“What do you say Sugar? Wanna take a ride on this pogo stick?”
That remark seemed to be amusing to Memphis, because he coughed out a quick snicker. I, on the other hand, was just plain confused. What the hell was happening right now? Maybe the alternate dimension theory wasn’t that far off?
Then it dawned on me. Well not so much dawned as slapped me in the face when I glanced over at Gio’s table. This was part of his plan. Was this part of Gio’s nefarious plan? I didn’t know if Atlee was sent over here as a distraction, or if he had something else in mind. But I did know Gio was watching a little too intently for this to be a random occurrence.
“Come on Darlin,” Atlee grabbed my chin, pulling my attention back to him. “I’ll take you on a wild ride.”
Okay, in the matter of a couple of minutes he’d called me three things, none of which were my actual name.
When Memphis twitched behind me, I waved at him to stop. I had this.
“Thanks, but I think I’ll pass. I’m not really into the overly used goods.”
“Are you sure?” A shadow moved over Atlee’s face deepening the smolder burning in his gaze. “Because those big beautiful eyes are telling me otherwise.”
Big beautiful eyes? Wow he sucked at this.
“How did you get so many girls into bed?”
Memphis wasn’t the only one that snickered at that one. Chuck also let a chuckle out. I didn’t get many of those out of him and was kind of proud of it. Most of the time it was uttered grumbles and eye rolls.
But was Atlee phased at all by my comment… not in the slightest. If anything he took it as an opening. “Come out with me tonight and I’ll show you.”
Oh boy, a date with Atlee Fiore. Was I the last girl on the planet who hadn’t seen his junk?
“Sorry, I already have plans to chew broken glass.”
That wasn’t an entire lie. I did have plans, and they did involve broken glass. Just not chewing on them. Thanks to Maw Maw, it was my turn to help with church yard work.
“Ouch.” In the fakest gesture I’d ever seen, Atlee flattened his hand on his chest and shot me a frown. “You act like I have ulterior motives.”
“Um, yeah.” See unlike the other girls he charmed, I wasn’t dumb or desperate. Nor did I care about my social status or dating reputation. Which by the way would only be one thing if I went out with him.
Atlee scoffed out a snort, “is there something wrong with wanting to share your company?”
Memphis, Chuck and I all simultaneously said, “yes.”
“Damn,” Atlee huffed out a breath and sat back in his chair. “You’d think you were unlikable or something.”
This time it was Chuck’s eyes that narrowed. “You have talked to her, right?”
Memphis threw a fry at him and shot him a dirty look.
“What, it would explain a lot.” Chuck gave him the same look back. “The last guy she went out with was Simon.”
I couldn’t really argue with that.
“Simon?” Atlee’s brow rose. “As in Simon Fisher?”
“Yeah.” How did he know Simon?
“Wait,” he waved his hands through the air. “You’re telling me you dated Simon Fisher?”
Did he miss my answer the first time? “Yes.”
“Why?”
Memphis answered that one for me. “She said he has nice hair.”
