Page 23 of Take You

“I’mma pretend I didn’t hear that. Can I buy you a drink, please.”

“Okay, okay.” She put her hands up in surrender. “Can I get a root beer, please.”

“You’re sure? You don’t want a cocktail, or beer, or wine?”

“Are you trying to get me drunk?” She narrowed her eyes, and I wasn’t sure if she was serious, or joking.

“No, just making sure you have whatever your heart desires.”

“Well this tipsy heart desires root beer. Please.”

“Got it. BRB.”

On the way to the bar, I fired off a text to Fox.

ME: Dude, I said tone down the fucking psycho, not ratchet it up to 1000. You asked me to help you with this, and I’m happy to, but I’m going to be hella pissed if I put in all this work and you fuck it up because you can’t contain your crazy.

FOX: Suck a dick.

ME: Honestly, if it would get you acting right, I’d get down on my fucking knees right now, and suck yours in front of this whole room of people.

FOX: Don’t let your fingers write checks your mouth can’t cash.

ME: Try me…

I tucked the phone back into my pocket, bought the drinks, and headed back to the table.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, of course. Why shouldn’t it be?”

“Oh, no reason, just that I saw that you were texting as you crossed the room, and now you look kind of stressed is all.”

“Oh, I’m not stressed. Not really. Just some family shit I needed to take care of quickly.”

She didn’t exactly look convinced, but didn’t push the issue. “Speaking of family, I feel like you know a bunch of stuff about me, but I know nothing about you.” That was an exaggeration. I’d had to pry the information from her about her about changing courses, and she’d moved the conversation on pretty unsubtly, as soon as she could.

“Okay, so what do you want to know?”

“Well, where are you from? Do you have any siblings? What are you studying? That kind of thing. Nothing too outrageous.”

“Oh, okay, well, there’s not a lot to know. I’m pretty fucking boring, actually.”

“Oh, I very much doubt that, Mr. O’Neill. Spill. The. Tea.”

The twinkle was back in her eyes again, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get off on knowing that I’d put it there.

“Well, I grew up in the city. Lived there, in literally the same house since I was born, until I moved here. I’m a middle child. I have an older brother Karl who is kind of an asshole, but okay in small doses, and a younger sister Kerri, who used to be a little brat, but then one day seemed to just turn into a decent person overnight. Growing up, I would never have predicted it, but I’m actually closer to her than to Karl, these days.”

“Wait. So your names are Karl, Kane, and Kerri. All beginning with K?”

“Yep. What can I say? My parents are nothing if not consistent, so once they hit on a theme, they stuck with it. Speaking from personal experience, I do not recommend the same initial as a naming convention for kids. It’s no bueno.”

“Hahahaha, really? How so?” I loved watching her lips as she sipped on her root beer through the striped paper straw that almost exactly matched the red of her lipstick. For some reason, it was a stupidly evocative image that had my dick twitching with the thought of those some crimson-painted lips wrapped around it.

“Well, think about it. When mail arrives at our house for K. O’Neill, depending on what we think it contains, we’re either lunging at the mail box, or trying to run away and deny all knowledge. Then think of all the shit that “mistakenly” gets opened by the wrong person. It’s a fucking nightmare.”

She chuckled. “I didn’t even consider the practical side of it like that.” I was really beginning to love, and crave the sound of her laughter.

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