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“Well, I’ve recently taken a bit of time to expand mine as well, if you know what I mean. Now that I’m back in town, I’m ” The buzz from my scotch and Kate’s margarita had me feeling like the entire world was right in front of me, and it was full of nothing but possibility. I leaned in, grinning at him. “On the marketagain. Now, I don’t like to brag, but I’m a bit of a catch,” I said with a wink. His eyes bulged as he leaned back in his booth. “I’m a big deal, Jeff. A really big deal.”
Jeff glanced over his shoulder, searching for his wife, sighing when he spotted her still standing at the bar. “That’s good to know. Thank you for sharing that with me.”
I nodded, lifting a tortilla chip in the air to toast our impending business relationship. He made no attempt to meet me halfway, so I glanced down at the glass in his hand and arched an eyebrow. With another sigh, he lifted his drink, and I tapped my chip against it before popping it into my mouth. Unfortunately for me, and Jeff’s face, I was in the act of swallowing when Gray and Sarah walked back into the bar and made their way toward the dance floor. The sudden shock of seeing him sent the chip down the wrong pipe, and I forced myself to hack it back up. The slippery, sloppy, half-chewed remains landed directly against Jeff’s nose. He reached up, slowly wiping away the regurgitated corn byproduct from his face. Then he blinked at me. Slowly.
Kate chose that moment to make her return, handing me my drink when she reached the table. There were still small flecks of Doritos on Jeff’s nostrils, and Kate darted her eyes back and forth between us. I chugged my drink.
“What just happened?”
Jeff stared her directly in the eyes and clenched his jaw. “First, he came on to me.”
I gaped at him. “I did not,” I said, reaching for Kate’s new drink. She opened her mouth to object, but I slammed it in one chug.
“What did I do this time?” she said, snatching the empty glass.
I belched. “Nothing. I’m just going to need courage for whatever the hell pack of lies your husband is planning on spinning to defame my character.”
“You essentially said you were single and ready to mingle.”
“That’s not true!”
“Then you said you were ‘kind of a big deal.’”
“Because I am. Professionally.” I reached across the table, snatching his drink.
“Hey!”
“No.” I wagged my finger at him. “You can have it back when you learn to behave like a rational adult.”
“You just spit chips into my face and tried to hook up with me while my wife was at the bar. I don’t think you’re in any position to talk about rationality.”
I guzzled his drink because he’d essentially called me a home wrecker. When I was done, I stood up and set the empty glass on the table. “Dude, I’m not trying to get in your pants. I’m trying to land a job.” Tears were hot in my eyes as I looked at Kate, who was grinning at me like a maniac. “I don’t want to fuck you or your husband, and I don’t want to be your submissive bitch. I don’t want to see Gray or his stupid bunny girlfriend, and I don’t want to spend the rest of my life living with my mother because I sent a picture of my personal stocking stuffer to a catfish and lost everything.” Taking a step back, I narrowed my eyes at Jeff. “So, no, Jeff. I reject your job offer.”
“I didn’t offer you—”
“You didn’t have to offer anything. I’m Kent Fox. I say ‘job,’ you say ‘what salary?’ That’s how this works.” Turning to Kate, I sobbed, wiping tears from my cheeks as I hiccupped. “Kate, I think I’m drunk. Am I drunk? Because I think I’m drunk.”
The devious smile fell from Kate’s face. “Fuck.”
“Oh shit,” Jeff said.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?”
“Kent?”
No. Becauseno, fuck, no.
I slowly turned on my heels. Gray was standing less than two feet away from me, his face white as a ghost. A ghost with far too much gel in his hair. A ghost with unnecessarily long lashes and big brown puddles for eyes that I absolutely did not want to go swimming in. A wraith from the pre-Atlanta period of my life with a peppering of freckles that I most certainly didn’t want to play connect the dots with, using only my tongue.
“Hi,” I said. It was the only word I could find in my drunken state. He just stood there, staring at me with a vacant look on his face. “I’m on vacation,” I blurted out, wiping drunken tears from my cheeks. “A week-long vacation. I just stopped by to see my mom.” I hiccupped. “I have a job. A good job.”
“I think he heard you say you were homeless and living with your mother,” Jeff pointed out, though no one had asked for his input.
“Yes, I realize that,” I said to Jeff, my eyes locked on Gray. “Thank you very much for the update, Jeff, you goddamn sociopath.”
Gray winced when I took the Lord’s name in vain. Just as pious as ever. I tilted my head to the side, staring at him. Twenty years, and there was still an anger deep inside of me that refused to go unheard, so I channeled that rage into insults that made no sense whatsoever.
“Your skin looks terrible,” I said, even though it didn’t. “Have you picked up an unsightly meth addiction?” I asked, even though he looked to be in perfect health. I furrowed my brow so that he would know that I meant it as an insult—but honestly, is there any way to tell someone they look like they smoke crystal meth and not mean it as an insult? He looked to be in peak physical condition, but that didn’t stop me from pointing at his flat stomach and smirking. “You’ve gotten fat.”
