God, someone fucking shoot me. I like having these family days with them, but a man can only take so much. Virginia must see me over here hoping someone puts me out of my misery, because she appears like a fucking angel with a new drink for me.
“Have I told you lately you’re my favorite waitress?” I ask her with a charming smile.
Grinning back at me, she says, “I know I am. Drink up.” Looking at the lovebirds beside me, she asks, “Dessert?”
“No,” Laurel says.
“Yes,” Sin says, more firmly. “Bring her a piece of cheesecake.”
“To-go,” Laurel adds. “I’m too full of food right now.”
As it always does, Sin’s gaze drifts to Skylar’s carrier in the booth on his other side. He always needs to check on her, even if she’s asleep—which she is right now. Has been since ten minutes into dinner, but still he checks every five minutes like she might have stopped breathing since he last looked.
Virginia brings Laurel’s cheesecake, but not the bill yet since I’m still drinking. I always pick up the tab on Sundays anyway, so Sin looks over at Laurel. “You ready to get out of here?”
Shaking her head, Laurel sits back in the seat. “Rafe hasn’t finished his drink yet.”
“You don’t have to wait for me,” I tell her, taking a sip. “I’ll probably have one more after this. Go on home; I’ll see you next week.”
“You sure?” she asks, giving me that damned look. That “I don’t want you to be lonely” look.
Smiling softly, I tell her, “I’m sure, kitten.”
“We really don’t mind waiting.”
“I insist you leave,” I reply.
They finally do. I have mixed feelings about it—on one hand, I don’t feel like being alone tonight. I spend a lot more time alone now than I used to, and while that was the point of this pussy-cleanse, it’s beginning to get old.
On the other hand, I’ve endured too much of their lovey-dovey bullshit today, so one of them had to go. If one wanted to take the baby home and one wanted to stay, I would have said great, but that never happens anymore unless Sin and I have business to discuss. He’d much rather be home with Laurel and Skylar than out with me. I don’t take it personally. Sin’s a family man, and now he has one. Good for him.
Less good for me, since I’m the one he used to spend most evenings with.
Wouldn’t matter if I’d stop this self-imposed celibacy, I suppose. I draw out my phone, looking at the names of the women who have messaged me lately. Not quite as many as it used to be, but only because I’m not putting out the signal. If I really wanted to, I could end the loneliness and the lack of sex all in one fell swoop.
Instead, I drink.
I drink and I drink, and then I drink some more. Like the loneliest bastard in the world, I drink until the place closes. The funny thing is, they can’t make me leave. Perks of owning the fucking place.
The manager keeps shooting me looks, the little bastard. He wants me to clear out of here. It’s not because I’m being a pain in the ass, it’s not even because he wants to go home. It’s because Virginia should have left already, but she’s waiting for me. She’s going to give me a ride home like she always does when I drink too much. She’s fanatical about none of us driving home drunk. She quotes statistics and tells horrifyingly detailed stories about little kids killed by drunk drivers until none of us would even think to tell her no when she offers us a safe ride home. I’m fine with her offering me a ride, but I don’t like that she does the same thing for the other guys. Guys in my family, guys that work for me. She used to give Gio rides home, even, and now that I know all I know about Gio, I feel retroactively nervous about it. Drunk assholes aren’t the best company, and late at night, all alone—any one of them could hurt her. Then I’d have to kill ‘em. It’d be a whole damn thing.
Trent knows she’s gonna offer to give me a ride home and he doesn’t want her to. I’m surprised he doesn’t do the smart thing and offer to give me a ride before she can. Knowing Virginia, she would offer anyway, but hell, he could at least try. Dumbass. I catch him looking at me again, second time in the space of a minute. I tip my glass at him and wink before I throw the rest of it back.
He’s so fucking mad at me right now. He should be; I’m an asshole. Nothing he can do about it, though. Storm in the back and kick a cleaning bucket across the kitchen in a fit of impotent rage.
I laugh a little, picturing him doing just that.
Virginia has nothing left she can even pretend she has to do. She’s just leaning on the counter, waiting me out. Now she sees me laughing at nothing, so she walks over to check on me.
“Hey, looks like you’re done with that,” she tells me, nodding at the glass.
“Looks that way,” I agree.
“Want me to take it and clean it?” she offers.
Trent appears around the corner like a little weasel. “I’ll take it so we can get out of here.”
Virginia lets him take the glass, and instead she takes a seat in my booth, sliding in next to me. She keeps a little distance between us, where most women would slide all the way until our thighs are touching. I’m looking at her thigh covered in the sturdy fabric of her work pants when she touches my arm and steals my attention. My gaze snaps to her face a little too fast, and I have to blink to steady my vision.