Side Game (Men of Trance Book 2)

by Nicole Loufas

  “Wow, you’re good.” She points at me. “So, are we doing this?”

  “Don’t you think we should talk?”

  “Is that normal?”

  “Nothing about this is normal.”

  She seems really nonchalant about being here. Classic Leeyan. She’s almost as good at role-playing as I am. She had everyone convinced she was happy about becoming a mother right up until the day she ran away and joined the army.

  “I don’t feel comfortable dancing for you.”

  “Fair enough.” She stands up. “Let’s eat.”

  If there was ever a time to eat my feelings, it’s now.

  “Does Theo know you’re back?”

  “Not yet. I have a plan.” She takes a step closer.

  I’m flat against the door. “Was this part of your plan?”

  “I just want to talk. We’re good at that, remember?”

  She’s referring to the night on the roof. The night we don’t speak of.

  Black Wednesday.

  Leeyan Flores wrecked my best friend, abandoned her daughter, and indirectly derailed my life. She’s the last person on earth I should be meeting at a bar, yet, I can’t find the will to say no.

  I tell Leeyan to meet me at the Lucky Charm, a dive bar down the street. I shower and change out of my G-string, praying Theo doesn’t come to the locker room while I’m here. If I don’t see him, I won’t have to lie to him. Informing him his ex is back in town is the last thing I want to do.

  “Dude,” Thor rumbles from outside the door. “I just made six bills on a lap dance. Let’s hit up that after-hours spot.”

  “Can’t do it.” I open the bathroom door and look around the locker room. “Is Theo back?”

  “No. He’s working the floor.” Thor frowns. “Why not? You have a hot date?”

  “Nobody says ‘hot date’ anymore.”

  “Fuck you.” He takes off his sweats and smells them.

  “You’re nasty.”

  “The chick smelled like watermelon.” He holds his dirty pants out toward my face. “Check it out.”

  “Get the fuck away from me!”

  I step into my Jordan’s and grab my cell. “I gotta bounce.”

  I open the door to leave, and Dain walks in.

  “Are we hanging out tonight?” Dain tosses a towel in the dirty bin. It misses, and he leaves it on the floor.

  “Pretty boy has a date. It’s not hot though.” Thor wraps a towel around his naked waist. “I’m free.”

  “Come on, Gio—I’m buying the first round.” Dain holds up four hundred-dollar bills.

  Everybody made money tonight. Technically, I did too, but it’s dirty money. It’s Leeyan’s money.

  “I hooked that tech executive,” I lie. They’ll never know. “See you when the stock market crashes.”

  I’m walking toward the Lucky Charm, feeling anxious, like I’m going to meet a date—and not a “date” date, a real date, as in someone who isn’t paying for my time…even though Leeyan did buy me for the night.

  This is all kinds of fucked up.

  The Lucky Charm is a pit and hardly ever busy. Unlike the other bars on Broadway, they don’t have a DJ spinning on the weekends. This place is for drinking, and that’s what I plan to do.

  I sit beside Leeyan and order a Jameson. The barely legal Asian female bartender places a shot in front of me.

  I toss it back and motion for another. “Double.”

  She pours it and walks away.

  “So.” Leeyan sips her beer.

  “So.”

  “We should talk.”

  “About what?”

  We’re both facing the wall of bottles. If someone walked in, we could be two strangers sitting at a bar.

  “I think it’s time we clear the air. We never…the last time I saw you was the day before I shipped out. You called me a selfish cunt and wished me dead.”

  “I don’t remember it like that.”

  Lie. I remember that day clearly. When Theo left the room to get Lulu’s stuffed elephant, I laid into Leeyan. Told her she was evil and didn’t deserve happiness.

  “Do you remember Cookie?”

  “Ah, Cookie.” I hold my up glass in a toast to her.

  After Theo started dating Leeyan, I decided fucking Cookie was the answer to my pent-up frustration. I didn’t think it would take nearly three years for her to finally cave. Cookie played hard to get but eventually crumbled.

  “She wrote to me about you.” Leeyan pretends to be appalled. “She thought you were in love with her.”

  “We slept together three times, once in a port-o-potty—that’s not true love.”

  “Come on, you sent ten dozen flowers on her birthday.”

  The flowers sealed the deal— ten dozen cheap daisies and her panties came flying off. At that point, I was working with Rico, and women were paying top dollar for my dick. Cookie was my last conquest.

  “She should’ve given it up sooner and saved us both the drama.”

  Leeyan shakes her head in disapproval, but she has no right to shame me. If anything, she deserves a little grief.

  “Are you excited to see Lulu?”

  The mention of her daughter causes a crease in her forehead.

  “Honestly, no. I’m scared to death.”

  “Lulu is pretty scary. You have to watch everything you say around her—she’s like a narc.”

  “When I left, she was barely talking. Now she’s a little person. I’m afraid of what she’ll ask me. What if I don’t have the right answers?”

  “Don’t worry, Lulu has an answer for everything. She’s like a genius kid.”

  Leeyan looks proud as if she has anything to do with Lulu’s intelligence. She may have fifty percent of Leeyan’s DNA, but Lulu is all Theo.

  “Tell me something else about her.”

  “Like what?”

  “What does she look like?” Leeyan bends down to rummage through her backpack. “This is the last picture I have.”

  The picture is at least two years old; I can tell because Lulu and Theo are posing in front of my old car.

  “She looks the same, I guess. Her hair is longer.” I give it back. “I always thought she favored Theo, but now that I see you, there’s definitely a resemblance.”

  I don’t know why I feel the need to spare her feelings. Leeyan is the enemy. In no universe is this appropriate, the two of us drinking in a bar like civilized people. Every word out of my mouth is a betrayal to Theo. He should be here, not me.

  “How did I draw the short straw? Why come to see me?”

  “I knew where you stood with me. You were a safe bet.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Cookie, for instance. I stopped writing her two years ago. I probably lost her friendship. I don’t want to confirm it. I’d rather go on believing we’re still cool, unlike you…”

  “I was a safe bet because I already hated you.”

  “Exactly.” She toasts to that.

  I shoot the rest of my whiskey then wave the bartender over for another round.

  “How is Theo?” She asks timidly.

  This is my chance to be a good friend since he’s probably going to disown me when he finds out Leeyan came to see before him and Lulu.

  “He’s killing it. He has a great job. Lulu’s going to a fancy prep school in the fall. His life is golden.”

  “Good.” She tries not to sound bitter. “I mean that’s great. He’s okay. I’m glad.”

  Neither of us believes the words coming out of her mouth.

  She runs her fingers through the condensation on her glass. “What about you? Are you golden?”

  How I am is none of her business. She’s trying to drag me back to the Oasis.

  “We’re not friends, Leeyan.”

  “Apparently.” She sips her beer.

  “I don’t get you.” I turn to face her. “Shouldn’t you be on Theo’s doorstep begging to see your daughter?”

  She takes a larger d
rink from her glass. Holds it in her mouth, then swallows. She doesn’t look at me when she speaks.

  “I didn’t tell anyone on base I had a daughter. If I had, they would ask about her, and I wouldn’t know what to say because I don’t know anything about her. The truth is, I stopped writing. I told myself it didn’t matter because Lulu was too young to read. I stopped calling. I figured Lulu didn’t remember what I looked like, let alone the sound of my voice. Eventually, enough time passed that I started to believe they were better off without me.”

  Her confession chips away at the armor I built to prevent her from getting to me. Hating her was the only way I knew how to deal with the pain of losing something I never really had. Leeyan was the first and last woman I have ever truly desired. When I saw my best friend dancing with her, I knew he felt the same way.

  Theo couldn’t wait to introduce me to the girl he met at Oasis on Black Wednesday. The girl he met the night I was running late. I left the club and texted Theo that I couldn't find parking. Everything would have been fine if Theo didn't her to my parents’ house the day after Thanksgiving.

  I played it off like we hadn’t met. She rolled with the lie until Theo went to the bathroom and we were alone in the kitchen. She asked me why I didn't show. I pulled a mask on and told her something else came up. Something better. She believed the lie. I think that hurt more than watching Theo fall in love with her.

  Leeyan never cared about me. The night on the roof was dwindled down to an insignificant conversation between two people who barely knew each other. It’s remained buried in the depths of my subconscious, until now.

  “Just because you lied to a bunch of strangers doesn’t mean you had to cut Theo off. He waited over a year for you to write, call, something."

  “I fucked up.” Her voice cracks. “You want me to admit it, I will. I fucked up, and now all I can do is pray my daughter will forgive me. I’ve given up any fantasies I had about reconciling with Theo. We never should have been together in the first place.” She looks up at me. “We weren’t meant to be.” I sense a double-meaning in her statement.

  I limited my interactions with Leeyan once she became a permanent part of Theo’s life. I converted the pain and jealousy that manifested every time they kissed or held hands, into hatred. I slept with all her friends and flaunted my conquests in her face. In some fucked way, I should thank Leeyan. If it weren’t for her falling in love with my best friend, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. I tell myself I dodged a bullet. Too bad my best friend took the hit for me.

  Even though Leeyan has been the enemy for years, I feel myself weakening in her presence. I can’t afford to get sloppy. Leeyan uses feelings as ammunition. She manipulated her way into Theo’s life, trapped him with a kid, then bailed. She’s the kind of woman with the power to blow a motherfucker up. I feel like any minute she’s going to spray with me with gas and light a match.

  “I saw Theo at the club.”

  Theo working at Trance isn’t a secret, but I highly doubt it’s something he would brag about to Leeyan.

  “I wouldn’t have recognized him if it wasn’t for the tattoo of Lulu’s name on his forearm. I assume you’re the one responsible for his transformation.”

  “If you’re asking if I’m the one who turned him into a beast, then yes.”

  The bartender brings Leeyan another beer. She downs what is left in her current glass then swaps the empty glass for the full one.

  “I’m not into muscles.”

  “All women are into muscles.”

  “Not me.”

  “I guess you’re not into men anymore.”

  Leeyan only dated women before she met Theo. He was her first male sexual partner. Had I known she still had her v-card the night on the roof, things may have gone differently. That’s the lie I tell myself. I wouldn’t even kiss her. Out of all the women I’d met before her, none scared me the way Leeyan did. I haven’t allowed myself to be that vulnerable since the night on the roof.

  “I love who I love, male or female.”

  “As long as they don’t have muscles.” I flex my arm.

  She squeezes it and says, “Very firm.”

  My cock twitches.

  “Did you love anyone in Germany?”

  “No,” she huffs.

  I give her side-eye as I hold the glass to my lips.

  “All work and no play?”

  “You have no idea.”

  Not many women can pull off a demure grin, but Leeyan Flores has mastered it. I don’t want to notice these things about her, but…whiskey.

  “How about Theo? Does he love anyone?”

  I think of Sylvie, his babysitter with benefits. I don’t know their status these days.

  “You’ll have to ask him.”

  “Is that a yes?” She seems concerned—jealous.

  “What Theo does and doesn’t do with his dick is not my concern.”

  “Dicks have nothing to do with love.”

  “Oh, then you must be talking about that thing pumping blood to my dick.” My dick perks up when he hears me refer to him.

  Leeyan is like one of those frequency scramblers, fucking up the reception around her. My brain doesn’t know what to think. My body doesn’t know what it feels, what it wants. I search for a spark of the loathing and animosity I felt for her three years ago. The only thing I find is the bottom of my glass. I set it on the bar and motion for the bartender.

  Leeyan knocks her knee against my leg as she spins to face me.

  “How about I buy you a shot?”

  “Sure, why not.”

  “Tequila?” She hits my knee a second time.

  The perfect igniter.

  She orders two shots of reposado while I fidget with the corner of my napkin. This is not how a typical date goes for me. This is not a date. This is me about to go up in flames. If anyone can create hell on earth, it’s Leeyan.

  A small glass with clear alcohol is placed in front of me along with a dried lemon wedge.

  “I’m going to drink until I hate you again.” She holds up her glass in salute then tosses it back.

  “I still hate you.” I take my shot and slam the glass on the bar.

  Neither of us wants to show weakness by using the lemon. The bartender refills my whiskey glass, though I really want water. Fuck that—I’m not drinking water when she’s still got a beer.

  “What are you doing here, Leeyan?”

  “I was discharged,” she replies in a matter-of-fact tone. “So, I came home.”

  “This isn’t home.” I twist to face her, resting my elbow on the bar. I’m a little heated and not sure who I’m supposed to be right now. I’m not in work mode, not in date mode, so who am I here?

  She takes her time before speaking. Leeyan is calculating, conniving. I should only trust fifty percent of the words that leave her mouth.

  My eyes drift to her mouth.

  She doesn’t bite her lip, smirk, or smile. Her slightly parted lips are tinted a soft raspberry red. Other than a little mascara, she doesn’t appear to be wearing makeup, at least not the level of foundation and contouring I’m used to seeing on women. Leeyan looks natural, clean like she just got out of the army.

  “I was scared to go home, and since I don’t have anyone else…” She shrugs and takes a mouthful of beer. “You’re the safe bet.”

  “How did you even know I was working tonight?’

  “Fred told me.” She makes a squiggly line in the condensation built up on her glass.

  “Fred, as in my doorman, Fred?”

  “I went by your place, but you weren’t home.”

  It worries me that she doesn’t see this as stalkerish. I definitely need to have a talk with Fred about privacy.

  “Don’t get me wrong…” She speaks with her whole body. Her hands fly up in defense. “I want to see Lulu. She’s the reason I came back. But showing up at ten o’clock at night didn’t seem like the right time.”

  “Probably not.”

 
; “Had I known Theo wasn’t going to be home, I might have reconsidered. Who is taking care of Lulu tonight?”

  “She’s with the babysitter, Sylvie. Don’t worry, she has a son, so she’s got experience or whatever.” I’m babbling. I’m tipsy, and I’m babbling. I need food.

  Leeyan does a slow nod like she’s trying to figure out if I’m lying.

  “Does Theo work every night?”

  “Just Friday through Sunday.”

  She pretends to be impressed. “You guys must make decent money. Shit, I paid two-fifty for thirty minutes.”

  “That can’t be right.” I shake my head. “My fee is two fifty for fifteen minutes.”

  Leeyan’s face turns red as she starts to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “I might have lied about buying you for the night.” She guzzles her beer. “I only bought one dance.”

  “What do you mean? I saw the cards, the names…” A light bulb explodes above my head. “You faked the cards.”

  “I’m sorry!” She continues to laugh. “They were sitting on the counter for anyone to grab. The club really needs better security.”

  Reality sinks in—I didn’t make any money tonight. I can’t afford to slack. I might have considered going back to the club, but I’m too drunk. Jim and his fucking rules. We can drink while we work, but getting wasted is bad for business, mostly because drunk strippers and drunk patrons usually end up having drunk sex in bathrooms. Leeyan has cost me at least six hundred dollars tonight and possibly my best friend.

  “You’re the fucking devil.”

  “Quit being dramatic.” She elbows me in the ribs.

  “Ouch.”

  “Sorry.” She rubs her hand down my back. “Did I hurt your vagina?”

  I push her away but can’t help smiling. Being around her isn’t horrible. “What am I doing here?”

  “Talking, drinking.” She lifts her almost empty glass.

  “You’re going to cost me my best friend, again.” I pull out my wallet and set it on the table, the universal sign that I’m ready to go.

  She places her hand over mine. “The last time I was honest about my feelings was on the roof, with you.”

  I stare at her hand on mine and wish it didn’t make me feel some kind of way.

  “Can we just be two people who get each other? No past, no animosity—can we be that?”