Page 95 of Grease Monkey
“Don’t look at me like that, Savanna. Oscar should keep his big mouth shut. I’ve been acting like normal.”
She scrunches her nose like she can see right through my lie because, deep down, I know I’ve been an unbearable asshole to everyone who’s crossed my path.
Ozzy not putting a tool back where I left it last? I kept everything we use daily in a bag by my side the whole day, and he had to ask for permission to use any of it.
The barista at Grounded messed up my order? I asked to speak to the manager.
A client wanted to book her car for a service? As soon as she said her name was Annabelle, I informed her we don’t accept any variation of that name and to try somewhere else.
Petty and pathetic, but apparently, that’s who I am now.
Great, I’ve only just realized… Savanna—Ana. I’m a mess.
Savanna’s eyes widen as she suddenly becomes still, her mouth dropping slowly.
“Oh my God. She’s the reason you’re the way you are, isn’t she?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say with gritted teeth, roughly gripping my beer bottle and gulping half the liquid in one go.
This night is not going the way I planned at all. All I wanted was to get under someone else to get overher.Sav was the girl I had told Morgana I had bailed on when Richard had upset her. It wasn’t a date, Ineverdate, but the opportunity to get a painful punch to the kidneys presented itself, and I took it. And even though at the time it was a lie, now that I’m here with Sav for real and Morgana’s shit-faced across the room, I feel like the biggest asshole.
“Savanna, I don’t need you psychoanalyzing me as you do with your patients. You’re not Dr. Caplin right now.”
Great. Instead of guaranteed sex, I’m now getting a free therapy session.
“Hey, I know that. I’m talking to you as afriend,not a therapist.” She quirks a brow and jerks her head backward toward Morgana’s table. “So, which one is she?”
“I’m not telling you.”
She hums. “Guess I’ll just have to find out myself.”
“What…?” She doesn’t let me finish and, instead, seductively slides from her stool, wraps her arms around my neck and touches her lips to mine. I freeze, my back going rigid as she kisses me, the warmth of her toned body pressing against me, sending chills down my spine. It’s unwelcome. Cold, hard, and completely unfamiliar, and it’s taking everything I have not to push her away and wipe her taste from me. Not that she’s tried to stick her tongue in my mouth or anything, but this kiss—the type that’s awkward and weird, like when your grandma manages to get you right on the mouth—it’s wrong.
She pulls back and scrunches her nose. “Thank God you don’t fuck as bad as you kiss.”
“What did you expect? You took me off guard.”
She laughs. “Teddy, it’s like you’ve never kissed someone…” Her smile drops, and she’s back to looking pitying again. “Oh. Honey. Is that why you’ve never kissed me before? Or anyone, for that matter?” My brows lower, and Savanna props her hip against the table, cocking her head like she can’t believe why I’m confused. “People talk in this town, Teddy.”
“I know. FuckingPrince Charming.”
She huffs a laugh. “Yeah, gotta love that nickname. But that’s not what I mean. Everyone knows you’re the guy to show a girl a good time, but never expect to get a goodnight kiss.”
“And? Maybe I don’t like kissing. Maybe I’m just about the sex. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing at all.” She holds her hands up placatingly. “There is nothing wrong with a healthy sexual appetite. Your morals might be a tad loose, but you control your body. No one should decide the appropriate number of sexual partners another person has. You sleep with one or one hundred people, and no one should care. But, sweetie, I think the real reason you don’t kiss any of the women you’re with or the fact that when it comes to fuck-buddies, you’re not picky, is because of her.” She discreetly points at Morgana.
“That’s fucking bullshit.”
“You’re not over her, Teddy. And with the way the petite little blonde keeps checking you out with the same kicked-puppy expression but also with this feistywants-to-cut-a-bitchlook, and said bitch being me... I don’t think she’s over you either.” Savanna plants a kiss on my cheek and returns to her seat. “And that was from Dr. Caplin, free of charge.”
“Thanks,” I deadpan, playing with the label peeling away from the beer bottle. Movement snags my attention as Morgana pushes to her feet, swaying as she tries to stand. I grip the edge of the table, my knuckles turning white as she stumbles down the hallway leading to the restrooms.
Fuck me, I must be a glutton for punishment. I shouted in her face and chucked her out and now I’m thinking about playing rescue…
“Teddy? What are you—”
I shove back my stool, the sound of metal scraping on wood barely registering against my heartbeat pounding in my ears. The bar is gone. The patrons are gone. Mydateis gone. It’s just Ana, drunk, vulnerable, and alone.
