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“You just don’t understand, man,” Trent tells me before elbowing Quince to get his attention so he can speak to him. “Cap doesn’t understand what it’s like to have what you have with Emory or what I have with Greer. You know that. You remember how you felt before you met the one, right?”
Quince nods, his signature smile returning a little. “I guess so.”
“One day,” Trent professes, “he’s gonna find a woman who turns his life upside down, and we won’t have to listen to all of his bullshit anymore.”
I scoff and snort. They’re going to be waiting a long damn time if they really believe that.
“There’s a woman out there who’ll be his match.” Trent blathers the fuck on like he actually knows me better than I know myself. “Who’ll show him the way and fuck his shit up so bad, he’ll have to come to us for advice to get out of it. And goddamn, Quince, I can’t wait for it.”
I roll my eyes.
Quince smiles full out now, the goofy grin I know so well shining so brightly it eats through his face all the way to his ears. “Man, I can’t wait to meet her and watch Cap fall right on his ass.”
Trent laughs. “Right?”
“Whatever, guys. All this love-sick bullshit is really starting to eat away at your brain cells.”
“Trust us, dude,” Trent says. “It’s coming. And I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens even sooner than you think.”
I shake my head and shove off of my stool, grabbing my wallet from my pocket and tossing cash on the bar, and I give both of the naïve assholes slaps on the back.
“Have fun with your fantasies, guys,” I remark. “I’m gonna go have some fun with a woman.”
Trent’s smirk is almost as convincing as mine as he turns from the bar just enough to slap me on the back. “Sounds good in theory, buddy, but I know the reality.”
I lift an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? And what’s that?”
“Quince and I know we’re going home to a warm woman. You have to find one first.”
I don’t bother sticking around to prove him wrong, and instead, scan the women on the way out of the bar. It’d be relatively easy to convince one to come home with me—I know from past experience—but none of them are whetting my appetite tonight.
Kind of like Yvette. Or Tess. Or Sally.
Fuck. Seems like I might need to start looking new places
Or maybe I need to start really laying the groundwork for that pretty little blond gemstone with the sexy eyes and smart mouth…
Trent’s stupid comments continue to niggle somewhere in the back of my mind, but I shut them up with a whistle for a cab right as it sails straight past me.
Fucking New York cabbies.
Without any other potential taxis in sight, I wrap my jacket a little tighter and start to walk in the direction of home.
Maybe, I think with a smirk, I’ll find something—or someone—to play with on the way there.
Cap
The normally busy streets are dimmed by the late hour, and the twinkling lights of stores beckon to no one. I can hear myself think for a change, and I bask in it.
My normally salacious gaze turns contemplative, and I mostly just savor the quiet walk rather than keeping my eyes peeled on other people…and when I say other people, I obviously mean beautiful women.
With Liz off on maternity leave and Hillary doing everything in her power to make my life a living hell, work has been kicking my ass.
The normal legwork that my right-hand woman had been so accustomed to juggling with her fucking pinky finger has now been tossed into my lap, and I’ve been chasing my fucking tail ever since.
This is the first time in what feels like weeks that my thoughts haven’t been a chaotic mess of work-focused tasks and legal mumbo jumbo.
I’ve lived in the city for most of my life, but I’ve never thought of myself as an actual city person. I like the quiet nights of endless fields and the unpolluted shine of a starry sky. I like to breathe clean air in my own space and hear something other than the sound of horns and hostility at every corner.
But I’m also pragmatic, and one of my truest strengths is being able to adapt.
I know the corporate law landscape, and it resides in a city, with skyscrapers, CEOs, and sky-high property values. As a result, so do I.
My tie loose and my jacket over my arm, I make it to my building in no time, the sleek pull of its glass windows and modern lines jutting into the sky like a flag waving me in.
But I know myself, and with the way my mind still runs, I won’t be able to fall asleep for hours.
So, instead of going up the elevator and into my loft and lying in bed with wide eyes for hours, I keep walking.
