11. Unexpected Advice
ELEVEN
UNEXPECTED ADVICE
Trey
I stay rooted in place until her taillights blend with the afternoon sunlight. A raging inferno sparked inside me when she mentioned she has a daughter. It’s not because she has a daughter, but it’s the idea that she’s been with someone else to give her a daughter. Not to say I want to be that person. Fuck. I scrub my hands down my face.
She consumes all my thoughts. It's rare for women to reject me, and when they do, I quickly move on. I don’t chase women, but I will run to the end of the earth for Rylee. It’s been years since I’ve had to navigate these waters and if I’m not careful, I could easily drown. I need to keep everything at surface level. My thoughts. Feelings. Actions. Nothing deep.
I want to convince myself that it is just sex or friends with sexy benefits, but it’s not. I genuinely enjoy spending time with her. The number of times we’ve seen each other without having sex outweighs the number of times we’ve seen each other and have, which is completely unlike me. I don’t hang out with single women for fun. We fuck, then I leave, or tell her to leave. No small talk after. She’s turned my entire life upside down and I’m clueless on what to do. She’s turned me into Miles.
Tomorrow is the SBL meeting. I’ll have to recruit the guys for some advice. Even though whatever comes out of their mouths might be questionable, it’s all I’ve got. I climb into my SUV and start the ignition only to go home and be left with thoughts of Rylee instead of worshiping her naked body.
* * *
The following day, I send a message to the guys to tell them the meeting is back at my house instead of Porter’s. Also, I include a list a of pre-approved snacks, so there isn’t another cheese incident.
Standing behind my new custom-built mahogany bar, I pour beers out of the tap for Miles, Tim, Darren, and Owen.
“First things first. I never got my gavel back from Jake and the squeaker fell out of the other one, so just pay attention. Anyone have anything they want to discuss?” I wait a second before responding. “Okay. I’ll go.” I blow out a breath. “I need your help.”
The entire room goes silent. So quiet I can hear my hair grow. I quite possibly could have stunned them all to death. But then Owen blinks and I blow out a sigh of relief.
“Can you say that again? I don’t think I heard you correctly. You need our help?” The corner of Owen’s mouth lifts into a smile.
“There’s no way that Trey is asking us for help,” Darren says, sarcasm dripping from his tone.
I hold out my hands and curl my fingers into my palm, motioning for them to keep it coming because I deserve all their smart ass comments. But these four are some of my closest friends and I’m glad to have them on my side. “Keep it coming. I deserve it.”
Tim leans in and raises an eyebrow. “This all depends on what you need our help with.”
My hands fall to my sides. “I need your help with a girl. A woman.”
Owen dramatically falls off his chair and onto the floor and everyone busts out laughing, including myself.
He climbs back up onto his chair. “Sorry. I blacked out there for a second because I thought you said you needed our help with a girl.”
“That’s because I did.”
Owen falls off his chair again, except this time he groans as he hits the floor. A few seconds later, he rises to his feet, rubbing his elbow. “Okay. I’m done.”
“Do you need some ice?” I nod at his arm.
“Ice would be nice.” Owen takes a seat on the stool.
I find a plastic bag and pour some ice inside and pass it to him. “As I was saying, I need your help.” I run my hands through my hair. “There’s a woman that I kind of like.”
Owen gasps and everyone turns their heads his way, waiting for him to black out again. He glances at all of us. “I’m okay.” He rests his elbow on the bar top, along with the ice bag.
“I like a woman and I could—”
“It’s Rylee. The woman is Rylee,” Miles blurts out, and I shoot daggers at him. He cowers like a child being scolded. “Sorry. I couldn’t hold it any longer. I’ve been told I’m not a good secret keeper.”
“Clearly,” I deadpan. “It’s fine. It was going to come out sooner or later, but yes. It’s Rylee.”
“The brunette bartender at Porter’s?” Tim asks.
“The one and only.” I grab a pint glass and pour myself a beer, mostly because I need something to do. I’ve never been in the position of needing advice when it comes to women. Normally, it’s the other way around, so I’m way out of my element. “I don’t know what to do. I’ve asked her to dinner more times than I can count, and she always gives me the I can’t excuse, or she’ll change the subject.”
“So, she’s turned you down?” Darren takes a drink of his beer.
“That’s the thing, technically she hasn’t. I’ve given her the opportunity to say no and I’ll never ask her again but she’s never come out and said no .”
“Sounds like she’s holding on to something. Maybe she likes you too,” Tim says.
“But why won’t she say yes to dinner?” I rest my palms on the cool wood.
Tim sits up in his chair. “I dated a girl a while back.”
“Was this after the ex-wife?” Darren asks.
Tim nods. “I needed some companionship. So anyway, she never wanted to go to her house until one day I finally convinced her I wanted to see her space. Big fucking mistake. She told me she was an artist, so her house was littered with art supplies. It was like a kindergarten art class threw up.”
“Maybe she’s just passionate,” Miles says.
“Her paintings were of dogs’ heads… with naked human bodies,” Tim deadpans. “I’m not an art aficionado, so I wasn’t going to do a deep dive analysis for the meaning behind her art.”
I nearly choke on my beer while everyone else scrunches their faces.
“That’s…” Owen’s head tilts toward the ceiling, lips pressed together like he’s thinking. “Original.”
“I doubt that’s the word you’re searching for,” I say.
“Maybe she likes dogs.” Owen shrugs.
“If that’s the case, she must like naked people just as much.” I raise my pint glass before swallowing a gulp.
“Then mash them together.” Owen claps the palms of his hands together.
With his elbows on the bar, Darren leans over to address Tim. “Where do you find these women? Not that I want to find one like her, but where did you find her?”
“Reddit,” Tim says.
I swallow a fresh gulp of my beer, needing a few seconds to process all this. I’m trying to put the puzzle pieces together, but it’s like I’m working with two different puzzles. I furrow my brows. “How exactly does this tie into my situation?”
“Oh yeah. Moral of the story, if she’s saying no or in your case,” he waves his hand in my direction, “avoids the question, there must be a reason why. For me, she didn’t want to show me her weird ass naked dog head people paintings, and I should have respected that.”
“Are you saying I should automatically respect her boundaries and back away?”
“Oh.” He rubs his chin. “Not necessarily. Unless she’s told you she likes to paint, then I’d be wary.”
I shake my head. “Far as I know, she’s no Van Gogh, but I’ve also haven’t had time to get to know her more. So, you think she’s hiding something from me?”
“What else could it be?” Tim shrugs his shoulders and tilts his head. “I’d be prepared for whatever it may be.”
“Expect the worst. Hope for the best,” Miles adds.
“You need to give her a date she can’t say no to,” Owen says.
All I want to do is to get to know her, but it’s hard at Porter’s while she’s working. I’m competing for her attention with fifty other people. Sadly, they always win because it’s her job. I'm desperate for some one-on-one time with her. Then I could learn more about her and maybe other things. I won’t lie, other things with her would be fan-fucking-tastic. But there’s the whole friend zone she put me in. Like what the fuck is that? Is that supposed to deter me? Friends have sex all the time. How many couples end up as friends to lovers? A lot. In fact, this whole friend zone actually sparks a teeny tiny fire of hope. She was hesitant to tell me she has a daughter and an ex-husband, so it can’t be that. Unless she’s dating someone, but we’ve slept together. Maybe it started after our tryst. All of this is outside my comfort zone. But this is what she’s doing to me.
Owen might be onto something. Give her something she can’t say no to. Or let her make the choice. I lift my beer, guzzle down half the glass, and slam it to the bar top. “I got it. I know how I’m going to get my date.”