“Uh, hey,” I said, looking between the two women. “Didn’t realize we were going to have company.”
Brent raised his eyebrow at me. “Meet Linda and Marie,” he told me. “They’re new camp counselors at that place up the road. I ran into them at the shop today and said we’d show them around town a little. They haven’t gotten away from the kiddos much since they’ve been here.” He laughed.
Ordinarily, I would have been excited at the prospect of having two hot co-eds sitting with us. For some reason, they were always the easiest lays around town, maybe because they got so fed up with working with kids all day, every day, and needed to blow off some steam by the time the weekend rolled around. It was always great to find people who were going to be around for the whole summer, too.
But no matter how beautiful Linda was, no matter how easy it was to see through her sheer blouse as she sat next to me, no matter how warm her thigh was where it was pressed against mine, I didn’t feel the slightest attraction for her. What’s more, I kind of resented the fact that Brent had brought the two of them along without even asking me if I was okay with it.
The rational part of me said he didn’t need to ask my permission to bring a couple girls to our night at the bar, but another part of my brain thought it would just be the two of us for the night, that we might just drink and catch up. That was the whole reason I’d agreed to come out tonight.
Not that there was ever much for us to say to one another; we were still best friends, but all he ever did with his time was sell drugs or smoke weed, and all I ever did was work at the ranch or go out drinking. We didn’t have much to talk about.
That wasn’t the real issue, though. My main problem was my distinct lack of interest in Linda, Marie, or any other girl that sauntered into the Bison. It had been weeks since I’d been attracted to anyone other than Vanessa.
That surprised me. It wasn’t like I’d been celibate. And like she’d said the other day, it wasn’t as though she and I had ever slept together — nor were we ever going to sleep together in the future — but my mind kept coming back around to her.
“Dude, what’s your problem?” Brent asked in an undertone as the girls went to the bathroom together. The look on his face said that whatever my issue was, I needed to fucking get rid of it. No such luck.
I glanced over at him and shrugged before turning my attention back to the guy who was currently riding the mechanical bull. It was on its slowest speed, and the guy still did a terrible job, but his friends kept egging him on, and he kept pulling himself back up off the floor and getting back on the thing. I wondered idly when Mickey was going to decide the guy had had enough. I also wondered if maybe John was right, and the Roasted Bison was a little too willing to let people endanger themselves on the bull.
“What, you’re ignoring me now, too?” Brent asked with venom in his voice. “It’s bad enough you’ve hardly said two words to Linda. They’re getting ready to leave. Don’t you realize that? If they haven’t already left.”
“They just went to the bathroom,” I said, suppressing the urge to roll my eyes as I turned back to face him. “What’s your problem, anyhow? I thought we were just going to hang tonight, and instead, you brought these two girls with you.”
“I’m trying to get you laid,” he said, as though that were obvious. “It’s been, what, a month now? I’m surprised your balls haven’t shriveled up and fallen off yet.”
I gave him a look. “I don’t have to fuck around to take care of that.”
“I know that, but it’s just fucking weird, man,” he said. “Like, you can’t keep pining after Vanessa. You gotta move on.”
“I’m not pining for Vanessa,” I snapped. I was totally pining for Vanessa, which left me not wanting to talk to or approach anyone else. Nothing seemed quite right now that I had her back in my sights. She was perfect, the exact woman I wanted in my bed and in my life.
“Prove it,” Brent said. “You’ve been staring at that mechanical bull all night. Go give it a ride, impress the ladies, and for the love of God, take Linda home with you.”
“I don’t have to prove anything,” I said.
Just then, the ladies returned to the table. “What’s going on?” Marie asked, looking between the two of us. “You guys look super serious. Should we give you a minute?”
“No,” I offered kindly.
Brent got a wicked smile on his face, and before I could stop him, he told them, “Trethan here was just telling me that he has one of the best times on the mechanical bull of anyone in town. You’d like to see him ride, wouldn’t you?”
Marie giggled. “Oh, that would be fun!” she said. “I’ve never seen someone last more than a second or two on one of those things.”
“Oh, he’ll
last more than a second,” Brent promised, winking over at Linda. “Come on, Trethan, show them what you can do.”
I scowled at him, but got out of my seat, remembering what it sounded like to have everyone in the bar cheering me on. Anyway, it was about time to put this poor guy out of his misery. He would be spectacularly bruised the next morning, but still, he climbed back on the bull with a stubborn determination that surprised me.
“Hey, buddy, can I have a turn?” I asked after he was thrown yet again.
I didn’t miss the look of relief that spread across his face as he nodded emphatically before retreating back to where his friends all laughed. Someone buy that guy a drink. Unfortunately, I had a feeling he’d just lost a bet and was going to buy all his jerk friends drinks before the night was through.
I shook my head and turned back toward the bull. “Can you put her up on high again?” I asked Mickey as I climbed on.
Mickey looked like he wanted to say something, but he held back, glancing toward Brent and the girls before shrugging. I didn’t last nearly as long as I had when I’d ridden against Mike. Then again, the bull hadn’t started out on the most challenging setting that time. Still, my time was respectable enough to have the girls cheering for me and Brent giving me an impressed look.
But the victory, or whatever it was, didn’t excite me. Instead, it just soured my mood further.