Release by Louise J Page B

show and my own training.”
    Even though I’m teasing
back, I’m also serious. I’m too busy, I won’t waste the free time I do have.
I’ve also got to put a lot more thought into seeing Dane than I did the last
time. Not conversations with friends, just me, my head, and an overdose of
common sense and anything else that’ll help me make the right decision.
    “I’ll think about calling
you. I need to clarify a few things for myself,” I tell him.
    “I can’t really ask for more
than that.”   

Twelve:
Dane
    I’m playing pool with Joe; we’re both on the
eight-ball, so it could go either way. We always give each other good
competition, but he’s 3-2 up, and I refuse to lose this game.
    Gerard is sitting at a table
with a brunette. I am ninety-nine-point-nine percent certain he’ll be fucking
her by midnight. It’s nine-fifteen now. The chick he’s with has two friends
with her. They were already here when we arrived, and it’s the first time I’ve
seen any of them. I don’t like this set up; three of them and three of us. Joe
has no interest, so he’s not getting involved, but that doesn’t stop it looking
like a balanced arrangement. I’m a little paranoid about it; I feel like
everywhere I go there’s somebody who knows me, somebody who’ll talk.
    Who the hell goes from not
giving a shit what people think or say about them to feeling uncomfortable in
an innocent situation like this in the space of a week?
    I can’t even remember the
last time I felt paranoid. Come to think of it, I don’t think I ever have. Not
beyond losing my fucking virginity, anyway.
    I haven’t been oblivious to
the girlfriends checking Joe and me out in what they think is a discrete way.
The Asian girl on the left is my kind of cute, too. If I wanted it, I’d be
fucking by midnight, but I’m sure that if Brooklyn hears I’m banging other
woman while trying to convince her to give me another shot she’ll tell me to –
in her own words – piss off! And she’ll mean it.
    I get that there isn’t
anything going down between us, I’m still a free agent who can do what the hell
he wants, but if I fail with her it won’t be because of something I do
involving other women.
    Fuck, my mental distractions
just lost me this game.
    I put my cue along the bed
of the table. “I’m gonna bounce, man,” I say to Joe.
    “Me too,” he says.
    We wave over to Gerard, who
couldn’t give a shit if we stay or go. Leaving the bar, we walk in the
direction of my apartment building, which is where Joe’s motorcycle is. I zip
up my jacket, shielding myself against the night chill, and press my hands into
my pockets. There’s a slight drizzle, but not enough for me to give a damn
about.
    “What’s up?” Joe asks, as he
zips up.
    “I’m just not feeling this
tonight.”
    “That’s not like you.”
    “I can’t risk getting into
any shit.” His gaze moves to me, a furrow between his dark brows. “I know,” I
say, understanding his confusion. “I’m trying to get to know someone, and if
she hears new stuff about me it’ll fuck things up. That dance show I went to
for Saffron last weekend–dude, you cannot mention this to Adam or my sister.”
The problem with Adam is he tells his wife everything, and she does him. That’s
great for them, not so cool for me in situations like this. “I spoke to one of
the dancers.”
    Joe laughs as he finger
combs his hair back from his eyes. “Now I get why Saff can’t know.”
    We cross the intersection.
“We’ve done nothing more than talk. She’s all clued up on me.”
    “What?”
    “She’s friends with Kayla
and they share an apartment. Kayla’s told her a bunch of stuff about me and
warned her to stay away. Brooklyn still showed for breakfast with me on Monday.
I wasn’t even sure she would, but she did.”
    “Breakfast?” he asks, a
single brow arching.
    “I knew she’d probably say
no to anything else, so I came at her with that. Then on Tuesday when we met
again I