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I glance at the clock behind my back.
“Twenty minutes.”
Dan pulls a pack of cigarettes from his back pocket. “I’ll wait for you outside,” he tells TJ. “Good night, Iris.”
I wave at him, watching TJ as he leans against the bar, a small smile glued to his face. Usually when he looks like that, it’s not a good sign. I glance towards the back tables, realizing that Tucker is still sitting there, alone.
But what is he doing? Isn’t he going with his cousin and his best friend? TJ seems to read my mind as he announces in a mischievous voice, “Tucker was supposed to drive me home, but now he’s making Dan drive me. Can you believe it?”
“Why is he staying here?” I ask, more to myself than to him.
Tucker stares at the beer bottle in his hands, not really paying attention to us. “He says he’s staying a little longer. I think he’s watching someone. With all the creepy guys in this bar…”
I turn to TJ again. “Wait, what? He’s watching me? But I don’t need a babysitter.”
TJ raises both hands in innocence. “Officially, he’s just finishing his beer, but I know him. Honestly, when he’s in a mood like this, I avoid asking him too many questions, you know?” He straightens up. “Good night, Iris.”
And Tucker sits at his damn table for the next twenty minutes, not giving me a single glance, just sitting there. He sips his beer, ignoring my scrutinizing, half-irritated, half-questioning look. I don’t know what game he’s playing, but I’m not going to go see him. I finally make it to the locker room, eager to get home so I can fall into bed. When I emerge from the locker room through the bar, he is no longer sitting at his table but walking towards the exit.
Just before he reaches the door, the chick from earlier, the tall blonde with the exceptional cleavage, joins him by undressing him with her eyes, her stupid seductive smile on her lips.
I stop again, ignoring my heart which beats at full speed. The blonde leans towards Tucker and whispers something to him.
Why do I want him to send her packing so badly? We don’t owe each other anything, he and I. We slept together once and only once, the way he wanted, the way I wanted. He can do what he wants from now on, I know that. But it hurts me to see him pull the door open and walk out, the blonde following him.
I know exactly what they are going to do.
I try to suppress this stupid feeling.
He’s just a guy, Iris. It was good between you. Now get over it.
No complications, we said. Shit, I think this is going to be harder than I thought.
I finally walk over to Buck to ask him if he needs backup, my throat tight and unable to leave the place right away for fear of seeing Tucker and his chick of the day.
***
Tucker
I sit behind the wheel of my car, my mind filled with dark thoughts. Brenda—I think that’s her name—joins me in the passenger seat, looking very happy.
“Wow, your car is so cool!” she says, laughing.
The same fake laugh that has rung in my ears a dozen times tonight. I hate people who force themselves to laugh. Still I let her stick to me, thinking my dick would wake up sooner or later. After all, blondes like her are my usual thing.
Failure. My dick was limp all evening. No desire to fuck this chick.
Well, I did have an erection, but it was for another girl. A girl who made it clear that we weren’t going to have sex a second time.
I can handle that, but my ego took a hit. So I agreed on the way out to let Brenda join me. We’ll go to her place, I’ll fuck her a couple of times, and my life will go back to the way it was before, as if Iris had never disturbed it. I repeat this phrase to myself several times as I put the car in reverse to get out of my parking spot.
“I love watching guys drive,” Brenda says, laughing again.
When she leans in close to me and flutters her eyes, a horrible sweet scent invades my nostrils. Nothing like the faint fruity scent wafting from Iris’ hair last night.
Brenda places a manicured forefinger on my thigh, and I nearly gasp. I take a deep breath and turn off the car in the middle of the parking lot.
“Okay, get down,” I order her.
