39. Faith
CHAPTER 39
Faith
My head shot up. “Keep it down, will you?”
“Sorry! You just caught me off guard. You mean to tell me that the chick with the six-year plan goes on booty calls?”
“It’s not just a booty call. We’re having a monogamous friends-with-bennies fling.”
“So, you’re dating?”
“No. There’s no emotional involvement. It’s strictly physical.”
Jess rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.”
“What? You don’t believe me?”
Jess wildly shook her head back and forth.
“I used to play word games on my phone when I needed a break. Now I just?—”
“Now you just play with Dante?”
I opened my mouth in shock, glanced over at Jess, and we both cracked up. Once I caught my breath, I answered, “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What kind of a playmate is he?” Jess sat sideways on her barstool so she could give me her full attention.
“Attentive, aggressive.”
Dante stood talking to the guys by the pool table. I hadn’t noticed earlier, but he was wearing an untucked flannel shirt over a white undershirt. The sleeves were rolled up, and I caught a glimpse of his strong forearms. His jeans clung in the right places, and he hadn’t shaved in a few days. I shifted on my stool. That stubble had felt pretty intense between my thighs.
Jess interrupted my thoughts. “Can I assume you’re enjoying yourself?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “For now.”
“Why the big secret? It’s not like he’s some fugly asshole who’s just good in bed. I mean, look at him.” We shifted our attention to the pool table. The guys must have talked Dante into shooting a few rounds, and as we gazed on, he stretched over the pool table, gliding the cue back and forth between his fingers, aiming to sink the eight ball in the corner pocket.
“You’re right. He’s the whole package. Smart, funny, good looking...”
Jess lowered her head and looked up at me. “Really? Good looking? I haven’t even seen him naked, and even I can tell he’s a total hard body.”
Hard... so incredibly hard. “You have no idea.”
I took another gulp of my beer. It felt good to finally talk to someone about him, like a little weight shifted off my shoulders. Could I trust Jess with the whole story?
“It’s complicated. I don’t have time for a relationship. I don’t want to start something. I like my life the way it is.”
“Sometimes things have a way of starting, even when you try like hell to prevent it.” Jess raised her beer in a toast. “Here’s to you. You go, girl. I hope you get exactly what you need out of whatever you want to call whatever it is that’s going on between the two of you.” She tossed back her head and polished off her drink. Then she turned on her stool and raised her glass toward Dante. “Bartender? Another round, please.”
“Be right there,” he called back.
I took another swig of my beer and set it down on the bar. “I take it you’re not ready to go yet?”
“And miss out on watching you with your panties all in a wad? No way!”
Dante walked back behind the bar and filled up another glass for Jess. “How are you doing?” he asked me.
“Great, just great.” I glanced over at Jess, but she was busy texting.
“Hey, Faith, good news.” She looked up from her phone. “Jake’s going to meet us here.”
“I thought you guys broke up?”
Jess shrugged. “On again, off again. Even I can’t keep up. He probably had to listen to his mom ask about me the whole time he was home for Christmas. She loves me, y’know.”
I rolled my eyes. “I thought I was taking you home from the airport. Now it’s turning into a party?”
“You got a problem with parties?” Jess asked. “Let’s go shoot some pool.” She grabbed me by the arm as she made an unsteady dismount from her stool.
I shrugged at Dante and grabbed my beer as Jess tugged me toward the pool table. The guys had wrapped up their game, and the table sat wide open. Jess racked the balls, and I studied the sticks lining the wall. I picked one, chalked it, and lined up to break. I got lucky, sending two solids and one stripe into the pockets.
“Solids, I guess.”
“Freaking pool shark. I don’t know why I even bother to play.” Jess bent down to judge the angle she’d need to send the twelve ball into the side pocket. She lined up and took her shot, missing it by a good three inches. “Dammit.”
By the time I had run the table, Jake arrived. I walked back to the bar, my empty glass in my hand.
“How about another?” Dante asked.
“I’d better not. I need to drive home.”
“Aw, come on.” Jess flung her arm around my shoulder. “It’s New Year’s. Jake here can drive us home, right?”
Jake nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”
“Okay.”
Dante slid another beer in front of me. This one in a tall glass mug with a handle. “A tall. On the house this time.”
“Thanks.”
“Let’s shoot some darts. Come on, Faith.” Jess grabbed her freshly poured beer off the bar and walked to the back of the room where the electronic dartboards lined the wall. She dug a few quarters out of her purse and slipped them into the slot.
The three of us played three games of cricket. I kept busting, so Jake won a round, and surprisingly, Jess won two.
Looked like Jake and Jess were definitely heading back on again. They were being pretty flirty with each other. Nothing like being a third wheel. I excused myself to the bathroom, then walked back to the bar to grab a glass of water. As Dante filled a plastic cup for me, Jess sent me reeling with a hip bump from behind.
“Hey, I just lost a bet, so Jake’s going to drive me home.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“He challenged me to another game. Loser does a strip tease for the winner.”
“I guess things are back on again, then?”
Jess shoved her arms into her coat. “Looks that way. Things would never have worked out with me and Shanti. Jake’s mom is Italian. She makes her own sauce. Jerk chicken just can’t compete with that.”
“Yeah, I see your point. I’m sure many relationships have been built on less.”
Jess leaned into me, slurring her words. “You just get me. I lub you, Faith.”
“I love you too, Jess. You sure you’re okay? It’s not even midnight yet. And how am I supposed to get home now?”
“I’m fine, and I’ll cover the cost of your ride share.” She wrapped her arms around me in a quick hug. “I’ll get my bags out of your trunk tomorrow. Dante, you’d better give my girl Faith here a major dose of tongue when the clock strikes twelve.”
Dante laughed. I took a step toward my friend just as Jake walked up and lifted Jess up under the armpits. He’d been a wrestler in high school and college, so he picked her up like she weighed nothing at all. “Come on, sweet cheeks. You owe me.”
Jess smiled and waved at me as he carried her out of the bar.
“The happy couple leaves,” Dante said. “And then there were two.”
I looked around. Where did everyone else go? We were alone.
“Sorry, I didn’t realize how late it was getting. Not much of a crowd for New Year’s, huh?” I asked.
“The bar down the road is giving out free champagne and has a balloon drop at midnight. I guess we can’t compete with that.”
I bit down on my lip, suddenly nervous about being alone with him. “You probably want to close up. I should go.”
“I’m in no rush. I have the day off tomorrow, and it’ll probably take a while to get a ride share. Let me just clean up a little, and I can run you home.”
“That’s really not necessary. I’ll just hang out while you wrap up. I’m sure I’ll be fine to drive myself by the time you’re done.”
“We’ll see.” Dante smiled as he turned on the TV over the bar.
The Times Square countdown showed forty minutes left until the New Year descended upon us. He busied himself behind the bar, stacking dirty glasses in the compact dishwasher and wiping down the counters.
“So, your grandmother is really okay?” I asked.
“Yep. She had me worried there for a while, but she’s doing really well.”
“Good.”
“She asked about you.” Dante tossed the dishrag in the sink and started refilling the napkin holders.
“She did?”
“Yeah. She doesn’t know you like I do. She thinks you’re a nice, sweet girl, committed to serving the greater good by cooking and serving turkeys to desperate senior citizens everywhere.”
I snickered. “That sounds like an accurate description.”
“How about a game of pool? I saw the way you ran the table with Jess. Think you can take me?”
“You’re on.” May as well. I got up from the bar and moved toward the pool table.
Dante stepped out from behind the bar and walked to the front door. He flipped the outdoor lights off and locked the deadbolt. Then he muted the TV and turned the volume up on the stereo up as he passed. Jon Bon Jovi yelled at everyone to have a nice day.
“You want to break?” he asked.
“No, go ahead. I’ll let you take the first shot.”
I racked the balls, and Dante sent the cue ball slamming into the triangle, sinking a stripe. He proceeded to pocket two more before he miscalculated the angle on an attempt to put the nine ball in the corner, opening up the table to me.
I took my time, bending over and assessing my options before deciding to bank the two ball and put it in the side.
“Nice shot.”
I looked at him over my shoulder, flipping my hair and leaning down in front of him, my full attention captured by the tricky combination laid out in front of me. He was pretty good at this. Better up my game. Three more solids fell in quick succession before Dante got to take another shot.
He sank the other four stripes and called the eight in the corner.
Stunned, I reached down to pick up a few of the balls and put them back on the table. “No fair. I need a rematch.”
He shrugged. “Fine. But if you’re going to flaunt yourself in front of me like that, I’m going to need something to drink.”
“Winner breaks?” I asked, already racking the balls.
He stepped behind the bar and filled a highball glass halfway with a single malt scotch. “Sure, your rules this round.” He walked around the table and leaned over to break, failing to pocket a single ball.
I sized up my options before I stretched over the table, lifted a foot off the ground and put a stripe in the corner. Then I proceeded to run the next four stripes before he got a chance to take a shot. He sank two solids, and I ran the rest of the table, pocketing the eight ball in the corner, right in front of him.
“Nice game, Faith.”
“Thanks. I should probably get going.”
“You can’t leave it in a tie. Besides, it’s almost midnight. We’re one-to-one now. Don’t you want to know who’s the best?”
My competitive side wouldn’t let me walk away from a challenge. “Okay, one more game.”
“I think we need some new rules this round.” He stepped over to where I stood against the table and set his glass down on the edge.
“Oh yeah, like what?”
“You’ve heard of strip poker, of course.”