“So…fucking…good,” was all he could manage.
Chapter 14
Baldwin “Win”
I knew.
She didn’t know, of course. But I did.
I’d be spending a lot of time with Garnet. I knew as soon as she started lying to me. Made no damn sense, I know.
I normally hated liars. Actually, I always hated liars. Something about them just seemed so yellow-bellied, and yet…I was ready to let Garnet off the hook. I had no idea why she was bullshitting me the day she came over to scope out Cordy’s place, but I could tell from the look on her face, she wouldn’t have done it unless she absolutely had to. Something was up with her. I could almost smell fear.
And fear will make you do crazy things. Like when I was about to be busted for pot. I ran, and when I was finally caught, I lied my ass off to get out of trouble. Didn’t work, though. Never does.
So whatever was up with her had to be something big. I had to know what it was. And for some inexplicable reason, I wanted to try to help her. Sure, she was gorgeous with that wild hair and insane curves, but there was something in her eyes, which were so kind and sincere, that really got under my skin.
That’s why I was heading into the city on my motorcycle, in spite of the crappy weather and gale force winds that shook my bike when I crossed the Golden Gate Bridge. I had to see her and know more about her, and nothing was going to stop me.
I parked on the street and headed for my favorite San Francisco bar, Zeitgeist. I’d wanted to get there early so I could watch her come in, but when I pushed open the place’s big wooden door, who did I see but my beautiful Garnet, sitting there with a beer, chatting up the bartender.
“Hey, gorgeous,” I said, grabbing the stool next to her. Her face immediately brightened, causing a twitchy feeling in my jeans.
“Win!” She jumped up to give me a hug, and boy, did she smell nice. “It’s great to be in a bar other than the Drive By. I gotta get out more often.” She dropped her head back and laughed. She seemed much more sure of herself than the day I caught her snooping. Understandable, I suppose.
“Well, the Drive By is a pretty cool old bar. There aren’t many of those left. My friend Brose enjoyed meeting you, too,” I said.
“Yeah, he was really great.” She’d just finished her beer, so I waved the bartender over for another round. There was the tiniest amount of foam on her upper lip. I wanted to lick it away so bad, but I forced myself to behave. Instead, I used my thumb to wipe it off for her.
“Oh, thank you. Geez, I’m a mess.”
“Hardly,” I said. I leaned toward her to be heard over the bar’s racket. “I’m going to get right to the point here. I really enjoyed meeting you at Cordy’s, and then seeing you at the Drive By. I really want to get to know you better.”
“Thank you, Win. I feel the same way.”
I nodded. I still wanted to know why she lied to me about visiting Cordy’s house, but I figured it would eventually come out. I wondered how she’d feel when she knew Brose had every intention of taking her out, too.
“This might sound a bit unorthodox, but Brose would like to take you out, too.”
She looked surprised. Not hugely surprised. Just moderately. I took that as a good sign.
“And are you good with that?” she asked.
I took a swig of my beer and nodded. “Yup. We don’t get possessive. We usually like the same things in life, and that often extends to women.”
Shit. Was this the part when she’d freak the hell out?
Actually…no.
“Okay. You can give him my number. He seems super cool.”
Bingo.
Not wanting to slow the cadence of the evening by making a big deal about the fact that Brose and I liked to share women, I moved on.
“So what’s your story? How’d you end up at the Drive By?” I asked.
She gave a big sigh. “I dropped out of college. Never a smart move, but even more stupid when you have piles of student loan debt like I do. At the rate I’m going, I’ll be paying on those loans ‘til I die.” She shook her head. “Anyway, they had a help wanted sign in the window, and I walked by.”