AllFreeNovel
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“We’re here for BINGO,” I say, scanning the crowd for Megan’s dark hair.
We’ve been texting over the past four days and when I mentioned coming to this, she seemed excited. It was a good excuse to invite her and get my head back on straight. But I don’t see her yet. The room is nearly full of young BINGO-goers sipping on Bloody Marys and mimosas from cheap plastic cups.
“Well, it’s five dollars per card, and another three for your own poker. Do you need a poker?”
“A poker?” Pasha laughs at the BINGO marker the guy holds up. “I’d love a poker!”
“First, a health question,” the guy says, his face going serious. “It’s so important to be on top of your health. So here’s one for you: when is a testicular tumor like a bingo ball?”
None of us say anything. He leans closer.
“When it’s B-nine.”
Freddy and I stare at him. Pasha cracks up immediately, smacking his thigh.
“Ah, B-nine? Benign? Classic.”
I keep my eyes on the room as Pasha shakes the guy’s hand and he and Freddy buy their cards. Freddy nudges me, and I hand over some cash for my cards.
“Whatcha looking at, brah?” Freddy asks as we enter the room. I shake my head.
“Nothing.”
“I’m surprised you asked us to come to this,” Freddy says as he slowly lowers himself into his chair at the end of the table. I sit across from him so I can watch the door and drape my arm across the seat next to me.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You didn’t have to come if you didn’t want to.”
“Nah, that’s not what I meant. It just seems like the kind of thing you’d do with Faye.”
My stomach tightens. Shit, does it?
“Yeah, this has Faye stamped all over it,” Pasha says, holding up his BINGO “poker” for emphasis.
“Is she coming?” Freddy follows my gaze to the entrance, as if expecting to see her, a little too eagerly for my liking. Especially since the last time I saw him, he was licking her neck.
“No,” I say. I look down at my BINGO cards.
“How is she, anyway?” Freddy asks. “She was pretty rough the morning after the strip club.”
My shoulders tighten and I feel myself freeze, taking in his words.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I say a little too quickly.
“Oooh, look at that!” Pasha practically squeals, pointing at me. “I don’t know what you call that around here, but where I come from, we call that jealousy.”
“Shove it, Flyboy,” I say, kicking Pasha under the table.
“Is that what Faye said to you after the strip club?” Pasha asks Freddy.
Heat builds in my neck and up into my face.
“You had better find a new topic or else—”
“She didn’t say that,” Freddy says quickly. His gaze meets mine, and the heat dissipates. I have no tolerance for my friends joking about Faye behind her back. “I mean, to be honest,” Freddy continues, “neither of us said much of anything.”
The heat stirs again, and Pasha lets out a rip-roaring laugh again.
“Maverick, you’re too easy!” Pasha says with a laugh. “I’m getting a soda. And I’m getting you one too. You drinking yet, Flux? Want a beer?”
