Page 14 of Cinderella Screwed Me Over
Drew and I had both had a string of failed relationships. One night, we’d made a pact. If we hit our fifties and were still single, we’d get a big place together. We’d be kind of like Marilla and Matthew Cuthbert inAnne of Green Gables.Except we wouldn’t adopt an orphan; we’d hire someone to do the chores instead.
Drew rubbed the place where I’d smacked him. “Jeez.”
“Like it really hurt. Spill it.”
“I told Dad and Janet that Michelle and I broke up because she wanted to get more serious than I did, which I’m sure she probably did. Really, she was just irritating me more and more by the day. I started wondering if her voice had always sounded so nasally—”
“She does kind of have an annoying voice,” I said.
“And she’d call, like, every hour and ask what I was doing. I wanted to shout, ‘I’m working. Some of us work.’”
I leaned back on the couch. “You always attract clingy girls.”
Drew shrugged. “I guess I should start trying relationships with women I don’t think are my type.”
I swiped a hand through the air. “I tried that before. I hunted out guys I’d never usually go for, but all I got were several short relationships with noncompatible people.”
“I’m not looking for anything serious right now, anyway.”
I shook my head at him. “Typical guy.”
He huffed and shoved my knee. “Like you’re any better. You don’t even believe in long-term relationships.”
“I don’t believe in short-term flings, either.” I knew this conversation would only get us arguing about women and men, so I grabbed the menu for the Yellow Dragon out of his hands and pointed at the chicken lo mein. “This is what I’m getting. What do you want?”
Drew pointed out the orange chicken and the Szechuan beef. “I’ll eat the leftovers tomorrow morning.”
“Ew. You can’t eat Chinese leftovers forbreakfast.”
“Fine. I’ll eat them for lunch. What time do you have to go in tomorrow?”
“I can slide in a little late.”
“Okay, then!” Drew tossed the rest of the menus onto my glass coffee table. “Chinese food, then we go find us some insignificant others for the night.”
“You know, you really are a bad influence.” I grinned at him. “You should come over more often.”
…
The Wagon Wheel, a rustic bar with a jukebox full of country music, seemed like a good place to take Drew. I didn’t think the girls there would mind that he was a full-on cowboy, even though he didn’t so much look the part in his T-shirt and loose-fitting jeans. Plus, it was a nice break from the norm for me. Stephanie’s fiancé, Anthony, always insisted on going to the nightclub hot spots. Which meant my options were hanging out alone at home or being a third wheel. Neither was all that great.
“Now that’s more like it,” Drew said, eyeing a couple of girls who sat down at the opposite end of the bar.
“Which one?” I asked.
“The redhead with the—” Drew froze, cupped hands out in front of his chest. He dropped them. “Who looks like she’s really smart.”
I’d gone off before about him looking at girls like they were pieces of meat. At least he’d tried to edit this time. Drew was very charismatic, and I’d seen what he did with his charm. He got a girl all wrapped up in him, then got bored and moved on. So far tonight, he’d flirted with three women but decided none of them was worth a drink or more than a few minutes of his time.
Drew slapped the bar with his palms. “I’m going in.”
He walked over, sat down next to the redhead, and introduced himself. Immediately, she was laughing, leaning in as he told another joke or story. She was already hooked. So it looked like he’d settled on her—at least for tonight. Or the next five minutes. You never knew with him.
A guy with enough hair gel for ten people walked up to me. “Yo, hot stuff, how you doin’ tonight?” His Jersey Shore accent was so thick I lost a few IQ points just listening to it.
“I’m okay.”
He puffed out his chest. “You need Romeo to buy you a drink?”
