Page 11 of Playing for Keeps
“And you’re also driving back to your apartment alone. So, one vodka on the rocks coming up,” he said.
Rylan looked away from him in mock disdain. She lifted her arms over her head, clasping her fingers together as she stretched and tried to let thoughts of the body shop and the marital status of the mysterious GCSports18 slip from her mind. Her phone buzzed as she brought her arms back down to her side and she grabbed it from her back pocket. She ignored the text message from her mother and set the phone on the bar top. Rock delivered her drink. Rylan didn’t waste a second but picked up the glass and emptied it in two gulps.
“Another one,” she said and tapped on the bar to get Rock’s attention.
When he gave her a knowing look, Rylan reminded him that she was a paying customer, before getting up to go to the restroom. She, at least knew, how to pay for services that were rendered, or in this case, alcoholic beverages, as a normal person would. Why hadn’t the rich guy from D.C. who dropped his car off at her shop two weeks ago learned that basic lesson in life? Damn, she was in a horrible mood. Which was shocking because this morning she’d awakened with her body still humming from the intense orgasm she’d had only hours before. The orgasm that had been precipitated by a gorgeously sculpted chest pic and the messages of a man she’d never seen before.
Rylan once again sat at the bar. She sipped slowly on her second drink because she knew Rock was going to protest heavily about giving her another one. As her mind would not be quieted and she felt she had to choose the lesser of two evils, she picked up her phone and started to send him a text. If he was married, it would serve him right if his wife picked up his phone at some point and learned of his wandering ways. Great, she sounded just like her mother when Estelle had first assumed Will was staying out so late at night because he was with another woman. Of course, it turned out her father had only cheated on his wife and family with the casino that had left him practically broke. Rylan opened the app instead and sent him a message.
Rylan: How was your day?
That’s how he always started their conversations. Tonight, she would be the initiator. She checked the time and noted it was just after eight. Was he at home right now, having dinner with his wife two daughters and two sons? Was his minivan parked in the driveway as his family prepared to watchA Christmas Storyor some other holiday movie? She took another drink to help wash away the thoughts that were now giving her a headache.
Why should she even care? They were just chatting. Right? Okay, this morning was more than a chat, but really, it wasn’t that big of a deal. Rylan had masturbated before. So many times. And he was a grown man, she was fairly certain he’d gotten himself off more than once in his lifetime. So, there, no big deal. Except she’d thought about that not-a-big-deal episode most of the day. It had been the first time she’d been able to vividly imagine that the fingers on her heated flesh actually belonged to a man, instead of herself. And oh, had it felt so good. She closed her eyes to the thought and then startled when she heard the low moan.
Dammit! Was that her?
Her eyes shot open and she sat up straighter on the stool. She needed another drink. Shaking her head with that thought, she was just setting her glass down again when her phone buzzed.
GCSports18: Pretty good. Just about to get off work for the night.
Oh wow! He’d replied. And it wasn’t after midnight. What did that mean?
Rylan: I just got off too. Are you busy tonight? Do you want to get a drink?
Her thumbs were moving faster than her brain and before she could stop herself, she hit send.
What the hell was she doing?
Did she want to see him? And when she did see him, what was going to happen next? Sex with a stranger? That was a whole different ball game compared to phone sex in the privacy of her own bedroom.
GCSports18: Sure. But I’m hungry. Let’s meet at Margie’s. 9:00?
So, he did live in Providence. She’d been fairly certain of that fact since they’d both been here at the bar the night they’d first met. But now he wanted to meet at Margie’s in forty-five minutes. She dropped her phone back onto the bar top as if it had burned her fingers.
“Angry with your phone?” Rock asked as he walked by and caught the phone before it could topple over the edge of the bar onto his carefully stacked glasses.
Rylan shook her head and shrugged. “No. Ah, it just fell out of my hand.”
“Uh huh. Well, I’ll get you a glass of water,” he said and held the phone out to her.
But before Rylan could grab the phone, it vibrated. The screen lit up and Rock looked down at it.
“Oh, you’re on that app too?” he asked. “Noah said it was really popular. That’s why he wanted the bar to have a page so we could advertise all our events and things like that.”
“Really?” Rylan asked as she tried not to snatch the phone out of his hand. Instead she accepted it in as normal a way as possible. The last thing she needed was for Rock to see her receiving messages about having a hook-up tonight.
Was that what it was going to be? A hook-up? If so, she needed to run home and grab a really quick shower. She was grimy from being at the body shop all day and didn’t have on the correct underwear.
“What’s the page name so I can follow you?” she asked, trying to keep their conversation casual, even though her mind was whirling with thoughts of her online booty call.
“I think it’s just the name of the bar. But you should really ask Del since he manages the page and does all the posting and stuff. His screen name is GCSports18 because he was incapable of coming up with anything more original,” Rock told her.
Rylan had already begun typing in the screen name without really listening to what Rock had said. But when she did, she paused. Her heart suddenly skidded to an almost halt in her chest. The periodic thump was loud and the pit of dread forming in her stomach was hot.
“Did you say this was Del’s screen name? As in Delano Greer, the serious and stoic one of the brothers?” Rylan asked.
“Yeah,” Rock said and laughed. “He hates social media, but Noah insisted that as the manager Del get online and start helping to bring in customers. And you know what’s funny? The past few weeks we’ve been seeing him with the phone in his hand a lot. And customers have been pouring in all the way from D.C. for the special events he’s been posting.”
