Page 122 of Family Affair

Think, Coco, think.You can’t turn back now.

She hung out under the pink light from Kitty’s sign in profound indecision.

Another truck pulled up and parked. It wasn’t brand new but looked clean and in good condition. Two men got out, all bright smiles and loud voices, out for a good time. Both were young, mid-twenties maybe, and they looked presentable, which was a surprise given the run-down feel of the area. Nice, unassuming men in plaid shirts. One wore a baseball cap.

They were exactly what she needed.

She scrambled for a pick-up line, but before she could open her mouth and produce some gem likeHi, don’t I know you from high school?the Baseball Hat made everything easy.

“Hey, beautiful, whatcha doing out here all alone?”

A small smile tugged at Coco’s mouth. She may not be good at baiting but she could reel like crazy.

“Nothin’ much,” she said coyly. “Just tryna decide if I wanna go in.” She lifted one shoulder in a coquettish shrug. Her breasts jiggled, reminding her that her bra didn’t make it on this trip.

“Go in. It’s a nice bar. Good burgers.” The Baseball Cap smiled at her. His friend took a couple of steps toward the door, not so much interested in Coco as he was in getting inside.

Taking it easy with the shoulders, Coco reached behind her neck and casually flipped the long, heavy mass of her dark blond hair to the front, at the same time thrusting her chest subtly. She may fall behind her mother in terms of the size, but what rack she had was quality goods.

The hair covered her breasts in a waterfall of wavy blond strands.

The friend stopped.

“See, I kinda want to, but I’m not sure.” She pouted her lips. “I haven’t been here before and I’m all by myself tonight.”

She hit the right button. The men perked up.

“What’s your name, beautiful?” The Baseball Cap asked, straightening his shoulders and puffing up his chest.

“Amy. What’s yours?”

“I’m Ron.”

“And I’m Andy,” the second man said and hooked his arm around her shoulders. “And you ain’t by yourself no more.”

Laughing, sandwiched between their wide bodies, Coco walked inside Kitty’s Lounge.

The bar was fairly busy and larger inside than she expected. No stripper wound herself around the pole; there wasn’t even a podium in sight. It was just a bar, with booths and a couple of pool tables in the far corner. Music played, people drank and laughed, balls clacked as someone pocketed one.

Their entrance didn’t attract any attention from the patrons, and the three of them settled at the bar.

Keeping Andy’s body between her and the lounge’s main area, Coco peered from around him to scan the customers on the subject of Cade. Seeing anything at all was difficult due to the extremely dim lighting and layers of smoke. The patrons took to heart the bar’s liberal attitude toward tobacco use.

“Let me buy you a drink. What would you like?” Ron asked.

“Aww, you’re awfully nice. A bottle of Corona, if you don’t mind,” Coco threw flirty smiles to her right and to her left, so as not to exclude neither Ron nor Andy. They both preened. Ron placed their order and tipped his Georgia Bulldogs hat at her.

“Dawgs fan, are you? Nice, me too!”

Taking a swig of her beer, she risked another peek at the booths and saw him. He was sitting at the very last booth, way back in the corner, barely discernible in the unwholesome atmosphere of the place. The distinctive set of his wide shoulders and his manner to hold his head a little forward were unmistakable.

Cade wasn’t looking her way, his attention directed at the person sitting across from him at the booth. It was a man, also wearing a ball hat, and that was all Coco could see as his back was turned to her.

She smiled at something Ron said without listening. Of the two, she gravitated to him rather than to a more handsome but slightly sleazy Andy. Ron had an endearing openness about him and he made her feel safer. He also made her feel guilty for playing him like she did.

An hour flew by in chatting and flirting when Andy, having consumed an impressive amount of draft beer, grew an extra pair of hands. Those hands roamed everywhere at once: on her shoulders, on her knees, sliding up and down her upper arms, rubbing her neck. He hadn’t yet become another Aaron and touched her in more intimate places, but it was only a matter of time.

She threw another covert glance at where Cade sat.