Page 176 of Let the Game Begin

When the bartender handed him his drink, Keller thanked him before swirling the straw around inside the glass.

“Don’t you have someone waiting at home for you, Dr. Keller?” I couldn’t seem to hold my tongue, even though I didn’t really give a shit about his life.

“Nope. Just the occasional friend.” He smiled, making it clear what he meant by “friend.”

“So you’re an inveterate bachelor who enjoys sleeping with different women when the mood strikes him?”

“I didn’t say that,” he answered.

“But that’s what you meant.”

I considered it pointless to dig into the life of a man I barely knew, but I also hated being taken for a ride, and that’s what he had tried to do. “Your pearl and all that bullshit…” I shook my head, unable to finish the sentence. I didn’t need to.

“She definitely existed, but we didn’t get the chance to marry.” He drank his gin and tonic and sighed. “We didn’t even get the chance to really be together.”

I had finished my Scotch by that point, and I should have just gotten up and left. I watched the doctor’s face as he became absorbed in his musings, and when he lifted his wrist to grab his glass, I took notice of a small patch of skin exposed by the movement of his shirt. There appeared to be some kind of symbol tattooed there.

“Haven’t you ever seen a doctor with a tattoo?” he asked when he caught me looking, but I remained impassive.

“Nothing surprises me anymore,” I answered cooly. “It’s faded, though. You should get someone to go over it again. I have a friend who does tattoos,” I added, referring to Xavier, who had vanished to God knew where with the blond or the brunette, whichever one he’d managed to hook.

“No, for me it’s mostly got sentimental value. I don’t really care how it looks. I got it done more than twenty years ago.” He lifted his shirt sleeve a bit and showed me. It was some Japanese characters that I couldn’t read. I could have asked him what it meant, but I decided not to because I didn’t want to seem nosy. I hated nosy people.

Still, I stared hard as those intersecting lines and wondered all the while how the fuck I’d ended up in this situation. I was sitting here talking to this guy when I could have been propositioning the flirty blond from before and getting blown in one of the club’s bathrooms.

I really was in a bad way.

I looked around, no longer paying any attention to Dr. Keller. I needed to find Xavier and let him know that I was leaving. That was no easy feat, however. Who knew where he might have gone to feed his urges?

“Did you come here with someone?” Keller asked, trying to figure out who I was looking for.

“Yes, with a friend who’s currently busy nailing some random.” I sighed impatiently and got off my stool. I took my wallet out of my pants and offered to pay but Dr. Keller beat me to it.

“Leave it, it’s on me.”

Usually, I never allowed anyone to pay for me, but I wasn’t in the mood to argue just then.

“Thanks.” I put my wallet back in my pocket and turned to go. I didn’t want to be there any longer. Logan would be pleased to see me come home. Maybe I still might have found him on the sofa watchingMiami Vice, and I could have sat down next to him, cursing myself for having left him alone.

“Kid.” Dr. Keller called after me, and I turned my eyes on him, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“Maybe I could come see your friend sometime?” he smiled and I frowned, not understanding what he was talking about. “For the faded tattoo.” He lifted his wrist, and I understood. Of course, the tattoo.

“Whenever you want.” I pulled out my pack of Winstons and jerked my chin in a farewell gesture. I stuck a cigarette between my lips and made for the exit, still musing on just how weird that guy was.

38

Selene

Leaving was the best choice.

I’d thought a lot about going back to Detroit, especially after the furious argument I’d had with Neil.

Even worse, because of him, I’d done something extremely stupid. I’d kissed Luke to show him that I could be like him; to show him that I, too, could kiss someone without feeling anything. That I could be just like Jennifer and Alexia who…

No.

I wasn’t like them, and I wasn’t like Neil. To my great misfortune, I cared about him a lot even if he didn’t reciprocate my feelings. After our fight, I had begun to see him in a different light. Though I still felt a sick attraction toward him, I had to admit the reality of the situation: Neil was a person with a lot of problems; he was extremely hostile to sentiment, and I couldn’t be the only one fighting for something that would probably never exist between us. Because, unfortunately, he was and always would be unattainable.