Game (Gentry Boys, #3)(20)
I hung around a little while longer, watching Creed and Truly together, comfortable and happy. I wondered about Stephanie. She and Truly were close but I’d be shocked if she admitted to her roommate that we’d had sex.
While Creed and Truly were otherwise occupied, I noticed Truly’s phone sitting on the counter. I picked it up and was glad to see she didn’t have a password. After a quick glance through her list of contacts I found Stephanie’s number and memorized it.
“What are you doing?” Truly asked curiously.
“Sorry.” I replaced the phone where I found it. “I thought it was mine.”
I left shortly afterwards, driving around for a little while. Truly and Steph’s apartment was only a few blocks away but just then I didn’t feel like knocking on the door and getting told to piss off.
There were already about a dozen people waiting for the meeting to start. They were all ages and sizes. I chose a seat next to a guy I’d become friendly with.
“Hey man,” said Al, slapping me on the shoulder good naturedly. “Haven’t seen you in a few days.”
I grinned. “My time is in great demand.”
“I’ll bet,” he laughed, gesturing to a thirtyish woman I’d seen at meetings a few times before. She was staring at me. I knew what the stare meant. I had no intention of doing a thing about it. When people got clean they started looking for other ways to fill their time. Hookups born out of rehab were as common as crabgrass. That didn’t mean I had to join the club. Besides, I had recently realized I was sick of it, sick of the long string of casual f*cks.
“How have you been?” I asked, changing the subject.
Al sprawled in his seat, his fingers tapping his leg. He was thin, dark-skinned and always in motion. I liked him; he was all right.
As Al started jawing about a set of nympho sisters he’d supposedly met at a Burger King, I laughed. I knew he was full of shit but that was okay.
The meeting started a few minutes later. It was the usual mix. There were the lifers who were always around and always would be. Then you had the experts who got stuck somewhere around Step Three and then haughtily proceeded to tell everyone else how to live. Also in attendance were a few of the quiet types who were still trying to come to terms with something out of their control. Then there were the ones like me and Al, who were just trying to get through the day.
Sometimes I got up and talked and sometimes I didn’t. Today I didn’t.
As we filed out, Al mentioned something about not getting his license back for another few weeks.
“You need a ride?” I asked. I didn’t mind. There was still an hour left before I needed to head to work.
Al lived in a studio apartment about a mile south of the university. As I pulled up to his place he mentioned that the next few days were going to be busy for him.
“World Series is starting soon. Plus we’re into football season. Giants are playing the Cowboys on Sunday. Big deal in my line of work.”
Al had never mentioned what he did for a living. I knew he wasn’t a student and his eastern accent was more distinct than Stephanie’s but other than that he was a mystery.
“What line of work is that?” I asked casually.
He appraised me carefully. He obviously had something to hide and he was thinking about whether he wanted to tell me about it.
“I might deal in some gambling action on the side.”
“Oh yeah?” I leaned forward in my seat. I remembered what Stephanie had said about how only suckers thought they could come out ahead in sports betting, but I also remembered the rush I got when the lights of the slot machine went off and the thing vomited money. “I might be interested in participating.”
Al didn’t answer for a moment. Then he nodded. “What’s your number, Chase?”
I told him. He punched the digits into his phone. “Sent you a text. So now you have my number.” He grinned. “If you decide to use it.” He hopped out of the truck and waved. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you around.”
Work was boring, as usual. I waved cars to the proper lots and then did the rounds for a few hours, looking for anyone who might be up to some trouble.
The apartment was empty when I got home. I wished I’d thought to ask Creed where he was performing tonight because I would have headed up there. But chances were he was getting ready to go on by this time and I didn’t want to bug him. The ringing stillness of the apartment gnawed at me so I turned on some music. It wasn’t like I didn’t have options. There were a number of girls I could call who would be up for a good time.
But the only one I really wanted to see was Stephanie. We didn’t have class again until Wednesday and I didn’t really want to let things sit for that long. I started to dial the number I’d memorized. But then I recalled the way she’d screamed at me to f*ck off and remembered how she’d taken an earlier flight from Vegas, probably so she wouldn’t have to deal with me. I felt bad and I didn’t know why the hell I felt bad. I hadn’t exactly forced her to spread her legs.
I put the phone down. Tough as it was for me, I needed to let this lie for a few days, give her a chance to calm down. I wasn’t giving up.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Stephanie
Truly didn’t know. I spent hours dreading the moment she would walk through the door because I figured she would immediately tell me everything about Chase’s version of last night’s events. But incredibly she came home in the late afternoon, snuggled her cat and changed her clothes before heading off to work, uttering not a word of reproach or pity. She noticed the way I was trailing after her and looked at me strangely before she leaned over the bathroom vanity to fix her makeup.