Free Can't Touch This by Marley Gibson Page B

tiny ice cream cones.
    Setting her crutches against the bar, Griz pulls herself up onto the stool next to me.   “So you and this Rory guy do it?”
    “My God, Griz, what grade are you in?  And no, we didn’t do it .  It’s called having sex.  Making love.  Fu—”
    She waves her hand at me.  “Don’t say the ‘f’ word.  I hate it.  It makes me cringe and you’ll never—ever—hear me say it.”
    “I’ve heard you say it plenty,” I snap.
    The bartender pauses in front of us and Griz orders a strawberry basil martini.  As he turns to make her drink she says to me, “I probably should have just ordered a glass of wine.  I’ve got a ton of work to do when I get home.”
    I draw my finger around the rim of my glass.  “William brought home some wine in a box from the bar that no one else would drink.  I’ll bring it to you.  I wouldn’t be seen dead drinking wine from a box.”
    She reaches to check her cell phone and then laughs.  “You know, I had some of that at my uncle’s funeral and it wasn’t that bad.”
    I scowl in confusion.  “Wait a minute.  You drank at your uncle’s funeral?”
    “No, afterwards.  It was like a family reunion.  And believe me, my family’s religious, but they know how to put away the alcohol.”   She reaches across the bar for my hand.  “Who cares about dead people and boxed wine, tell me about this Cory guy.”
    “ Rory .”  The bartender sets her cocktail in front of her.  We clink stemware and sip as I fill her in on Atlantic City and today’s e-mails.
    “Here I am thinking I’m going use him to get SalesTracker inside information, but Griz, he actually likes me.”
    “Of course he does.  What’s not to like?  Do you like him?”
    I pause and think.  “I really do.  I had an amazing time with him.”  Certainly hadn’t factored that into my equation.
    She plays with the edge of the menu.  “You know, it was good you didn’t have sex.  That would’ve been too slutty.  Wait until the third date.”
    The cold cocktail trickles into my empty stomach, which gurgles with a mixture of nerves and hunger pains.  “It’s hard to ‘date’ when I’m in Boston and he’s in Seattle.  We only see each other on business trips.  How does that factor into the third date sex rule?”
    She counts on her fingers.  “Atlantic City is one.  Miami is two.  San Francisco will be three.”  She wiggles her eyebrows at me and I understand exactly what she means to happen in San Fran.
    “Can I get an order of the potato croquettes?” she asks our bartender.
    Food doesn’t matter at this moment.  I need to think.  Hard.  Until my head hurts and I know exactly what I’m doing.
    I gulp at the martini again.  “I’m attracted to Rory, but I don’t know much about him other than he’s SalesTracker’s top guy.  Which is weird because he’s not all engrossed in the business world twenty-four seven.”  Not like most of the golf club swinging crowd at DigitalDirection.  Not like Kyle.  “Besides, he’s our competition.”  I stare off for a minute as a vivid image or Rory colors my memory.
    “So what?” Griz spouts and then she gasps.  “Oh wait, you’re already gone on this guy.”
    “I am not.”
    “You most certainly are.”
    “It’s true that Rory’s more mature than guys we meet here.”  And even though he’s successful in his job, he doesn’t appear to be the type to suck up to the boss or think only in terms of bottom lines or customer satisfaction.  Again, like Kyle, although I don’t know why he always factors into the equation.
    “You haven’t been dating a lot, so you’re over-analyzing everything,” my friend tells me.
    Like I need to be reminded of this.
    “I don’t know, Griz.  Being with Rory felt good and it was fun.”  No, I don’t need a guy for validation, but it’s nice to know someone wants to be with me.  What girl doesn’t want that?
    Griz clears her throat.  “If I may