it was $9,200 in cash, making his wallet feel fat as a brick under his right butt cheek.
Yeah, there was going to be hell to pay when he got back to Littleton.
His phone beeped again. Jeff looked down at it. He had completely forgotten his last text message to Colin. He hit the read button.
greatest surprise of your life. hope you’re horny.
“What the…”
Jeff closed his phone and looked around.
The fat lady next to him was slapping Alex in the back of the head again. “Stop scratching it,” she said, her voice a muffled hiss.
She looked at Jeff and smiled.
“Kids,” she said.
They were close enough to the end of their time together that he didn’t see any need to be a jerk to her, so he smiled back and said, “Yeah, whatcha gonna do?”
A few minutes later, they were walking through the jet-way to the terminal.
Colin was waiting for him, looking cool with his finger-combed brown hair and good tan. He looked smug and well-provided for, with his hands stuffed down into the pockets of his $3,000 Armani suit pants.
Jeff held out his hand to shake and Colin smiled and said, “Fuck that,” and hugged him.
“You look good, man,” Jeff said.
“I’d say the same about you, but you look like shit.”
“Yeah, fuck you, too.”
The fat woman and her even fatter kid walked by and the boy coughed, scratching at a part of his arm hidden by his shirtsleeve.
“Take care, Alex,” Jeff said.
The boy waved.
For a moment, it looked to Jeff like the boy’s fingertips were red.
“Friends of yours?”
“Yeah, you know. We’re tight.”
“Uh-huh.” Colin turned and they walked together to the baggage claim, talking about Colin’s new fiancé and his life out here in L.A. He had yet to tell Jeff the girl’s name, and Jeff hadn’t asked.
“So what’s this surprise you were telling me about?”
“Out in the car,” Colin said.
They stepped out to the loading zone, and Jeff saw a black limo waiting for them.
“We’re taking a limo to Las Vegas?” Jeff said.
“No, we’re taking a chartered party bus to Vegas. But before that, we’re gonna do a little partying and play catch-up.”
Colin reached into his pocket and held out a closed fist to Jeff.
“What’s that?”
“Just take it,” Colin said. “One for you, one for me.”
Jeff looked around. The place was crowded, but nobody was paying any attention to them. He reached out and Colin dropped something into his hand. Jeff glanced at it.
One pink pill, one blue.
“Is that what I think it is?”
“Viagra and the best ecstasy you’re ever gonna take. Pop ’em real quick. You’re gonna need it.”
“For what?”
“Just take it, would you?”
Jeff popped the pills into his mouth and swallowed them dry.
“Cool,” Colin said. He opened the back door to the limo and with a sweep of his hand motioned Jeff inside. “Go on,” he said. “Check it out.”
Jeff put a hand on the roof and peered inside. The first things he saw were two pairs of long, beautifully bare legs. They led up to two tiny black skirts and bare midriffs and halter tops. Above that, smiling at him, were two of the most fantastically sexy women he had ever seen.
Jeff blinked. It took a moment for recognition to set in. There in the backseat before him were Bellamy Blaze and Katrina Cummz, the famous porn stars. He had spent quite a lot of alone time lately with their best scenes.
He glanced at Colin, who just shrugged, a smirk on his face.
When he looked back into the limo, Bellamy Blaze was holding out a martini with three olives skewered on a plastic sword.
“Want a drink?” she said.
Colin gave him a nudge.
“Yeah,” Jeff said. “Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.”
CHAPTER 11
Billy Kline ran for the courtyard, holding the old man in his arms like a baby. The old broad beside him was doing a pretty good job of keeping up. She was gripping the garbage spike tightly in her fists, her eyes wide open and desperately scanning every nook and
Deborah Eisenberg
Craig Russell
Adriana Trigiani
Ken Lozito
Arthur C. Clarke
Timothy Hallinan
Lynette Eason
Jonathan Moeller
Helena Maeve
Humberto Fontova