Page 44 of Stick Side
“Goddamn,” Richie swore. “You aren’t going to back down, are you?”
Ben shook his head, letting the action speak for itself.
Richie reached a hand up to the back of his neck and gave it a squeeze. “It sounds like you’re up shit creek without a paddle. I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”
“What was it The Great One said? You’ll miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take?” Ben queried. “Melody is a shot I just know I would regret not taking.”
Richie tilted his head in a considering manner before shrugging his shoulders. His smile grew wolfish and just a touch predatory. “I see I’m down a wingman. I guess I’ll just have to see if I can find a lonely lady at the brewpub who might want to pass some time with me.” Richie spoke with the confidence of someone who knew he wouldn’t have any trouble finding a last-minute date—though “date” was probably far too wholesome a word for the type of company he suspected Richie was looking for.
“Hopefully, you’ll find a good one,” Ben offered. He wasn’t quite sure what to say under the circumstances. After all, what did one say to a friend looking to add another casual notch to his bedpost?
“I’d be open to settling down if I found the right lady,” Richie mused with more heartfelt honesty than most would expect from him, “but I don’t see anything wrong with getting acquainted with all of the thirsty women I can in the meantime.” Richie waggled his eyebrows with just enough exaggerated machismo to make Ben roll his eyes.
“You really are a piece of work,” Ben joked. He and Richie had always gotten on well, but Ben couldn’t see himself ever relating to Richie’s one-and-done approach to dating.
“You know you’d want a piece of this.” Richie flexed one bicep and then the other before giving each of them a cooling blow as if they were too hot to handle. “Until I find a girl who could inspire me to risk it all,” Richie spoke, “it would be a crime not to share all of this with the eager ladies of Chicago.”
And San Jose, Anaheim, and Los Angeles. And that was just this week.
Instead of commenting, Ben shook his head, an amused smile playing at his lips. He took a step back as one of the town car drivers looped around the vehicle nearest to them and pulled the door open for them.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen.” The driver greeted them with a deferential nod.
“Good afternoon,” Ben and Richie chorused.
The driver stepped back and returned to his seat to give them whatever privacy they might want to finish their conversation.
“You take this one,” Richie offered as he gestured toward the open car door. “I have a feeling you’re in a bigger hurry than I am right now.” The suggestive eyebrow wiggle came out for another performance.
No doubt about it, Ben was eager to get home and put the finishing touches on his date with Melody.
“Thanks, Richie,” Ben said as he clapped his friend on the back.
“Go get ’em, tiger!” Richie encouraged with a solidthwackto Ben’s hindquarters.
Ben glared as he stepped into the waiting town car.
Richie just laughed as he closed the door behind Ben, then tapped on the roof to signal the driver that it was safe to pull away.
Chapter 20
Melody
Melody’sstomachflutteredasshe reviewed her reflection in her bathroom mirror. Her face was freshly washed and moisturized. She wasn’t sure what manner of magic had gone into the formulation of her facial serum, but there was something about it that never failed to make her feel like her skin was emanating a clean, natural glow. She was lucky enough to have a clear, even complexion, but the added luminosity helped to elevate her self-confidence. And she needed every last ounce of confidence she could muster right now. As the final minutes were counting down on the beginning of her first official date with Ben, escalating levels of nervousness and excitement were battling for dominance over her equilibrium.
She shivered as she strove to bring herself back to the task at hand. After surveying her face for a moment, she contoured first one eye and then the other with a subtle swipe of liquid liner that she winged up into a cat eye. She took care to create a pleasant symmetry. Next, she gently brushed her eyelashes with mascara before painting her lips with a clear gloss that emphasized their natural color. She mushed her lips together to make sure thegloss was evenly distributed and then leaned back to take in the completed look.
She wasn’t one to wear a lot of makeup, but there was something about a date that made her want to go to a little extra effort. Made-up or not, she liked the way she looked. But, as silly as it likely was, she wanted Ben to be able to tell she’d cared enough about tonight to put in the effort to look attractive for him.
Dating was still so new to her that it made her senses reel. She and Jeremy had been together for years, but now that she reflected on it, they had rarely gone out on formal dates.
They’d met in a study group for an elective course they’d been taking and just sort of fallen into a relationship. They had gone out to dinners and movies, but it had always felt rather casual. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d dolled herself up for a night out together. Not one that didn’t include some sort of professional networking, at least. In which case, they were more of each other’s affable plus-one than romantic date.
It was a little shocking to realize she couldn’t recall any particular time when she had gotten excited enough to dress up for an outing with Jeremy. How was that possible when they’d been together for years?
And yet, there was no denying that preparing for a date, with her pulses racing and her heart fluttering in her chest, was a whole new experience for her. Her date hadn’t even begun and she’d already entered uncharted territory. Maybe she should have gone out with the few boys who had asked her out in high school. She might not have been interested in them, but at least she wouldn’t be suffering from such a lack of experience now.
Melody fought off the nerves that tingled their way up her spinal column. If she allowed herself to think about the fact this felt like her first real date, she would undoubtedly psych herself out and put too much pressure on the whole thing.
