“So you haven’t always chased after bad guys?”
“I started doing this in my teens. Mostly part-?time.”
“Like Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”
“Yeah, except I don’t mess with vampires. And I think Buffy might not be real.”
“And you’re real?”
“As real as a guy could get.”
“Okay, great. Now we’ve established we’re all real,” Snuggy said. “Could we get back to the Doug problem?”
“I need an off-?site poker game,” Diesel said. “Private. High-?stakes party.”
Snuggy pumped his fist into the air. “Yes! I knew you’d come through. You guys stay here and I’ll find a game. I’ll ask around.”
“You aren’t going to take off on me, are you?” Diesel asked Snuggy. “Because I’d track you down and find you and the rest wouldn’t be pretty.”
“You got my word.”
“Your word isn’t worth squat,” Diesel said. “Just remember my promise. Make sure no one in the game knows me. And find out if they’re checking guns at the door.”
“Okay, got that,” Snuggy said. “Why do you want to know about the guns? Are you packing?”
“No. I don’t want to get shot when I win. It hurts. We’re going to the cafe. You can catch me there or you can call Stephanie on her cell.”
Snuggy wandered away and Diesel stuck his hand into my sweatshirt pocket.
“Hey!” I said.
“I’m lo
oking for your voucher.”
“I bet.”
“I need the receipt I gave you when I cashed out the slot.”
“I put it in my jeans pocket. I didn’t want to lose it.”
“Even better.”
I stepped back from him. “I can get it!”
“You’re not a whole lot of fun,” Diesel said.
“I have a boyfriend.”
“And?”
I pulled the receipt out of my pocket and gave it to Diesel. “And I don’t mess around.”
“Admirable but boring.” Diesel took the receipt and towed me across the room to the cashier. “It wouldn’t kill you to flirt a little, so I don’t remember this assignment as totally sucking. I’m babysitting a guy who thinks he’s a leprechaun, and I’m rescuing a has-?been horse. The least you could do is grab my ass once in a while.”
“Suppose I just think about grabbing your ass?”
“Better than nothing.”