I’d given up calling her. She never would answer, and she quit checking her voicemails after I left so many, so it was always full. I had said everything I could think of to say, done everything I could think of to do. That was it, she was gone forever.
“You need to cheer up, kid.” Ace slapped me on the back as I stared at my phone, a picture of Whitney going on a date with some dude plastered on some tabloid blog. She looked beautiful, smiling up at the guy, her fingers linked in his.
Ace snatched my phone from my hand, powering it off. He then picked up the little velvet box from the table next to my favorite chair. I grabbed it from him and took the ring out, looking at it again.
He snarled. “Get rid of that ring, toss it in the lake, and get a new place. This one is a dump.” He walked around my room, looked out the window to the street below and shook his head. “I can’t believe you haven’t bought a place yet.” He sighed and then gripped the back of my neck and squeezed.
“Let’s go have a drink.” That was always his answer for everything.
I needed to get out of that apartment, so he was right about that. Whitney was everywhere I looked. If she was gone for good, then I needed a fresh start, a place of my own. Nothing fancy, nothing wild, just a comfortable place that wouldn’t remind me of Whitney everywhere I turned.
“Yeah, yeah.” I got up and placed the ring back into its velvet box before pushing it to the back of the drawer. “Let’s go get into some trouble,” I said, trying my best to sound excited.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” Ace cheered and slapped me on the back.
He wanted to drive, which was fine with me. That just made it easier for me to drink more, knowing I had to call a cab to get home.
Our usual table, the usual club and all the same people. “We really need to find a new place to drink.” I laughed as we made ourselves comfortable in our booth.
“No way, this place is the shit,” Ace argued.
I knew his reason was simple; they let him do whatever the fuck he wanted in there. Other places would have tossed him out on his ear long ago, and in fact, maybe they had. It was possible that this was the last place he could go. That thought made me chuckle. Big man Ace being banned from an establishment, especially a bar, it was just funny.
I wasn’t really in the mood to get drunk, but I knew after the first shot that would change. Ace ordered the usual, two beers and four shots of Patrón, two each. “Get the party started,” he toasted with the first one and “never let it end” with the second.
“I think I’ll get a new place,” I announced.
Ace lit up, his eyes wild and full of fire. “Good, start living like the rock star you are, my man.” He grabbed a tall brunette as she walked by, a new waitress. “Another round,” he said and then took a long look at her as if he planned to order her from the menu.
She seemed unimpressed by his advances, which made her that much more appealing to me. “I’ll break her down,” Ace insisted when she walked way.
Marty and Frank showed up later and joined us as we ordered more shots. It seemed to be becoming a ritual — Ace and I go out early, get smashed, and then the others arrive and try like hell to catch up. They never could.
“Here.” Ace pushed a business card towards me.
It contained information for a real estate agent. “She’s the best,” he insisted. His smile turned crooked, and he laughed wicked as he winked at me. Great, so he’s fucked everyone in this town.
By the end of the night, the only thing Ace had managed to get from the new waitress was his drinks and one smile, and I was pretty certain it was a sarcastic one. She did, however, wink at me.
“Maybe she’s a lesbian,” Ace said when she shot down his last attempt. “Maybe you should go after her.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “If she’s a lesbian, why would she want me?”
“Because, lesbians like pussies,” he laughed. Marty and Frank laughed too, a little too hard in my opinion.
“Maybe she does,” I snarled and slid out from the booth. She was standing at the bar waiting for her drink order so I slid into the seat beside her. “Sorry about my friend,” I said.
She turned and smiled. “It’s okay. I deal with assholes like him all night long.”
I’d never picked up a woman before, and I was quite certain I was failing at this attempt. Whitney had been different. It was high school, and all you had to do was make it known that you liked someone. If they liked you back, ta-da, you were a couple. As my thoughts drifted to Whitney, I decided this wasn’t a good idea anyway. I slid off the bar stool and started to walk back to the table.
“Hey,” she said, gripping my arm. I turned and felt something twitch in my pants as her big brown eyes stared up at me. “You come all the way over here just to apologize for your friend, or were you going to ask me out?” she sassed.
I liked her style, no holding back, just straight punches.
“I was planning on asking you out,” I said, being honest in return. “But, then I thought maybe it wasn’t a great idea.”
Her eyes filled with confusion. “Oh really, why’s that?”
I blew out a breath and shoved my hands in my pockets. “Long story.”
“Another woman?” she asked, her eyes going soft in understanding.
So, she was also clairvoyant. “Yes,” I admitted.
“She still around?” I shook my head, and she gave me a knowing look. “So, it’s too soon to date, but your buddies want to get you laid so you’ll quit sulking, is that right?”
Wow.
I laughed. “Do you have a crystal ball in your pocket?”
She smirked, and those chocolate eyes twinkled in the lights. She stepped closer. “I get off in twenty minutes. I’ll drive. You’ve drank too much.” Her eyes glided to my crotch, and her smile turned crooked. “But not too much, right?”
“Oh no, not that much,” I assured her, wondering if I was really about to do this.
Back at the table, they were ready to hear my let-down-easy story when I told them what she said. Ace was slightly irritated because she had shot him down, but happy that I was finally going to get laid.
“I was right, she’s a lesbian,” he laughed.
She brought over more shots and looked me straight in the eye. “This is your last one.”
I nodded. Yes, ma’am, whatever you say.
Ace patted me on the back as I slid from the booth and made my way out the back door with the sassy new brunette waitress. I told her I needed a minute and walked to the side of the building and pulled out my phone.
I called Whitney. I needed to know for certain that we were over before I got into that girl’s car. It rang four times before I got the message telling me the mailbox was full. That was my answer.
She drove a red Corvette, not the newest model, but still pretty damn nice. I slid into the passenger seat and watched her long, lean legs as they positioned themselves on the floor in front of her and over the gas pedal. Something always turned me on about a hot woman in a hot car. Maybe it was all those Hot Rod magazines I used to sneak and look at in my grandpa’s garage. They made great spank material.