club that he lived above. It wasn't a place that either of us ever went to and it wasn't a song that we would recognize. The scent of cigarettes crept through the floorboards. Dom put on some Miles Davis to accompany it and cover up the noise. It seemed fitting that with his broodiness he would choose to play The Prince of Darkness to seduce me by.

Off came his boots. I sat on his bed and leaned over to undo my own shoes. But then Dom knelt in front of me and took them off for me. As he slowly peeled off each of my socks, his lips followed their path down my legs.

Then he stood up and pulled his shirt over his head, before tossing it to the side. His chest had more hair than the other guys I'd been with. Between that and the feral look in his eyes, I felt like Little Red Riding Hood. Biting back the temptation to say, "My what a big penis you have!" when he undid his pants, I laughed to myself. 

"What are you laughing at?" he growled, enhancing the Big Bad Wolf appeal.

I ran my fingers through his chest hair. "You're very wolf like."

Dom pulled me to my feet. "Well then I'm going to huff." He grabbed the hem of my skirt. "And puff." He pulled up on the skirt, catching the hem of my shirt as well and lifted both completely off of me at the same time. "And blow your house in." He tossed my clothes to where he had thrown his shirt. Now I only stood before him in my sheer Calvin Klein bra and panties set.

"So do you plan on knocking my walls down then?" I stroked him and he snarled.

"Yes and then I will eat you up entirely tonight. First here..." He put his teeth onto peak of one of my breasts. Next he dropped down in front of me again and brushed his mouth against me. "Then here."

My breath caught as he lapped against me. "Well it seems to me I'll be the one huffing and puffing."

He pushed me down onto the bed and yanked my panties off completely. "Only if I'm doing my job right."

With a smile big enough to show off his canines, he dipped down again to sate his appetite.