He sounds so fucking nostalgic. I feel the instant hit of the empty seat in this booth.

Jonny.

“Yeah, it has been a while. Too long.” I stare down into my glass. “You remember how we used to be out every night when Jonny was still here?” I say, lifting my head.

Surprising myself as I say it, I realise saying his name doesn’t hurt as much as it used to. There was one point where I couldn’t even finish a sentence if his name was in it.

“Yeah.” Tom laughs lightly. “Jonny wouldn’t give us a fuckin’ reprieve back then. He had us out every night, tapping ass and drinking hard liquor. That’s why we can all hold our drink so well now. Taught by the best.”

“You still can’t hold your liquor.” Denny laughs at him.

“Fuck you! I could drink you under the table any night of the fuckin’ week!”

“Bring it on,” Denny challenges.

“You are so fuckin’ on.” Tom waves the blonde waitress over.

Here we go.

“Can we have three Flaming Sambucas, sugar, and a line of tequilas, and keep ’em coming ’til I say stop,” Tom orders.

“Sure thing, darlin’. Anything else I can get you?” She turns to me, leans over, puts her hand on my shoulder, and says into my ear, “Maybe me, again?”

Again? Shit, have I fucked her before?

I give her face a quick glance. No recollection whatsoever.

I don’t know whether to be relieved or shit scared at that realization.

Truth is, I don’t think I would recognize near to half of the women I’ve screwed.

To remember I would’ve had to have cared, and I never cared.

One in, one out. Those girls were just nameless faces.

Until Tru.

She changed everything. She changed me.

“Sorry,” I say, ducking my shoulder out from under her hand. “If it’s a quick fuck you’re looking for, I’m not your guy. I’m getting married.”

“So I heard.” She runs her tongue over her lower lip, then tugs her lip between her teeth. “But you’re not married yet, Jake, so technically you’re still single, and I’m more than willing to get you off real good without a word to your girl. Right now, I want you to come with me on my break, and I’ll put my mouth to real good use. A little reminder of what I can do.” Moving closer again, she whispers in my ear, “I’ll blow you so good, honey, you won’t ever want me to stop.”

Nothing. Not even a twitch in my dick.

Before Tru, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I’d have pushed her under the table and gotten her to blow me right here.

Right now all I want to do is laugh.

Struggling not to be a bastard and hurt this chick’s feelings, even though I’m really tempted to tell her she can’t have been that fucking memorable the first time around, I laugh and say, “I’m far from single, honey. My girl gets me off just fine. More than fine, she’s fuckin’ amazing. You’re not a patch on her—no offense. You wanna get laid, you’re gonna have to look elsewhere. Like I said before, I’m not your guy.”

Her gaze practically burns a hole in me.

Okay, so maybe I wasn’t as kind as I could have been.

“Hey, sugar, if you’re up for a fuck, I’ll happily step in where he’s lacking,” Tom says, catching her attention.

She pulls herself away from me and focuses in on Tom.

I nearly breathe a sigh of relief to have her and her cheap perfume out of my face.

“Bound and chained Jake is, but I’m as free as a bird,” Tom says.

“Tom Carter, right?” she says, straightening up, pushing her chest out.

“The one and only.”

“I’ve heard great things about you.” She shifts her gaze downward on him. “A few of the girls have been to your place, right?”

“Right.” He grins.

“I’m taking my break now.” She tilts her head for him to follow her.

“Boys, I’ll be back in half an hour.”

Tom gets up and grabs the waitress by the hand. I watch him lead her off through the crowd.

I shake my head, laughing.

“Skank,” as Tru would say.

At least Tom’s getting his rocks off for a few. I’d say he has no shame, but then, there was a time I would have done exactly the same. And really, I should thank him for taking her heat-seeking-missile gaze from me and focusing it straight onto him.

“Ah shit, Tom’s just fucked off to the bathroom with our easy access to shots,” Denny complains.

“We’ve got the Jack,” I say, picking it up. I pour Denny another, then myself.

“So you off to London in a few days?”

“Yeah, and I can’t fuckin’ wait.” Denny leans back against the seat, resting his head on the top as he takes a drink. “Feels like it’s been fuckin’ ages since I last saw Simone. Well, it has been fuckin’ ages,” he adds.

“I don’t know how you do it, man. I couldn’t be away from Tru like you are with Simone. Just a night away from her does my head in.”

I can talk to Denny like this and know he won’t bust my nuts because he knows where I’m coming from. Tom, on the other hand, will never understand.

“It’s hard fuckin’ going,” he says. “But it’s just the way things have to be at the moment. Her work’s there and mine is here.”

“Couldn’t she get a transfer out here?”

“Nah.” He shakes his head. “Her company doesn’t have an office out here. It would mean her having to get a new job, and I know how much she loves working at that place.”

“You want her to move out here, though?”

He takes another long drink, then, leaning forward, puts it on the table. He cups the glass in his hands, swirling it around.

“Yeah, I do.”

“So tell her.” I pour more whiskey into my glass and gesture to Denny.

He moves his hands, allowing me to pour it in.

“I told Tru how I felt, asked her to move in with me, and she did. You’ve got nothing to lose by asking Simone.”

“I guess.” He shrugs. “I’ll talk to her about it when I see her.” He throws his drink back in one. “Fuck this, I’m getting hammered.” He gestures for a waitress and puts in another order of shots for us. “Hey, what happened at that club the other night? Zane said you knocked some dude on his ass.”

“Some dickhead who Tru knew from London had his hands all over her, so I knocked him on his ass. Wish I’d done a lot more, to be honest.”

Like broken his fucking nose. Motherfucker filed an assault charge just like I knew he would. Then I got served from his lawyer.

I just gave my lawyer the nod to pay him off. I can do without the hassle of little fuck-wads like him. Honestly, to keep his hands off Tru, it’s worth every cent.

“Sounds like he deserved it,” Denny muses.

“Too fuckin’ right he did.”

Denny and I have just knocked back our first round of tequila shots when Tom reappears at our table.

“Dude, that was quick,” I say as he lands back in his seat. “Fifteen minutes—must be a fuckin’ record for you.”

“It was long enough. Just a quick blow job; then I banged her, and I was more than ready to come by that point. Not the best blow job ever, or fuck, for that matter. She’s been rode too many times, so I just visualised fucking Maxine Halliday and I was coming in no time.”

“Maxine Halliday from college?” I ask, grinning.

She was hot as fuck, and one girl I never nailed. That was only because Tom was fucking her. We didn’t share back then.

Not that I share now. No one touches my girl but me.

“The very one. Man, you remember her? She was hot as sin. I screwed her all over campus. I even fingered her during a lecture once, had her coming all over my hand.”

“Thanks for the visuals,” Denny says.

“You’re very welcome.” Tom pats him on the shoulder. “And go easy on me. I was taking one for the team, banging that waitress. She wasn’t gonna let up on Jake, so I diverted her attention from his cock to mine. And you can thank me now.” Tom looks in my direction. “I call it a bottle of the most expensive champagne they have here, and I’m being generous at that.”

“You want me to buy you an expensive bottle of champagne for fucking some cheap waitress in the bathroom?”

“Absolutely,” he says, grinning.

I shake my head, laughing. I’ve known this guy nearly ten years, and even now, he still never ceases to surprise me.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Denny says.

“Den, has it been that long since your dick saw action that you’ve forgotten how to use it?” Tom takes a slug of his whiskey. “Do I have to get that waitress I just banged over here to teach you the basics?”

“You do remember I have a girlfriend? Anyway, you just said that waitress wasn’t even that great. What the hell’s she gonna teach me?”

“Ah, she wasn’t bad. I’ve had worse. And dude, you’re in a long-distance relationship. Your dick needs daily action, and not just from your hand. Let me get that chick…” Denny stops Tom’s waving hand, the one trying to get the waitress’s attention.

“Seriously, man, sloppy seconds are not my thing.” Denny shakes his head, grinning at him. “And I’m pretty sure she’s had her fill from you.”

“She did. Best fuck of her life.” He gives a self-satisfied grin. “Even if it was just mediocre for me.”

“She had the time of her life in fifteen minutes?” I raise my eyebrow, picking up my tequila.

“Yep. My dick has magical powers.”

“Maybe you should get ‘Rub the Lamp’ tattooed above your dick.” Denny grins, throwing back his second shot.

Tom’s face lights up.

I’ve seen that look before. The last time Tom looked like that, I ended up in bed with three strippers.

“I was kidding!” Denny raises a protesting hand.

“That’s probably the best idea you’ve had since you suggested I get my tongue pierced.”

“I was kidding then as well!”

“No, that was a fuckin’ brilliant idea, Den! The women love it, especially when I’m giving them head. Right, I’m definitely on for this tattoo. Come on, we’ll blow this place, find a tattoo joint, get inked, and then hit another club.” Tom picks up his two sitting tequila shots and downs them, slamming the glasses on the table.

I throw mine back.

“I’m not getting another tattoo done,” Denny says, getting to his feet.

“Come on, man,” I say, throwing my arm around his shoulder. “I’m up for getting one done.”

“You’re getting another?”

“Yep.”

And I know just exactly what I’m having done.

Standing, I throw a couple of hundreds down on the table to cover the bill and tip, gesturing for Dave to let him know we’re leaving. I pick up the bottle of Jack to take with us.