The Wild Zone Read Free

side. Why? You interested?”
    Was he? Will wondered. It had been a long time since he’d had any kind of girlfriend. Since Amy, he thought, shuddering at the memory of the way that had turned out. “Just curious,” he heard himself say.
    “Hey, Krissie,” Jeff called out, leaning his elbows on the bar and beckoning Kristin toward him. “What can you tell me about the pomegranate lady?” He pointed with his square jaw toward the table in the corner.
    “Not much. First time I saw her was a few days ago. She comes in, sits in the corner, orders pomegranate martinis, tips very well.”
    “Is she always alone?”
    “Never noticed anyone with her. Why?”
    Jeff shrugged playfully. “I was thinking maybe the three of us could get better acquainted. What do you say?”
    Will found himself holding his breath.
    “Sorry,” he heard Kristin answer, and only then was he able to release the tight ball of air trapped in his lungs. “She’s not really my type. But, hey, you go for it.”
    Jeff smiled, exposing the two glistening rows of perfect teeth that not even the dust of Afghanistan had been able to dull. “Is it any wonder I love this girl?” he asked his companions, both of whom nodded in wonderment, Tom wishing Lainey could be more like Kristin in that regard—hell, in every regard, if he was being honest—and Will pondering, not for the first time since his arrival ten days earlier, what was really going on in Kristin’s head.
    Not to mention his own.
    Maybe Kristin was simply wise beyond her years, accepting Jeff for who he was, without trying to change him or pretend things were otherwise. Clearly, they had an arrangement they were comfortable with, even if he wasn’t.
    “I have an idea,” Jeff was saying. “Let’s have a bet.”
    “On what?” Tom asked.
    “On who can be the first to get into Miss Pomegranate’s panties.”
    “What?” Tom’s guffaw shook the room.
    “What are you talking about?” asked Will impatiently.
    “A hundred bucks,” Jeff said, laying two fifties on the countertop.
    “What are you talking about?” Will asked again.
    “It’s simple. There’s an attractive young woman sitting all by herself in the corner, just waiting for Prince Charming to hit on her.”
    “I think that might be a contradiction in terms,” Kristin said.
    “Maybe all she wants is to be left alone,” Will offered.
    “What woman comes to a place like the Wild Zone by herself hoping to be left alone?”
    Will had to admit Jeff’s question made sense.
    “So, we go over there, we chat her up, we see which one of us she lets take her home. A hundred bucks says it’s me.”
    “You’re on.” Tom fished inside his pocket, eventually coming up with two twenties and a pile of ones. “I’m good for the rest,” he said sheepishly.
    “Speaking of home,” Kristin interrupted, looking directly at Tom, “shouldn’t you be heading back there? You don’t want a repeat of last time, do you?”
    In truth, Kristin was the one who didn’t want a repeat of last time. Lainey was as formidable a force as her husband when she was angry, and she wasn’t too proud to wake up half the city when it came to ferreting out her errant husband’s whereabouts.
    “Lainey’s got nothing to worry about tonight,” Jeff said confidently. “Miss Pomegranate’s not going to be interested in his bony ass.” He turned toward Will. “You in?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “Oh, come on. Don’t be a spoilsport. What’s the matter? Afraid you’ll lose?”
    Will glanced back at the woman, who was still staring off into space, although he noticed she’d finished her drink. Why hadn’t he just told his brother he was interested? Was he interested? And was Jeff right? Was he afraid of losing? “Do you accept credit cards?”
    Jeff laughed and slapped him on the shoulder. “Spoken like a true Rydell. Daddy would be very proud.”
    “How are we going to do this exactly?” Tom asked, bristling at all this newfound