Diane and Mick Warner, Cody's parents, were sitting in their newly refurbished kitchen and were having a delicious dinner when Cody entered through the door, leisurely stepping into their home.
His mother put her knife and fork down and stood up," Cody darling, how nice of you to come by and visit us." The undertone of irony did not pass Cody by, as he knew they thought he visited them and their house, his childhood home, much to seldom, "Would you like something to eat?" her eyes searched him up and down.
Cody had a quick deliberation within himself about the answer to that, knowing all too well that he actually did not visit often enough, and he mumbled hoarsely "Yes, please. I'll take a bite." the sound of his voice a little contrite, "Then me and the boys will head to 'The Pint' later on. ."
He withdrew one of the chairs from under the table and took a seat opposite his father as his mother Diane put a plate, fork, knife and a glass in front of him. He glared around in the kitchen. They had finally done something with it, he realized with a silent and amused snort. He wondered how long it would take to do the rest of the house.
"Go easy on the beer will ya',"his father prompted and gave him what was supposed to be a stern look,"The other night all hell broke loose in one of the other bars."
Oh, the 'Go easy on the beer and do not fight' talk. Cody started to eat.
"Yeah, I heard about that."Cody then muttered absentmindedly between his chews. Bar brawls wasn't something unusual, it sort of came with the territory of having bar nights."We'll take it easy, you know it." The irony dripping from that was not hidden.
Diane looked with admiration on her gorgeous son, she thought of him to be the most precious thing she had in this world. He was like a copy of his old man, although more good looking. Diane smiled a little at the thought.
She was very proud of him, even though she could do without all the rumors about all the women and the girls that surrounded him. Well, that HE surrounded himself with.
She knew that most girls in town wanted her son. They practically drooled over him openly. She disliked most of them, but she had always liked Marla, she was a pretty girl. A decent girl.
Why on earth they had broken up, she had no clue.
And she had been forbearing with most of the girls even though she disliked them, but when it came to be more a rule than an exception that they started coming around claiming her son to be the father of their children, Diane had drawn the line. Needless to say, none of them were right. Her son was a cautious knight in shining armor.
Diane sighed with motherly pride and her eyes caressed him as he sat there by her table.
Mick on the other hand had a more reality-based view on his own son. A guy in the prime of his life, who wallowed in women and indulged himself to the best parts they had to offer. Tits and ass.
He knew the kid had inherited his own appetite for women, his good looks making it very easy for him, almost ridiculously easy.
The fact that he also was very intelligent, made him extremely popular among the women. Mick grinned inwardly, he knew Cody could easily get laid by just talking his way into a girl's panties. . . just like that.
"Okay. ."Mick said smiling, "Are you taking your car or your bike, or . . ?"
Cody chuckled low in his throat. "We'll be walking, because we intend to get shit drunk as usual."
~ ~
Lance walked out into the kitchen, greeting Phil as he was done talking to Dave Prescott about the upcoming night's events.
"They will be there. We'll meet all of them down at the bar." he said taking one beer from the fridge, opening it.
The house they were living in, a two story brick house, they shared with their mother Laura.
The ingenious with this particular house was, not only was it a beautiful house, but it was built like it contained small apartments, one for them each. Their late father had been the genius builder, god bless his soul, and god bless his professional eye for details.
The kitchen however, they all shared that one, mostly to the boys delight. How else would they be able to enjoy their mother's good cooking?
They ranked that ability as one of the most important ones.
Phil also opened one beer and slumped down on a chair with a low grunt. He gazed at his brother.
"I cannot fathom why Marla still thinks there is a possibility for her to get back together with Cody? "he said and took a few gulps, "He made things pretty clear to her."
Lance just shook his head. "You know her," then he added, "And you know Cody. . . Pretty clear, my ass!"
Both of them grinned knowingly and finished both their beers.
They knew that Cody was a player, and that he played the girls his way, knowing they would do anything FOR him and preferably WITH him.
Actually when thinking about it, both of them were a little bit envious of him. Having all those females throwing themselves before him that easily and that often, but hey, he was Cody Warner. . .and to their dismay, they were not.
But then again, they were his best friends after all, and that meant that eventually the girls saw them too, so they could not really complain now, could they?
Quickly checking their funds for the night, they then rose to their feet and walked out the door.
They came to the conclusion almost at once that driving was out of the question, so they started walking down the street. And this town, being such a small town and all, the distances weren't all that far, so getting the exercise from the walk was just a bonus for them.
* * *
Laura stood behind the counter of the bar 'The Pint', looking relaxed. With experience she served the most thirsty guests and smiled ever so sweetly at them as they told her funny stories and tried their best to charm her.
She recognized most of the customers in the bar, well, make that men in the bar to be more exact. Almost all of them coming by after work at least five days a week and she could almost set her clock after some of them. They were that punctual.
Country music was pouring out from the speakers that were assembled up by the ceiling over the counter. She personally did not like that kind of music at all, she preferred plain rock'n'roll, but hey, she could withstand country music during work hours. She just had to.
Her employer had anyway been forthcoming as much as he allowed one rock night a month, and this night wasn't it, sadly enough.
This evening the bar was literally packed and by the counter the already drunk men sat in a pitiful row, openly devouring Laura with their eyes. They were giving her remarks every now and then, and even serious invitations to more intimate business.
She laughed a little inside, trying to brush it off, but deep inside it made her shudder with dislike.
She would not even consider anything with those obese, middle-aged men that sat benched in front of her in that losers row. They were just too pathetic, all of them.
And she knew all of them, from way back. Decades!
It was so totally out of the question.
Looking back, she had been, sort of, dating a few guys after the father of her sons had tragically died in a car crash some 10 years ago. Laura just barely could call them relationships. There had even been some one night stands too, luckily with guys from other towns, but hey, that was a thing she would like to forget all together.
The guys had been nice, but something had been lacking. That special tingle, she called it that, was missing. And she thought that was a very important part of a relationship. She needed that. It was essential.
* *
The Pint was beginning to get overcrowded as she saw her sons and their friends casually stroll through the door and make way to one of the booked tables.
With a smile she gave them a wave of her hand and she showed them with a sign that she was about to come over and take their orders.
She knew all of her sons friends by now, Dave the football player, Marla the cheerleader, Tammy the good girl, Billy the good guy, Sue the princess, Bonnie the thinker and Cody.
Oh Yeah, Cody was something else altogether.
He had grown up to be a real hottie, she reluctantly and with loath admitted to herself.
More than once she had caught herself staring like a moron at his well-trained body, and she felt deeply ashamed. She was way too old to be doing that. It wasn't allowed.
And he was her sons' best friend for heaven's sake.
After getting their order, Laura prepared nine beers, placed them on a huge tray and walked over to their table.
The usual corny comments and jibes flew crisscross over the sturdy table and was nothing more than expected from a bunch of young adults well on their way of getting shitfaced drunk.
Before retreating to the safe haven behind the bar, Laura exchanged warm and loving glances with her two sons. Both of them grinning like idiots back at her.
"Your mother is so fucking hot" Billy drooled and gave Lance and Phil a knowing sly grin, the good side of him giving way to his more greedy and naughty nature.
Dave nodded in agreement and added with a slight slur, "And she's god damned beautiful too"
Phil couldn't help but to laugh. "Oh yeah, and she is about 20 years older than you. Too bad, eh?"
"Who cares?" Dave blurted out to the dismay of all the girls around the table, "She's the hottest MILF in town!"
Lance and Phil gasped in unison, then both of them gave Dave a smirk.
"Watch your language man. It's our mother you are talking about." Lance gave Dave a hard slap on his back. "Well, I don't think you'd have a chance anyway. I guess she gave that part of life up after daddy died."
Dave stared down in the table muttering his drunken disapproval. She WAS hot!
Cody bit on his knuckle, deeply annoyed over Dave's intoxicated revelation, and he gazed over at the bar where she stood. Laura Stevens, Lance's and Phil's mother.
His eyes devoured the vision of her. Her face, her hair and her shapely body.
Because it was her.
She was the woman he had been dreaming about for two years now, she was the one he desperately wanted to hold and caress.
And love!
She was flawless and perfect, and so very beautiful. And totally out of his reach. Too bad he was obviously not the only one noticing. Damn.
Countless nights Cody had been in here, in the bar, just to be able to watch her. And sure, Marla had been right that famous night of their break-up, he had actually been eyeing a woman in the bar. But not just any woman. It had been her, the beautiful bartender.
That had been almost two years ago now, and he still thought about her every damn day. And he was dreaming about her every damn night.
Cody felt a warmth in his chest and his heart was beating like crazy when he looked at her and their eyes suddenly and for a brief moment met.
She gave him a warm and soft smile and then she got back to her duties behind the bar. Seemingly to Cody, she did not look affected at all.
"Holy fuck!" Cody thought to himself and killed a groan as he sat there watching her, a sly smirk crept over his face, "If she only knew how much trouble she was in!"
Then he thought of another thing as well. His two best friends, Lance and Phil. They will sure as hell beat the shit out of me if they will ever find out that I have these thoughts and feelings. The smirk faded a little as a frown took its place over his handsome face.
Cody took a steady grip round his glass and downed half of the liquid, then he abruptly stood up and left the table, heading to the outside with steady strides. He desperately needed some fresh air, and he needed to cool himself down.
A lot!
The others looked at each other inquiring for a long while, before Dave finally composed himself and walked out after him.