After Cherise wrote down their orders, she threw a warm smile at Crow, then walked away.
Reaching for his glass of Coke, Benny said, “It’s the leather jacket. Chicks go crazy for them. Remember Elia? Every damn time she spotted a dude in leather, she’d check him out. She thought it was okay to do that, but if I even glanced at another woman, she’d go ballistic.” Benny shook his head. “I can’t believe I put up with that shit for as long as I did.”
Crow snorted. “Look at the BS I put up with Lauren. I should’ve dropped her ass as soon as she started up shit with the MC.”
“You guys were really tight, though,” Josh said. “Of all the people I knew, I thought you two were rock solid.”
Glancing away, he replied, “Me too, but shit happens.”
“That’s why you’re lucky you have free pussy whenever you want. You don’t have to work for it when you’re horny as hell like we do,” Benny said.
“It’s got its perks, but it gets old too, you know? Things that come easy all the time can suck too,” he replied.
“I’m kind of on hiatus right now,” Josh said. “I’m concentrating on work and going to the gym. I like the strippers and the occasional call girl. There’s less pressure with them.” Smiling, he pointed his finger at Crow. “Kind of like what you got going at the club, except I gotta pay for it.”
“Why don’t you just go to a club and hook up for a night, or useDazzledor another hookup app? With that app, it’s strictly sex,” Benny said.
Josh spread his fingers out over the table. “I’ve tried them, and the chicks still want more than one or two nights. I think that’s just the way they’re built. It’s the fucking nesting thing.”
Crow laughed. “It sounds like you’ve put a lot of thought into this. Just go after a chick where there’s a mutual attraction, and the rest will fall into place.”
Josh laughed dryly. “And this comes from a guy who hasn’t dated a woman since your divorce seven years ago.”
Shifting his gaze away, he muttered, “Whatever.”
He stared out the window and saw a man bent over, rummaging through a trash bin across the street from the diner. A single streetlight lit the sidewalk, and when the man straightened up, the amber glow illuminated his face.
“Jim,” he said as he started to scoot across the banquette. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where are you going?” Benny asked.
“Jim’s across the street. I wanna talk to him.”
His two friends looked out the window.
“Why?” Josh asked.
“I want to see if he wants anything to eat.”
“Don’t give him any money—he’ll just use it for booze or smack,” Benny said.
“That’s what they all do,” Josh added.
“I’m not one to judge if that’s what gets him through the day. We all deal with our fuckin’ demons in our own way.”
“What about your food?” Josh called out.
Crow paused and looked back over his shoulder at them. “Cherise will warm it up for me.” Then he strode out of the diner.
When he approached Jim, the man cried out and scrambled around the dumpster.
“Jim, it’s me—Crow.”
Pausing, he slowly peeked around the corner of the bin, fear etched on his weathered face.
“It’s okay, dude,” Crow said as he inched toward the frightened man. “I saw you from the window inside Leroy’s.”
A slow smile played across Jim’s lips as he stepped out from behind the dumpster.