Page 67 of Once Bitten
“A clusterfuck,” Steve answered, jamming a hand into his pocket and jerking the condom out with a disgusted look on his face. “I fucking told Rob I didn’t want this. I fucking knew it was a bad idea to even have it on me.”
Jamie stared at his friend, and then he laughed, which made Steve frown and glare at him. “What’s so funny?” He flicked the unopened condom at Jamie who batted it away and shook his head.
“You were trying to get it on out here, weren’t you? Damn, Steve,” Jamie laughed again, but Steve didn’t so much as smile. “I mean I knew you missed her, but damn.”
Steve raked his fingers through his hair and groaned. “She thought I brought it for someone else—that I had been planning on fucking around tonight before I saw her.” Steve crossed his arms and looked in the direction Dora’s car had sped off in.
“Aw, fuck.”
“Yeah, fuck,” Steve said, joining Jamie against the wall. He was thinking back to earlier in the night when they had all left the shop for the bar. Before they had taken off, Rob had gone around shoving condoms into everyone’s hands from what looked like an industrial sized box.
“Nah. I’m good,” Steve had muttered, shoving the handful back at Rob.
“What the fuck? You should be public enemy number one with this shit,” Rob laughed, shoving the handful of condoms back at Steve. “Wrap it up, baby.”
“I’m not gonna need any tonight,” Steve reassured him. There was no way Steve was going to go home with anyone when all he could see was Jordyn, but he wasn’t sure Rob was going to understand that.
The other man gave him a look that told him he wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Look, Ryans, it’s my birthday, okay? You're my boss man, but I gotta look out for you sometimes, especially when it comes to your sexual health." Rob put his arms up and called to his co-workers. "You hear that? Sexual health is important, but you know what else is important? Fun and sex! And it's my damn birthday, which means we are going to go down to that club and raise hell.”
This got a round of cheers from the group and Rob continued on. “You got it? We are going to drink until we don’t know up from down, and we are going to take home the best looking girls in the place.” Heidi made an ‘ahem’ sound and crossed her arms, looking at Rob who sheepishly added, “Or best looking guys. Real hot ones, okay? Anyway, I don’t need to have the blame of being responsible for the pitter patter of baby feet and child support, so take the damn things.” Rob held them out to Steve. “Again, it’s my damn birthday.”
Steve opened his mouth to say ‘no’ again when Jamie had ambled over and plucked a single condom from the bunch in Rob’s hand. “What Steve means to say is that he’s getting fucking old so he really only has it in him for, you know, maybe one round these days.” Jamie winked at Rob, who burst out laughing.
Steve wanted to glare at Jamie, but he knew his friend was just saving him, so he shrugged. “Whatever, I like to sleep now. Get off my ass about it.” And under the watchful gaze of Rob, he had tucked the single condom into the front of his jeans. With a satisfied nod, Rob had let the matter drop. Now that damn condom was coming back to haunt him, and Steve wished he had stuck to his earlier refusals.
Fucking thing had blown it all to shit.
“Whatever. I can explain the condom later. She’ll listen to me,” Steve sighed, pushing away from the wall to face Jamie. “But she was talking about going by the shop and leaving a note. I have no fucking clue what she was talking about.”
“She came by the shop? When?” Jamie asked, confused.
“Yeah, apparently. No idea when,” Steve said, running his hands over his face and furrowing his brow trying to think. “I never found a note at my station, and Heidi never told me that...” Steve’s eyes widened, and he stood up taller.
“Oh shit.” Jamie sighed and closed his eyes. “You don’t think...?”
“Yeah, I think,” Steve said, his face angry as he turned to stalk back toward the bar.
“Hey, what are you going to do?” Jamie asked, coming to walk beside Steve.
“Find out what was on that note,” he said, pushing past a group of people and getting a curious nod from the doorman as the men slipped back into the bar. Jamie jammed his hands into his pockets and looked at his friend one more time before he shifted his gaze over to the table the rest of the shop members sat around. He stared at Heidi and shook his head. He knew that she had been into Steve for a very long time, but hiding Jordyn’s note from him? Jamie wished he could dismiss the thought, but he wouldn’t put it past her.
When they reached the table, Heidi was giggling over her drink. When she saw them returning to the table, she smiled wide. “Stevie!” She laughed, throwing her arms open to him.
“Don’t call me that,” Steve said, stonily, and shrugged her hands off as he sat next to her.
“But you like it.” She pouted, taking another sip of the red drink in front of her.
“Not from you I don’t.”
“Oh, so it’s just for her, then?”
Jamie settled into the seat next to Heidi and leaned close to her. “Heidi, listen, did Jordyn come by the shop recently?”
“Yeah, so what if she did?” Heidi said with a frown and took another drink from her glass.
Steve’s eyes went wide. “What did she say?” he asked, giving her his full attention. He had to know what happened. What Jordyn had been talking about before she’d left. Whatever it was it had to be big. There was no way his sweet girl would get so worked up over nothing.
“Nothing,” Heidi said, and then she smiled. “Not out loud, anyway,” she finished.
