“Loaded nachos, extra jalapeños. Let me know if you need anything else.” Dave tapped the bar and winked.
“Uh-oh. Nachos. It’s your tell, my friend. You’re stressing about something.”
I gave him the bird and dug into my food. The bastard knew me too well. I drained my bottle and raised it for Dave to grab me another.
I turned back toward Seth. “You gonna hit it with us tomorrow morning?” My buddies and I liked to kick off the weekend with early morning surfing on Fridays. We’d been doing it for years, but Seth had been skipping out on us lately.
“Frick yeah.” He whispered something in the woman’s ear and she giggled. No question he’d be taking her home tonight. I wouldn’t hold my breath that he’d be at the beach in the morning.
I filled my mouth with my favorite food and flitted my eyes around the bar. Lots of beautiful women were around. A few smiled as our eyes connected. I diverted my gaze because it felt like a betrayal for some weird reason. I wasn’t interested in hooking up with anyone. I just wanted to eat my food, then go home to my cozy bed.
Not true. I wanted to kiss Red and hold her in my arms.
Dammit. What the fuck was I supposed to do?
I was turning twenty-eight in two months. For some reason, this birthday felt different from the others. I wasn’t looking forward to partying with my friends and having a stripper swing her titties in my face. Something was going on with me, but I wasn’t sure what.
In the last few months, I’d changed and hadn’t been with anyone—like zero sex with a woman, only getting myself off in the shower. My friends were starting to take notice.
I’d been feeling like something was missing in my life. I figured I was just going through some weird shit and it would eventually pass. Then Red appeared, giving my dark world vivid color with her long red hair, emerald-green eyes, and pink lips. I had felt like I knew what direction to go in when I was with her, then she ran off, leaving me directionless and confused.
“Check out Chris over there.” Seth pointed at my best friend, Christopher Collins. “He’s pulling out his John Travolta dance moves.”
I snorted. “He’s found a woman he wants to impress.”
“Hey, Leo.”
I turned toward a familiar voice.
“Hey, Hillary. How’s it going?” I raked my eyes over her long, toned body. She played beach volleyball and worked out religiously. The woman was hard as iron. So not my type. I liked a trim body, but I wanted some curves and a little softness, like Red. She had it all, although she was a little shorter than most girls I screwed. I guessed it made her all the more appealing and cute as fuck.
Hillary and I had hooked up a couple of times, mostly because she offered. I was curious about what it would be like with a woman who could probably whoop my ass. I gotta say, I didn’t care for it much. Hillary liked to dominate, and so did I. Battling in bed wasn’t my thing, so the sex had been ho-hum.
“Looking for a hookup tonight?” She leaned against the bar, trying to look sexy, but most men found her intimidating.
“Nope,” I told her honestly and shoved a chip piled high into my mouth.
“Really? Bummer. I’m horny and nobody here looks appetizing.”
I cut my eyes to her. She was scoping out the joint with a scowl on her face. Not sexy at all or inviting.
“You should check out the gym. Find someone to match your strength.”
She punched my arm. “I thought that was you.”
I winced. “Nope, not me.” The chick didn’t playfully punch like most women. I recalled how Red had shoved me when I teased her. It was like a love pat.
A pang hit my chest. I wanted Red so fucking bad.
“Why not? You changing your manwhoring ways?”
I’d just taken a swig of my beer and it went down the wrong pipe. I coughed and hit my chest.Manwhoring ways?
“Ouch. That hurt.”
“Oh, please. Everyone knows you fuck ’em and leave ’em. Shit, most men around here do. Just look at Chris over there. I saw him earlier at the beach with a blonde. Unless she dyed her hair black since then, he’s already preying on a different girl.”
“Manwhore is such a derogatory word though. I never call women whores.”