Free Chili Con Corpses by J. B. Stanley Page B

wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Exhaling, he asked Lucy the question he had wanted to ask her for months, finding that four beers had finally given him the courage to speak. “What’s the real reason, Lucy?”
    She turned her blue-eyed gaze on him, clearly perplexed. “For what?”
    “For why we’ve never taken our relationship to the next level. It kind of feels like you’re afraid your parents might come home and catch us or something.” He spoke the words rapidly, before he could chicken out. “I feel more and more like your buddy than a romantic partner. If you want to go down the just friends road, then tell me so, but I’ve had enough of this limbo. I don’t know what to think about us anymore!” All of the stresses of the past few hours boiled up inside of him, and he practically shouted the last phrase.
    Lucy grabbed her purse and jumped out of her chair. James couldn’t help but notice how agile the movement was and how her clothes seemed too big on her ever-shrinking body. Above all, he was aware of the haggardness of her face. Was Lucy pushing herself beyond her limit?
    “Fine, James!” she spat. “If getting me into bed is all you want, then we’re better off as friends.” She tugged on her shirt, setting it to rest over her hips. It was a motion she habitually repeated when she was upset.
    Anger flared inside of James’s chest. “It’s not all I think about, but it’s a natural progression! It’s what people do when they’re a couple! Why don’t you want us to move forward?” he demanded, throwing a twenty on the bar for Sammy.
    “Not all people have to have sex to enjoy a fulfilling romantic relationship, James. There are still couples who wait until they’re married.”
    The term “married” hovered over their heads like a cloud of noisy bees. Lucy seemed to regret having uttered it and James tried to pretend that she hadn’t. One failed marriage was enough. If he were to ever stand in front of the altar again, he would have no doubts about the future of him and his bride. Right now, when it came to Lucy, all James had were doubts. Had he missed some clue over the past months regarding Lucy’s feelings on their physical interactions? He didn’t think her chastity was based on religious reasons—she didn’t even go to church. Was he still too fat to be viewed as attractive? James turned away from his reflection in the bar’s horizontal mirror.
    He had never been so confused about a woman before.
    James dug his index fingers into his temple, where a headache had sprouted and was boring deeper and deeper into his skull. He groaned as the pain increased. Unbidden, a vision of the ugly red and purple welts around Parker’s throat entered his mind and he shoved his arms into his coat. It was time to retreat to the silence of his bedroom and escape in the fantastical realms of one of his books.
    “That word scared you good, didn’t it?” Lucy laughed harshly with no trace of humor. “Such a typical man. I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned any kind of a long-term commitment.”
    “I don’t have anything against long-term commitments, Lucy.” James sighed. “But we haven’t exactly been happy together lately, so how can I be thinking about the future? The only thing we’ve done well as a couple recently is argue.”
    “Oh, that’s nice. Now it’s clear how you feel about me!” Lucy shrugged on her own coat and slung her purse over her shoulder. “Fine then! We’re done with dating. And since I won’t be going to the next Fix ’n Freeze class, I guess I’ll see you when I see you.” Lucy turned and marched out the door.
    Sammy came over to collect the empty glasses. He lifted a coaster and showed James the image of Virtue. “I can see a resemblance between those two women.” He chuckled. “And I think you’re lookin’ an awful lot like this guy here with a woman’s foot stompin’ on his chest.”
    “Thanks a lot, Sammy.” James ripped the coaster