Page 24 of His Princess Brat
“Okay.” Still reeling, I looked from him to the map. “Right here.” I pointed to a place in the village, and Mazi obligingly looked.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“Where you can put the beefcake bar. We’ll call it Daddy’s Playhouse. It’ll be a huge hit with all the local girls. Beyond that, dude, I’ve got nothing.”
“Do you think you might have something later on?”
Okay, now I wasn’t just curious, I was floored. “What is this really about? Did you bring me all the way out here with an ulterior motive?”
“No,” he said firmly. “I brought you here because I love and miss my best friend in the world.”
“Okay...”
“But now that you’re here, I want you to stay.”
I started laughing again.
“And I really could use an advisor who is calm, rational, intelligent...”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, my laugh turned pained.
“...under eighty years old and preferably with a degree in social economics earned sometime after the 1950s.” Mazi shrugged. “Is that asking so much?”
“I love you,” I told him sincerely. “But I am not the guy for the job.”
“Why not?”
“Because,” I said, exasperated. My arms flapped as if all the reasons should be perfectly obvious.
“Because why?” he pressed.
“I am not staying in Africa, Ma!”
“Why not? It’s beautiful here. You’ll have your own suite here at the palace. A car...” He gave me a meaningful look, that boyish smile of his evolving into a grin as I realized what car he was referring to.
“Oh, my God.” That Camaro was my dream car. He knew it too. “I’ve been ambushed.”
“It’s a good ambush.”
I both groaned and laughed.
“The food is great. There’s plenty of fun stuff to do, interesting people to see...”
I thought about Pita.
“This place is full of gorgeous women, and have you seen how many of them like you?”
Okay, stop there, I thought. Hopefully the look I gave him said as much. “I don’t need your help in that department.”
Mazi held up his hands. “Okay, I’ll stop pushing. Just do me one favor, keep an open mind. Just think about it for a while. I mean, seriously. What are you in a hurry to go back to?” He offered an exaggerated shrug. “Except for, you know, your apartment, friends, job, that beat-up jalopy you’ve been driving since you were twenty...”
“Yeah, yeah.” I picked up a tree off his map and threw it at him. I didn’t tell him that I’d quit Ezra’s. That was my perfect window, but I didn’t want to be any more put on the spot than I already was. It did get me thinking, though. If I did stay, at least I’d be on the same continent as Pita. I could maybe even see her upon occasion. Maybe court her properly. Take her out to dinner, a little dancing that didn’t involve poles or taking my clothes off.
At least, not until we got to know one another better.
My cock stirred, and I quickly had to banish that whole train of thought before I got a woody right here in front of my friend.
“Think about it,” Mazi asked again, smiling but serious. “At the very least, I wouldn’t mind having someone in my corner when I try and bring some of these guys, kicking and screaming, into the twenty-first century.”
