Page 52 of Gin and Lava

“It’s been less than two weeks!” Connor shakes his head. He bet in my favor, but the timeline seems too quick for his comprehension. “This is a lie.” He points the bill at me. “You’re giving me a hundred to make methinkyou and Naomi got wet n’ wild.”

“Right,” I toss back sarcastically. “Because I have a hundred dollars of expendable cash that I want to waste on making you think Naomi and I are fucking around.”

“Fucking around?” Connor’s face gets serious. “Has this happened more than once? Are you and Naomi doing hot yoga on a regular basis?”

“She does do yoga,” I confirm, remembering the way she used her core muscles to take me from below. “And Pilates.” Connor gives me a suspicious look, not sure if I’m full of shit. “It’s only been the two times,” I clarify. “She came to the Lava and … ” I tap the hundred dollar bill in his hand. “Got naked.” Those are the words he used when we made the bet.

“She came to you?” Connor looks at me bewildered. “You fucked at the Lava?”

“The money’s in your hand, isn’t it?”

Connor flops down on the couch next to me, and I can tell he has a thousand questions, but I decide to beat him to it. “Wednesday. The middle of the afternoon. On my desk.”

“On your desk?” Connor’s eyes widen.

“Yup. She bent over the desk and begged for it.”

“Now you’re lying.”

“Okay, we made sweet, sweet love in the sand as dolphins jumped in the surf.”

“Fine, the first one is more possible.”

“Look,” I shake my head. “I can’t make up the amazing fuck that is Naomi.”

“Maybe true,” Connor concedes. “But she didn’t beg.”

“Once you’ve had the Mason cock, it’s hard to want anything else.”

“Really? Naomi?”

“That’s what I’m saying.” I point at the hundred dollar bill. “Did you actually think Naomi liked me and wanted a date when you made that bet?” I frown at him. “We both know the only way that girl walked back into my life is because the sex was good. Hell, better than good. So good, she needed it again. We both know Naomi’s the kind of girl who could walk out and grab any hot asshole and take him home. She isn’t walking back into my gin joint, unless there’s one thing she wants between her legs.”

“You have a point,” Connor agrees. “And you run a tiki hut, not a classyCasablancagin joint.”

“It’s a good pop culture reference,” I defend.

“Stick to the 80s and films you’ve actually seen.”

“Fine,” I concede. “She isn’t walking into my Millennium Falcon unless she wants my blaster.”

“Weak,” Connor criticizes. “AndStar Warsis from the 70s.”

“Point is,” I say, refocusing the conversation, “I talk a lot of shit, but I’m not delusional. Naomi wants one thing, and it isn’t to be a Goonie.”

“Stronger,” Conner gives me. “At leastGooniesis from the 80s.” Connor frowns and shakes his head, getting introspective. “Wow. I was rooting for you, but wow.”

“Now I’m starting to feel insulted.”

Connor brushes off my comment. “So is this happening a third time? Are you two—?Whatare you two?”

“We aren’t anything,” I correct. “Naomi will call me when she wants to call me.”

“What if you want to call her?”

I shrug. “Viking princesses are the ones with all the power.”

Connor’s eyes narrow. “So she’s allowed to booty call you, but not the other way around?”

---