It had been reaching 9 PM when Wade decided his apartment was far too quiet. He’d sent a quick text to his buddies, and they easily agreed to a meet up at their favorite local spot, just off the strip.
His homecoming transition had been, almost, seamless. He moved back into his condo that was previously rented out. Both he and Vi had purchased condos with part of their inheritance. She insisted that it would be a good investment and ensure that they always had a place to live. They sold their family home, knowing that even though it was full of love and memories it would never be the same without their parents. That house deserved a new family. And with him buying a condo, it kept him rooted in Vegas, exactly as his sister planned.
Wade took a hardy sip of the cold wheat beer in the pint glass. He sat at a tall table in the bar, waiting for his friends, with the idea of coming home weighing on him. He would never admit it, and shrugged it off when anyone asked him, but it was hard to be back. After his parents passed away he had to get out of the state, and college was a perfect excuse.
How his sister had stayed, and kept the gym going was beyond him. Every time he walked into that place he expected to see his dad come out of the back office, and he could still hear his mom’s voice scolding him to stay away from the girls’ locker room. In the years he’d been gone those feelings hadn’t changed, but staying away forever wasn’t an option. Everyone said to embrace what they still had, but it was impossible when the ghost of everything he didn’t have haunted him. His sister, however, seemed to be doing fantastic, thriving and falling in love even.
“Hey!” A strong hand slapped him on the back, and his friend Parker came around, sitting in the chair next to him.
“Hey, dude.” Wade nodded.
“You been sitting here long?”
“Nah, just long enough for a beer.”
“Cool. So, what’s the vibe in here tonight? If it’s a sausage fest, we’re bouncing.” Parker glanced around the area. “Is she ours?” he asked, gesturing to the waitress.
Wade gave a nod before taking another sip of his beer. The waitress was pretty, in a forgettable sort of way, and there was a table of girls who every so often burst out in a round of laughter. They’d be easy for the picking in a few more rounds, and Parker was sure to notice them any second. Sure, Wade noticed the pretty girls around him, but he had something kind of, sort of going with Kiki, and he was trying to behave.
“Hey, are you here to see your boy, or to chase some tail?” Wade asked, nudging his friend with his elbow.
“Can’t I do both?” Parker teased, crossing his arms and resting them on the table as he watched the waitress approach.
“Can I get you another round?” the waitress asked.
“You sure can,” Parker said. “What’s your name?”
“Oh sorry, I’m Sarah,” the woman said with a blush.
“Thanks, Sarah. I’ll have one of those.” Parker pointed to Wade’s beer. “And we need two shots of Makers.” Parker glanced at Wade, waiting for his approval.
“Yep.” Wade smiled at the redheaded waitress.
“All right, guys. I’ll be right back.” The way her tiny ass swayed dramatically as she left the table was almost laughable, but it had Parker hypnotized.
It made him wonder if it would have hypnotized him too if Kiki wasn’t in the front part of his mind. That was part of the shit he was trying to avoid thinking about, alone, in his quiet apartment.
“Dude, I think you could totally hit that.” Parker sat back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest.
“What are you talking about, asshole, you know I could hit that.”
“So?” Parker challenged.
“Hey, the night is young. I’m gonna hang back and check out the options.” Wade leaned back in his chair, a wide, cocky smile on his face. “I’ll let them sweat it out a bit.”
He only meant half of what he was saying, protecting his rep, knowing that his buddies would give him shit if they found out he was hung up on some girl. Besides, things with Kiki weren’t set just yet, so if he was going to have wandering eyes, now would be the time to do it. Figure this shit out now before he hurt Kiki’s feelings, and before he pissed his sister off too much.
The waitress came back with the beers, shots, and a side of tots. “These are on me.” She winked before sashaying away.
Wade returned Parker’s wide grin, lifting his shot glass up, Parker following suit. “Here’s to pretty redheads and free tots!”
He tossed back the warm liquor. The first shot of the night was always the toughest, so he quickly chased it with a gulp of the cool beer.
“Where’s Landon at?” Wade asked. “I thought he was coming with you.”
“Oh yeah, he got held up. He should be here soon.”
“Cool.”
“Any plans for tomorrow? I’m thinking about taking that trail over at Red Rock. You should come. Landon is going for sure, but I have another buddy who bailed. It’d just be us—like old times.”
The mere thought of Saturday irritated him. His mind filled with a mental image of Kiki in tight yoga pants and a tank top, rolling around on the ground with Joshua. Who the fuck was Joshua anyway? Wade was sure as hell going to find out. Maybe he should give his brother-in-law to be a call and get the details? That might be a little too suspicious, and would certainly get back to his sister. But it might be worth it to find out what this guy’s intentions were. Kiki seemed to consider Joshua a friend, but unless the man was gay, there was no way in hell he wasn’t trying to get into her panties.
Maybe Wade had hoped to get into her panties, at first, so he couldn’t be too hard on the guy. But they’d gone on multiple dates, and he hadn’t made it past second base, and was still excited to see her. She’d said that Joshua was just a friend, but had he tried? Was he successful? Was she the kind of girl who stayed friends with her exes? Even so, was this how it was going to be? Would her friend Joshua come before them? If they ever became a them. Fuck that. Wade knew what was going to have to happen—he was going to make it very clear to this douchebag that he had dibs on Kiki. And if he didn’t like it, he could kick rocks. Wade owned that gym too, and he could get the fuck out.
Wade could feel the beer and shot of whisky riling him up, filling his cheeks with heat and his head with ideas of grandeur and invincibility. If he wasn’t out with his boys, he might do something dumb like call Kiki or send her a text message...or half a dozen. Who are you? He’d done the booty call thing, but the drunk ‘miss you’ thing, he’d never done that. Did he miss her?
“What’s up, fuckers!” Landon shouted from the bar entrance, making a classy entrance as usual.
Wade rolled his eyes, but he was thankful for the ridiculous entry pulling him from his weird inner monologue. Parker waved Landon over to their table, giving him a stern look. Landon had gotten them eighty-sixed from many bars because of his antics. Wade loved his friends, but he had moved back home to finish graduate school, and his buddies were still acting like frat boys. He had set a lot of goals for himself to reach by twenty-five, and that wasn’t too far off; he’d like to have more to show for it than a bar tab and a new blonde every night.
Not tonight! Game face. Wade pulled it together as another round of shots were set on the table.