Page 93 of Vegas Heat

She offers a glare at me, and the douche is silent beside her. He’s wearing a hat today, and it’s backwards, and it just makes him look like he’s trying too hard. Guys like me, we can wear our ballcaps backwards because we actually play the game. This skinny bitch looks like he’s never even picked up a baseball, let alone learned how to throw one.

But whatever. To each his own.

“I feel fine,” she says.

“I’m sure the afternoon coffee helped,” I say, a little more suggestiveness in my voice than I’d planned for.

She clears her throat and moves toward the fridge, where she grabs a couple cans of soda, and then she turns to her little friend.

“You ready for a ping pong tournament?” she asks him, her tone taunting. “I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Some mocking sound escapes my chest, and she shoots me a dirty look before he puts his hand on the small of her back.

All the hairs on the back of my neck stand at attention when he touches her.

I nearly leap out of my seat to physically pull him off her when I realize…it’s not my right to.

He can touch her if he wants.

I’ve chosen not to. Instead, I’ve chosen to mock her hangover when she walks into the room like an immature child.

They walk out of the room together without a backwards glance, and I toss the plastic fork down into my salad, suddenly not very hungry.

What the fuck am I doing?

I don’t want it to be like this. I don’t want to fight with her, or to nitpick or argue every time we see each other. I don’t want it to be awkward.

But if I can’t have her, I don’t know how else to be around her.

CHAPTER 14: COOPER

I’ve already had too much to drink.

I’ve already thrown Nick’s dietary advice in the trash.

Maybe it’s not that I’ve drank too much, but it’s that I didn’t have enough food as a base in my stomach after checking his caloric suggestions.

I opted for whiskey tonight instead of beer, which is a faster train to Drunktown, and we’re at a strip club. It’s not my usual choice in entertainment, but fuck it. I’m a sad and lonely old man at this point, so I may as well play into all the cliches.

Apparently Danny has buddied up with Ben Olson, who highly recommended Honeys for top-notch Vegas dancing entertainment, and so here we are.

“You been to Bodine’s club yet?” Danny asks.

“It’s where he brought me to schmooze the deal,” I admit. “But I avoided the third floor.”

“Yeah, I haven’t been up there, either. I feel like he’s riding a line there, and I’m not sure it’s one I want to cross.” He takes a swig of his whiskey.

Yeah, I don’t want to cross it, either. Particularly not now that I’ve been intimate with his daughter.

“You wanna get out of here and blow some money on blackjack?” he asks after we’ve been drinking an hour or so.

I nod, and we both chug what’s left in our glasses and head out. He grabs us a ride share, and we head toward a casino nearby.

“Heard you’re single,” he says. “Any prospects?”

I think about telling Danny about Gabby, but ultimately I keep my mouth shut. Enough people know. I don’t need towiden that circle, and I don’t need Troy finding out now that it’s over.

I shake my head. “After Stacy I sort of played the field a while. Met a girl and fell for her fast, but it didn’t work out.” I leave it at that. “You?”

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