Page 3 of Power Move

“Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s a bachelorette party, right?” I asked.

“Correct. It’s hell.”

I snickered. “Your sister?”

“Best friend,” the woman said. “But her friends… they’re… a disaster.”

“Drinking helps?”

“Debatable.”

I waved my friends over. Carlos and Joe popped around.

“This is my college buddy, Carlos, and my best friend since childhood, Joe,” I said. “And I havenoidea why I gave you that backstory.”

Except I did. The more I talked, the more nervous I got. It was her big brown eyes. Damn, they were gorgeous. I’d not gotten a smile out of her yet, but I knew it would come if I persisted.

“I’m Eva,” the woman said. “And your buddy chased off a dickhead I would have handled.”

“He wouldn’t have forgiven himself for ignoring it,” Joe explained. “He has four younger sisters.”

“Oh, big family,” Eva said. “Well, nice for you.”

“Six of us,” I answered.

“Your poor mother.” A small smile spread with the joke.

“Indeed.”

The shots arrived and Carlos—now closest to the bar—carried them in the direction Eva directed. I watched as she paraded ahead, her hips swaying beautifully. I’d take her home tonight if itkilledme.

2.WHITE KNIGHT

Davey

Eva wasa force—one that dabbled best in dry humor and getting her friends to laugh at her straight reactions. Lacking pretension, she was a blissful reprieve from my usual choice of woman. When she sang a wild rendition of “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” with the “brides-person”, Jace, I was hooked. I didn’t ask about Jace’s backstory, but they seemed cool enough—if not very overwhelmed in a sea of woo girls.

I helped Eva herd the crowd onto a bus and back down to Streeterville. There was a club in a restaurant basement that some girl Allison swore by. By this point, I was alone. My very married buddies had lives and babies. By eight, they turned into pumpkins. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into, but getting off the ride wasn’t in the cards. It had been years since I’d been so attracted to anyone as this random woman.

We piled out of the party bus and provided our surly door greeter our IDs. At thirty-nine, they had no reason to card me. Unfortunately, everyone had to go through the ritual of struggling to pull our IDs out of our wallets. I went last, hoping he wouldn’t out me. He gave me a sly smile, shook his head, and went back to his normal grimace as I passed.

“The music is awful. Should be awesome!” Eva sarcastically shouted at Jace.

I shook my head. “It’s standard fare.”

“Not in London and not where I go.”

“What are you listening to at clubs in London?”

“It’s more folk music.”

“Folk music?” I laughed until she glared, so I covered my ass. “That is… not what I expected from you.”

“I forgot which team you batted for momentarily,” Jace snickered. “And also, just the general age disparity. What’s it like dating a boomer?”

Eva slapped Jace on the arm. “Okay, young person!”