Love Like a Man

Chapter 39 - How to Play

"So..." Claire said, prompting him for an answer to her question. They were sitting side by side on a subway making their way down the Bloor St. line and he still hadn't told her where they were headed.

"Fine, I'll give you a clue. We're getting off at the Bathurst stop." Gabe said, clearly enjoying toying with her.

"Now I know that we're going near the Bathurst stop and that I had to dress like this." Claire said motioning to her casual ensemble. She mentally ran through the places in the area trying to think of the ones that were the most rock and roll. It wasn't a part of town she went to often so she was having difficulty coming up with possible destinations. "Can I have another clue?"

"Fine. Here it is. Wherever you guess could be right." Gabe said cryptically.

That was a terrible clue. There's no way she'd guess. Claire decided on an alternate tactic; annoyance. "Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me." She chanted as she tickled him.

"Woahhh fine. You win." Gabe smiled swatting her away. "I wanted something spontaneous. So we're going bar hopping, but with a twist. And before you ask, I'm not going to tell you the twist until we're at the first bar."

"Bar hopping!" Claire was sooo down with this plan. "I haven't done that since... Shit, maybe university?" This was going to be awesome. "I get why I had to wear flat shoes, and based on the neighbourhood I'm happy you got me to go more casual... But why no underwear?"

Gabe reached across himself, put his hand on her bare knee and then ran a finger upwards along her inner thigh right up to the hem of her skirt. "The no underwear rule was for me." He whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down her spine.

Claire sat at the table in front of the small stage at Renegade and watched Gabe as he ordered drinks at the bar counter nearby. She couldn't help but notice the women in his vicinity eyeball him, but who could blame them? Her man was seriously droolworthy. He was turned away from her so Claire was left to admire how his simple black tee stretched to fit over his broad shoulders and then by letting her eyes drop to ogle his firm ass in his faded jeans.

Gabe turned around to walk back to the table and caught her eye. His face was all lust tonight, his brown eyes seemed darker than usual.

"Thanks." Claire said taking the G&T from his hand. Claire took a sip of her drink, it tasted like freedom.

"I think I'm ready to tell you the rules of the night." Gabe said, after downing some of his vodka.

"It's about time!" Claire said, dying to hear what he had in store.

"Remember when we were at Fitzgerald's?"

She did. But Claire didn't really want to think about the night he caught her on a date with another man. It hadn't exactly been a high point for their relationship. "Yes..." she said cautiously.

"And I followed you down to the bathroom and almost made you cum through your little outfit?"

Now that part of the night she didn't mind revisiting. "Oh I remember." She said then lowered her voice to a whisper. "So are we going to do it in the bathroom?"

"Not exactly." Gabe said. Claire couldn't help but notice the devilish glint in his eyes. "I bought these today." He said pulling a pair of dice from his pocket. "I think they're meant for old couples who want to spice up their love life in the bedroom, but we're going to do this in public." He said. "I think you liked it that there were people right outside the bathroom door at Fitzgerald's who could hear me make you moan."

Claire took a big gulp of her drink and then picked up the pair of dice to have a closer look. One was covered with actions like lick, kiss and suck while the other was covered with body parts. Claire blushed thinking of how crazy some of the combinations could get for a public space.

"Now here's the rules. We can go into any bar or club in the area we want, skipping the ones that we think look lame, but if we go into a place there's no leaving until we've completed one roll and one shot." Gabe said. He leaned closer to her and grabbed her chin and looked her straight in the eyes "By the time I get you home you're going to be so drunk and horny that you're going to let me do whatever I want to you." He said with such intensity that she almost felt shy.

Gabe released Claire's face. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "Who's rolling first?"

"I am." He answered. There was heat behind his words.

Music cut the tension between them when a band went on stage. To Claire's delight they started playing a cover of Drake's Hotline Bling. "This place is pretty cool." She said, surprising herself. When they'd first walked in her impression was that it was a typical dive bar, she'd only expected to hear out of date top 40's.

"Saturdays are the best. It's open mike night. You'll get some acts that are completely lame but most of them are talented." Gabe explained.

When the band left the stage another singer took their place. This time, it was a tiny Asian girl with David Bowie inspired makeup who stood in front of them. Claire almost laughed with delight when the diminutive woman opened her mouth and started belting out Ellie King's Exs and Ohs. Her larger than life voice was as thick as honey and was easily powerful enough to fill the room. Claire couldn't help but sing along.

When the girl left the stage a spoken word performer was up next. A hush fell over the room so the poet could be heard.

"I think it's time." Gabe said to Claire, taking advantage of the relative low volume of this act. He pulled the dice out of his pocket and rolled.

The raunchy cubes tumbled to a stop in front of Claire. She felt herself flush with a mix of pre-emptive embarrassment and anticipation. Gabe had rolled the words Bite and Nipple.