She laughs. "Do you need some time to think about it?"
"Apparently so."
"Well don't keep me waiting too long, will you?"
I blurt out the first thing that comes into my head. "Did your date show up?" Smooth.
"Excuse me?"
"Last night. Did your date show up after I left?"
She laughs. "No but thanks for bringing it up."
"It's his loss."
"Hmmm, I didn't have you down as a cliché kind of guy."
"I'm not. I'm an honest guy," I reply.
She shakes her head. "He probably walked in, saw me, and then left."
"I'm pretty sure that wouldn’t have happened."
"It might have, you never know."
"Trust me, it didn’t happen."
"How are you so sure? Wait a minute..." She gasps, feigning shock. "Oh my god, it was you, wasn't it? You were my blind date?"
I play along, holding both of my hands up in surrender. "You've got me."
"So you're horny guy sixty nine?"
I laugh. "Yes, yes I am."
“Well it’s nice to finally put a name to a face. How did you come up with your charming username?”
I don't know if it's the alcohol kicking in or the adrenaline pumping through my veins but I haven't felt this kind of a connection with anybody in a long time. It feels like the old me is coming back. "I wanted to pick something meaningful and sixty nine just so happens to be my favorite number."
“What a coincidence, it’s my favorite number too.”
"Did somebody say sixty nine?" Buzz appears out of nowhere, Lori by his side. He leans closer and shouts over the music, almost deafening me. "Looks like you’ve forgotten all about the other girl you're supposed to be meeting. I don't blame you, brother." If he was trying to keep the conversation strictly between me and him then he failed. It’s obvious that Sophia and Lori heard him too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tarryn heard him all the way from the bar. I give him my best “be quiet or else” face but it’s completely lost on him. "Why are you looking at me like that?" he asks.
I sigh. Sometimes he can be really hard work. "Sophia is the girl I'm supposed to be meeting."
He looks from me to Sophia then back again with a blank look on his face. "What are you talking about?"
"We met last night at Scoma’s."
His confusion quickly turns to excitement. "No way! What are the chances of that? You come back from the bar and I just so happen to be talking to the right girls. Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"You didn't give me a chance."
"Wait a minute," Lori says, looking at me. "So you're who I spoke to earlier on the phone?"
I glance at Buzz who has a huge grin on his face. I'm about to tell her the truth when he decides to answer for me. “I bet you were surprised to hear from him, weren't you?"
She ignores him and instead narrows her eyes. "You sound different in person."
"I wonder why," Buzz says, laughing. He stops when I elbow him in the ribs.
"Where do you both work?" Lori asks.
"And here come the questions," Sophia says, shaking her head. "I’m sorry."
"It's fine.” I shrug. “I own a business."
Buzz laughs. "Business? As in just one? You modest son of a bitch."
"What kind of business?" Sophia asks.
"Um, I own a couple of hotels."
"A couple? More like hundreds," Buzz says.
"Will you shut up?" I ask, wishing that he was at the opposite end of the room. Even though I’m extremely proud of what I’ve achieved, I don’t like telling people who I’ve only just met because it usually makes them act differently around me.
"Yes boss." He looks at Lori. "I work for Mason. I'm his bitch."
"What's Mason like as a boss?" Sophia asks, grinning.
"Well I haven't had a pay rise in two years so go figure."
"You have to earn it," I tell him.
"Why? It's so unfair. If I was a woman, I could just sleep my way to the top."
Lori scowls. "You're such a pig."
"It's okay, you'll learn to love it."
"That's never going to happen," she replies, before turning to me. "Will you tell us the story behind his nickname? He won't tell us."
I laugh. "Good luck with that one."
"Come on, it can't be that bad," she says.
"Ah, I don’t know about that. He's had it since he was seventeen."
"Dude, you're already saying too much."
"Is it because you used to have a buzz cut or something?" she asks him.
"Nope."
"Do you have a weird fetish for bees?"
"Is that even a thing?" I whisper to Sophia.
She laughs. "I don't know but if it was, Lori would know about it."
"Why do you want to know so much about me?" Buzz asks her. "You like me, don't you? If you want my phone number, all you need to do is ask, sweetheart."
"In your dreams. And stop calling me sweetheart."
"In my dreams? When I dream about you, you won't be asking for my telephone number. You'll be asking me, no, begging me for something else."
"Why does it always have to be about sex with you?" she asks.
"Who said it was anything to do with sex?" He grins. "You have a dirty mind."
In the corner of my eye, I see somebody approaching us. I groan when I realize who it is. I tap Buzz on the shoulder. "Incoming, nine o'clock."
"Fuck," he says before quickly whispering something to Lori.
She rolls her eyes then places her hand in his. "You owe me big time.”
"This should be interesting," I mumble under my breath.
"What's happening?" Sophia asks.
"Buzz's ex-girlfriend is heading this way."