“What’s he made so far?” Ginny asked the middle-aged man next to us.
“Oh, he’s up to thirty thousand,” the man replied.
“Holy hell!” I said. “Seriously?”
The man smiled.
“So how does this work?” Ginny asked him.
“First time in Vegas?” he asked.
“Yeah,” Ginny replied. “First time in a casino, actually.”
The man started explaining the rules of craps to Gin, and I felt myself zoning out. I just had never found card or dice games to be all that interesting. The money sounded great, sure, but I couldn’t really imagine trying to learn all the intricacies that the man was explaining. I let my eyes wander around the crowded floor. There were groups of people everywhere, gambling, chatting, and drinking. I felt the unmistakable feeling of someone’s gaze on me, and I turned.
I found myself staring at a man, probably about my age. He was dressed casually in jeans and a tee shirt. His body looked nice, but it was hard to make out his face under his baseball cap. Then it hit me. He was wearing a Detroit Tigers hat.
“Gin,” I hissed. She tilted her head in my direction. “See that guy over there?” I asked. She looked in the direction I was indicating.
“Yeah,” she said. “So?”
“Do you think he’s from Detroit?” I asked.
She squinted. “Hmm. Could be. But a lot of people wear that hat. It’s a cool logo and Eminem made it totally famous.”
I thought about that. She had a point. But the guy was still looking at me, and I found my curiosity and interest pique.
“Care if I go over and talk to him?” I asked her.
Ginny rolled her eyes at me. “You’re such a tramp,” she teased.
“Yeah, yeah,” I said. “Seriously though, you okay here for a minute?”
She waved me away and I smiled at her. I headed over in the direction of the guy. He was now breaking away from his friends a little and walking in my direction.
“Hey,” I said.
Up close he was definitely good looking. Tall and blond, very clean cut. He reminded me a little bit of Kiki’s husband, Eric. He had that football-player, classic-American look to him. Not necessarily my type, but who cared? A little flirting never hurt anyone.
“I’ve been watching you for ages,” he said, then flushed. “Oops, sorry. That sounded totally creepster, didn’t it? I just meant that you look familiar to me. I’ve been trying to place you.”
I had a hard time not rolling my eyes. Real original line.
“I noticed your hat,” I told him, pointing up at it. “Are you from Detroit?”
“Yeah,” he said eagerly. “Well, Birmingham actually, but close enough.”
I did roll my eyes at that. Birmingham was a totally ritzy suburban town—about as far from Detroit as you could get, figuratively speaking.
“What about you?” he asked.
“I live in Ferndale,” I explained.
“Wow. That’s a small world. Maybe I have seen you around then.”
I smiled up at him flirtatiously. “Perhaps,” I said. I saw him gulp and felt my heart soar a little. He was totally into me.
“So how long are you in Vegas for?” I asked.
“Just the weekend,” he replied. “My buddy is getting married in a few weeks; bachelor party, you know.” He gestured to the group of guys behind us. “How about you?”
“The same. Well, minus the bachelor party stuff. So, are you guys just getting wasted and getting a bunch of lap dances?”
He laughed. “Hardly. I mean, we’re drinking but I don’t think any of us would be too into the stripper thing. I have little sisters and I just couldn’t imagine ogling a girl like that.”
I looked at him, trying to figure him out. He seemed like a pretty nice guy, but it could always just be an act. I’d seen it before.
“So, what are your plans while you guys are in town?” he asked.
“I think we’re gonna do the Stratosphere thrill rides tomorrow,” I replied. “You know, the ones on top of that tower? And see the Cirque du Soleil show too. Probably do a lot of dancing, that kind of thing.”
“That sounds great,” he replied. “It would be cool if I saw you around.”
“Yeah,” I said, smiling again. I had to admit, faker or not, it was nice that he was so clearly into me. “Well, I should get back to my friend.”
I couldn’t be sure but I thought I saw his face fall. “Yeah?” he asked.
I gestured over to where Ginny was standing, clearly gawking at us. Poor married girl, she had to live vicariously through me when I chatted up new guys.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you around,” I said, turning to go.
“Wait!” he called after me. “I don’t even know your name.”
I kept walking. When I had gotten a few feet away I turned back. “It’s Annie,” I called out, grinning, then turned back to Ginny.
“Like I said—tramp,” she sighed when I reached her.
I grinned at her. “Oh, Gin,” I said. “You’re just jealous.”
***
The next morning I rolled out of bed with a pretty major headache. We had casino-hopped ‘til all hours of the morning. As Matt had predicted, Jen had turned out to be a phenomenal card player. She had picked up blackjack fairly quickly, and ended the night four hundred bucks richer. The rest of had occupied ourselves with a lot of drinking.
“Ugh,” Ginny groaned from the bed next to me. “I keep forgetting that I’m an old married mother and I shouldn’t be doing things like this.”
“Gin, baby or not, you’re only twenty-five,” I told her, rubbing my head.
“Let’s go get food,” she said. “Bacon is the only cure for a hangover this bad.”
“Oh my God,” I moaned. “Bacon sounds amazing.”
We dragged ourselves out of bed, throwing on yoga pants and tank tops. “You look hot,” I told Ginny drily as she pulled her hair up in a messy bun.
“Says the girl who didn’t manage to take her make-up off last night,” she replied.
We made it downstairs to one of the casino restaurants and found a mouth-watering buffet. Ginny was whimpering next to me as we stared down the long line of food. We had never been the kind of girls to avoid food after heavy drinking—or any other time for that matter. We were of the opinion that the best way to kill a hangover was to stuff it full of greasy junk.
A few minutes later, we had found our way to a table with heaping plates of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. “I need coffee,” Ginny moaned. “Where the hell is the coffee?”
“Right over there,” a voice said.
We both looked up and I found myself face to face with the guy from the casino last night. Oh, hell. He looked even better in the morning, if that was possible, all bright eyed and rested. I’m sure I looked like crap.
“How you doing this morning, Annie?” he asked, sitting down across the table. “Have fun last night?”
“A little too much,” I said, feeling uncomfortable at his nearness in my present state.
“Well,” he said, “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”
Ginny was watching my reaction to his arrival with a smile on her face that freaked me out a little bit. She knew me too well.
“Hi,” she said, pushing her hand into his face. “I’m Ginny, Annie’s friend.”
“Hello, Ginny, Annie’s friend,” he replied, smiling. “I’m Nate.”
“Nice to meet you, Nate,” she said, smiling at me way too obviously. Oh, geez.
“So what are you guys up to today?” Nate asked. “Did you say something about thrill rides?”
“Yeah,” Ginny said excitedly. “We’re gonna go to the stratosphere tower and do the rides up there.”
“That’s awesome,” Nate said. “I’ve been trying to convince my buddies to do that, but they’re way too chicken.”
“You could always come with us,” Ginny said.
I kicked her under the table. I could
live without her matchmaking. It was one thing to flirt with the guy last night, when I was looking good and feeling pretty tipsy. It was another to invite him to spend the day with us.
Nate was looking at me with a slight smirk on his face. “Thanks, Ginny, but I should probably hang out with my friends today.”
I gave a sigh of relief, but it was short-lived.
“Well, before we head over there we’re going to spend some time at the pool here at the hotel,” Ginny said.
“Cool,” Nate said. “I’ll totally see you guys there.”
He tapped the table twice, then stood up. “Good to see you guys, Ginny, Annie.”
“Bye!” Ginny said brightly.
“Bye,” I muttered.
After he walked away, I turned on her. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“What? I thought you liked him?”
“I think he’s cute,” I corrected her. “I never said I liked him.”
She sighed. “Well the only way to find out if you like a cute guy is to spend some time with him.”
“Ginny,” I said, “he is so obviously not my type. Flirting with him at the casino is one thing. Hanging out with him all day is totally another.”
“Why don’t you think he’s your type?” she asked, surprised. “He’s totally into you. And the way you sauntered over to him last night—I think there’s chemistry there.”
I sighed.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Ginny said. “You’re thinking he’s too together for you, right? You’re wishing he would be just a little more emo?”
“I don’t like emo guys,” I said, offended.
Ginny laughed. “Bullshit. Sensitive artist is just another way to describe emo.”
I glared at her. “Gin, he’s probably, like, an accountant or something. He lives in Birmingham.”
She shook her head. “You’re such a snob.”
“Who’s a snob?” Jen asked, sitting down next to me. I looked at her and groaned. While Ginny and I looked like we’d been drinking all night, Jen looked as perfect and put-together as ever. Typical.
“Annie made a love connection and she’s in denial,” Ginny said.
“Oooh,” Jen said, digging into her pancakes. “Who’s the guy?”
“It’s not a love connection,” I said, feeling irritated with both of them. “I met a guy from Detroit at the casino last night. I flirted with him a little bit. End of story.”
“Or not,” Ginny said, drinking her juice. “He came over here this morning and you can totally tell he’s into her. He says he’s going to try to find her at the pool.”
“Wow, Annie,” Jen said. “This sounds pretty serious.”
“I have an idea,” I said, putting down my fork. “How about you both drop it?”
“She says she doesn’t care,” Ginny said to Jen, ignoring me, “but how much do you want to bet right now she’s thinking about what bikini to wear?”
As they both laughed, I could only glare at them.
I mean, she was totally right, but it was still annoying.
Chapter Eight
“So where’s the hottie?” Matt asked, settling down on a lounge chair near me. Jen snickered, and I glared at them both.
“Thanks, Jen,” I told her.
“What?” she said. “It’s very important to me that your future husband gets along well with my boyfriend. I had to make sure that Matt was welcoming to him.”
“Future husband?” Kiki squealed as she and Eric joined us in the area we had staked out by the pool. “Who is it, Annie?”
I groaned. “You guys, seriously. It’s no big deal. Please don’t embarrass me.”
“Because you have never, ever embarrassed either of us around a guy,” Ginny said drily. I flipped her off.
“Hey, Nate!” Ginny said suddenly, staring at the space behind my head. I jumped in surprise and I saw Jen snicker out of the corner of my eye.
“Hey, guys,” Nate said.
“Annie, why don’t you introduce us to your friend?” Ginny asked innocently.
I sighed. There was no sense in being rude.
“Guys, this is Nate,” I said, gesturing behind me. “He lives in Birmingham and I met him in the casino last night. Nate, these are my friends.”
“Hello,” he said cheerfully.
To my dismay, Ginny jumped up from her lounge chair.
“I’m gonna go sit with Kiki,” she said. “Give you guys a chance to chat.”
Nate, who seemed amused by the entire situation, came and sat down on the lounger next to me.
“So,” he said. “You’re pretty annoyed by me, huh?”
“I am not!” I said, surprised.
“I’ll leave you alone, if you want,” he said, holding up his hands. “But I thought it would be cool to get to know you a little. No biggie, alright?”
“Okay,” I said, feeling kind of childish for my behavior. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m coming across as rude. My friends are being a little annoying. They think I need to be set up.”
“And you disagree?” Nate asked.
“Of course I disagree,” I snapped. “I have absolutely no problem getting a guy myself.”
He appraised me for a minute. In spite of myself, I felt a blush rise to my cheeks.
“You know what, Annie? I have no problem believing that at all.”
I blushed harder and looked down. What the hell was my problem? I was so not the type of girl that got all red-faced over a guy. It was ridiculous.
“So is it okay with you if I hang out over here for a little while?” he asked. “My friends are right over there, and I’ll go back and join them whenever you want, I promise. No pressure.”
“Of course you can stay,” I muttered. “I’m pretty boring, though. I have no plans to do anything but lay here in the sun for the foreseeable future.”
“Sounds good to me,” he said, settling back in the chair. “God, just think: in a few short months it’s going to be snowing in Detroit.”
I groaned. “Oh, hell, don’t even say that.”
“So, you live in Ferndale?” he asked, squinting over at me.
“Yup,” I said. “I rent a house there with my friend Jen.” I pointed her out. “And Ginny lives a few streets away. Kiki and Eric over there are married and they live in Birmingham too.”
“Have you always lived around there?” he asked.
“Yeah. We grew up there,” I explained. “What about you? You said you’re from Birmingham, right?”
“Yeah, and don’t think I didn’t see you roll your eyes last night,” he said, laughing. “What, you assume I’m a snob or something because I live in a nice town?”
I shifted, uncomfortable. To tell the truth, that was pretty much exactly what I thought. “Sorry,” I told him. “I just went to college with a couple of people who live out that way. They were kind of stuck-up. I guess I’m a little prejudiced.”
“No problem,” he said. “I’m actually pretty new to Birmingham. I moved there from Maryland, for work.”
“What do you do?” I asked.
“I’m an engineer,” he said. “For Ford.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s pretty impressive.”
“It’s pretty nerdy,” he laughed. I was surprised to find that I liked the sound. Usually the guys I went for weren’t so quick to laugh. “I’ve always been into computers and math. It’s fun for me to see the stuff I do on the computer actually get created, you know?”
“I can see that,” I said. Hmm, he had surprised me again.
“So what do you do?” he asked.
“I’m an actress,” I told him.
“I knew it!” he said, sitting up straight and pointing at me.
“The hell?” I asked, confused
“I knew I had seen you somewhere. You were in Proof last year, weren’t you? At the Y?”
“Uh, yeah, I was,” I said.
“I saw you!” he exclaimed, still pointing at me. “I saw that show! You were really, r
eally good!”
I stared at him in shock. Proof was an awesome show, and it was the biggest role I’d had since college, but it had been a tiny little production at the YMCA. If I recalled correctly, I had been paid in vouchers from the restaurant down the street. “You saw that?” I asked Nate. And more to the point, he remembered me?
“Yeah! It was good. I enjoyed it.” The expression on my face must have registered. “What?”
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m just surprised. You don’t strike me as the theater-going type.”
“See, you shouldn’t judge me until you get to know me,” he said, pointing at me again.
Over his head, I caught Ginny staring at us, a huge grin on her face.
“So do you regularly go to local theater?” I asked, still feeling off-balance.
“Sometimes,” he said. “I have a friend who loves that kind of stuff. I go with him once in a while. I like it. We’ve seen some great stuff.”
“Wow,” I said. “That’s pretty cool.”
“So what else have you done?” he asked, lying on his side so he was completely facing me now.
“Uh, nothing too big, to be honest. Not since college. I’ve had a few small roles here and there and I’ve done a bunch of backstage stuff, but nothing too exciting. It’s been tough breaking into the scene, ya know?”
“I bet.” He nodded. “But you were seriously really good. I mean, I still remembered you after a whole year. That’s got to count for something. I bet it’s only a matter of time.”
I smiled at him. “Thanks. Actually,” I paused, unsure if I should tell him. But he had seemed so genuinely interested in my acting. “Actually, I had a really big audition last week. Do you know Jenner Collins?”
“Pretty boy in the action movies?” he asked.
I wrinkled my nose at him. “I wouldn’t quite describe him that way. He’s from the area, did you know that? And he puts on a lot of really good shows with local talent.”
“Well, I still think he’s a pretty boy. But that’s cool. So what’s the deal with audition?”
“It was for one of Jenner’s shows,” I explained. “It goes up in a month and a half. And I got a callback.”
“That’s amazing!” Nate said. “Good for you. When’s the callback?”
Three Girls and a Leading Man Page 5