Wild and Wilted.

Chapter Six, Enigmatic Girl.

               With a large gulp, I swallowed the rest of the whiskey (and ice cubes) down.

               "You're hilarious if you think I'm talking about my feelings with you fuckers," I let out, causing them to laugh.

               "Hey, man! We're all here for ya!" Tommy yelled. His volume caused a ringing in my ear, shutting my eyes to suffice some of the annoyance.

               "Tommy, for the last time. I am right here; you don't have to yell," I say, pointing my finger at him. "Don't make me take away that beer."

               As if he were a child, he huffed up off his chair, snatching his beer and holding it to his chest to get cozy on the sofa. His slim bottom lip jutting out to pout. Tommy's head cut in a buzz cut, making his larger-than-normal ears stick out. He lost the flannel earlier in the night, now sitting in a muscle-tee. I saw his eyelids getting heavier by the second, irises weary and glazed.

               I rolled my eyes but couldn't stifle the chuckle that left my mouth. Staring at the bottle of Jim Beam, I decided against having another glass.

               "How's that nanny of yours doing?" Samuel asks, laying out his cards against Garrett to reveal his royal flush. Barely above a whisper, Garrett curses, taking the cards to shuffle again. "She's been there for a week or two now, right?"

               "She's good," I swallow, "She's not Bethanne, but she's good."

               "Well, no one's gonna be Bethanne, Jesse," Garrett chimes. "It's the Goodwins' daughter, right?"

               I nod, watching Garrett make up the piles for our fifth and final round. A sigh leaves my lips, wanting to skip out of this last round—taking my loss to heart.

               "She's cute," Samuel says. An uncomfortable feeling mustering in my gut at his words. "She single?"

               I cock an eyebrow at him, "Isn't she a little out of your league? And young?"

               "Yeah, definitely is," Garrett laughs, sliding his pile to him. "Sammy couldn't get a girl like that even if he tried!"

               "Hey!"

               "It's the truth, Sammy. And you're what? Almost thirty-five? What makes you think she'd even consider your ass?" Garrett digs his knuckles in a teasing nudge to Samuel's arm.

               "I'm not saying she has to marry me," He defends, but that fiery pit brewing in my abdomen didn't care how this conversation was going. "You remember getting laid with a twenty-year-old?"

               I shook my head, cutting Garrett off before he replied, "If you say what I think you're going to say next, Samuel, you better keep it in that fat mouth of yours before I kick your fuckin' teeth in."

               Taking the stack of cards in front of me, I managed to get a decent hand this time around.

               "You jealous, Jesse?" Samuel teases. "Worried I'll take a lady from you?"

I scoff, "Please, Sam, don't embarrass yourself."

There was a mischievous glimmer in his brown eyes, a look that churned my stomach into knots—a feeling I could only identify as a feverish anger.