Page 11 of Triplet Tease

The waitress returned with our beer, and Finnpaid with a card. We clinked glasses. Finn and Derry struck up smalltalk, and I tuned out the conversation.

After our trip to Ecuador, I should have lovedbeing in a place like this. I loved everything about being in SouthAmerica except for the lack of women. There were women there, ofcourse. A steady turnover of volunteers brought new faces on amonthly basis, sometimes even weekly. It was a small camp wherepeople made friendships and worked together. I met some lovely womenthere, men too, great guys, all friendly and nothing more.

I wouldn’t say there wasn’t any opportunityfor romance, because where there are a bunch of single young people,they will find a way. But the pool of potential partners was smalland continually changing the entire time.

There were some likable women among thevolunteers, some of whom I’d count as friends, and I’d expect tokeep in touch with forever. But I found no romance, no one to flirtwith.

Another time, a club like Lime Light might’vebeen fun, but watching these dancers wasn’t what I needed. I wanteda real physical connection with a woman, and more. I wanted to talkand laugh with her, too.

The waitresses all wore T-shirts bearing theclub logo, black shorts, and sneakers. The practical uniform for thejob looked very flattering on our waitress. I would’ve preferred anight out meeting women dressed like that, knowing that I didn’thave to work with them for the next few weeks and share a smallliving space.

A waitress cleared tables near the stage.

I gazed around, seeking out the rest of thestaff. Another carried a tray of drinks to the busy table at theback, where the lap dance had finished. I admired her shapely roundass while she placed the glasses on the table, chatting to thepatrons as she did so. Her long red hair looked luscious under thelights, and I imagined grabbing a fist of it, feeling its texture,and holding it to my face so that I could smell and taste it.

I need to fuck, for real. Not watch a fuckingtease show and imagine sniffing the staff.

The waitress turned around to leave the tableand looked directly at me. It was as if I’d spoken my thoughtsaloud, and she’d heard exactly what I wanted to do with her.

We made eye-contact, and she stared at me forlonger than was comfortable, but I stared right back at her anyway. Iliked the look of her, but I didn’t understand why she stared atme.

Eventually, she marched off to the bar andslipped behind it and out of view. I watched for her to reappear. Itwas the strangest thing. I kept looking for her; I resolved to speakto her if she ever reappeared. She probably had men coming on to herall the time, but I thought it worth trying my luck. Perhaps she’dhave time for coffee the next day.

We must have stayed in our seats for anotherhour or so, but she never returned.

CHAPTER SIX

ETON

According to the clock, it wasn’t even elevenat night when I heard the key in the door. The swish of it rubbingover the mat in the hallway, followed shortly by the click of thecatch as it shut.

Soon whispering started up, which I might nothave heard if I’d closed my bedroom door completely.

My brothers were home.

Not sure whether they were alone or had broughthome company, I got up and slipped on a white fleecy gown to coverthe thin boxers I’d been wearing in bed. When I followed the soundof hushed voices, I found only the two of them in the kitchen, eachholding a bottle of beer.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“Waste of fucking time, to be honest.”Harry raised the green bottle to his mouth and took a swig.

“He’s not wrong.” Finn shrugged. “Ourcontact, Derry, may be nothing more than a fantasist who enjoys beingthe center of attention. If he’s on a first name basis with ananimal dealer who can get any species smuggled over internationalborders, then he knows him only very vaguely.”

Harry shook his head. “Waste of time,” herepeated. “I might be wrong, but I’ll bet my bottom dollar he’staking us for a ride for the fun of it. Fun for him, not for us. He’ssome lonely guy who tells tall stories so that he has someone to talkto.”

I moved towards the kitchen counter, pulled outa stool, and sat down. “Sounds like the triplet brother’s animalcrimes investigation and detective agency has come to a halt on itsvery first case.”

“Unfortunately, it does. Do you want a beer,bro?” Finn raised his bottle, and he stood closest to the fridge.

“Yeah, sure.” I didn’t want to drinkalone when they were out. I was tired and had gone to bed, but onlynapped for a little while. “So, what did I miss?”

While Finn took a bottle from the fridge andsnapped off the cap, Harry began the story.

“Derry took us to a lap dancing bar tointroduce us to a guy called Liam, but that’s all we know. Liamnever showed up, and we’ve no idea what he looks like, or even ifhe really exists. We were told he’s a regular at the place, but wedon’t have any reason to trust the dude who told us that.”

Harry took a swig of his drink.

Finn handed a bottle to me. “If Liam exists,I’ll bet they’re just a couple of middle-aged old men who telleach other tall tales in between ogling girls young enough to betheir daughters,” he said with a shrug. “But we just don’t knowfor sure.”

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