Page 70 of Flaunt
My smile grows.
“Are you banging her?” she asks.
I shake my head and chuckle.
“Well, are ya? I need to know.”
“Why do you need to know?” I ask.
“Because it’ll mess up my fantasies at night.” She winks. “I’m kidding. I don’t need to know, but I want to know. I want you to find a nice girl. You deserve one.”
“Damn right, I deserve one. But I don’t know if this isthe one.”
She flinches. “Why not? What’s wrong with her?”
“Gloria, believe it or not, I’m not sure she wants me.”
“Rubbish.”
I laugh and take my drink from Becca. I wait for her to leave before resuming my conversation with my friend. Becca’s not one to gossip, but it would be hard to resist telling Sara that the great Banks Carmichael is getting dating advice from a senior citizen.
“How could any hot-blooded woman not want you, Banks? You’re handsome. You’re built like a brick shithouse. You have your own business and you work hard. And you take old women out to lunch once a week. That’s pretty perfect in my eyes.”
“I don’t take old women to lunch. I take you. Only you.”
She beams, making me laugh again.
“Why can’t you just be my girlfriend?” I ask, teasing her. “You see all my good qualities and none of the bad, and you have your own pension.”
Gloria chuckles. “Because you gotta have kids with those genes, my boy. And this baby factory has been closed for decades—probably since around the time you were born, if not before.”
That puts things in perspective.
“So what’s wrong with this woman?” she asks. “Go on. Tell me.”
“I’m not sure. It’s kind of a mindfuck.”
“Let me help you unfuck it.”
I stare at her.
“I’m the best person around for advice,” she says. “I’ve seen it all, and I’m too old to care enough to lie to you.”
“Excellent points.”
“Spill your guts. Your life is infinitely more interesting than mine.”
I tap my fingers on the table. “She says she doesn’t want a relationship—not just with me, but anyone. She just wants sex.”
“I like her,” Gloria says, impressed.
I chuckle.
“Tell me about her,” she says.
“She’s beautiful,” I say. “Funny. Witty as hell. She’s argumentative, and we bicker just about as much as we don’t, if not more. She’s hardheaded and doesn’t take instructions well. I can guarantee she’s at my house right now fucking with my shit even though I told her not to.”
Gloria smirks.
