“I am.”
“And what do you get if you win?”
That stopped him mid-comeback.
“Well?” I pressed. “What do you get if you sleep with more women than I do? MVP of the Lothario League? Is there a pennant race or something? A World Series of one-night stands?”
“No.”
“Then who cares?”
He glared, but he knew I had a point.
“Dude, relax,” I said again, with real compassion this time. “You’re better at most things. You’re arguably better with women. You keep them. I’ve managed to run off… more than I care to admit. Some really nice ones, too.”
“No kidding.”
“So, if this is any kind of ‘competition’ in the first place, it’s about the women you keep. The ones you lose should count against you.”
He thought about it and sighed heavily. “Yeah, you’re right.”
He pulled into the mechanic’s yard and parked beside a pile of discarded tires. Then he stared through the windshield and thought about what I’d said.
“For what it’s worth,” I added, “I get it. About Brooke. You have the hots for her. And if it makes you feel any better, it’s mutual.”
He brightened immediately.
“She wanted to seduce you,” I went on. “Yesterday. She chickened out, though.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Yeah. She has lots of wild ideas, but she never starts things. She needs the right guy for that. Know anyone?”
“I might,” he said with a laugh. Then he grew thoughtful. “Thanks. For… you know.”
I nodded.
“You… um… you’re a good friend. That… uh…” He blinked and looked away to hide the sudden emotion. “That means a lot.”
“It does. To me too.”
* * *
The girls hadn’t waited for us after all. They hadn’t been fooling around, but they’d decided to start drinking. They’d been enjoying themselves for a couple of hours by the time we returned from town. At the moment they were relaxing on the patio with a pitcher of something pale, fruity, and alcoholic. They stood when Trip and I rounded the corner of the clubhouse.
“All hail!” Wren cheered. She and the others broke into applause. “The returning heroes!”
“Thanks,” Trip said. “I dunno about heroes, though. It was just a zoning review.”
“But you’re real developers now,” she insisted.
“We are,” I said, more for his benefit than hers.
“It’s still early,” he cautioned. “We don’t have the permits yet.”
“Oh, brother.” Wren gave him a trademark eye-roll and then turned her glare on me. “This is all your fault.”
“Me? What’d I do?”
“He wasn’t so dark and brooding before he met you.”
“Hey!” Christy protested. “I happen to like dark and brooding.”
I shot her a look of thanks and said to Wren, “How would you know? I knew him before you. As a matter of fact, I’m the one who introduced you. Look how well that turned out.”
Christy arched an eyebrow.
“Beautifully!”
“Oh, good save,” Wren chuckled. “For a second I thought you were going to blow it.”
“I almost did,” I admitted. “Then a little birdy reminded me how lucky I am.”
“Uh-huh,” the little birdy said, unconvinced.
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world.”
“The second luckiest,” Wren said. She moved to Trip’s side, and he automatically put an arm around her. She stood on tiptoe and he bent for a kiss. “How’d it go?” she asked.
“Well,” he said. “We submitted everything. Now we wait. Granville is friends with the director, so we shouldn’t have any problems.”
“Did he ask a bunch of questions? I’m sure you knew all the answers.”
“What? No. It was actually pretty quick. But we had lunch afterward and talked business.”
I didn’t feel the need to contradict him, especially since his version sounded more professional than the truth.
“Oh, okay,” Wren said. “I hope you don’t mind that we started without you.”
“We didn’t know how long you were going to be,” Christy said. “Besides, Wren made white peach sangria. Yum!”
The girls weren’t drunk, but they were definitely headed that direction.
“C’mon, Trip,” I said, “let’s get out of these clothes.”
“And slip into something more comfortable?” Wren teased.
“Are you volunteering?” I shot back.
“If you play your cards right.” She looked up at Trip. “Are you okay with that?” She glanced at Christy and Brooke before he could reply. “We worked it out. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, of course not.”
Christy gave me a nod that said she was okay with it. I glanced at Brooke and raised an eyebrow. She swallowed nervously but then nodded as well.
“Well, then,” I said, “let’s get this party started. Ladies, we’ll be right back.”
* * *
On a whim, I checked my hiding place to see if Christy’s ring was where I’d left it. The girls didn’t have any reason to get into the closet, but I wanted to be sure.
My heart rate spiked when I saw the breast of my sports coat and it was smooth. I yanked it open and immediately felt a wave of relief. The inside pocket bulged right where it should’ve. I withdrew the maroon leather box, opened the lid, and stepped back so the ring caught the light. Twin diamonds sparkled.
“Is that it?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“Let me see,” Wren said. She took the box, and her eyes widened. “Wow, it’s bigger than I thought it’d be.”
My heart was still pounding, but I couldn’t resist the straight line. “Yeah, I hear that a lot.”
She rolled her eyes and ignored it. “I knew her grandmother was rich, but still… this was her engagement ring?”
“Hold on, how’d you know it was hers?”
“Seriously? We talked about it. She knows you went to San Diego. Trip and his stupid ‘sewer float.’ I told him she’d figure it out, but he didn’t believe me. Men. You always underestimate us.”
“Who? Women? I don’t,” I said.
“Most of the time,” she conceded. “Trip does, though. All the time.” She sighed and admitted, “Sometimes I wish he was more like you. Well, a bit more, not too much. I kinda like him a little old-fashioned.”
I decided to tease her. “You want a guy you can control, but one who isn’t a complete pushover.”
“That’s exactly what I want,” she said without a trace of sarcasm. “And it’s why you and I wouldn’t’ve worked. You’re too much of a control freak. Besides, your pussy-eating skills are only so-so.”
“I’m not that bad.”
She gave me a flat look.
“It isn’t a competition,” I said, a bit stiffly.
“It is when you’re on the receiving end. Trust me. Would you rather get a blowjob from me or Christy?” She waited but already knew the answer. “Uh-huh. That’s what I thought.” She shrugged and handed me the box. “I’m glad things worked out the way they did. For a while, I thought I’d have to beat you over the head.”
“I’m stubborn.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” she laughed. “Almost as stubborn as she is. On a different subject, I like Brooke. I think we’d’ve been friends if the circumstances had been different.”
“Seriously? What changed your mind?”
“Little things. But mostly the way she is with Christy. She doesn’t let her get away with anything.”
“No,” I agreed.
“Christy’s always had this narrative about herself that doesn’t match reality. You totally bought into it, too. Remember? You used to think she was a goody-goody? I tried to tell you,” she finished in a sing-song.
“Yeah, I know. You were right.”
“I’m sorry… what was that?”
I summoned my own flat look.