I pour the wine in the two glasses. The guy at the wine section in the grocery store said this is good stuff.
“He said it’s nothing.”
“Oh?”
“Just age, no brain damage.”
“Well, that’s good,” she says.
She lets out a little airy laugh.
“What’s that mean?”
“Nothing.”
She comes over and picks up her glass.
“Cheers,” I say.
She says nothing and stares at me as she sips the wine.
“Most pleasant,” she says.
“You think so?”
“You know it.”
I begin to relax a little bit. It feels nice to be here and with her. She starts asking me about where I’m from and why I’m in New York City. I tell her that when I got back from being deployed, I felt like damaged goods and didn’t want to go home and have to answer a lot of questions.
I had been stationed in San Diego, while training with the SEALs and doing some joint task force training. I was no longer needed, due to my injuries, and should have hightailed it home to Texas but didn’t want to, so I let my fighting career take me to New York and Vegas.
Now that I’m not fighting much, I’m mostly in New York, and I let Damien do my finances; he’s always calling me to sign some paperwork and agree to do some trades. He says it’s important to be in the center of the financial world, whatever that means. I think he just likes that his friend is close to him – and the feeling is mutual.
Plus, there are MMA training gyms here with top notch coaches. There was nothing like that back home. It seemed to make sense to be here.
“I know what you mean,” she says.
She puts a plate in front of me that is full of bread and cheese, and we start munching.
“This is my favorite cheese,” she says.
“I like it,” I say.
It is good. A classic wine and cheese pairing, to compliment the nice guy and girl pairing as well, if I do say so myself.
“So where are you from originally?” she asks.
She goes back to the pot and lifts the lid, giving me a chance to check out that nice ass of hers again. The steam roils up. And it’s not just the food that’s making the kitchen hot. She’s so sexy I just want to fuck her little pussy until she’s moaning and calling out my name so loud.
“Where am I from?” The question catches me off guard. “Oh, from Texas.”
“Really?” she asks. “Where?”
“From Odessa, but you probably have never heard of it.”
“Are you kidding me?” she asks.
She holds her glass out and I refill it.
“No.”
“I’m from Midland!”
“Are you shittin’ me?”
“No, we’re practically neighbors.”
This is all starting to get a bit too real. I down another glass quickly and repour.
“You don’t seem like you’re from Texas,” I say.
I don’t really mean that, but I just don’t know what to say. I feel as if she suddenly knows all my secrets, and that I’ve been lying the whole time. I don’t know how to explain it. It’s a funny feeling and my guard has gone up.
“What’s wrong?” she asks.
“Nothing.”
“You suddenly seem quiet.”
“I’m fine,” I say.
“Is it because we’re neighbors?” she asks.
“No, not at all.”
She says nothing and takes out two bowls to serve the stew.
“Anyway,” she says. “Let’s eat.”
I move over to the table in the dining area while she serves the food.
We eat and I regain my sense of composure. She’s telling me about how she ended up in New York from Midland, which had to do with school and work. She went to Brooklyn College for nursing.
“I’m really close to my family and I miss them a lot.”
“Mmmm,” I say, wiping my mouth with the napkin.
“In fact,” she says. “As luck would have it, I’m going to visit next month. For Christmas and then staying through New Year’s.”
“You are?” I take a sip of water.
“Why don’t you join me?” she asks and leans toward me.
I choke on the water.
“No way.”
“Why not?”
“I just can’t,” I say.
“Don’t you want to see your family?” she asks.
She stands and clears the table.
“No.”
“Oh, OK,” she says. “I’m sorry I asked.”
“That’s fine.”
I really don’t know what to make of her invitation. We just met each other and she is my physical therapist and she’s saying we can’t date because she’s a professional but then she’s inviting me to Texas with her?
I want to go wherever she wants to go – to bang her brains out and to just be near her and look at her, to follow her around like a puppy dog, like Rex follows me around. Anywhere, that is, except home to Texas.
That’s not something I’ve ever wanted to do. I’ve avoided it for this long and I don’t think I can go even if it’s for some tail I’m chasing.
It may be the hottest tail I’ve ever met, which makes me feel like a dog in heat. But still. Texas? No way.