Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Cam
M y ass had barely hit the bar stool when Eric moved the basket of cheesy fries toward me and said, “So. Manila guy.”
“Ugh.” I tried to get comfortable on the small, unpadded seat. “Can we wait for Nikki to get here so I won’t have to go through it twice?” Noting the absence of his furry four-legged shadow, I cocked an eyebrow at Eric. “Don’t tell me. You left Milo with Jo again.”
His gaze slid away from mine. “She was giving Nix a hard time about going out without her.”
“And of course you couldn’t resist.” Shaking my head, I picked out a fry smothered in gooey cheese sauce and popped it into my mouth. “Admit it. You got Milo to make them happy.”
“I always wanted a dog.”
I grabbed a tangle of cheesy fries. “And you decided to adopt him because Jo wanted a dog too but Nikki couldn’t handle taking care of one more thing. Am I right?”
His silence spoke volumes. When he finally met my eyes, they were hooded. “You know how I feel about them.”
I’d gotten the truth out of him one night after we helped Nikki and Jo while they had the stomach flu.
How he’d fallen in love with Nikki three months into moving here and how he loved Jo too.
“Which is why I keep telling you to make your move. Do you really want some other guy to come around and steal Nikki from right in front of you? C’mon, Eric. ”
“I asked her out,” he said quietly.
I jolted forward. “What? When? Why don’t I know about this?”
“I asked last Wednesday.”
“So when’s your date?”
His smile held no humor. “Now.”
I gaped at him as his meaning sank in. “Shit.”
Last Thursday, Nikki had messaged our group chat, saying she couldn’t wait for our night out. I’d assumed I missed out on the planning and simply replied with see you .
“Wait. Did you specifically ask her out on a date? Or did you just invite her for drinks?” I asked.
He grimaced. “Well…”
Groaning, I kicked his foot lightly. “You should have made it clear. You know how she’s trained herself not to think about dating.”
“I know,” he said, closing his eyes.
“At the very least, you should have told me what you had planned, so I could have found an excuse to cancel last minute.” Glancing toward the entrance, I checked if Nikki had come in. When I didn’t find her, I got up.
“Where are you going?”
“Leaving while she’s not here.” I took the beer bottle he’d had waiting for me and searched for napkins so I could bring some fries home too.
He sighed. “Sit down, Cam. She’s expecting you to be here, and she wanted to hear about your housemate.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Of course you two have been gossiping.”
“I was helping her with her laptop when you called.”
“ Right .” I sat back down, still gripping the bottle. “He was only booked for one night, so it was nothing more than a temporary inconvenience. He should be gone when I get home.”
As I took a drink, Eric asked, “Did you sleep with him?”
The beer I’d ingested almost spewed back out. I coughed, my eyes watering.
“By the way, I agree with Nix. You should give him a shot.”
I gaped at him. “First of all, he didn’t ask for one. Second, he and his girlfriend broke up two days ago.”
“Oh.” He grinned like a loon. “You’ve bonded .”
“No!”
“Look who I found!” Nikki’s voice suddenly chimed in.
Whirling around, I gawked at the sight of her with Alonzo right beside her.
“I caught him checking out the shops,” she continued, ignoring my warning stare. “Apparently, he’s taking the last bus to Manila and since he’s already checked out, he doesn’t have a place to stay until then. So I invited him to join us!”
I really should have a talk with Nikki about not extending invitations to other people.
“Hey, guys.” Alonzo smiled at us, unaffected by the glower I transferred to him.
Eric stood and extended his hand toward Alonzo. “I’m Eric. Good to meet you.”
“Lonzo,” he said as he shook Eric’s hand. “And likewise. Do you mind if I crash your night?”
“Of course not,” Eric answered as I said, “Yes.”
My eyes snapped to Eric’s, wordlessly threatening him.
He shrugged. “You heard her. He doesn’t have any company.”
Traitor. Not for the first time, I wished my glare had the power to burn through skin like a laser. “Fine. I need to work anyway.” I pushed off my seat, only to have Alonzo stand in my way.
“Don’t let me ruin your night. I’ll just sit at the bar and enjoy the vibe.” He nodded at Eric and Nikki. “Thanks for the invite.”
“No, stay,” Nikki protested, silently urging me to change my mind.
That wasn’t going to happen.
“Maybe next time.” Alonzo turned to leave, but Nikki spoke up again.
“Hold on, let me get your number. In case you’re in town again, or we plan a trip to Manila,” she explained as she passed her phone to him. “You promised my daughter a tour, and she never forgets a promise.”
“Sure.” His thumb quickly moved across the screen, and he handed the phone back to Nikki. “Hit me up when you’re in the city.”
Our gazes met. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t give him the satisfaction of thinking I had a reason to hide.
“Have a good night, you guys.”
With that, he left, drawing appreciative stares from other patrons as he headed to the bar.
“Cam!” Nikki chided me as she took the stool next to mine. “You couldn’t let him stay even for one drink?”
“Then how would you two interrogate me about him?” I said.
“He’s leaving soon. You’ll have time to talk about him after that.” Eric’s reasonable tone had me itching to shake him.
“ Me ?”
“I meant you two.”
Nikki huffed. “Don’t pretend you’re not curious too.” Facing me, she said, “I know he was all chill and smiley just now, but when I saw him outside? The guy looked lost.”
I’d been ready to argue with her, and then she had to hit me with that last line. If there was anything I could relate to, it was that—feeling lost in a crowd of people.
Glancing at the bar, I spotted him. His shoulders were slumped as he contemplated his beer bottle.
Damn it.
“I hate you,” I hissed at Nikki before I stood.
She tapped my ass, setting off Eric’s chuckles. “Good girl.”
I gave each of them a searing glare. Then, taking a deep breath, I strode off toward the bar.
At the table closest to it, a group of teenage girls kept looking at Alonzo.
I caught them whispering, “You talk to him,” and “You do it.” I had to shake my head.
If I were the friendly type, I would have told them to shoot their shot because he was only a guy.
But I wasn’t like Nikki, and I was already maxing out my generosity meter with what I was about to do.
Stopping next to Alonzo, I waited for him to notice me. He didn’t even stir. That told me how right Nikki was.
“What’s it telling you?”
He jolted and stared at me blankly. “What?”
“The bottle. What’s it telling you?”
It took him a couple of seconds, but finally he snorted. “That I should drink it before it gets warm.”
“Wrong. It says you should go drink it with us. C’mon.”
I turned and walked away. I’d done my part. The rest was up to him.
He caught up to me in record time, just like he did on the way to the beach this morning. “What changed your mind?”
“Nikki,” I said bluntly. If he couldn’t handle my honesty, then maybe he couldn’t handle hanging out with me and my friends either.
His laughter came out rusty. “I’ll take that.”
I glanced at him. “Desperate?”
“Maybe. But also…curious.”
We arrived at our table, where my friends had already pulled up a fourth stool for him.
Of course it had to be the one next to mine.
“Glad you’re joining us, Lonzo,” Nikki said. “Sit.”
“Where’s your stuff?” Eric asked as we took our seats.
Alonzo held up a plastic bag with what appeared to have clothing inside. “This wasn’t a planned trip, so I had to buy some things when I got here.”
“They gave you single-use plastic?” Outrage filled Eric’s voice.
Nikki chuckled. “Oh no, you’ve triggered him.”
“No—Yes,” Alonzo fumbled his words, and I snickered at his discomfort. “I mean, they weren’t going to, but I asked for one. I figured I’d need it for wet clothes. Sorry.”
Grunting, Eric said, “Make sure you recycle it.”
“Definitely.”
“Eric heads an ocean protection nonprofit, so plastics are a big no-no,” Nikki told Alonzo. “That event yesterday? He spearheaded it.”
“Seriously? That’s amazing.” To Eric, he said, “I should introduce you to my sister’s fiancé. He’s really into sustainability.”
“I’m down. Does he live in Manila?”
A strange look flashed across Alonzo’s face. “Yeah.” He seemed to want to add something else but held back.
It had me wondering what he was hiding.
I shouldn’t. I knew too much about him as it was. Any more was excessive. Dangerous.
Good thing he’d be out of my life in a couple of hours.