20
HAWK
"So wait a minute,"Bam said between howls of laughter. "You're tellin' me you stood outside her apartment, dressed in only your underwear?" He slapped the top of the bar and shook as he laughed.
I gave him a half smile, half scowl. "Dude, it wasn't funny." It was cold and embarrassing. Not the semi-naked part, but the lurking in an apartment building corridor part. I had some dignity left and I wanted to keep it for a little bit longer.
"The hell it wasn't funny," Bam said. "The only not-funny part is how I wasn't there to see it. Oh man! For real, next time warn a bro so he can come and watch. I will turn up there, ready to point fingers and laugh at your ass."
"I'll remember that," I said, with no intention of following through. The whole incident was bad enough without having a witness. "I think you might be missing the point here."
"Naw, I totally get the point." Bam wiped tears from his cheeks and eyes. "Your stubborn ass walked out without your clothes."
"Because I was angry," I said. "Over an article she shouldn't have written." Just thinking about it, I wanted to grind my teeth.
Finally, Bam looked serious. "Which never got published."
"She intended it to be," I said. "I never should have trusted a journalist." Trusted? I fell ass over head for her. Between my heart and my dick, I wasn't thinking straight. That much was fucking obvious.
Now Iwasthinking straight, I felt empty. This wasn't like when Kyla left. Then, I was disappointed, but I had to respect her choice. I could have gone with her. I recognised now that I hadn't cared about her enough to follow her to California. I loved her, sure, but I didn't see the rest of our lives laid out in front of us, like I did with Becca.
Like Ihadwith Becca, I corrected myself. I had to forget that now, like she'd apparently forgotten my feelings when she wrote that stupid article.
The frustrating thing was that she was one hundred percent right. It was time I talked about my mom. Okay, past time. How many times had Vera said the same thing? Between Becca's boss and my cousin, Becca was stuck squarely in the corner.
None of that changed the fact she should have told me before she wrote the damn thing. I might have let her do it.
Okay, maybe not. Knowing her, she would have convinced me to at least think about it. Then when I did… Well, it didn't matter now.
"Women, man," Bam said. "This is what I'm sayin'. Can't live with 'em, can't get laid without them."
"Well…" Chase said from the other side of Bam.
Bam looked over his shoulder at him. "It's not as much fun if you have to do it yourself."
"Yeah, true." Chase seemed distracted. He kept glancing over at the other side of the room.
I followed his gaze. A cute blonde with dark roots and a low cut top that barely held in a generous amount of cleavage smiled in his direction.
"You could go and talk to her." I didn't need a big attendance at my pity party. Bam and I would do just fine. Although, Bam kept glancing at a cute brunette in a white t-shirt and huge silver earrings. So far, she didn't seem to have noticed the attention.
"You too," I said to Bam.
He clapped me on the shoulder. "What kind of friend would I be if I left you alone in your time of need?"
Chase, who was halfway out of his chair, stopped and looked guilty.
"Go on." I waved him away. "Bam can keep me company. I'm sure he's not finished laughing at the idea of me in my underwear."
Bam grinned. "I will never tire of laughing at that. Hey, you could reenact it. How about that?"
"How about no?" I said. "No one wants to see that. Besides, Brody would throw my ass out the door and ban me for life." I glanced around, but couldn't see Brody. No doubt he was around here somewhere.
"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." Bam obviously noticed Brody's absence as well.
"Hallie will see." I nodded toward the young woman behind the bar. She had short hair and piercings in just about every place a piercing could go.
"Hey, Hallie, you wanna see Hawk in his underwear?" Bam called out.
