It’s been about an hour since Alec—I’m sorry, I have to—blew it, but he’s still in the room, refusing to come out.
Irene couldn’t give a fuck.
The party’s thinned out a bit as it’s a little difficult to top the sheer adrenaline of that hallway, but there are still a few people milling around, mingling.
“Jessica,” Irene says, remarkably sobered up already, either from the sexual exertion or the reasonably small amount of time since her last drink, “there was something I was going to tell you, but I can’t, for the life of me, remember what it was.”
“That’s all right. Don’t worry about it,” Eric says, trying to hide his glance in my direction and not doing even kind of a good job of it.
It’s kind of hard to tell with him, but I think he might be drunk.
Me, well, it’s not so hard to tell.
“So, how often does he sneak one in before you’ve gotten your two?” I ask Irene.
“Not as often as you’d think,” Irene says. “Actually, I think this is the first time in over a month. He’s really built up his game since we started our new program—thank you, Kristin.”
“You know, it’s so weird that we all know each other,” Kristin says. “Well, really that you and Eric know each other, Jessica.”
“I remember what I was going to say!” Irene announces, but Eric immediately asks her if they can talk for a minute.
They walk off together and I refill my plastic cup.
“How many is that, sis?” Kristin asks.
“It’s at least my second,” I tell her.
“Hmm…” she muses. “As that’s the fourth time you’ve told me that, I’m going to say that it’s at least your fifth. I’m starting to think we’re going to have to crash on the couch here tonight.”
“Why do you say that?” I ask.
“Well,” she says, “I’m sober, but I don’t know how to drive stick, so I can’t drive your car. You’ve had way too much to drive, so that’s out, too.”
“Why don’t we just call a cab?” I ask.
“I bet on Irene,” she says, “and I know you got a little shortchanged because you lost your first bet with Eric. What do you think of him by the way?”
“What do you mean?” I ask, taking a drink of my beer.
“Well, he’s pretty sexy,” she says. “Tall, ruggedly handsome—”
God was he ever.
“Why do people always say that: rugged?” I ask. “It always makes me think of a lumberjack or a mountain man, neither of which I would equate with someone like Eric.”
“Well, he’s pretty well-built, sis,” Kristin says.
I would chastise her for calling me sis, but if I did that, she’d start calling me Jay-Jay again and I hate that one even more.
“Yeah,” I shrug. “I guess.”
“And those eyes?” Kristin says. “You know, if I wasn’t having Jed’s baby, I’d make a move on Eric myself.”
There’s the quick flash of something in me, but I push it down just as quickly.
“Whoa,” Kristin says. “I was just talking hypothetically. I’m not actually going to make a move on your man.”
“What do you mean ‘my man?’ We’re just friends,” I explain.
“Well, after your ninja kung-fu death glare, I’d say you’d like to be something more than friends with him,” she says.
“I’m just frustrated that I haven’t heard anything from that guy you set me up with,” I tell her.
“Why don’t you just ask Irene or Alec?” she asks. “They know exactly who it is.”
“I’m just surprised that you don’t,” I start. “You actually gave my phone number to someone you’ve never met?”
“I didn’t give the phone number to him,” Kristin says. “I gave it to Irene, Irene gave it to Alec and Alec gave it to his friend. Just ask one of them. It’s not like you’re in a Sherlock Holmes book. You know exactly how to find out whatever you want to know about the guy.”
“It’s just,” I start. “I don’t know, I guess I’d just rather find out from him. People’s friends always tell the most flattering version of the truth, and I’d rather get to know him better on my own.”
“You could at least ask for his name,” Kristin says.
“I haven’t even asked him for his name,” I tell her.
“Why not?” she asks.
“I don’t know,” I answer.
“I think I know why,” she says.
“Yeah?” I ask. “Why’s that?”
“I think you’ve got it bad for Eric,” she teases.
“Speaking of Eric,” Irene says, coming back to sit down with Kristin and me, “what he didn’t want me to tell you a minute ago is that he’s got a huge—”
“Irene, for the love of god!” Eric interrupts.
He may as well have let her finish, because I think the secret’s out, though I kind of wish she hadn’t said anything myself.
“Dick!” she says, trying to pass it off as a jab at him for interrupting her, but she’s still a bit too drunk to come off as clever about it.
“So you two…” Kristin says.
“No, no, no,” Eric says. “No, we’ve never—no.”
“You know,” Irene says, looking over at Eric, “I don’t know that I like your tone there. That wasn’t very polite.”
“You’re my friend’s wife,” he says.
“Yeah, it’d be weird and everything, but you don’t have to be so unequivocal about it,” she rejoins. With that, she walks off, I’m assuming to go find her husband, leaving me with Kristin and Eric.
“So,” Kristin says, “what’s the plan?”
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “I think pretty much everyone here is too drunk to drive and I really don’t feel like asking anyone for cab fare to cover both of us.”
“You’re leaving?” Eric asks.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Kristin answers. “I think that we should just stay here tonight. That way we don’t have to drive back here to pick up your car.”
“How’d you two get here?” Eric asks.
“She drove,” Kristin says, pointing to me, “but she’s too drunk to drive and I don’t know how to drive a stick.”
“I’ve got a proposition for you,” Eric says. “I haven’t had a drink in a while, and even before I stopped drinking, I was just barely catching a buzz. If you want, I can drive you two wherever you need to go and just catch a cab home for myself.”
“There you go,” Kristin says, winking at me.
“I don’t know,” I respond.
“I’d be happy to do it,” Eric smiles. “Besides, I was thinking of heading home pretty soon anyway.”
“That sounds great,” Kristin says.
“Why don’t we just have Jed come pick us up?” I ask.
“Because you think he’s an idiot,” Kristin says, “and I’m really not in the mood for bad vibes right now. I’m in a happy place.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?” I ask. “I feel like we’d be taking advantage of you.”
“Not at all,” Eric says. “Like I said, I was planning on heading home soon anyway.”
“Hey, shitface,” Alec says, walking up to our group.
“Hey, you finally deigned to show your face,” Eric says. “You know, you cost me a twenty-dollar payoff.”
The truth is that I do have enough money for cab fare to get both Kristin and me back home: otherwise, I wouldn’t have brought that up as a possibility in the first place. Still, I’m finding myself wanting to spend a little bit more time with Eric if I can.
Despite my earlier mockery of the term, he does have a rather rugged quality about him like one of those guys in GQ in the plain white t-shirts, muscles providing contours and holy shit, I need to get laid.
“Are you ready?” Kristin asks.
Apparently, I’ve been zoning out.
“Are you sure you’re all right to drive?” I ask Eric.
“Absolutely,” he says. “I ate before I came and I only ended up drinking one of those beers, so I’m good to go.”
“All right,” I tell him. “I’m just going to go say goodbye to Irene and I’m ready.”
I get up and meander through the apartment. As much sense as it would have made to simply ask Alec where his wife is, I’m still a bit nervous about having any real contact with him after what happened at the store.