Third Date (3 page)

I said
had,
because she blessed me this morning with the new found fact that she thought Super Feather was for babies, and she didn't like him anymore.

News I could have used weeks earlier before booking the guy.

Gina and Lynn remained on the deck, laughing their asses off, and yelling at me that he was fine, and could get up if he really wanted to.

While I frantically tried to tear every blunt object from the kid's grasps, yelling up to them. “You know, you guys could help! Most of these kids are yours!”

The last thing I needed was a lawsuit from some shlub who dressed in faux feathers.

His angry grunts were muffled by the giant head resting on his shoulders, but from the sounds escaping the plastic beak, he was pissed. Shoving the head off, he screamed. “Get these kids off me! I don't get paid to be a damn punching bag!”

“Sir, I know, I'm so sorry.” Taking the sticks, I sternly told the kids to go sit at the picnic table. “I am
really sorry,
let me help you up.”

Smacking my hands away, he barked. “Fuck this! I'm out of here, and no refunds, Lady!” His face was bright cherry, sweat beads streaking down his hot skin. “I'm going to warn the other characters about you.” His finger shot out, as he flipped me off, and stormed to his car.

Gina and Lynn both released a loud,
'Ooooo,'
wiggling their fingers in fake fear.

Slapping a palm to my head, I dragged my fingers through my hair. “I'm really sorry, Sir!” Snapping my neck up, I glared at my friends.

The two women both held their arms out, lifting their shoulders with giant shit eating grins filling their faces.

“Really you guys?”
I asked, hands cupping my hips. “Add fuel to the fire up his ass, why don't you?”

“They're kids, Kin, shit happens.” Gina tilted her head, shoulders perching higher. “I'm sure that guy's been through worse, or
does worse
in that costume.” Grimacing with the thought, she made a loud gagging noise.

“Gina! Come on!” I yelled.

“Alright, alright, I'm sorry. Let us make it up to you.”

“What, how?” Arching a brow, I was fairly certain I knew where she was going with that.

“Tonight, we're having a girls night out. No excuses anymore, it's time.”

Shit. I knew it.

Some party.

This would have been so much easier if my husband was here.

But maybe the girls were right, maybe it was time to get myself out there. I could definitely use some me time. Especially after this.

But dating?

I didn't know if I was ready to open that door.

How do you open your heart to someone else, when it's owned by another?

I wasn't sure I ever could.

Kinsley

G
rumbling to myself, I slammed the curler down onto the sink. Staring into the mirror, my fingers wrapped the edge of the cold porcelain.

I hated my hair, it never did anything no matter how much I tried. Even with a curler, and enough hairspray to light up an entire building, it fell flat.

It's probably a good idea for me stay away from any open flames tonight.

Lifting the stiff ends, I let the sticky locks drop back down to my shoulders. My lip curled from beneath to blow the bangs from my eyes, as I readied myself to just give up.

This will just have to do. I'm sure it's fine.

“Kinsley, they're here!” My mom yelled from the livingroom.

My mother, (who I loved dearly) had the filter of an old man waiting for death to grab him by the ankle.

And lucky for me, she was watching Fay for the evening.

It's not that she's really old, but she just doesn't give a shit about what she says. It's a pro and con in the game of having her babysit.

She isn't afraid to tell Fay no, but she sure as hell tells her a lot more than a five year old's ears need to hear.

The last time she watched her, Fay came home to tell me that the tooth fairy was an ideological creation made up by the dentist to up the sales of toothpaste. And she went on to say that if it was real, it would be a small, freakish creature that would hover over you at night to steal your own personal property.

And yes, those were the exact words she used.

“Alright, I won't be out late. I'm thinking eleven, maybe twelve the latest,” I said, adjusting my skirt.

“You look like you're going out to buy smack, Kinsley. Are you trying to look like a street walker?”

“Mom!”

Fay glanced between us, wonder floating through her gaze. “What's smack? Can you bring me home some? Is it like that cereal in the commercial? I love cereal.”

“No, Honey, smack is what the fluezies get after they get paid.” My mom ran a hand over her back, speaking as if the conversation was even remotely appropriate.

“Mom, that's enough. Fay, Honey, do you have your book ready for Memeré to read later before bed?”

“Oh, no, I'll go get it now.” Hopping up, she skipped off down the hall, with no more questions.

Thank God, I don't want to explain what a fluezie is, or smack  for that matter.

My hands jerked to my hips, eyes slitting tight when she was out of ear shot. “Mom, you can't talk like that around her, she's too young for that.”

“What?”
Her back went straight, tugging the glasses down the bridge of her nose. “Kinsley, come on, you can't sugarcoat shit for children. That's why this world is filled with so much crap now, because parents are afraid to be honest.”

“Look, just don't, okay. I'm asking you to respect my house and how I want to raise my daughter. I don't think that's too much to ask for.”

“So now you want to revoke my right to freedom of speech?”

“What?
No, that's not what I'm saying at all.” Shutting my eyes, I inhaled a deep breath, pinching the sides of my nose. “Can you just please, for once, leave your opinionated rants at the door?”

“Well it's not my fault you're dressed like a hooker looking for drugs. An outfit like that is going to bring a lot more attention than you want. Unless you're after dick, then the skirt is screaming just what you're going for. It's about time you got some, me and your father still try to get it on once a month or so.” Falling back into the cushion of my recliner, she tapped her chin.

Eew! No, just no.

“Mom, I'm— forget it— just have her in bed by eight, alright?”

“That I can do, CSI comes on at eight, and I'll be damned if I'm going to miss it.”

Fay popped back into the room, carrying her book against her chest. “Got it, Mommy. And I picked a good one for tonight.”

“Perfect. You be good for Memeré, alright?” Nodding, she twisted in place. “I love you, I'll see you in the morning.”

“Love you too, Mommy.”

Closing the door behind me, I exhaled a huge breath. I knew Fay was safe, and I trusted my mother with her. I just hated not knowing what words would form on my child's tongue the next time I saw her.

But as my mother so kindly pointed out to me many,
many
times before; she raised me, and I turned out just fine.

It'll just be damage control I'm doing tomorrow. And maybe a little reminding to Fay that her grandmother is getting old, and to not listen to everything she says.

“Come on, Kin! We're going to be late!” Gina barked from the car window.

“Late? Late for what?” I asked, pulling the rear door open.

“We have a little surprise for you, something to help with your man issue.”

“My what?
I don't have a man issue,” I said with a nervous giggle.

“Yes you do, and we have something that will fix that. Trust us, alright?”

Oh no. What did they do?

“What are you guys up to?”

Lynn glanced over her shoulder, smiling with bright red lips. “We got you some help for your little fear of men. You can't die an old bitter woman, Kin, and this is going to help you.”

Covering my eyes, I let my head fall back into the seat. “I hate you guys, you know that?”

“No you don't, you love us.” Gina blew a kiss in my direction, laughing softly. “Just trust us.”

“I don't have a guy issue. If the right man came along, then I'd try, but he hasn't yet.”

“Kinsley, Max has been gone for half a decade, you need a companion. Fuck, even a friend with benefits at this point would do you some good. You can't live your entire life around people who can't even ride a roller coaster. You need adults, friends that aren't us, friends with big dicks, who can give you some stress release.” Gina's body twisted, her eyes that were normally blue, glistened a deep black in the dark car.

“Gina, I'm not really that desperate.” Tucking my hands under my thighs, I said, “That's what they make vibrators for.”

“Ha. Ha.” Her laugh was dry and sarcastic. “No. Those are good for a quick fix once in awhile, but you need real meat.”

“That sounds gross.”

“It sounds delicious, and you can bet your ass when I get home later, I'll be jumping Trey's cock.”

“First... That's too much info. Second, why do you guys care so much about my sex life?”

“It's not so much your sex life, but your life in general. We know it was hard to lose Max, and no one will ever replace him. But we don't want to see you cooped up in your place every day, night, weekend. We want you to realize that you're too young to spend the rest of your life alone. There are a lot of great guys in this town, and you should test the waters. You're twenty five, Kin, the longer you're out, the harder it's going to be to jump back in.”

“Fair enough, but I still have no clue what you guys are up to. And it would be nice to know what I'm walking into.”

“Let's just say, we're leading you to the help. The rest will be up to you, okay?”

“That still doesn't help, but I'm not really getting an option in this matter, am I?”

Lynn held her head high as we pulled out of my street, reaching to the radio and twisting the volume up. “Nope, now enjoy the ride!” She yelled as her short bob cut danced across her jaw.

***

C
rossing my leg in the squeaky, cheap bar seat, my fingers nervously tapped the table. My friends had smiles glued to their faces, their lips curled high, resembling the taunting gleam of the Joker.

I had been trying to decipher this so called, 'ladies night,' but they weren't making it easy. Which is very typical of my two best friends. Our entire relationship Lynn and Gina were a ball of dirty ideas and crazy stunts.

And both of them were great at keeping a secret, even if their faces streamed with a devious expression.

The club, they so kindly dragged me to, was a small local bar, set in the heart of Providence. The only big city in a ten mile radius of our home town, the only big city period in our small state.

The place was actually bigger than I expected from just looking at the outside, but about as nice as you would expect from a dive bar.

The floor was sticky in random places from spilled drinks and who knew what else. A small stage was set in the back corner for local bands trying to get into the music scene, Christmas lights decorated the beams spotted throughout the open room.

I was surprised at how packed the place actually was, especially since the bar was tucked in between two larger venues. Then again, maybe this was overflow from the other places if they were filled to the max.

The spot could be pure brilliance on the owner's part.

I hadn't been to a bar in years, and the last time was one I tried to forget. I wasn't even old enough to be there, but Max knew the bouncer and he was able to get me in. It was the week before he left for boot camp, and he wanted to get me drunk because he wasn't sure if he would be deployed during my twenty-first.

Despite the fact I was eighteen, and still had three years before turning legal age to get plastered, Max insisted we take the opportunity while we could.

Always thinking a step ahead. God, I miss that man.

Well, he succeeded in his goal. I had gotten so wasted that night, that I started stripping on a pole set up for dancing, only to lose my footing. Crashing to the floor, I hit my head on the small stage, leaving a massive, golf ball-sized lump right above my eye.

And to top it all off, I threw up all over myself and three other people as he carried my stumbling body out of the place.

Maybe I don't want to forget that. It makes me smile.

“Alright, so what now? You guys have been just sitting there gawking at me forever. What the hell are we waiting for?” Spinning the straw in my glass, I bounced the ice around the inside. “You guys didn't set me up on some blind date...
Did you?”

Gina waved her hand in the air, sneering with her eyes. “No, it's not a blind date” Her fingers danced in air quotation marks, as she glanced over at Lynn. “It's—”

Cutting her off, Lynn laid her hand across the table. “It's more of a date aid.”

“A date aid?” I asked, arching a single brow into my hairline.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“What the hell is a date aid?”

Before either could answer, their eyes grew to the size of the moon, heads tilting in unison. They looked mesmerized, lost in an image over my shoulder.

“What the hell is wrong with you two? What are you loo—” I couldn't finish my sentence, the words morphing into tumbling air.

Turning to follow their gaze, a broad shouldered man was walking right towards us, his muscles firmed and solid beneath his black suit. His hair was tousled in perfection, jaw hard and sharp, ready to cut diamond.

And I had fallen into the same frozen stare. The sounds of music beat around us, playing him the perfect song for his slow motion walk. I couldn't look away, couldn't shake my eyes off his wall of corded muscles.

Coming straight towards us, his lips pulled back in a sultry smile. “Excuse me, I'm looking for Kinsley. Are one of you lovely ladies her?” His strong hands gripped the trim of his suit, flaring it open for a sudden peek at the hardness beneath.

My heart skipped, lungs tensing to his statuesque build. “I... I'm...” I couldn't speak, unable to find momentum to force the sounds off my tongue.