The Rules of Dating(30)

“Yeah, no shit.” He shook his head. “Dude’s got a song to get in any girl’s pants.”

A minute later, Owen’s phone buzzed. He looked down at it and frowned. “It’s the office. I’m going outside so I can hear.”

“Alright.” I nodded.

Owen came back ten minutes later, just as Holden returned to the table.

“Sorry, guys, I gotta run. I have an emergency at the office,” Owen said.

“What? We just got here.” Holden pointed to the table of four women. “Those ladies just asked us to join them and bought us all a round of shots. There’re four of them. You can’t go, dude.”

Owen patted Holden’s shoulder. “I have faith that you can handle two, buddy.”

I wasn’t really in the mood to hang out with the ladies, but I didn’t want to be a drag, so I walked over with the guys. I’d just have a beer and call it a night.

But then it turned out the women were all super nice—a few years younger than us, but pretty and outgoing. Oddly, the four of them had been friends since they were kids like we had, which was kind of cool. Nikki, the blonde Holden was cozying up to, was a teacher and had received tenure today, so they were out celebrating. After a half hour or so, Brayden said he had to get going, and so did one of the ladies, so I figured it was the perfect time to make my exit, too. But just as I was about to do that, Nikki suggested the remaining five of us go back to her place.

“I think I’m just going to call it a night,” I said. “I have a daughter. She’s with my parents tonight, but I gotta get up early tomorrow and get her.”

“You told your parents ten o’clock. I was there when they picked her up, remember?” Holden said. “And they told you to take your time. Come on…don’t be such a wuss.”

“My apartment is just around the corner,” Nikki said. She tilted her head. “Come for one drink.”

Four years ago, I would have been the one begging my wingman not to ditch. And the only reason I didn’t feel like going was because of some sort of loyalty to Billie—a woman who didn’t want to date me. Though, lately, I got the feeling she was starting to come around, and I didn’t want to fuck that up.

Holden put his arm around my shoulder. “One drink. She lives around the corner.”

I gave in. “Alright, just one drink.”

***

This scene was starting to look too much like my college days, at least the parts I didn’t see in double right now. Nikki lived in a typical, small New York City apartment, where the kitchen was only five feet from the living room couch. She and Holden were currently sucking face at the kitchen counter, her legs wrapped around his waist. Meanwhile, the other two ladies and I were on the couch, awkwardly trying not to notice him rounding to second base. At least I thought it was awkward.

I slapped my knees. “Welp. I should get going.”

Erika, the redhead sitting on my right, laid her hand on the inside of my thigh. “Don’t go.” She looked at her friend and smiled. “Melissa and I don’t mind…sharing, if you’re cool with that.”

Melissa put her hand high on my other thigh and rubbed back and forth.

Fuck. I closed my eyes. This shit never happened to me anymore.

I looked at Erika, then Melissa. Both were attractive with great figures, and it had been a while since I’d been with anyone. Not to mention, how many offers of a threesome did a man get in life, particularly with women who looked like these two? Not very many. Yet I had a nagging feeling in my gut.

“I think I might’ve had too much to drink,” I said. “Would you excuse me a minute? I’m going to hit the head and splash some cold water on my face.”

“Sure, of course,” Erika said. “Take your time.”

I needed to remove myself from the situation in order to think clearly. But after locking the bathroom door, I really did splash some water on my face. Then I had a heart to heart with the guy in the mirror.

“Two beautiful women—why aren’t you jumping at this opportunity, Lennon?”

I hung my head. Because neither one of them is Billie, that’s fucking why.

I looked up again. “It’s just sex. A threesome, for Christ’s sake. They don’t want to marry you, jackass.”

I shut my eyes. But how will you look Billie in the eyes after that?

Then again…Billie had told me flat out that she wasn’t interested, on more than one occasion.

She’s.

Not.

Interested.

In.

You.

Get that shit through your thick skull already, Lennon.

I spent the next five minutes alternating between looking in the mirror and talking myself into a threesome, and hanging my head in shame for even considering it. But all I managed to accomplish was making myself feel nauseous from the motion of my head going up and down. When the room started to spin, I sat down on the floor next to the toilet bowl. That turned out to be a good thing, because thirty seconds later, my head was in it as I retched up every last drink I’d had in my stomach.

***

Ugh. Light from a window beamed in and landed straight in my eyes. I lifted my head and tried to get some spit in my mouth so I could swallow, but all my tongue found was more of the same horrible taste. Did something die in my mouth last night? I looked around. And where the hell am I?