His Nasty Virgin

JESSE

Ava showed me yet another picture of her daughter on her phone. Don’t get me wrong. Cassie was cute as far as babies went, but this was officially the second straight hour of show-and-tell and I was, quite frankly, over it.

“We’re thinking of enrolling her in baby swimming lessons,” Theo said with a hint of pride.

“Isn’t two a little young?” I asked flatly. I may or may not have checked out of the conversation two beers ago. I was now nursing my third, but it still didn’t give me enough of a buzz to safely endure the evening.

I loved my niece very much, but this was supposed to be our big night out, a chance to let loose. Cory and Cassie were over at a friend’s house being babysat, which gave us adults the rare opportunity to catch up, especially now that Theo worked from home as a security consultant. I tried to give him an office at Pegasus Star Security, but he wouldn’t bite. Mentioned something about wanting to spend more time with the family, yada yada yada…

“She’s got a lot of energy,” Ava continued, smiling at the picture of her daughter. “It might help to tucker her out so things are easier when we get home.”

I chuckled. “I’m glad my kid’s all grown up.”

“How is Wally?” Theo asked. “I haven’t heard you complain about him in forever.”

“I don’t complain.”

“When is he going to hurry up and move out?” Theo mocked. “I should start charging him rent. All he does is

play video games all day.”

I sniffed. “I don’t sound like that.”

“Yes, you do,” Ava mumbled quietly, sipping her pretty pink cocktail.

I finished my third beer and pushed my glass away. When the waitress eyed it questioningly, I shook my head and sent her on her way. It might have been a Friday, but I still had to get to the office first thing tomorrow morning. I knew my limit.

“Doesn’t he have to take the MCAT soon?” Theo asked.

I nodded stiffly. “Yeah, but he hasn’t been making use of the tutor I hired him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him sit down and study.”

“How are his grades?” Ava asked cautiously.

“Let’s just say I don’t know how he hasn’t flunked out yet. Wally needs to start applying himself or…” I trailed off, running a hand through my hair.

My son was a good kid. I knew he was smart. He was top of his class in high school. I couldn’t be prouder when he graduated with all those scholarships and bursaries. Whatever his scholarships didn’t cover, I’d foot the rest of the bill provided he kept his grades up and got into a good pre-med college program. Now we were in his fourth and final year, but with the way things were going, I was genuinely worried that he was dropping the ball.

“What does Melissa have to say about it?” Theo asked.

I glared at him. My ex-wife was a touchy subject. If he were anyone else, I would have told him to fuck right off. But Theo and I went way back. We served together and worked together. He was the closest thing to a brother I had, apart from my actual brother, Devin, but the metaphor still stood.

“Everything out of that woman’s mouth is a jab at me,” I retorted. “She thinks I’m being too hard on him, but what does she know? She skipped off to Florida with that son of a bitch when Wallace was eleven and left me to do all the

parenting. What she has to say holds no weight.”

Theo smirked. “Need another drink, bud?”

“No.”

He gave me a knowing look.

“Fuck it, fine,” I grumbled and waved down the waitress. One more beer wouldn’t kill me.

Ava smiled gently. “I’m sure everything will work out.

Maybe he’s doing all his studying at school?”

“Doubt it. He’s been skipping classes lately.”

“Aren’t you at work all the time?” Theo asked. “How would you know? You’re not having one of the boys tail him, are you?”

“I don’t use my employees to keep tabs on my son. That’s ridiculous.” My fresh beer arrived, and I took a heavy swig. I could sense the faintest trace of a buzz coming on. I hated that I’d built up such a heavy tolerance over the years. What I wouldn’t give to be twenty-one and a lightweight again, just for the night. Just for this conversation.

“You’re right, I’m sorry.”

“I can just tell,” I said. “When I ask him how his day is, he avoids eye contact.”

“That could mean a lot of things.”

“I know my boy. He’s hiding something, and I think it’s that he’s been ditching class. He’s always home by the time I get back, and I know for a fact that his last class is a three-hour lecture that should end at ten in the evening.”

“Maybe his professor’s been letting them go early?” Ava suggested.

“Every class for a whole semester?”

Her brow furrowed. “Okay, you might have a point.”

I gave a little bow. “Thank you.”

Theo’s phone pinged twice, alerting him to a text message. He reached into his pocket to pull his phone out, squinting at the screen to read. “That’s our sitter,” he announced. “Something’s come up. We need to pick

Cory and Cassie up early.”

“So you’re already sick of me, huh?”

Ava giggled, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek. “Don’t be such a big baby. You’re still coming over for a barbeque next weekend, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” Theo was just about to pull out his wallet, but I waved him away. “I’ve got it.”

“You sure?”

“I already gave the waitress my card. Everything’s been put on my tab.”

“Thanks, man. I’ll get the next one.”

“You’d better. Run along and give Cory and Cassie my love.”

Theo slipped an arm around Ava’s waist and kissed the top of her head. “Ready to go, sweetheart?” She nodded, smiling sweetly up at him before they left our booth and disappeared into the crowd.

I only had half a glass left, but I didn’t feel like finishing it. It wasn’t much fun drinking by myself, and the bar’s demographic was slowly shifting from after-hours businessmen to the partying sort. I didn’t feel like being caught in the transition, so I raised an arm to flag down my waitress. As I did so, something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye.

No, not something.

Someone.Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

A woman at the bar. She was short -barely five-foot-two – standing up on her tiptoes trying to get the busy bartender’s attention. It wasn’t working.

It was a Friday night, which meant the bar was packed. A younger crowd was taking the place of the early group, all dressed to the nines with the intention of pre-gaming before heading off to the local clubs to dance and mingle and whatever it was kids these days got up to.

I normally wouldn’t pay her any mind, but she stood out like a sore thumb. While all the other young women here wore tight, revealing dresses of brightly colored fabric and sparkly sequins, she was in a… navy blazer.