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.The veins stuck out near his temples, and his face was flushed.His hands grasped at his sides as his eyes narrowed to slits.Rich was saved a good smack by Phil’s phone ringing.“Asshole!” Phil exited the garage.He stepped carefully past the oil slick and put the phone to his ear.“Hello?”“Phillip?” came the response.“Uh huh.Having trouble finding the place?”“No, I Googled a map.I was just wondering if there was going to be alcohol there.”“Oh…” Phil was taken a bit aback.“Well, Rex likes to drink, and so does my friend Steve, but I don’t think there’s going to be a bunch of drunks running around.”Her laughter was almost musical in his ear.“No, you dummy.If there’s no booze, I was going to buy some.”“Uh, okay.I think there’s plenty of beer here.”“I’m not big on beer.I mean, I’ll drink it, but only if there’s nothing else available.”“Well, if you want to get something, I can chip in on it.” Phil dug in his back pocket for his wallet.“That’s all right, I’m not worried about money.I’ll see you soon, okay?”“Okay.” Phil wondered why his hands were suddenly so sweaty.“I’d invite you up,” Steve said as his father pulled the Caddy in front of his apartment building, “but there’s not much to see.”“Don’t sweat it,” said the big man.“I’m taking Susie to see some friends of mine.”“You mean wrestling buddies.” Steve’s blue eyes were narrowed to near slits as he glared at Susan in the back seat.“You really want that kind of life for yourself?”Susan rolled her eyes.“Pffft.”“What’s wrong with the life?” His father’s brow came low over his eyes.“That’s not what I meant.It’s always the same thing.You two gang up on me and I end up looking like the bad guy.”“No one’s ganging up on you,” Susan said.“Then why does it feel like it?” Steve said, getting out of the car.He left the door standing open, both due to his anger and because Susan was switching to the front seat.Deathslayer watched him go, face slack and eyes seeming to be focused on something far away.Steve fumbled with his keys, dropping them to the hallway floor several times before he managed to jam it into the lock.He shouldered the door open, cursing as it swung open too hard and banged against the wall.His upstairs neighbor stomped hard several times on the floor/ceiling.“Yeah, yeah, sorry,” said Steve in a low growl.“Fucking asshole.I don’t complain when you listen to that fucking god-awful rap shit at top volume.”He went to the fridge, jamming his hand up to the elbow inside the Miller Lite box, disgusted when he came back empty-handed.Heaving a sigh, he strode over to his sofa and sat down heavily on it.Picking up his phone, he opened an app that would let him stream movies onto his TV.In short order he was watching a mindless action movie.His face remained passive as the movie changed from one violent scene to another more violent scene.At length he picked up his phone again and brought up his contacts list.Autumn’s name appeared at the top.He sat still for a moment, finger poised over the screen.The choice was made for him when the screen flashed, heralding an incoming call.For a brief second he thought it might be Autumn, enough that he was disappointed to see Phillip’s name come up on the screen.“Yeah?” he said as salutation, not bothering to keep the annoyance out of his voice.“Hey, man,” said Phil, a little abashed, “is there any way you could come out to Rex’s?”“It’s a school night, dude.If I’m late one more time, I’m gonna get my ass chewed.”“You don’t have to stay till two a.m.! C’mon man, I need you to do me a solid.That asshole Rich is here, and—”“The overgrown frat boy?”“Yeah, in all his aggravating glory.But that’s not the worst of it.There’s a chick coming here.She’s maybe going to play with us, and she, well, she—”“You know her from somewhere, and she’s ugly, and you need me to be a buffer in case she gets clingy.”“How’d you know I was going to—”“It’s hardly the first time.Can you pick ’em, or what?”“So are you coming over?” Phil’s voice had a wheedling tone.“I’m tired, man.I have to work tomorrow.I was out late last night and had to get up early—”“Aww, come on, man, didn’t you send me a text about some chick you met at the wrestling match? Augusta or something? You could bring her along.”“Autumn.And I probably should wait a day or two before I call her again.”“Why is that? Why can’t you call her right now?”Steve sighed in exasperation.“Phil, I know you’re not all that experienced on the dating scene, but if I call her tonight, I’m gonna seem desperate.”“And you aren’t?”Steve choked back an angry retort, stopping himself before he had uttered a single syllable.His eyes narrowed to flinty blue slits, and he hated himself for secretly agreeing with Phil.“No promises, but I will give her a call.Or a text
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