Page 19 of Cream Pie

Chapter 6

Javier

“The fuck, man?”

I about shit myself, chocking on my beer at the sound of Marshall’s voice and his strong hand clamping down on my shoulder. My face pales as I turn to look into my friend’s hardened eyes, and I swear to God, my life flashes before my eyes for a second.

Fuck it, this had to happen sooner or later. The best thing I can do is be honest, man up, and take whatever heat comes my—

“Is that seriously a beer you’re drinking?”

Marshall grins, shaking his head.

Jesus fucking shit.

The breath leaves my lungs, and my shoulders sag a little as I try and brush away the momentary glimpse of imminent death.

“I mean what happened to Mr. Keto-diet, no carbs, ‘gotta trim the fat, Marshall’, hmm?” my friend jokes, patting my shoulder again.

I roll my eyes. Yeah, okay, I’ve been on a bit of a “get in shape” kick recently. Well, more like get in better shape, I guess. To be fair, and at the risk of sounding like a douche, I’m in impeccable shape on my off days. The Marines beat that discipline into me, before I got into business school, and before finance, and before La Société Rouge and getting to know Marshall. Recently though, I’ve been pushing myself to get lean and mean, and part of that was giving my buddy a hard time, usually about being an “old guy”.

“What, I thought you were going to have a single malt ready for me?” I shrug, grinning back. “Had to make do until you could scrounge the funds together to buy a round.”

Marshall chuckles, and fuck, all it does is make me feel like more of a shithead for what happened with Amy last night. And this morning. And fifteen minutes ago. I take a quick slug of beer to cover the guilt on my face.

The easy balm for my guilt would be to just tell myself that of course I didn’t know who she was. And, yeah, I didn’t—fucking of course I didn’t. But then, that just brings up the obvious follow-up question: would it have changed anything if I had? If I had known who that girl was, with her arms around me, her body pressed to mine, her moans gasping in my ears and her tongue wet on mine, would I have walked away?

The fucked-up truth is, I’m not actually sure.

“So, how’s it feel to be off the market?”

Marshall rolls his eyes. “I haven’t been ‘on the market’ in a lifetime, man. But how’s it feel to be with her?” He grins and nods past me, his whole damn face lighting up. I turn and smile, seeing Kendall on the dancefloor dancing with some friends.

Marshall sighs slowly. “Well it feels like I just won the whole world.”

I smile and clap him on the shoulder. “Proud of you, buddy. She’s amazing, and you’re a lucky man.”

“I know.” He grins. “So what’s going on with your dance card these days.”

I just shrug and take a drink.

“C’mon, I know that look, especially since you ‘went out’ last night.”

“It was just for a drink at one of those beach-side spots, that’s all,” I shrug again. “Caught some Sports Center highlights, had a few.”

“Lotta pretty girls at those beach-side spots,” Marshall says, eying me. “And I bet any one of them would do a great job of getting your mind off Jackie.”

A frown darkens my brow, and Marshall makes a face.

“Shit, sorry man. Look, I know that was a rough one. Just trying to help.”

“I know,” I smile. “And thanks man.”

Jackie. Fuck. What can you even say about the last woman I made the mistake of letting inside my world? Jackie was too good to be true, I guess. Too nice, too sweet, too into my exact interests, too already had her own money, too willing to do anything to make me happy. Except, it was all bullshit. The only thing Jackie was actually “too” good at was lying out of her ass.

She didn’t come from money, like she’d told me. And who the fuck cares, except in the end, that’s what she was after: money. She saw a young, up-and-coming guy like me, and she made me an easy target. The woman must have stalked me for months before I ever met her, too. She knew every one of my quirks. All of my favorite teams were hers. Date one, and she goes and orders a rare highland single malt that maybe two bars in the whole fucking city have, one that also happens to be my favorite.

She knew everything about me, and it would come out in these mind-blowing ways that let me to believe she was just that perfect person for me. But in the end, it was all about the money. I came home one day from work to find Jackie freaking out in my living room, covered in blood, and screaming at me to stay away from her and to please not hit her again, all while on the phone with the 911 operator.

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