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He walked through the door of Poor Red’s Bar-B-Q in Diamond Springs seventeen minutes later, and saw several of his friends sitting in the back of the dark tavern. Rachel Quincy waved wildly at him, her face split into an excited grin. Trevor Grayson, Maria Hernandez, and Michael Vance turned in their seats and greeted him warmly as he sat down.
“Anyone else need a drink?” Chris asked.
“We started without you, buddy,” Trevor said. He picked up the pitcher in the middle of the table and poured Chris a pint. He handed it to Chris and pushed his glasses up his slim nose. Trevor was two years older than Chris and weighed a buck fifty soaking wet.
“You had a bad day?” Rachel watched him with bright blue eyes. Her golden blond hair was twisted up in a firm bun, drawing attention to her delicate features. Chris wasn’t oblivious to Rachel’s interest; they had just never been available at the same time.
Well, we are now. I should ask her out.
“It was okay, just long. Lots of contracts to go over. And one pain in the ass client who can’t seem to stay out of trouble.”
Maria grimaced, her rather large nose wrinkling. Her curly dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and she still wore her stiff, blue blazer. “Speaking of clients who can’t stay out of trouble, at least you didn’t have to stand there like an ass when your client doesn’t show up for court.”
“Ouch, that’s rough.” Michael was the oldest, in his mid-forties with salt-and-pepper hair and cool green eyes. He was also the quietest of their little group.
Michael and Maria were criminal defense lawyers, while Trevor practiced divorce and Rachel worked in child advocacy. Chris was the only one who specialized in business.
Trevor held up his beer, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his skinny neck. “To our clients, who annoy us to no end, but without them, we’d be broke.”
“Here, here,” Michael said.
Chris took a healthy swallow of his beer and set the mug down on the table. Then the chatter kicked up. Maria asked Trevor about his girlfriend, who he’d been talking about proposing to since the week after he met her. They’d convinced him to give it six months at least, and the guy had listened. They were coming up on their one-year anniversary and Trevor was planning to pop the question right before.
Michael got up to refill their pitcher, leaving the chair next to Chris empty. He was about to pull his phone out of his pocket to check for messages, but Rachel took Michael’s seat and gave Chris a dazzling smile.
“So, what’s new?” she asked.
“Nothing.” She leaned against the table and he couldn’t help but notice the first several buttons were unbuttoned, showing off a generous hint of cleavage. “Got dumped last week.”
Rachel’s jaw fell open in obvious shock, a definite boost to his ego. “What? Why?”
Chris shrugged. “We just grew apart I guess.”
“Well, it’s her loss.”
She patted his knee with a light caress. Her cherry red lips curved into a flirtatious smile. All the signals were there, and Chris knew that if he was going to ask her out, this was his in.
“Thanks, I appreciate that. Hey, Rachel, I’ve been thinking—”
His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he broke off.
“You were thinking what?” Rachel asked eagerly.
Chris pulled out his cell, giving her an apologetic smile. “Sorry, give me one sec. I just have to make sure it’s not an emergency.”
“No worries.”
Chris did like the dimple in her left cheek and she was nice. He checked the screen and saw it was another text from Kelly.
What in the hell is going on with you?!
Chris winced. She’d even added an angry emoji and a middle finger emoji. Things were escalating and if he didn’t want her showing up at his place to bawl him out, he needed to call her. He just wasn’t sure what to say.
Hey, Kel. Sorry for getting turned on and pushing my dick against your ass while we were wrestling. Wanna be friends still?
Chris could chalk his reaction to Kelly up as a simple biological reaction. But that didn’t explain wanting to kiss her neck. To cover her breast with his palm and knead her flesh. To slip his hand between her legs and play with her until she was limp and moaning.
His reaction and train of thoughts combined was what had him avoiding her like a giant sissy. Just like high school, when Ray had come back that winter break and he knew he’d lost his chance. He’d written it off as a symptom of spending too much time with Kelly and kept his distance, making sure never to be alone with her. It had helped, and things had eventually returned to normal.
