Filthy Beast(88)

She pauses, maybe a little surprised that I’m asking what she wants. “Yes,” she says softly.

“That’s all I care about.”

I want to say more, but the car pulls up outside of The Clinic, and I’m interrupted. I look out the window and grin. “Here we are,” I say. “It’s not much.”

She smiles. “I don’t care. Let’s go.”

I help her out of the car and we looks up at The Clinic’s façade for a second. It’s a rundown bar two blocks away from the house that I grew up in, and I can remember spending a lot of time in there when I was younger. Chucky and I still come here sometimes, and I know the owner pretty well, a woman by the name of Lucy.

We step in through the worn green front door, and instantly I’m hit with nostalgia. The place looks like a million dives before it, although the bar itself is really gorgeous. Lucy herself is working tonight and she gives me a little wave as she pours a drink. Chuck is sitting at the bar, and he pretends not to notice me coming in with Sadie, although he knew full well this was my plan tonight. I told the asshole not to show up, but of course he did.

I steer Sadie over to a booth. “Sit tight,” I say to her. “There’s someone I need to see real fast.”

She nods and sits down as I head over to Chuck.

“I told you not to come,” I say to him.

He just grins. “Couldn’t help myself. Had to see her.” He looks over my shoulder. “I can understand why you’re taking such a big risk on her.”

I sigh, shaking my head.

“Hey, Gavin,” Lucy says.

“Hey, Lucy. Can I get a whisky and a wine?”

“Sure thing.”

I turn back to Chuck with a frown. “You might as well come meet her.”

“Oh really? Am I so important now?” He gives me a fake little smug look.

“Cut that shit out,” I say. “Be normal, all right?”

“Always am, Gav,” he says.

Lucy returns with my drinks. I give her a nice big tip, since she won’t let me pay for them normally. We’ve gone through that dance one too many times in the past. Years ago, I gave her a little loan to help her keep the place open during some hard times, and drinks have been free ever since. She paid me back, of course, so I don’t feel like she owes me. Now I pay her through tips, which she complains about sometimes, but she always takes it.

Chuck and I head back over to the booth. Sadie looks up and smiles as we approach.

“Sadie,” I say to her. “This is Chuck. He’s an old friend.”

“Charmed,” he says, grinning.

“Nice to meet you.”

They shake hands and then the two of us slip into the booth. Chuck sits opposite of Sadie and me.

“How long have you known Gavin?” Sadie asks him.

“Oh, god,” he says. “Years. How long’s it been, Gav?”

I shrug. “High school,” I say.

“Really?” she asks, laughing a little bit. “You guys were friends in high school?”

“We’re both from the neighborhood,” Chuck says. “Gavin got out first, but I wasn’t too far behind.”

“Chuck works on Wall Street,” I explain.

She nods, understanding. “Tell me an embarrassing story about him from back then,” she says to Chuck.

His grin gets bigger and he looks at me. “I’ll let you choose. Deer or pie?”

I groan a little bit. “Deer,” I say. “Please, never the pie story.”

He laughs a little. “I’ll let him tell that one,” he says, looking back at Sadie.

“Now I’m interested,” she says, nudging me. “Tell me the pie story. Is it, like, an American Pie thing?”

Chuck laughs and I shake my head. “Not at all,” I answer quickly. “Chuck, just tell her the damn story.”

“Back in the day, we had a senior prank thing. Kids probably still do it,” Chuck starts out. I sip my whisky, smiling a little bit. I actually like this story. “So Gavin here gets it in his head that he’s going to have the best prank of all time.”

“Oh, no,” Sadie says, sensing where this story is going.

“Oh, yes,” Chuck says. “Gavin bought this, what was it, deer piss?”

I nod. “Deer urine.”

“Gotcha. Deer piss. It attracts deer, right? So he takes his uncle’s truck with this horse trailer on the back, fills the trailer with food and deer piss, and he leaves it there.”

“My uncle was pissed,” I say, grinning.

“Did that actually work?” she asks, astounded.

“Well,” Chuck says. “The next day, it’s senior prank time. It’s lunch, I’ll never forget this. Our cafeteria has these big doors that go outside. Well, in the middle of the lunch period, those door suddenly get thrown open and Gavin yells, ‘DEER!’.”