Top Dog

“Yes.”

“Have I told you this asshole’s an idiot?” I asked.

“Why the hell do I get tangled up in men like this?” she asked.

“Because you don’t listen to a damn thing I tell you. I told you he was no good from the start.”

“My heart hurts, Amanda.”

I got up from the coffee table and pulled Sarah into my arms. No matter how happy I was that she was away from that man, it didn’t discount how much she was hurting. I held her close as she sniffled into my neck, her hands gripping my body tightly.

“It’s going to be okay, Sarah. It’s gonna be okay. When did all this happen?”

“Two days ago,” she said.

“Before or after we talked about the contractor shit?” I asked.

“After.”

“Why didn’t you call me?”

“Things got busy, and when I saw him with that pregnant woman I didn’t want to stay in the city. I couldn’t. I needed to get out.”

“I understand that feeling,” I said.

“Can you stay with me tonight?” she asked.

“I can, but I’ve got somewhere to be in the morning.”

“Oh? Did I come in at a bad time?” she asked.

“Not at all,” I said as I pulled her away from me. “I told Brian I would watch Lanie.”

“Ah, the sexy neighbor,” she said, grinning. “How’s all that going? I need a nice, juicy distraction.”

“How about we save those stories for when we get to your hotel room?” I asked.

“Oh, my gosh. You didn’t. You slept with him?”

“Keep your voice down, would you? Let’s take this stuff back to your hotel,” I said.

“I cannot wait to hear this.”

I followed Sarah back to the hotel she was staying at, and we scurried up to her room. Sarah threw the door open, and we piled onto the bed before I turned on the television. I flipped through the channels until I landed on a Patrick Swayze movie, then the two of us began to gossip. I told her about my steamy encounter with Brian and how waking up in his arms felt like heaven, and Sarah gushed about how she wanted to see a picture or something of him before she left.

“If you come up the mountain, you could see him in person,” I said.

“You don’t want that, trust me. I’m all about manly men, and once he saw me, you’d be shit out of luck.”

“Are you saying you’d steal him away from me?” I asked.

“In a fucking heartbeat, especially if he’s got the kind of muscles you’re talking about.”

“Oh, oh, oh! Roadhouse is coming on next!”

“We haven’t watched Roadhouse in years,” Sarah said.

“We haven’t done anything like this in years,” I said.