One Swinging Summer: (Corrupted 1-4)
Page 29
I usually blush, roll my eyes, and reply with, "I'm sure your girlfriend wouldn't mind at all."
Caleb being Caleb usually says, "If she does mind, she doesn't have to join us. She can just watch."
Caleb has been in an on again/off again relationship for about six months now. Her name is Ashlee. She looks like an Ashlee, petite, blonde and too perky. She even pops her gum. In a bar. I tease Caleb that it's because she is too young to drink. She isn't but she looks it. He teases me back by saying that if I would teach her my oral skills, she could put her mouth to better use than popping her gum.
It has been hard watching Caleb with Ashlee. I know I'm the one who ended it, but I'd had good reason. And I had moved on as well. Which brings us back to Roger.
I watch Roger cross the bar toward me carrying our drinks. He is almost as tall as Caleb, and as good looking in his own way. Where Caleb is solid and barrel-chested, Roger is lean and sleek. Caleb looks like your stereotypical cop, which he is, but Roger looks like a runner- he's fit, tight and moves with a coiled animal grace. Roger had put in his time as a Marine, and it showed. He held himself proudly. It was easy to picture him in his dress blues, which I did often. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a man in uniform.
I had seen pictures of Roger in uniform but he was out of the service before I met him. As I watched him come closer I wondered if he would put it on for me. Maybe dress up for me like us women put on lingerie for them. Maybe I'll ask him, later on as the relationship progresses. We hadn't gotten naked yet, but as I looked him over I knew the time was coming.
As sexy as Roger is, he has this sweet nerdiness about him. He doesn't quite fit in here. He is the consummate gentleman, and a good dancer, but he seems somehow above all of this petty bar stuff. He's not judgmental by any means, and he knows how to have a good time. He just sticks out a bit, like a seasoned man in a crowd full of overgrown college boys. Like he gets it, has been there, but also holds the knowledge that there is more to life than the next great party.
"Did you know you've made an enemy in this bar?" Roger asked me as he handed me a drink.
"Excuse me?"
"I was cornered at the bar getting our drinks, and warned away from you."
"By who?" Was my outraged reply.
He pointed her out. Ashlee. I was surprised. I knew she didn't like me much, for obvious reasons, but this was her first overt show of hostility. "What did she say?"
"She said I should watch out for you, that you have a tendency to be a ball buster. You lead people on, flirt with them, take them home and then drop them. She said you make men fall for you and then tear their hearts out. She also said you indiscriminately go home with anyone who asks you, and you've been known to break up marriages and cause bar fights."
I looked at Roger in stunned silence for a second, and then busted out laughing. Once I started, I couldn't stop. I started with amused giggles and the more I ran Ashlee's words through my head the harder I laughed. I backed up and sat down on a bar stool to stop myself from falling down.
Every time I tried to stop and talk, to ask Roger if he was pulling my leg, I just laughed harder. When I could finally talk, my face was covered in laughing tears and my stomach ached with the efforts of my muscles.
"I take it you don't agree with her assessment?" Roger asked, quietly amused by my response.
"I'm surprised she didn't add that I kill Dalmatian puppies and wear their fur as a coat. That was the funniest thing I have ever heard. Although I think she needs to look up the term ball buster, because it doesn't fit anything she said after it. Oh wow, bar fights and marriages huh? How do I find the time?"
That made Roger laugh. "I take it she is the one dating your ex?"
"How could you tell?"
I had filled Roger in on what he was walking into tonight. I have this weird thing about not appreciating being a part of swirling underground currents. I don't like when you can tell that everyone around you knows something you don't, and it makes you feel stupid and outside the group, so I tried to make sure Roger didn't feel like that here.
"What else did she say?" I asked him, still recovering.
"She said I should be careful, because all you wanted from a man was to take him home, ride him like a racehorse, make him fall deeply in love with you and that you would take everything you could get from me, leaving me broken, exhausted and unsure of what the hell had just happened."
"Wow, that was a hell of a conversation for a drink run. You don't believe her do you? What did you say back to her?"
"I said exactly what I was thinking."
"Which was?"
"God, I hope that's the case, I could use some of that."
I laughed hard again at that, wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. When we came up for air I said, "I think you and I are going to get along just fine." And then I kissed him again.
Later on that evening I ran into Caleb on my way back from the bathroom. I didn't sugarcoat my words, with Caleb I didn't have to. I gave it to him with both barrels. "Your little bitch of a girlfriend needs to watch her mouth."
He knew me well, and knew for a fact I didn't get vicious for no reason. Caleb's response was instantaneous. "What did she do?"
I told him everything Roger had told me. His response was similar to mine- incredulous at her accusations, knowing not a single word was true, and pissed at her for making them. He did laugh at her assessment of me, teasing me about being a home wrecking ball buster.
"I'm serious Caleb. I'll let her slide this one time, because of you. But another show like that and I will own her." I said, once the teasing had passed.
"If she only knew how quickly I would dump her ass for you, if you would let me."
"I think she does know that Caleb," I said uncomfortably. "I think that knowledge is exactly what drove her. You would think she would want me to be happily away from you."
I teased him some more, lightly brushing off his leaving her for me comments. We had a nice friendship going now, but sometimes Caleb's remarks hit too close to home. I liked our friendship, and I wanted to keep it friendly. We had shared a lot, and I didn't want it to turn ugly or uncomfortable.
"So, when are you going to introduce me to the new guy?" Caleb elbowed me in the side, reminding me of the night we met by doing so.
"No time like the present. Come on, I'll introduce you to Roger. I hope Ashlee is watching, I think irritating her may become my favorite new pastime."
"His name is Roger? Seriously?"
"Are you going to play nice?"
"Yes, of course. Roger that."
"Fuck you." I said, leading him to our table.
The guys shook hands, circling each other and smelling each other's asses like dogs new to the pack. Just kidding. Kind of. They made small talk, and soon Caleb wandered off back to his table. Roger and I made the most of the rest of the night. We danced some and visited a lot. I introduced him to a few more of my bar friends, and other than the little Ashlee incident, everything went pretty well.
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