life.
I admired that about him.
That, and he poured doubles and charged me for every third drink.
Just after midnight, some guy got up on stage to sing.
It was bad. Really bad.
I nodded to Lita. “He’s setting the stage for you, beauty.”
“I am not singing up there,” she said.
“Yes, you are. You need to.”
“The only thing I need to do is keep drinking so when I go home with you, I won’t regret it,” she said.
“That’s the best sex to have,” I said. “When you’re drunk and I’m horny.”
“Shane…” She shook her head. “What are we doing here together?”
“Having a few drinks after a long day.”
“No. This. Us.”
I leaned closer to Lita. “You’re drunk and want to talk about relationships?”
“You like me,” she said. “I’m thinking I like you right back. We’re both coming from fucked up relationships. What is this…?”
“Are you over Blaze yet?” I threw out.
“Who said I wasn’t?” Lita asked.
“You tell me.”
“I told you everything about him. Just like you told me everything about Stacy. Are you going to get rid of the engagement ring?”
“Sure,” I said. “Watch.”
I stood up and whistled for Bonk.
He came right over.
“More to drink, my friend?” Bonk asked.
“Nah,” I said. “I got something for you.”
“Shane, what are you doing?” Lita asked.
I brought the engagement ring with me. For good reason. One way or another, I was planning on tossing the thing. A final goodbye to all that past shit.
I gave Bonk the ring.
“Oh, damn,” he said. “Shane. I would love to marry you… but you have to grow some double d tits and a tight pussy for that to happen.”
“But I have a pretty face, right?” I asked.
Bonk laughed.
“What the hell are you doing?” Lita asked, standing up.
“Bonk, take that to your buddy,” I said. “Charlie. It’s legit. It’s mine. I was going to give it to someone but it didn’t work out.”
Bonk looked at Lita. “You said no?”
“He didn’t ask me to marry him,” Lita said.
“Oh,” Bonk said. “This is weird.”
“Very,” I said. “Take the fucking ring. I never want to see it again.”
Bonk backed away and tucked the ring into his pocket.
“There,” I said, turning to face Lita. “No more of the past. She’s happy. I’m happy for her. She and I were never meant to be together anyway. It was a fantasy. Now it’s done. I can thank you for that, Lita. I thought I was helping you, but you helped me.”
Lita stared at me.
I waited for her to say something back, but she never did.
Instead, she walked away from the bar.
For a second, I thought she was bolting on me for good.
But, nope, she was just walking toward the stage.
When Lita finished singing, the place was silent.
Everyone staring at her.
Which I knew was going to happen.
I slammed my hands together first and screamed her name.
Then the rest of the bar clapped for her.
She walked off stage, covering her face.
I purposely kept clapping as hard as I could and whistling as loud as I could.
Even when she stood inches away from me, I kept going.
“Are you going to stop?” she asked.
“Make me,” I said.
It was a cheap way to get her to kiss me.
But it worked.
She jumped up and I grabbed her waist.
We started to kiss and had more than a few eyes on us.
When she broke the kiss, she pushed at my chest. “There. Happy?”
“That was for you, not me,” I said. “You needed to sing. To make up for what happened. Don’t be afraid to sing, Lita.”
“Okay, your fortune cookie advice… I don’t need it anymore.”
“That was mean.”
“So?”
I loved how pretty she looked when she was tough and teasing.
I reached for her again and as I moved in for a kiss, my eyes caught sight of something. Of someone.
I leaned in closer to Lita. “Blaze is here.”
“What?” Lita yelled.
She turned around.
Blaze nodded to her and held up a bottle of beer.
I closed in on her. “So what are we doing here, beauty? Am I dry humping you? Asking you to marry me? Or are you going to go over there and knock his ass out? Or do you want me to?”
“I don’t know, Shane,” she said.
“You have to make a decision. You freezing up just gives this guy power.”
“Shane, shut up.”
“No. I’m not going to shut up. He’s walking toward us. What’s the plan? I faced Stacy.”
“You said you and Stacy weren’t even real. You knew that all along.”
“No. It was real. Just not meant to be.”
“Shane… it’s different…”
“Because you still love the guy,” I said.
Lita stepped forward and