Page 142 of Burn Bag
I shoved back from my seat and caught up to him as he walked out. “She’s been gone a week. I need to see her.”
“And you’re willing to go up against a mummy for her?” Red asked, coming up to me on the other side.
The thought of going over there made me itch, but yes, I was fucking willing to do it. “Whatever I have to do.”
“Man, it’s been a week. You’re telling me you can’t make it a few more weeks without her?” Eli asked.
“Would you be able to?”
Eli sighed, stopping to face me. “Look, I get it. You miss her, but did you ever think that maybe this is the perfect opportunity to make sure she’s the one?”
“Are you suggesting I sleep with other women?” The thought made me cringe.
“No, I’m suggesting that a few weeks on your own will do you some good. You’ll survive. I promise you.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and walked away, leaving me alone with Red. I turned to him, hoping he would see my predicament. “Red…feel up for a trip to Egypt?”
“Not even a little. You’ve talked to her. What did she say?”
That was the part that killed me. Every fucking time I talked to her, she yammered on about how wonderful everything was. “She likes it,” I grudgingly admitted. “It’s just like the old days. They have dinner around a campfire and talk about their finds of the day. She sounds fucking ecstatic.”
“Okay, so why would you want to ruin that?”
“Because I’m lonely!” I shouted, immediately lowering my voice as I looked around to see how many people had just seen me admit that. Luckily, it didn’t look like anyone had. “Look, I know I come off as this confident man who doesn’t need anyone?—”
“You don’t come off that way at all.”
“But deep down, there’s a man who just wants to be loved. I want what everyone else around here has, and that doesn’t include my wife being halfway around the world.”
“Maybe you should talk to Scottie,” he sighed.
I perked up at the thought. “You think he’d fly me over there?”
“No,” he said slowly. “I think his wife travels a lot and he might be able to give you some insight on how to deal with that.” Red snorted, shaking his head at me. “Dude, man up. It’s been a week. You’ll survive.”
“That’s what everyone keeps saying,” I muttered as I was left alone. Nobody got it. Their wives were home every night. They were exactly where they wanted to be, but me? No, my wife was digging up mummies and perfectly happy about it.
But Red was right. If anyone would understand, it would be Scottie. So, I shot off a text and headed out, hoping he would want to commiserate over a few beers. If not, it was going to be a long, lonely night at the bar.
Fucking80s music blared from the jukebox as Scottie dropped in another quarter. Maybe this wasn’t the best idea, after all. Not that I had a problem with the 80s, but the man was stuck there.
“This is one of my favorites. You know, Quinn and I danced to this song for the first time when we met in Colorado.”
“You don’t say,” I muttered, wishing I could wipe the wistful smile off his face.
“Yeah. You know, I think back sometimes on what it was like that first night. It all went so wrong, and I don’t get why she was so against building a fire with me.”
“Because she wanted sex,” I snapped.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t work. You know what I mean, otherwise you would have fucked Daphne from the start.”
Well, he had a point there. “True. I didn’t want to screw it up like I had with Isla.”
“Exactly. You built that fire, and now look at you.”
“Yeah, look at me,” I huffed out. “Sitting on a bar stool, drowning my sorrows because she left me for a mummy.”
“Well, my wife leaves me for volcanoes. I can’t say it’s too much different.”
