Wait, maybe they mean the same thing.
Do they?
How can I not know the answer to this?
Fucking hell, I’m losing my mind.
Seriously.
Losing. My. Mind.
“Hey,” Colt says from the doorway, snapping my attention back to reality. When his eyes meet mine, he frowns and moves towards me. “Are you okay? What’s happened?”
I attempt to speak, but all I manage is a cough.
Or maybe it’s a wheeze.
My eyes widen at both the news I’ve just received and the fact I don’t fucking know if a cough and a wheeze are the same fucking thing. “We’re going for a drink. Right now. And if you say no to me, I’m going without you, and I don’t fucking care what Zane or Liam have to say about that.”
All the ticks in the world go to Colt for the nod he gives me and the “Let’s go” he says before letting me lead the way to my favourite bar.
8
Colt
“I’m gonna be late for dinner,” Echo says to her mother over FaceTime from the bar she’s brought me to.
We’re at Elixir, a bar on Charlotte Street just down the road from where Echo lives. I’ve never been here, but from what I’m picking up, Echo loves it. She seems to know everyone who works here. Callie, who I’ve learned is the owner’s wife, threw her arms around Echo the minute she laid eyes on her and dragged her to a table in the corner before grilling her as to what she’s been doing for the past six months. That conversation went on for a good fifteen minutes, at which point Callie made Echo a mojito and told her to go slow. Since I didn’t stick around for most of the conversation they had, I’m unsure as to why she issued that directive, but I don’t need to be told that something bad has happened to Echo this afternoon. The look in her eyes when I returned to Stone HQ told me everything I need to know.
“I’m just having a drink with a friend,” Echo says as she turns her screen towards me so her mother can see me.
The screen fills with a woman who, if you asked me to describe a hippy, I’d describe. She’s got long blonde hair that’s half covered with some scarf thing, chunky beaded earrings, multiple strands of bead necklaces, and from what I can see of it, a multi-coloured T-shirt or dress.
When she smiles, it’s Echo all over. “Oh, hello,” she says, and I see where Echo gets her sexy ways from. Her mother has it all going on in the same way Echo does.
Echo turns the phone back around and says, “I won’t be too late.”
The bar is noisy, but I’m close enough to hear her mother say, “I think we should raincheck dinner, darling. We can have it tomorrow night. You stay there with your man and have some fun.”
“He’s not my man, Mum. And quite fucking honestly, I’m not sure I’ll ever want a man again.”
“Why? What’s happened?”
“It’s loud in here,” Echo says. “I’ll catch you up tomorrow.”
“Okay, but I really think you should reconsider. That man is delicious.”
Echo blows a kiss at her mum and says, “Love you,” before ending the call.
Looking at me as she places her phone on the table between us, she says, “What does vagina taste like?”
I’ve just taken a swig of my beer and almost choke on it.
When I don’t answer, she says, “I’m being serious.”
“Because?”
“Because if I’m never going to have dick again, I need to consider my options.” She pauses. “I honestly don’t think I’d like it, but I’m staying open. Do you like it?”
“I fucking love it.”
She takes a sip of her mojito. “Right, well that’s a good endorsement. But I still need to know what it tastes like.”
“You wanna talk about what happened to lead you to consider your options?”
“Oh, a man who likes to talk.”
“And a woman who likes to stereotype.”
She stares at me for a long moment like she’s thinking hard about what I just said. “Wow. Yes. Right. Fuck.” She swaps her sips for a huge gulp of her drink before saying, “I apologise. I seem to have become a jaded bitch since my marriage went to shit.”
I drink some more beer. “I’m guessing whatever happened this afternoon has something to do with your husband.”
She nods. “I discovered that he cheated on me with my friend. I mean, I knew he cheated on me. I just didn’t know for sure that he did that with her.”
“That’s a bitch of a thing to discover.”
“Have you ever been cheated on?”
“I’ve not had the kind of relationship where someone could cheat on me.”
She frowns. “What do you mean?”
“I have fun. I don’t get serious.”
“So when you said you’re not looking for a relationship, you meant at all. Like, not just now.”
“Yeah.”
She drinks some more of her mojito. “Why?”
“Why not? Why complicate life? I meet women. We hang out for a while, until it doesn’t suit us anymore, and then we move on. No hard feelings. No hassles.”
“I can see the allure, but what about the intimacy that comes from building a relationship with a person? Don’t you miss that? I mean, the familiarity is where it’s at for me. I love that part of a relationship.”
“What about the pain when you lose them?”
“You don’t lose everyone, but yeah, that hurts, I’ll give you that.”
I take a swig of beer as Echo’s phone sounds with a text.
She reads it and then flashes her phone screen at me, showing me two photos of Lilith. “These are her options for her date tonight. She’s not just looking for sex, but it’d be good. Which dress screams that?”
“The black one.”
“See, that’s what I told her, but she’s second guessing it.” She madly taps away on her phone. Fuck knows how those nails of hers don’t get in the way. I’m fucking flat out typing a message using just one finger, let alone using fingers that have claws attached to them.
Echo finishes with her texting and places her phone down. “Sorry. I don’t mean to be rude and ignore you after dragging you here, but Lilith has had some weird dates this year, so she’s a little on edge.”
“Did you finish conducting your best friend work and narrow down your list of names to stalk?”
“You have a good memory, Colt. I like this about you. And no, I didn’t get back to that list. Hopefully, Lil won’t need to give me the abort signal tonight.”
“What’s the abort signal?”
“She’ll text ABORT if she needs me to call and fake need her.”
“That happen often?”
“Well, before I left town, it used to happen a little. This guy tonight is someone she works with, so I think she’ll be okay.” She leans her elbows on the table. “That’s enough about Lil. Tell me more about you.”
“What do you want to know?”
She pulls a face like she’s thinking. “Storm. How long have you been a member?”