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“You feel up to going over there with me? I know you don’t have any time for women, or at least, that’s the way you make it sound. But it’s been a while for me and Courtney, and she’s the best piece of ass I’ve ever had. She strikes me as a little bit crazy, which is something I appreciate in a girl.”
“Yeah, man, if that’s what you want to do. I can play wingman.”
Eli nodded at me in agreement. Although, I thought I saw a little look there that said he thought I was bullshitting if I was trying to convince him that part of me wasn’t heading over to that table for me. The two of us got up to go.
Almost immediately, our places at the bar were swallowed up, making the impromptu decision feel like a disturbingly final one. For the time it took us to walk from the bar top to the little booth Courtney and Fay were holed up in, I felt like I was walking through no man’s land. There was always the chance that my ex would still freak out, tell me what a piece of shit I was, and make it clear that she only wanted me to drop dead.
But when I looked at her again, I saw those deep green eyes on me again, saw the renewal of that blush, and I knew that I was okay. At least I was pretty sure, which was enough to get me into the booth, sitting beside Fay as if our separation had only been for a week or two, instead of something approaching a decade.
“Hey,” I said quietly, hoping I sounded more confident than I was feeling. She was the only woman who could still make me feel unsure after all these years, and I didn’t like it. This was the old me, not the man I’d become since leaving this town far behind me. “I didn’t really expect to see you again so soon.”
“No, I guess I didn’t either,” she said hesitantly, gripping her drink as if it would disappear if she let it go for even a minute. “Even though we both know this is about the smallest town in the whole world.”
“Actually, it’s not.”
“Oh no?” she asked with one eyebrow raised, a look she’d given me many times when we’d been in school together and she thought I was planning on doing something stupid. “And what makes you so sure about that?”
“I looked it up once,” I said.
“You did not!” she said with a smile on her face. “I totally don’t believe you.”
“I sure as shit did,” I said, laughing. I felt a little bit dizzy with how natural this conversation was feeling. “Just to see. It turns out there are a couple of places that are smaller. But not many.”
“That’s completely nuts,” she said, shaking her head.
“It may be, my dear, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
“Okay, then tell me where? And I don’t mean just the name of the town, either. Don’t think for one minute that I don’t know how easily you could just make something up. I want the name, location, most famous person that ever came from there. Whatever you’ve got. Lay it on me. I want the proof.”
“Would you believe me if I said I forgot?” I asked, grinning.
“Oh Lord, Neil. You’re just a mess, aren’t you?”
We fell into a kind of silence then. I wouldn’t have gone so far as to call it a comfortable silence, it wasn’t the worst thing I’d ever sat through. Probably the most uncomfortable thing about it was the fact that Eli and Courtney were loudly making out across the table from us. His hand was already up her shirt and clearly planning to get as much exploring done as possible.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Fay and I sat there silently, both of us gripping our drinks now and sitting close enough to be almost touching. All of a sudden, it hit me that maybe I should apologize. I’d done something that pretty much everyone would agree was shitty to her, and she was sitting beside me, having the grace not to make a fuss about it. It made me want to get to know her again. The drinks and the fact that she was even sexier than ever didn’t hurt that cause, either.
I wanted to kiss her. All at once, the urge to press my lips to hers overwhelmed me. I wanted to see what she would be like now that she was a woman, instead of a girl. It probably made me an asshole, but hey? What didn’t these days? I was actually reaching a hand toward her, ready to make a move and see how far I could push things, when she shifted in her seat and grabbed her purse. She glanced over at Courtney, opened her mouth to say something, and then looked back at me.
“I hate to say this, but I think it’s time for me to go.”
“No, come on,” I said. “You don’t need to do that. I was kind of thinking that we could talk some more. See how life has changed us. I think I want to see more of you.”
“You want to see more of me?” she asked, her voice quiet and unsure.
“I do,” I answered her, sure that I’d said just the right thing to get her where I wanted her. “I really fucking do.”
“Well, that’s not a bad thing, but it’s also not going to happen. At least not tonight. If you want to see more of me, you know where to find me. But right now, I’m going to say goodnight.”
Then she was gone. There I was, sitting at a table with an old buddy I hadn’t seen for years and Fay’s best friend. Despite being lip-locked with Eli, Courtney shot me a very enthusiastic middle finger.
That was enough for me for the night. I got up, leaving behind a couple twenty dollar bills to pay for my drinks, and headed home for the night. Watching Eli and Courtney while I just sat there, was a little sad.
When I got home I could see Fay’s house. It was dark inside her house so I couldn’t actually see anything she was doing. And though I couldn’t figure out if I was being creepy or not, I couldn’t help but think about what she might have been doing.
She was gorgeous. Even after all of these years, the girl still looked the exact same as she had when I had left all those years ago.
The thought of how she looked and what she might be doing was turning me on. I had an erection within seconds of even thinking her name. I couldn’t help it. Not only did she possess a certain innocence about herself. But she also, had a maturity that no one our age really did.
