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“Deal.”
I touched mine to his, and we downed our drinks. He spluttered through it, I pulled the world-renowned tequila grimace as the liquid scalded my throat. But I welcomed the light buzz it left behind. I needed it.
Christopher whooped so loudly, heads turned to look his way. “Never gets old…”
“...no matter how old we get,” we finished in unison and laughed again.
He held up his hand to get the bartender’s attention. “Two tap waters, please.”
I quickly swiped his hand out of the air. “Ignore my friend, please. He’s not from here.”
Christopher descended in laughter again. “Says the guy with the mixed metaphors and Italian accent.”
I glared at him to be quiet and said to the bartender, “Just two whiskeys will be fine.” Then, looking back to Christopher, I added, “And the round’s still on you.”
He shrugged. “No problem. I’ve been known to bus a good table when needed. I’d pay for it that way.”
“Hi, boys.”
Christopher and I turned at the same time and then looked at each other at the same time too, our faces a mirror of the other’s amusement. The blonde bombshell who’d come out of the shadows stood in front of us in barely a dress, her huge breasts spilling from the dipped neckline.
“Sorry, ma’am,” Christopher said politely, holding up his left hand and pointing to the ring on his finger. “My friend over here, though…” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
She didn’t need a second invitation—they never did—and sidled up to me, throwing her arm around my neck, her other hand toying with the lapel of my jacket.
“You want some company?” she asked in a husky voice.
But it wasn’t the kind of husk that made Marilyn Monroe sexy; it was the kind that came out from two packs of Marlboro a day.
I forced a smile. “No, thank you. I’m out with my friend tonight.”
“Oh, don’t be a party pooper.” She tightened her hold on me, which caused her breasts to rub up against my arm.
It took every effort to keep from squirming out of her grip. I wasn’t interested, but as a rule, I never made a woman feel bad about herself. Not unless it was part of a game she wanted to play, of course.
A miracle arrived in the form of our bartender, who gave us our drinks and barked at the woman to beat it. She must have been a regular, because she listened without a fight and slinked back into the dark corner she’d come from. Christopher and I both shared our thanks with him in relieved looks, and he saluted us before going back to his work.
“To moments that are never dull,” I said, holding up my glass.
Christopher touched his glass to mine, and we both took a sip. “Like when families get together and there’s always some kind of drama, but in the end it turns out to be a nice time because family’s important.”
I was about to take another sip when his tirade stopped me in my tracks. I glanced over at him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. He didn’t have a big family, and that’s how I knew he was talking about mine.
I set my glass down, my stomach turning. “She didn’t.”
“She did,” Christopher nodded. “First thing this morning, actually.”
“And you tell me now?” I hit the roof. My meddling mother could never leave things alone, and it was only getting worse in her old age.
Christopher held up his hands in surrender. “In my defense, you’ve been avoiding her calls for weeks, and also, your mother scares the bejeezus out of me, man.”
My shoulders slumped with a sigh, and I took a double gulp of my drink, steeling myself through the sting of it.
“I’m not going.” I burped.
“Yeah, that’s not an option,” Christopher responded.
“I’m a grown man, and I can decide for myself,” I said.
