Love in All the Wrong Places Read online

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. But girl, have you looked in a mirror?” he murmured as he arched an eyebrow skeptically at her.

  Rolling her eyes, she left the door open and headed back to lay down on the couch as he followed her into the apartment, shutting the door behind them. “I only got about two hours of sleep last night.”

  “Why?” Sitting down on the couch, he pulled her feet into his lap.

  “Because I was out late, and then when I got home I was awake for a while. You know, still buzzed from the club.”

  “Did you bring Mr. 10 Tattoos home with you?”

  “What if I did?”

  “I’m a nosy girl, you know that. Now spill. I heard some very interesting sounds echoing through our courtyard last night.” He smiled at her knowingly, barely suppressing his laughter.

  Annie sniffed as she nonchalantly studied her nails. “And you assume it was me?”

  “Well, yeah. Duh.”

  She sighed and finally nodded. “Okay fine. Yes, I brought Mr. 10 Tattoos home with me last night.”

  “So then I can only conclude that things must have gone very well for you to bring him home after only one date and make that much noise.” This time he couldn’t stop the laughter.

  “Don’t laugh!” Annie exclaimed as she whacked Alex with a throw pillow.

  “Sorry, I can’t help it. He must be very good in bed.”

  “Oh Lord…um…exactly how loud was I?” Her face felt like it was literally on fire. She knew she had been a little loud, but it was only on her way out the door to work that morning that she realized her living room windows, which faced into the courtyard, were still open.

  “Well, I could hear from inside my living room, but my windows weren’t open.”

  “I can never show my face to my neighbors again,” she groaned, burying her face in her hands. Alex patted her foot sympathetically.

  “So you like this guy?”

  Lifting her face, she nodded, a dreamy smile on her lips. “Mmm…yeah, you could say that.”

  “And the sex was good?”

  “The sex was very good. He has a piercing. Actually, he has two piercings.”

  “What does that have — oh!” His face lit up in understanding and then twisted in slight revulsion at the thought. “Ow! Did it hurt?”

  She laughed at his expression as he shuddered. “Yes, he said that it hurt a lot when he did it, of course, but it doesn’t hurt anymore.”

  “Well, it must have been worth it judging by the volume of your screams last night.”

  Annie punched his arm and he winced in mock pain. “Shush.”

  “You’re so violent,” he complained.

  “Don’t be a pussy.” She punched his arm again and stuck out her tongue and he laughed.

  “I’m just happy you’re finally getting some.”

  “Me too, honey. Me too.”

  ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

  Later that night, Annie was getting ready for bed when her cell phone beeped, notifying her that she had an incoming text. It was from Summer, her BFF she’d known since high school. Summer was also one of the friends who recommended she try online dating as she had met her own boyfriend of three years on Match.com.

  Summer: Hey girl! I haven’t seen you in forever. Dim Sum this Saturday?

  Annie: Ooh, definitely. Count me in. Are Katie and Teresa coming, too?

  Summer: Yeah, Teresa’s coming, but I haven’t called Katie, yet. You wanna hit her up?

  Annie: Sure, I’ll text her. What time and where we going?

  Summer: Our usual spot at 11?

  Annie: Cool, see you there. BTW – I finally posted a personals ad on Craigslist.

  Summer: What?! No way! And?

  Annie: And I met someone.

  Summer: Shut the front door, you did? When? What’s his name? What happened?

  Annie: I’ll tell you guys all about it this weekend.

  Summer: What? You’re going to make me wait until this weekend? I want details now!

  Annie: Lol, Saturday’s only a few days away.

  Summer: Argh, you ARE going to make me wait. The suspense is killing me!

  Annie: Haha, you’ll live. :) See you soon.

  Summer: Bitch. Love you. :)

  Annie: Love you, too! ;)

  ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

  It was about half past ten in the morning when Annie picked Katie up from Studio City on her way to San Gabriel Valley. Even though it was usually anywhere from a thirty to forty-five minute drive, she preferred to drive a little farther for what she considered to be better dim sum than what could be found in her area.

  Admittedly, they could go downtown which was about fifteen minutes closer, but she hated dealing with the traffic and all the one way streets in that area, so San Gabriel it was. When they pulled into the plaza parking lot, it only took them a few minutes to find parking, which was a miracle for a Saturday morning.

  They found the other two girls waiting for them in the restaurant lobby. Summer was already clutching a slip of paper with a number scribbled on it and Teresa was waving them over to join them on the far side of the crowded lobby.

  Annie always felt like an awkward giant when she came out to San Gabriel. Her dad was tall for a Chinese guy and her mom also had height running in her family. Apparently, they had passed those genes on to her as she had always been tall, growing like a weed until she finally stopped at 5’8” in her junior year of high school. It had come in handy when it came to things like trying out for sports, but it had also kept her feeling awkward through most of grade school as she was usually taller than the boys in her class.

  Murmuring apologies as she went, Annie grabbed Katie by the hand and waded through the crowd of predominantly Chinese customers all waiting to be seated at the popular dim sum restaurant.

  “Oh thank God, you’re here now. I hate it when they only call the numbers in Chinese and I can’t understand what they’re saying. I’d never know if they called our number and we’d just be standing here forever.”

  Annie grinned at her petite blond friend as she bent down slightly to kiss her cheeks and give her a hug. “Good to see you, too, Summer.” She turned to Teresa, who was only an inch taller than Summer. They also greeted each other with kisses and hugs and then fell back to stand in a mini circle, waiting for their number to be called.

  “So, our girl Annie here has news for us,” Summer began, smiling sweetly.

  Annie nodded. “Yup, I’ve finally given in and tried online dating.”

  “What! Are you serious? Have you already met someone?” Teresa was the first to respond to her statement, her wavy red curls bouncing as she literally jumped up and down with excitement.

  Katie took a moment longer to respond, finally nodding slowly. “Well, that’s cool. Good for you.” Annie was pretty sure that Katie’s hesitant response was partially due to the fact that she was now the only girl left in the group who wasn’t seeing someone at least casually.

  “Yes, I met someone. His name is Gabe.”

  “Ooh, love the name. He sounds yummy already. So, tell us more,” Summer begged. Their conversation had to be briefly put on hold as the hostess called their number and Annie held up a finger as she turned to follow a waitress to their table. They all took a seat around the table and got settled as Katie started pouring them each a cup of hot tea.

  “So?” Teresa asked, nudging Annie with her toe.

  “Oh right, so his name is Gabe and he’s super tall, like six foot five or so. He’s got some piercings and tattoos, is pretty lean, nice arms, great eyes and his hands…girls, I could go on forever about his hands.”

  “Wow,” Katie said, her mouth slightly hanging open as she hung on her every word.

  “You can say that again,” Summer said as Teresa nodded in agreement.

  “You like shrimp balls? Shumai? Chicken feet?” A middle-aged Chinese woman wearing a neat white blouse and grey vest with a black half-apron was pushing a little cart loaded with little round tins o
f dumplings and plates of chicken feet. She pointed at the various dishes and repeated what they were, waving at each one as she tried to peddle her wares.

  “Shrimp balls and Shumai,” Annie answered and the woman placed two tins of dumplings on their table and stamped their ticket before moving on to the next table, already calling to the next customer. Another cart came by, this time laden with various kinds of sweeter treats. The girls pointed to the pork buns, custard buns and sesame seed balls and began loading their plates.

  “So it sounds like you’ve already met him if you’re talking about his hands,” Summer said around a full mouth after taking the first bite out of her pork bun.

  “Eew gross, Summer. Chew with your mouth shut,” Katie complained, swatting her arm. Summer responded by turning to her, taking another big bite of her pork bun and chewed slowly and deliberately, showing all the food in her mouth. Katie gave Summer a withering look and started to lecture her about proper etiquette when dining in public while Summer just rolled her eyes and reached for another pork bun, telling Katie she needed to loosen up, take the stick out of her ass and get laid.

  Annie’s lips curled in amusement as she listened to them bicker. They’d all been friends since high school and they were always there whenever she needed them. “So yeah, we did meet up. He invited me to his friend’s birthday party on Tuesday night; it was at Vanguard.”

  “How cool! Can he dance? Did you guys hook up? How big is he?” Teresa shot the questions at Annie in rapid-fire fashion, leaning eagerly over the table.

  “Ha, well yeah, his moves weren’t too bad. And I plead the fifth.”

  “Oh my God, you already fucked him!” Katie accused, her jaw dropping open.

  “Way to go, Annie!” Summer crowed as she grinned widely and gave her a wink and two thumbs up.

  “Katie, you have no right to judge. You’ve totally gone home with guys you’ve met at bars and clubs before. Remember when you hooked up with those two brothers you met at that club and had a threesome?”

  “Oh, that’s right. The Jewish brothers.” Teresa’s eyes widened as she nodded solemnly at the other girls.

  “Bitches,” Katie muttered into her teacup.

  “I remember that night. They had open bar for all the ladies for the first hour and we had many Red Bulls and vodka and I do mean a lot of them…in one hour.” Summer looked a little green at the memory.

  “I haven’t been able to stand the taste of Red Bull ever since,” Katie said with a sigh. “Worst decision of my life.”

  Annie nodded and waved her finger in the air in Katie’s direction. “So, see? You can’t get all judgy on me. I haven’t gotten laid in months, I was drunk, he was gorgeous and saying all the right things. One thing led to another, and you know, I invited him back to my place.”

  Katie lifted her hands in surrender. “I’m not judging. I just think it’s a little fast.”

  “Was it good at least?” Teresa asked.

  Annie looked down at her teacup and tried to smother the smile that unwillingly crept back on her face as she thought of just how good it had been. She tried for nonchalance and said innocently, “You could say that.”

  “Like the ‘I want to see him again ASAP’ kind of good?”

  Not able to stop the smile this time, Annie grinned at her girlfriends as she lightly cleared her throat. “Well, he stayed the night at my place the last two nights. He just left this morning to do some errands and pick-up a change of clothes. Then he wants me to call him after I get home from dim sum and massages and then he’s coming over later tonight to cook me dinner.”

  “Shut the fuck up. He cooks?” Katie was looking like she was about to break down and try the online dating thing herself.

  “Yes, and he claims to be pretty good at it, too. He’s making me Chicken Marsala.”

  “I’m so jelly right now. Curtis thinks cooking is boiling a hot dog or making mac and cheese,” Summer complained.

  “Yeah, Billy doesn’t even do that much. His idea of taking care of dinner is ordering a pizza or picking up fast food on his way to my place.” Teresa patted her stomach which used to be flat, but was starting to get a little chubby. “I don’t know how much more of that my metabolism can take, so unless I want to end up looking like a whale, it’s up to me to cook.”

  “Well, who knows? He could turn out to be a terrible cook,” Annie offered, not wanting to make her best gal pals feel bad about their men.

  “It’s true; he could just be faking it to get into her pants…oh wait. He already has!” Summer burst out laughing as Annie threw a wadded up napkin at her.

  “Well, if he’s as good a cook as he is in bed, I’m in for a real treat,” Annie mused before taking a sip of her hot tea. Three wadded up napkins hit her at the same time.

  ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

  The next two weeks went by in a whirlwind as Annie and Gabe proceeded to spend every possible waking moment with each other when they weren’t otherwise occupied with work or other obligations. Still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, they were going at it like rabbits almost every day. Usually he came over to her apartment after she got home from work and spent the night, so on those days, they would fuck before going to sleep, and then again when they woke up. And Annie always remembered to close her windows.

  “I have to go to Phoenix for work this weekend,” he said one night as they were lying in her bed together. Idly, he ran his fingers through her hair as she lay snuggled against his chest.

  Looking up at him, she pouted. “My friend is having a party this weekend. I was hoping you’d go with me.”

  He patted her arm and kissed her head. “Some other time, okay? I’m trying to close a deal on a very lucrative property and I need to be there the entire weekend. I’m leaving Friday morning and won’t be back until late Sunday evening.

  “Alright. But, I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”

  “You mean you’ll miss me fucking you while I’m gone.”

  “That too,” she said with a grin.

  “It’s just a few days and then I’ll be back.” He kissed her forehead, then tilted her face up to his and placed a soft lingering kiss on her lips. Pulling back, he gazed down at her thoughtfully. “Or maybe you could come with me.”

  “To Phoenix?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t go to Phoenix,” she protested with a laugh.

  “Why not?”

  “Hon, I can’t really afford a plane ticket right now and I still have to go Christmas shopping.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’ll pay for your ticket.”

  “Seriously?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Sure, why not? They’re not that expensive, maybe a couple hundred at most. I think I can manage that,” he chuckled.

  “I don’t know if I should accept that from you.”

  “Why not? You can hang out at the hotel while I go to my meetings and then be waiting for me – preferably naked – when I get back to the room.”

  “Oh, well when you put it like that, now I really don’t think I should accept that from you.”

  “Call it my early Christmas present to you. Actually, call it your present to me as well,” he said as he laughed, winking at her.

  “Well…”

  “Come on, it’ll be fun. You could even request one of their resident massage therapists, who will come to the room, and you can have yourself a little pampering session. Or you can take my rental car if you want to leave the hotel and get some Christmas shopping done.” He was so not fighting fair. What girl didn’t love shopping? She did still need to get Christmas gifts for her family. Annie wrinkled her nose at him, slightly annoyed that he was so easily weakening her resolve not to accept overly extravagant gifts from him.

  “Hmm, I’m still not sure I should accept. You are being awfully presumptuous, Mr. Thomas.” He leaned down again and kissed her with a loud smack, then proceeded to tickle her, making her screech and scramble to get away from him. She moved b
ackwards so quickly that she accidentally tumbled off the bed with a yelp, taking the comforter and sheets with her. Laughing, Gabe helped her back up to her feet and they climbed back into bed, rearranging the covers around them.

  “So is that a yes?”

  “I don’t know. I’d have to take a day off if I need to leave with you on Friday morning.”

  “You wouldn’t have to. I can have you come in on a later flight after you get off work and I’ll pick you up from the airport and take you to dinner.”

  “I guess that could work.”

  “Great, I’ll book the tickets now. Mind if I use your computer?”

  “I’ll get it for you, one sec,” she said, heading to the living room to retrieve her laptop. Returning, she crawled back into bed and handed him the laptop, then snuggled back down beside him. She watched him book their flights and couldn’t help but smile to herself. It felt somewhat glamorous to have a hunky guy flying her somewhere to be with him for a weekend, even if it was only to Phoenix.

  “Done. Tickets have been booked.”

  “Cool.”

  “So I’ll pick you up from the airport a little after eight on Friday night and take you to my favorite Thai restaurant.”

  “Mmm, I do love good Thai food.”

  “I figured you might since you mentioned making a chicken curry when we first started emailing.”

  “So I did. Good memory, mister.”

  ~ . ~ . ~ . ~

  All through the rest of the week, Annie’s stomach felt tied in knots. She had finally tried online dating and met a great guy and was thoroughly enjoying herself. She was excited to go away with Gabe for the weekend, but she was cautious and couldn’t put aside the nagging feeling she felt in the back of her mind.

  Regardless how perfectly things seemed to be going between them, she still felt like something was a little off. She was constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop — for something bad to happen, exposing it all as being just a dream. You know that saying, “Nice guys finish last.” Well, in her experience, nice girls always seemed to finish last as well, but she determinedly pushed her worries to the side and focused on trying her best to relax and enjoy their little weekend getaway to Phoenix.