Page 37 of Bronx

Kingston laughed, nearly spitting out his next gulp of beer. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "What the fuck are you saying over there? You sound like some old hen gossiping after church."

"Just saying, Mr. High and Mighty never takes his wife out to the bar." I nodded and pointed to myself. "And yes I hear it now, the gossipy hen voice."

"Last I heard, Penelope is pregnant, and she's always complaining or whining about something." King put down his drink. "Great now you've pulled me into your little knitting circle. That's my cue to get up and mingle, and by mingle, I mean pull out the ole charm card on that cute, little brunette near the dance floor."

"Yeah, good luck." I lifted my mug, but King was already halfway across the floor.

Angus and Kaos clamored to the table. With Angus's loud voice and Kaos's impossible size, they never entered a bar or place without quickly becoming the center of attention. This time the focus was from three women at the next table.

"Bronx, my boy," Angus said loudly to compete with the music, but it was hardly necessary with his usual megaphone voice. "Kaos and I were just saying that we need to get you hooked up with some bar beauty. That's our mission tonight." As he spoke, he surveyed the room. His gaze landed on the table with three women. He made a show of pointing to each of us, then he pointed at them and showed them three fingers.

"You are such a massive ass," Kaos said. The entire table shook as he settled his hulking frame down on a chair.

"Oh yeah? Well, it's working." Angus got up to help them move chairs. I was still in that state of mind where I was convinced that the only woman for me was Layla. The heartache was still too fresh to consider anyone else. Kingston had persuaded me that I just needed to get out and meet people, but that was always the same tired advice given to any person depressed about a relationship. It never worked if you were trying too hard or still too broken up about someone else. And broken up was a light phrase for what I was feeling. It didn't help much that I was still continuing the charade with my parents. They'd been texting everyday to let me know how fond they were of Layla. I hated lying to them, but they were so damn happy about my relationship, I hadn't worked up the courage to tell them the truth. Eventually, I would have to confess. Especially since they were begging me to bring her to Christmas at the ranch.

"Hi, guys." The woman wore black framed glasses that highlighted her big blue eyes. She glanced around the table. I smiled to myself thinking that the women check out the crop choices just like the men. In fact, it seemed on their short journey to the table, they'd already staked their claims. While I saw the woman with glasses as more Kaos's type, she sat herself down next to Angus. The seemingly quietest of the trio, a red head with brown eyes and a sexy spray of freckles put her chair next to me, leaving Kaos with a curvy blonde. I caught him taking a longing glance at the woman with glasses before he settled back to chat with the blonde.

"I'm Rita," the red head said, sticking out her small hand.

I shook it. "Jack. Nice to meet you." The peripheral noises in the bar, the music, the glasses clinking, the voices and laughter made it more feasible to talk to the person closest to you.

"So, what do you guys do?" Rita asked. "Are you guys just friends, or do you work together?"

"Both. How about you and your friends?" I asked, pretending to be interested. I had no intention of being rude, but my enthusiasm for being social was at an all time low. I'd come to the bar to keep Kingston from bugging me about always staying home and to have a cold beer. But I hadn't seen myself making new friends or staying past the first beer.

"Sherry and I"—she pointed to the blonde—"are cousins, and Nell is Sherry's coworker at a bank. I work in a hospital."

I sat up with a little more interest. "Are you a nurse or doctor?"

"I work in the hospital pharmacy."

I nodded and rested back. I was only interested, in case, by some far off chance, she knew Layla. That way I could reasonably ask about her. After her distressed call about her social media blowing up with angry messages, she sent a text the next day letting me know that things had cooled down, and she was no longer perceived as a pariah—her words. I'd had a good laugh about her text, and I was relieved to hear the whole mess had already calmed. I'd also gotten it into my head that it might be one of the last texts I received from her. There just wasn't any way to be casual friends with the woman I considered my soul mate. I hadn't heard from her the rest of the week. I was as sad as I was thankful. Hearing from her always rekindled everything I felt about her. At the same time, not hearing from her left a gaping hole in my life.

Rita was smiling at me expectantly. Apparently, she'd asked a question, and like those days in class when you were caught in a daydream by the teacher, I tried to search for some kind of answer. But since, like those times in class, I had no idea what Rita had asked, I used the noise as an excuse.

I touched my ear. "Sorry, I didn't catch that."

She leaned closer. "I asked if you wanted to dance." She waved her arm toward Angus and her friend who were now making their way to the cramped dance floor. Sitting and making small talk while nursing a beer was one thing but dancing took the socializing to a whole new level.

I shook my head. "Sorry, not really in the mood. Please don't let me stop you from dancing. I'm sure there are more willing partners out there."

She shrugged shyly. "Nah, that's all right. Guess I was just making conversation. I'm not all that good of a dancer." She tossed back the rest of her wine.

"Hey, let me get you a refill."

She placed her hand on my arm. "It's all right, Jack. I know you're not really into this and that's fine. I won't take up any more of your time." She was being very polite, and I felt like a total heel.

"Sorry, it's not you."

She laughed dryly.

"No really, it's not. I've recently broken up with someone."

She nodded. "Say no more. I think I'll just head over to the bar and get my own drink. Nice talking to you, and I'm sorry about your breakup."

Kaos's big foot shot across to kick my boot. His new friend had nearly wrapped herself around him already. He shot me a glower and I shrugged.

"You know what," I told him. "I'm going to take off. Let Kingston know if you see him." I surveyed the room. "I think he's already in the back seat of a car anyhow. See you later."

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