“Yep!Q’sis having a themed western party, cowboys and Stetsons. It’s gonna be fun. You wanna join us, Tyler?”
He smiled at her. “My answer depends directly on how much Rohypnol is involved.”
“None,” Neil chirped. “I promise.”
“Alright then. I’ll be there.” He started heading for the door. “But if you’ll excuse me, I’m feeling… really dirty right now and I think I need a shower.”
“Need help?” Neil asked with a smirk. “It’s abigbody to wash off.”
That broke the tension in an odd way and Tyler laughed. “You don’t give up. I admire that.”
He waved his farewell as Jordan walked him outside and closed the door behind them. “Gee, I’m…sorry…about that.”
“No, you’re not.”
She giggled. “You’re right. I’m not. You’re adorable when you’re scared.”
“I was very scared.”
The light expression on her face faded a bit. “I know they’re a little strange, so if you don’t want to come tomorrow, I understand.”
“Night out with you?” he whispered. “I’m not gonna pass that up.”
A shy smile lifted her cheeks and she nipped her lip, that small sign of nervousness when she was debating somethingwith herself. “Hey, Tyler. Did you mean what you said in there? That…you’re sort of with me?”
She was asking for confirmation, the very thing he’d been avoiding giving her all this time. Three months went up against three years and in those three months, he’d laughed harder than he’d ever laughed before, spat out more food than he’d ingested. He’d played pool in Mugger Central. He’d made inappropriate visits at eleven o’ clock at night. He’d worn bright pink make-up and had fights with little girls. He’d been exposed to an obscene amount of vulgarity. He’d been hit on by a gay guy. He’d had…fun. He’d done so many things that were outside the realms of himself all because of her. And in doing so he’d found a new favorite, discovered a passion within him he hadn’t known was there. A passion for life. A passion for her. He took a deep breath and released it slowly.Just free-fall.
“Not sort of,” he answered softly. Pulling her into his arms, he dipped his head slightly and placed a brief kiss on her lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jordan.”
“See you tomorrow.”
He waited for her to go inside and immediately pulled out his cell phone. There was absolutely no way he was going to go out with those crazy people without reinforcement. The phone rang twice before he answered.
“Ty?”
“I need a wing-man. I’m going out with Jordan tomorrow night and her friends are a little…scary. Will you come with me?”
“Absolutely not! Ty, you know how I feel about this. If you want to use Jordan, string her along until Trisha comes back, you do that on your own. I’ll have no part in it.”
“Matt, we’ve been friends for nineteen years. I know this about you and yet I’m still calling.” He wasn’t the type to openly admit his feelings and Matt knew that, so he waited a few seconds for his friend to put two and two together.
“Matthew.”
“Tyler.”
“Matthew.”
“Tyler?”
“Matthew…”There. He got it. “Are you gonna be my wing-man tomorrow?”
He heard a sigh on the other side of the phone. “I’ll be there, Ty.”
Fraternizing with Friends
Jordan tugged her skirt down as they walked into Q’s. Her legs ran on for miles and it felt like the skirt was barely covering her backside. It was Gemma’s idea. The whole outfit was Gemma’s idea. Pleated denim skirt, blue and white checkered shirt with its ends tied around her stomach, cowboy boots and a white Stetson. She felt ridiculous, but it was all in the name of fun.
Gemma was dressed pretty much the same, though her shirt was red, her strawberry blond hair was in two braids over either shoulder and her skirt could be considered a reasonable length. It was nine o’ clock and the place was already packed. Loud music and constant chatter filled her ears. They slid into one of the red vinyl booths, Neil sitting in the middle of her and Gemma.
