Page 25 of Domino
My gut turns over and I gape at him for a long moment, my mouth suddenly as dry as the Sahara. Everybody in the room falls silent as all eyes turn to me.
“Got no idea what you’re talkin’ about,” I try.
Poe laughs. “Bullshit. I was rollin’ down Harrison and saw her almost kick your nuts up into your chest. What was that about?”
The guys all snicker but keep staring at me, waiting for a reply.
“So, you saw somebody tryin’ to kick my ass and you didn’t stop to help? What’s up with that, is the better question,” I fire back.
“Dude, she’s a foot shorter than you and weighs a buck-o-five soaking wet with a brick in each hand. If you couldn’t handle that shit yourself, then you probably shouldn’t be rollin’ with us.”
The room explodes with laughter and catcalls, along with a thousand different insults to my manhood. There’s nothing I can say, since I walked right into it, so I just sit back and drink my beer until they settle down.
“So, who was this vicious assailant?” Trig picks up Poe’s line of questioning.
“You can keep refusing to answer the question, but you know we’ll find out on our own and make your life a living hell,” Cosmo adds.
“You should do yourself a favor and just answer the question now, kid,” Cueball jumps in. “You know how these assholes can be.”
Rolling my eyes, I take another swallow of beer. They’re right, I do know what kind of assholes they can be. If I don’t answer their questions, they’ll find out who Ashley is on their own and make a huge scene with lots of drama. Funny for them, but it’ll most likely ruin any chance I might have with her. Which at the moment, isn’t stellar, but it’s better than zero.
“Fine,” I grunt. “Her name is Ashley.”
They all stare at me, clearly expecting me to go on. And if that’s what they’re expecting, they’re going to be sorely disappointed. It’s a thought that makes me laugh.
“Is that it? That’s all we get?” Poe asks.
“That’s all I got.”
“Bullshit. You’re just holdin’ out on us,” Trig chimes in.
“Seconded. I say we roll down to the Golden Gate right now and get the story straight from her,” Cueball says, proving that he, too, is one of those assholes.
“I’m tellin’ you guys, that’s all I know. I just met her this morning,” I say.
“And she was already trying to blast you in the nuts? I call bullshit,” Poe says.
“Maybe that’s just the effect he has on the ladies,” Cosmo offers.
“I can confirm that’s the case,” Derek adds with a laugh.
“Hey, nobody asked you, Prospect,” I snap.
Derek gives me the finger and joins the others in laughing. All I can do is shake my head. Assholes.
“She went after me because she thought I was a creep or something,” I say.
“She wasn’t wrong there,” Trig says.
“Kiss my ass,” I fire back.
That unleashes another round of laughter as the guys continue to heckle me. I guess after a tense meeting with Prophet, they need to cut loose a little, just to blow off some steam. It certainly does feel like the tension that had been saturating the air earlier has lightened up.
“Glad you’re all having such a good time with this,” I say.
“Okay, so here’s the question… if what you say is true and that’s all you know about this girl, what are you going to do about it?”
“I got it handled,” I say.
