She raised an eyebrow over the other.
“What are you trying to say?” she asked.
“I think he likes you. A lot,” he concluded and she rolled her eyes.
“Oh please…”
“And you like him too. You’re just in denial.”
She shook her head and sighed.
“Leo…you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Actually, I do,” he said. “Because since I have known you all you ever do is meet awesome men, fuck them, and send them on their merry way.”
“I like a good fuck, Leo. Everyone does…you can’t fault me for that.”
“But this was not just a fuck. You actually tolerated this guy enough to sit down and have drinks with him.”
“I went because Randy asked me to go,” Macy corrected him. “Not because he asked me to.”
“Listen, love, I don’t want to sound all cliché, but the man or woman who said it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all was right.”
“So even though Andre made a complete fool of you…” she started and he shrugged.
“We had a number of good times. Really good times, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.” He took a long deep breath. “I need you to actually know what it means when I talk about making love.”
“Love is for the weak.”
Leo shook his head. “You can’t keep on having that sentence as your mantra because if you do, you will never know the difference between a good fuck and a great one.”
“Oh please, I know the difference.”
Leo shook his head again.
“No, you don’t. Because for you to know the difference, you would actually have to know what making love is like. And then maybe you will know the difference.”
She shook her head and took another bite of her food.
“Leo…” she said as she shook her head.
“Let me say one more thing and then I will put this to bed,” he said, cutting her short. “When you have been with a man and your first instinct is not to leave before he wakes up, then you will know what I am talking about.”
She looked at him as he casually took another bite of his food, looking right into her eyes, waiting to see how she was going to react. But what he didn’t know was that she was internalizing his words a little more seriously than she intended to. She took one last bite and put her fork down before she got off her chair.
“Where are you going?” he asked as she walked towards the door. She put on her jacket and shoes before she grabbed her keys. “Macy,” he said in a soft voice.
“What?” she asked.
“You look like you’re heading out,” he said and she nodded.
“That’s because I am.”
“We were having dinner,” he said, pointing out the obvious.
“I know, but there is something I have to do,” she said in a soft voice. “Don’t worry, you can keep checking on me. I’ll have my phone on the whole time,” she added before she walked out, barely giving him enough time to say anything.
*****
Night shifts at the fire station were sometimes so much longer than anticipated. On this particular night, Victor was all alone at the station. Or at least that was how it felt considering that every single man on the shift was either sleeping off a long boring shift or upstairs in the break room engrossed in a lose-lose game of poker. He was just about to consider joining the game when he heard a car pull up. He got off the bench he was lying on and walked to the entrance. He looked through the peephole and sighed when he saw Macy climbing out of a Jeep outside. The two had been meeting up for drinks every now and then for the past two weeks but always with Randy present. They never really talked much, but they had become quite friendly on the dance floor once or twice. But now that she was here, he was not very sure what the whole situation was all about. He looked at her and sighed loudly.
“Now what?” he wondered as he leaned against the open door, his arms crossed over his chest.
“No big door?” she asked and he shook his head.
“That’s for the SFFD personnel and the trucks,” he said.
“And being a volunteer fire fighter, doesn’t that make me one of you?” she asked as she walked towards him.
“What are you doing here, Miss Yardling?” he asked dismissively. By that time, she was standing right in front him.
“You alone in here?” she asked and he shook his head.
“There are some guys upstairs in the break room. It’s just me down here.”
She nodded.
“So that makes the captain’s office free, right?” she asked as she pushed past him.
“Free? For what?” he asked as he closed the door but she was already approaching the captain’s office fast. “Damn crazy woman,” he thought as he followed her to the office.
By the time he got there, she had taken off her jacket and her pants. His heart skipped a beat when his eyes ran down her perfect legs.
“What…what the hell do you think you are doing?” he asked as she unbuttoned her sleeveless chiffon top.
“I’m testing a theory,” she said as she undid the last button on her top. “Now lock the door behind you and come over here.”
Victor hated that her bossy tone was kind of a turn on. But this is the very thing he had been hoping for all those days he had been dancing with her at the clubs. Feeling her body, her every curve was exactly what he had been praying for and now that it was happening, he was not very sure he knew what he was supposed to say. Nevertheless, he did as she asked and slowly made his way to where she was.
“Theory? What kind of theory?” he asked as he stood in front of her even though he knew exactly what she was going on about since she had a condom in her hand. Probably it was because his mind was not properly assessing the situation. She let the top slide down her arms and then took a step forward. She slipped her hands under his t-shirt and pulled it up. He looked into her eyes for a long second before he raised his arms over his head. His heart was beating so hard and so fast that he could almost hear it in his ears. He stood there as she looked at him, her hand slowly running down his chest. He wanted to protest. Say something. Anything really. But when he parted his lips, he could only gasp silently. She took another step and stood even closer still. She was so close he could feel the hairs on his body responding to her. She then began undoing his belt buckle and then pulled down his zipper.