Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79850 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Once in the car, the first thing I do is call Erik. It’s almost 1 A.M., but I know I’m not waking him up. Not on a Friday night.
When he answers, it’s with a, “What’s up, dude?”
It’s surprisingly quiet in the background, so my question is answered before I have to ask it.
“I was hoping you’d be at the Sneaky Saguaro with Nanette,” I say with frustration.
“Um…yeah…no! That chick is bananas,” he returns in a low voice. “No offense to Brooke, you know.”
“None taken,” I assure him. “Where are you?”
“I’m at this girl’s place I met tonight,” he murmurs, and I can hear the smile on his face. “She’s in her room getting changed into something more comfortable, and we both know what that means.”
With a short chuckle, I reply, “Yeah…know what that means, bud. Have fun.”
“Will do,” he says, and I prepare to hang up, but he asks, “Hey, why are you looking for Nanette?”
“She just called Brooke stating she was broke and needed a ride from the Sneaky Saguaro. She said she wasn’t with you, but I wanted to check and make sure in case she was lying. There’s something off about that woman and I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
“She called me yesterday and tried to make plans,” he returns with a slight level of disgust in his voice. “Right on the heels of Dax cutting her loose. Sorry…I don’t do sloppy seconds, but she wouldn’t accept no for an answer. She said that was fine if I didn’t want to go out with her, but she’d love to still hang out with the group. Wanted to know how to get in contact with Legend, but no way was I giving him up. Just a little too stalkerish for me.”
“I hear ya,” I commiserate. “Look, get back to your girl in the comfortable clothes.”
Erik busts out laughing and then we sign off.
Bummer. I’d hoped that he was there and would do me a solid to get her home. It was a long shot, but I didn’t trust what Nanette had said, so it was worth a try.
When I pull into the parking lot of the Sneaky Saguaro, I’m pissed that Nanette isn’t standing outside. With a lot of grumbling and cursing under my breath I park the car and make my way inside to look for her. The place is packed—standing room only—and I know it’s going to be hard to find her. I wind my way through the various seating areas of the main floor before moving up to the second. I canvas almost the entire area when I finally spot her.
Dancing on top of a table surrounded by men.
Actually, by a few of the Vengeance rookies, I note: Vance Gather, Derek Kemper, and Guy Demere. I don’t think any of the three are over twenty-one, but that won’t stop them from drinking. Either they’ve got fake ID’s or the management here is serving them anyway because it’s good business to have professional hockey players hang out at your establishment.
When I reach the table, I get fist a fist bump greeting from Derek, but before I can say a word to the other guys, Nanette sees me. She’s wearing a short cherry-red form-fitting dress that leaves nothing to the imagination. Her eyes, glazed with alcohol, light up when she sees me and she holds her hand out to me as she yells, “Yay…Bishop is here! Come up and dance with me.”
I ignore her and turn to Vance, who’s looking at me in shock that I know the girl on the table. “How long she been like this?”
“We just got here, man,” he says as his eyes go from me to Nanette and back to me again. “You know her?”
His tone is slightly condemning, and that actually amuses me and makes me respect him at the same time. He knows I’m dating Brooke, the coach’s daughter, and he’s suspicious I’m stepping out on her. Nanette goes back to dancing, ignoring us all now. She has a beer in one hand and her hair fisted in her other to hold it on top of her head while she rotates her hips lewdly.
“She’s Brooke’s friend, just visiting. She just called us to come pick her up.”
Vance nods in understanding. “Like I said…just got here. Said she’d give us a table dance if we bought her a beer, and well, wasn’t going to say no to that.”
Not sure quite what the look on my face says, but Vance can see I’m not happy about the situation. “But she seems really cool, man.”
I know he offers this only because he doesn’t know the nature of Nanette’s relationship with me or Brooke. So I clue him in. “Yeah…she’s really not, so you’re going to thank me for taking her off your hands.”