“And I’m sure you have one I can scratch as well.” I felt her hand under the table, rubbing my thigh and running its way up towards my crotch. I felt nothing at her touch and for a few brief seconds I felt sad. I wished I weren’t even here. I wasn’t having fun. I didn’t want to be with her. I wanted to be hanging out with Sally. And I’d love for her to be rubbing me right now. I sighed as she crossed my mind again. This was getting totally ridiculous. I didn’t know why I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I bet it was because I hadn’t fucked her. If I’d slept with her, she’d be gone from my mind. I wanted to slap myself.
“I’m okay,” I said and jumped up. “Hey, I have to go to the restroom. I’ll be right back.” I walked away from the table quickly, my head feeling heavy and confused as I went to pee. I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but I knew I had to fix it fast. Maybe sleeping with Louisa was what I needed to help me stop thinking about Sally. I knew it would be a risk, since Louisa seemed all sorts of psycho and was likely to go all stalker on me, but I’d handled stalkers before. All you had to do was ignore them. They went even crazier at first, but then they finally got the hint. Especially if you told them you’d get a restraining order or something. Though I wondered if it was worth the hassle. I didn’t want to sleep with Louisa. No part of my body was interested in her. I’d probably have to think of Sally to even get off. I could feel myself growing angry at that thought. Sally was nothing but a friend to me and as soon as my big and little head realized that, I’d be okay. I exited the bathroom with one thought in my mind. I’d take Louisa to a bar and see what happened after we both had a bit more to drink. I knew it wasn’t my best idea, but I knew I had to stop thinking about Sally before she drove me crazy.
* * *
“Another shot?” I asked Louisa as we stood by the bar, both of us already quite drunk, but not ready to leave.
“Sure, why not?” She giggled as she placed her hand on my arm. “Trying to get me intoxicated?”
“I’m not sure if I need to try,” I said and she giggled some more and pressed herself against my chest.
“I’m ready to leave whenever you are,” she said and then licked her lips slowly. “I’m ready to be a bad, bad girl.”
“Oh?” I asked her, staring as she sucked on her pinky finger.
“A bad, bad girl,” she said again, this time with more inflections.
“I see.” I grinned down at her, faking an enthusiasm I didn’t really feel.
“You do?” she said and I felt her hand sliding down the front of my jeans. “I can’t feel it,” she said with a pout as she moved her hand away. Normally a comment like that would make me feel like I had to man-up, but for some reason her overt sexual talk was doing nothing for me.
“I’ve never had any complaints,” I said finally with a wink.
“I’m sure I wouldn’t be complaining,” she said and I felt her tongue in my ear. It was then that the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt a sudden chill. I wasn’t sure how I knew, but I just did. I moved my head to the side and all of a sudden I saw Mila and Sally standing there, staring at me and Louisa. Sally’s eyes were wide and as they met mine, I felt a flicker of worry as something akin to disappointment flashed through her eyes. I immediately stepped away from Louisa and raised my hand and waved my sister and Louisa over to join us. My stomach flipped as I watched them give each other a small look and then walk over to me. I could see Sally muttering something to Mila and I would have given anything to know what she was saying.
“Fancy seeing you guys here,” I said brightly and gave them both a hug.
“Hey, bro,” Mila said, her eyes flashing at me.
“Hi, Cody,” Sally said and looked away.
“Who’s this, then?” Louisa asked me forcefully. I gave her a small smile and then turned back to the girls.
“This is Mila, my sister, and this is Sally,” I said, willing Sally to look at me. “She’s Mila’s childhood best friend,” I said and then paused. I didn’t know what else to say. She’s my friend? She’s one of my closest friends? She’s my almost lover? She’s someone I have feelings for that I don’t quite understand? I frowned and then looked at Louisa. “And this is Louisa.”
“I’m his date,” she said as she offered her hand. “Cody, I didn’t expect to be meeting your family on the first date.” She giggled as she looked up at me. “What’s on the second date? Dinner with your parents?”
“Ha-ha,” I said, not laughing, feeling annoyed with myself for having brought Louisa to this bar. “So what have you two been up to, then?” I asked both Mila and Sally the question, but my eyes were on Sally, drinking in her face.
“Drinking. Hanging out,” Mila spoke, and Sally nodded.
“You guys want a drink?” I asked, offering to buy them a drink even though I knew date protocol should really have me dedicating my time to Louisa.
“Uhm, are you sure?” Mila looked at me and then at Louisa and made a face. “We don’t want to interrupt your date.”
“You won’t be,” I said with a smile, feeling annoyed at Mila. Why was she making this more difficult?
“Well, you might be ruining our style,” Mila continued. “We’re looking for a nice guy.”
“You have TJ.” I narrowed my eyes at her. “Aren’t you in love with him or something?”
“I said we’re looking.” Mila rolled her eyes. “The guy isn’t for me, obviously, it’s for Sally.”