Chapter 38

Jen parked in my drive at 7:30.

She started to gush about Rich. He was really interested in what she had to say. She could tell the difference.

Sure, guys know they're supposed to appear fascinated. He'd also learned to do that for his business.

But there is just so long you can take it without a flicker, a dart of the eyes, a movement of the mouth that gives you away. He hadn't done any of that. His follow-up questions proved she had his attention.

That was quite a bit for her to fit in before the other five girls finished wandering in. The last one arrived just before eight. We decided to take two cars so we wouldn't be too crowded but would not require a bunch of parking spaces.

It being hump day, it was possible to locate a decent-sized bar with a live band, or maybe it was a small club, I don't know.

"Barkeep," said Jen, "beers all around."

"What kind?" he asked.

We all laughed and we hadn't even started to drink.

"Sorry, just kidding," said Jen, and we proceeded to give the hunk our separate orders.

On a night when a band is playing, the bars try to bring in their most beautiful people to tend bar. It isn't enough to provide the excitement of a band, they want to create as much traffic as possible to create the illusion of a place everybody wants to go. They want it to be so crowded they can't fit in everyone who comes out to be there as manifested by a long line outside.

Being served by attractive, flirtatious people gives the patrons an additional incentive to bring their business.

It was crowded but there were three guys who were chivalrous enough to share their fairly large table. It might have been hope rather than chivalry.

One by one the girls were asked to dance and accepted if they felt the guy was suitable.

I was getting looks but most of them were too afraid to approach me; Remedios the Beauty.

Finally an athletic, good-looking guy either worked up the nerve or drank enough to enable him to try. He looked kind of interesting.

"If I said you had a beautiful body..."

"I'd say, 'I'll be stone-cold dead before you get any closer than you are now.'

"And let me tell you, I appreciate all the thought you put into such a creative approach."

A guy at the next table said, "Ouch."

I turned to him and asked, "And your approach is?"

I waited fifteen to twenty seconds before I said, "Oh, I see. That was it."

Let's see, Bask in the warmth of your presence as a rose resumes its growth when revived from the chill of the night by the morning sun, and be nourished by the sound of your sweet voice, versus if I said you had a beautiful body would you hold it against me.

I know it came from a country song, but it probably came from countless, nameless bars before that, well before I was in diapers. It was hard to find a place to even start to make a comparison between Jeff and everybody else.

I finished my drink and went to the bar to order another.

Was that why Jeff was so anxious to join me tonight? Was he afraid I'd meet someone? Silly boy. When comparing Jeff to all other available men, well, there really wasn't any way to make a comparison. Jeff was one of a kind. So why was I getting so annoyed with him lately?

A few of the girls returned and toasted to my birthday. We all got refills. They also got refills on dancing partners.

I started to look around for someone to dance with myself. I couldn't decide what flavor I preferred tonight: a cocky guy I could cut down to size or a quietly confident guy that didn't require as much work.

I wasn't able to identify any of the second type - they're much more rare - so I picked out a tall, solidly built, handsome guy whose body language said he was God's gift to the fairer sex.

I got up and walked over to him.

I stopped, looked him in the eyes and said, "Let's dance."

Then I walked to the dance floor fully trusting that he would follow.

He did after pausing to get over his surprise.

He was a good dancer and I guess he was gaining confidence the longer I danced with him.

By the third fast song I was shaking it pretty good. He put his hands on my waist and spun me around. He pulled me close and started grinding against my butt. It was pretty big.

"Oh, yeah, grind it bitch," he said in a loud voice. "How do you like that weapon?"

Weapon? What has he been watching?

"Turn me around. I want to feel it."

He spun me around.

I reached down and grabbed his nuts in a vise grip.

"You're lucky," I said.

I squeezed just a bit harder.

"I don't usually wait for a second 'bitch' before I cut them off."

He was up on his tiptoes as if that would somehow let him escape. His face seemed to shrink as his grimace tightened.

I stepped on his foot and started to put my weight on it. Hey, I could have just stomped.