Page 75 of Cash

“What’s awesome?”

Her eyebrows raised. “That you’re getting laid.”

I wondered how she knew I hadn’t been getting laid but feared asking. I fought the urge to grin, but only partially succeeded. “Yeah, it’s been pretty fun, so far.”

“How long have you been, you know?” She wagged her eyebrows. “Seeinghim?”

“I met him thirty-five days ago. We had sex the first time thirteen days after that. We’ve been steadily going at it ever since.”

She smiled. “Excited much?”

“Huh?”

“It’s cute that you’re counting the days. He must be pretty cool.”

He was much more than pretty cool. It seemed he shared my beliefs on many things that so many others didn’t. He was completely contrary to the man I would have seen myself with as a young woman, but now that I was older, he seemed to suit me very well.

I wondered what changed. Why accepting a man like Cash came so easily now yet seemed so out of place when I was younger?

Marvin was a finance major and a nerd. At the time, I was convinced he was exactly what I needed. I decided it was the failed marriage of a man who wore a suit to work every day that caused me to seek a relationship in someone who was the polar opposite of him.

“He is.” I looked at her and grinned. “He’s way cool.”

It was nice to talk about him to someone other than Jennifer. I realized I was fondling a wedge and set it aside as if it were on fire.

“Sorry,” I said. “I can’t stand those things.”

Her eyes knitted together. “What?”

“Wedges. I want them to out of style. They did once. It needs to happen again.” I glared at the display. “I wish I could change things.”

“There’s so much I wish I could change,” she said. “Don’t even get me started.”

“With style?” I asked.

“With everything. This guy I’m seeing, for one. He’s so…he cries. All. The. Time. What happened to men being men? I want a man who makes me feel like he can smash the face of all the creeps that creep on me. James wouldn’t smash a grape, let alone a guy’s face. I want a man who makes me feel like I’m a woman. Trent did that. James makes me feel like I need to be ready to protect him.”

I chuckled. “I think Cash would smash anyone’s face who looked at me cock-eyed.”

“His name’s Cash?”

“Uh huh.”

“That’s awesome.” She pulled a sandal from the display and studied it. “Does he have any friends?”

“He’s got a few, but they’re all pretty hard-core bikers.”

“Hard-core bikers are loyal,” she said. “All you’ve got to do is fuck ‘em, feed ‘em, and never ask questions about what they do when they’re gone.”

“Can I ask what happened with Trent?” I asked. “Why that didn’t work out?”

She shrugged. “I forgot the last part of that three-part rule. I guess that’d be my only advice. There’s the life they live at home, and the life they live when they’re gone. Don’t ask questions about what he does when he’s away.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“You said he’s hard-core,” she said. “Does he ride in a club?”

“He does,” I responded pridefully.

Her gaze fell to the floor. After a long pause, she looked up. “Yeah. You’ll need to remember that last part, for sure.”