The Hard Bounce - страница 33

She answered me with a rattling snore.

As gently as I could, I pulled myself out from under her and sat at the foot of the soft bed. I inhaled deeply and slowly blew out the air as I regained control and psyched out my erection. Suddenly, exhaustion hit me like an ocean wave. I looked at my watch. Almost two in the morning and I felt like I’d been worked over with a Louisville Slugger. I walked into Kelly’s living room and flopped onto the couch. Before I knew it, I was out, drifting in a blessedly dreamless sleep.

A sharp scream woke me up suddenly. I sprang to my feet and promptly dropped onto the floor. In my awkward sleeping position, my left leg had fallen asleep and couldn’t support my sudden leap into action. Heaping injury on top of injury, I came down square on my balls, which had turned six shades of blue, thanks to the previous evening’s coitus interruptus.

Kelly stood in the doorway of her bedroom in a purple towel, mouth agape. I didn’t know how much she remembered. Enough, I hoped. Her mouth hung open for a couple seconds. It wasn’t quite an expression of total horror, but enough to sting my fragile male ego.

“Morning, Puddin’ Pie,” I said. “What’s for breakfast?”

With a shake of her head, she mumbled, “Late.” Then she scurried to the bathroom. Within minutes, she was ready to roll. “Dammit, I’m going to be so late,” she kept muttering. She hadn’t directly acknowledged me yet, the time crunch giving her something else to focus on. But she had no choice but to deal with me when she was ready to leave. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and sighed before she spoke. “Boo, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about what?” She was playing it casual, but a little too much.

“Nothing happened. We kissed. That was it.” I didn’t lay the blame on her for the kissing, even though she started it. It wasn’t like I was an unwilling participant.

“We did, huh?” Bright red stormed into her cheeks and she looked away, probably disappointed that the frog hadn’t turned into a prince.

“Listen, it’s no biggie.” I felt my own face flushing, suddenly embarrassed to be the ugly fuck I am.

“We really have to leave, though.” She looked at her watch again, furrowing her eyebrows. “I am so late.”

We made our way down the stairs and into the harsh morning light. I walked her to her car, and she unlocked her door and stopped. “I didn’t… offend you or anything last night, did I?” She made another pained face in anticipation of my response.

“At the bar? Yeah. With the smooch? Not at all.”

She winced. “Sorry about that. Thanks for not… You know.”

“I know.” I didn’t want to ask what kind of guy she thought I was. I already knew. “Forget it.”

With a tight smile, she got into the car and pulled away. I stood there, angry with myself for reasons I couldn’t put my finger on.

“Where the fuck you been?” It was nice to know Junior cared.

“Sorry, Ma. Did I break curfew?” I had called the office to check for messages and was surprised when he answered the phone. I was at a pay phone in the little coffee shop where I’d stopped to get breakfast. Once again, it was way early for me and the three cups of weak coffee couldn’t cut through the wad of cotton where my brain used to be. My muscles were still stiff from the awkward position I’d slept in, my stomach full of greasy eggs.

“Nobody likes a smartass, Boo. That little prick Paul called the office six times before I checked the machine this morning. I tried you at home and couldn’t leave a message. Why didn’t you pick up?”

“I wasn’t at home.”

He paused, waiting for me to continue. I didn’t.

“You can tell me later. I came in here to catch the kid the next time he called, and get this… he only wants to talk to you.” Junior said the last line in a nasal singsong.

“I think you scare him, buddy.”

“Good. He’s gonna be more scared if I get my hands on him. Where are you?”

“Cosmo’s Diner on Mt. Vernon. Did he say when he’d be calling back?”

“He said he’d call back every hour.”

I checked my watch. It was a quarter to eleven. “Listen, when he calls back, tell him to meet me here. Have him take a cab and I’ll pay for it. Where will you be?”