I’m genuine in my offer, but I can tell by the way he says that, he’s taking it about as seriously as Ty alwaysdoes.
As we finish our drinks, I order us two more. I’m out of cash, but as I get my card out to pay, Jesse’s quick with fetching some pesos and handing them over to thebartender.
“Sneaky fucker,” I tell him. “You know I’m good forit.”
“Clearly I amtoo.”
But as annoyed as I am that he beat me to it, I’m impressed he wasn’t all talk about wanting topay.
“So enough about me,” he says. “What about your job? From what Ty tells me, you’re kind of a bigdeal.”
I laugh. “I wouldn’t say all that, but I do okay formyself.”
“That is such bullshit. I know for a fact you’re a bigwig corporate entrepreneur, which I never would have guessed by looking atyou.”
“What do youmean?”
“You don’t seem the type,” Jesse says. “You don’t look like the stuffy, suit-and-tie kind of guy. You got this scruff, tats, clearly work out plenty. You seem very easygoing. Chill.Cool.”
“Cool? Oh, you think I’m cool? I’ll take that as acompliment.”
He grins before taking another sip of his margarita. He gets a little salt on his lip, which he licks off…and God, that makes me want to force my mouth againsthis.
“But seriously,” he goes on. “You aren’t at all what I pictured when Ty’s talked aboutyou.”
“What did youpicture?”
“Eh…the Ivy League sort with a couple hundred pounds on him. Maybebalding.”
He winks like he wants me to know he’s just giving me a hardtime.
“Well, I’m happy to not have met those high expectations,” I say. “And far from Ivy League. Georgia State University and then UCLA School of Business. I’m not like Ty’s mom, who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. I had to work my way up the ladder the hardway.”
“And how did you go aboutthat?”
“After UCLA, I went to work at an investment firm. Turns out I have a pretty keen sense about investing, and so I started my own company a few years later. Got some investors behind me. Had some hurdles I had to overcome, but now, all these years later, I’ve done okay formyself.”
“That sounds like anunderstatement.”
“I’ve had some lucky breaks along the way. I feel like we all do, and then hindsight makes it look like you were a fuckinggenius.”
“I think you’re being a littlemodest.”
I snicker. “I’m not a modest guy. I know what I have tooffer.”
“And now you soundcocky.”
“Maybe…but I get where my weaknesses are too. In fact, I think it’s more important to know those than it is to know yourstrengths.”
His eyes narrow like he’s curious about something. About me,even.
And I find that this discussion has only increased this attraction I have toward him, and I guess I’m too drunk or too unashamed not to say something about it. “I like you,Jesse.”
He closes his mouth. Judging by his silence and wide eyes, it’s like I asked him to blowme.
“Don’t make this weird,” I say, throwing my arm over his shoulder. “Let’s just get drunk and have a good time. We’re in fucking Puerto Vallarta, for Christ’ssake.”
His uneasiness settles, and I throw back a few more drinks. Jesse does better about pacing himself. We chat about stupid shit, movies and sports, and before I know it, we’retipsy.
