“I haven’t been going out a lot because I’ve been trying to cut down on my drinking. I’m in the best shape of my life, playing the best hockey of my career. I don’t want to fuck it up.”
“Fine,” Niko says as his eyes dart around the little bar that we frequent when we’re back in Phoenix. It’s always been a place that we could come to and easily score a quick fuck if that’s what we wanted. “But it still doesn’t explain why the few times we do go out, you leave all alone. You thinking of becoming a priest or something?”
“No, dude,” I say with exasperation, my fingers itching to pull my phone out and send a quick text to Cady. “Just not interested right now.”
“You’re not interested in pussy?” Niko asks skeptically.
“No,” I say, and then correct myself. “Yes. I mean, I’m interested in pussy, just not the type here.”
“Then let’s go somewhere where there is your type,” he says as he stands up from the table. He’s swaying slightly so I know he’s on the verge of a rip-roaring drunk fest.
For a split second, I consider what he’s saying. I told him I’m not interested in anything here because I’m only interested in one girl that lives across the Atlantic Ocean. But as I look around the darkened bar, with the jukebox blaring some country song I don’t recognize, I realize there are several gorgeous women here that look like they’d be great fucks.
B.C.—that’s Before Cady—I wouldn’t have left this bar without one of them on my arm. Hell, sometimes I would have just taken them in the back alley and fucked them up against the wall.
A.C.—that’s After Cady—I haven’t fucked a single woman, and my balls have turned the color of a Smurf.
Not sure why I’m imposing this bit of celibacy on myself because Cady and I don’t have anything more than a friendship. She would not expect me to abstain, and fuck… she’s still seeing that douchebag Colin, the architect. While she doesn’t share a ton of details with me, she’s let it slip a time or two when they’ve gone out to dinner or for drinks. It fucking burns me up and makes me want to go screw my way through North America, but I haven’t yet.
And that’s only because my gut instinct tells me that she hasn’t been intimate with him. I have no proof of that, but I don’t think Cady likes him in that way. Hell, I’m not sure she likes him at all, or otherwise she’d tell me more about him, right?
I mean… she doesn’t hesitate to tell me when her period cramps are dragging her down, so why wouldn’t she share details of this dude with me?
“Come on, Zane… let’s fucking party tonight and get laid,” Niko says with a cheesy grin on his face. “I bet that girl over there with the long, blonde hair and super huge tits would give you a blow job in the men’s bathroom.”
My eyes cut over to the woman he’s talking about. She stares candidly back at me, even going so far as to let her eyes graze down my body while she licks her lips. Yup… she’d blow me no doubt and for the first time since A.C., I actually consider it. It’s not like I’d be doing anything wrong.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and my hand dives in to grab it out. I just received a text message and although it could be from any number of people, my hope is that it’s from Cady.
Bingo!
Just got in from the worst date in the history of the world. I am swearing off men!
I can’t help the smile that pulls my lips upward, and I stand from the table. “I’m going to head out,” I tell Niko as I start to walk by him, but then I hesitate. Eyeing him up and down, I ask, “You’re taking a cab, right?”
“Seriously dude? You’re leaving?” he asks in astonishment.
“Yup. Got something I need to do,” I tell him, and then add on a warning. “Don’t drive. You’ve had too much to drink.”
Niko grimaces, but then gives me a sloppy salute. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out his keys and tosses them to me. “I’ll get a cab. You take my car home, and I’ll get it off you tomorrow.”
Slapping him playfully on the shoulder, I accept the keys gratefully. I’ve only had two beers and I’m fine to drive, so this works out well. “Later, man.”
As I step out into the parking lot, I hit Cady’s name in my favorites list. After I hear the clicking sounds that initiate an international call, her phone rings twice before she answers.
“So tell me about this worst date in the history of the world,” I say as I walk toward Niko’s car.
Cady gives a dramatic sigh and I can almost envision her flopping down on her couch, maybe tucking a pillow up against her stomach while she chats with me. “I broke it off with Colin, and let’s just say he didn’t take it well.”
My heart soars with joy over this revelation, and I try to keep my voice neutral as I unlock the driver door. “Why? What happened?”
Cady’s silent for a moment, and I imagine her twirling a finger in her hair. It kills me that I can’t see her right now, so I could know exactly what little habits she has. I know a lot about her, but not nearly enough.
“According to him, I broke his heart. He’s apparently devastated,” she says drily. I don’t hear an ounce of sympathy in her voice that she may have just decimated this man.
That makes me feel good, in some respects, but in others, it makes me feel a little bad, because maybe Cady was a lot closer to this guy than I originally thought. Which means… maybe she had been intimate with him.