Page 4 of Friends with Benefits

‘It beats the traffic. Plus, I can take her out on a weekend and tear up some dirt,’ I tell him.

‘You’re crazy, do you know that?’

I chuckle. ‘Yeah, you tell me nearly every day.’

‘You should think about it, Charlie,’ Sean says. ‘Might help you and that ginger mullet pick up a woman.’

‘First, it’s strawberry blond. Secondly, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Ginger is in,’ Charlie counters.

‘He’s right, Sean. Ed Sheeran and Prince Harry have made red cool.’ Sean looks from me to Charlie, seeming to contemplate the not-at-all-serious discussion seriously. Then he says, ‘Nah, I don’t buy it. You’ll always be a ginger loser to me.’

We’re all laughing when a slender hip bumps into me accidentally on purpose as its owner flutters her eyelids, moving away from the bar with a glass of rosé in her hand. ‘I’m sorry about that,’ she says.

I subtly give her a once-over: her tight, white jeans, her black, fitted vest that fastens by one button at her navel, and under which she’s sporting nothing but a push-up bra. Too obvious. But she did make the effort so I’ll kill ten minutes on her.

‘You always this clumsy?’ I ask, twisting to face her.

She giggles like an airhead: high-pitched and way too overzealously. ‘Not always. Only when I’m in a fluster. Hey, is that an American accent?’

After giving up on trying to hear her name above the music and spending ten minutes listening to her tell me how much she’d love to visit Manhattan one day, I’m checking my watch. Sean and Charlie have found a couple of guys we know, Cash and Will, and have no intention of rescuing me. Alex seems to have disappeared with the blonde. Most likely to her place or the bathrooms; he’s a swift mover.

Come on, Jess, I think.

As if in answer to my call for help, I see Jess making her way up the stairs and into the bar with Abby.

I motion to the bartender and when I have his attention, I order a glass of pinot noir for Jess and a sem-sauv for Abby.

‘Sorry, babe, it’s been good talking to you but I’ve got to go. Make sure you see Manhattan one day,’ I tell the irritating girl as I move away from the bar.

Sean gets to Abby and Jess at the same time I do. After I give the girls their drinks, Sean steals Abby away.

When I’m left with Jess, I look her up and down, not subtly at all. She’s wearing skinny jeans with turn-ups. She has on bright-red heels – killer heels that make her already fine legs more than three inches longer – which have a small red and white check bow on the side, secured with a black button. I recognize the design as one of hers. I trail my eyes up to her blouse. In true Jess style, it’s quirky, maybe even a little outrageous, but not as much as some of her stuff. This is a chiffon blouse, layers of red, black and white fabric. For all the layers, the cut of the top brings it in at the waist and it sits neatly over her perfectly formed breasts, dipping just enough to give a teasing glimpse of her cleavage.

Her long, brown hair has been pinned loosely and a few rogue strands hang down. I consider her face. She pouts for me, displaying her bright-red lipstick. Her eyes are natural-looking but darkened with liner. Her cheeks have been bronzed but not overly so. In one ear, she has a gold stud. In the other, one dangling leaf.

‘So?’ she asks, sipping her pinot.

I rock my head from side to side, as if deliberating. ‘Show me your bag.’ She holds up a black clutch; I know the style because she’s told me before. The top of the purse is folded like an envelope, the triangle red, with a button to match her shoes. ‘I’d say you’re like a seven.’

‘Seven? I’ll take it!’

I try not to let my smile show. My night just improved ten-fold. Jess is my favorite person in England. My reason for being here these days, I guess you could say.

‘How was the show?’

‘Not bad. I think I have an order from one of the designers.’

‘That’s awesome.’ I hold up my ale. ‘To you.’

‘Cheers.’ I love how she says that. It’s so British. So Jess. ‘Are you going to give me the lowdown? I saw the woman with the big boobs you were talking to when I arrived.’

I shake my head as I take a drink. Then I say, ‘Airhead.’

‘That’s never stopped you.’

‘You think very little of me.’

‘Babe, don’t be offended. That’s just because I know you.’

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