Free What Happens in Reno by Mike Monson

five, ready to work out.”
    Tanner shot the board again and again as Hunter walked away. Never missing. By the time all the bullets were gone, Tanner lost interest in the board and longed to use the gun to shoot and kill a person.

Chapter 16
    M att woke up at 4 A.M. He knew exactly where he was and exactly what he’d done. The details of his humiliating poker loss were confused and dreamlike, but he was clear on the basics of what happened.
    He checked his pockets for the remaining five grand. All there.
    Starving, he left his room to go down and get some breakfast. He went the wrong way to the elevator and ended up wandering up and down the hallway. He heard a door open ahead. A woman in a black silk teddy and a tiny black thong stepped out and then bent over to put a room service tray on the floor. She had long shiny blonde hair. She was heavily made-up. She saw Matt and smiled.
    “Hello,” she said, straightening up. Yes, cleavage, lots of cleavage. Fake, probably. Who cares?
    “Hi,” Matt said. He stopped about five feet way.
    She looked Matt up and down and grinned.
    “What are you up to, cutie?”
    Oh, man. Is this really happening?
    “Not much. Just trying to have some fun.”
    “Aren’t we all? Come a little closer. I won’t bite. At least, not right away.”
    Matt walked to within two feet of the woman. Close up, he could see past the heavy make-up that she was maybe 65 or older. The skin between her panties and the bottom of her teddy was stretched tight and wrinkled. Varicose veins dominated her legs, especially her thighs. The hair was obviously a wig.
    “Did you leave your wife in the room?”
    “No, I left her at home.”
    “Perfect. I’m just about to have a nightcap. Why don’t you come in and join me?”
    She opened her door wide, walked in, and motioned him to follow.
    It was another suite, just like his. She led him to a table in the front room. He saw a 750 ml bottle of Grey Goose set deep in an ice bucket next to two elegant cocktail glasses. It looked like the place to be.
    As they sat, Matt heard loud, uneven snoring from the bedroom. The kind that sounds like the person’s breathing stops every three or four minutes.
    “Oh, that’s just my husband. Don’t mind him, he’ll be out for hours. Fucker only drinks after he wins, and he’s been winning big.”
    Matt poured about four ounces of vodka into a glass. He didn’t bother with ice. He drank half of it right down.
    “I guess you were thirsty.”
    “I’m never not.”
    “Me either. I love to drink. I’m drunk as shit right now as a matter of fact.”
    “I hope to be soon.”
    “How long are you here for?”
    “Just tonight and tomorrow night.”
    “Really? Us too! How convenient.”
    She straddled his lap. She took a sip of his drink and then brought the glass to Matt’s lips. He could see the impression of her peach-colored lipstick on the glass, and it made him feel sick. He stopped looking at it and let her pour the rest of it into his mouth. She smiled a lascivious smile. He didn’t think he’d ever seen a for real lascivious smile before but, if hers wasn’t, then he didn’t understand the definition of lascivious.
    He stared at her, and he wasn’t sure what he was seeing. For a moment, she looked like an old man in drag. He checked, and it didn’t look like she had a penis. He could see the little bit of fabric-looking weave in the middle part of her wig. Then he looked again, and she looked just like his mother.
    She leaned over to kiss him while putting her hands around his throat. Her tongue went in and out of his mouth like a snake’s. It was small and hard and pointed. He tried to let go and get into the kiss, but he could not. He pulled at her hands and tried to get up. She tried even harder to shove her rapid tongue into his mouth. He finally broke the kiss and stood up while holding her wrists. She flailed her arms to make him let go and to regain her balance.
    “Sorry,” Matt said. “I gotta