There are moments of dubious consent or non-consent in this story. If that type of element offends you, or is problematic, do not read.
"He's insufferable," I moaned, taking a bite of pizza and washing it down with a sip of beer. "He's so arrogant. So smug. So-"
"So what you're saying is, you miss me?"
"Yes, you ass!"
I was having dinner with my partner, Jon Eckert, at 800 Degrees, our favorite pizza place in Santa Monica, a few miles from where we both lived and worked.
Jon and I are homicide detectives for LAPD and have been partnered for just over three years. However, Jon's been out for the past week recovering from knee surgery and will be on desk duty for the next two weeks when he returns Monday. In his place, I've been temporarily partnered with a wet behind the ears detective on loan from Van Nuys. Jason Kennedy was young and eager. He was also confrontational, insolent, and a real pain in my ass.
"I had to pull him aside this morning for a 'come to Jesus' meeting," I said. "Let me just say he wasn't happy."
"You said he used to be in our division?"
"Yeah," I replied. "Patrol. He had a chip on his shoulder even back then. He transferred out just before you transferred here. He seems like a bigger dick now that he's made detective."
"Give him a break," Jon said. "He's green."
"No, it's more than that," I said thoughtfully, taking another swallow of my beer. "I can't put my finger on it, but there's something hinky about him. It's like he's challenging me. Not just my authority and my experience, either, but me personally... maybe not physically, but definitely my manhood."
"Your record and integrity speak for themselves," Jon pointed out. "Everybody knows you and respects you, so that's stupid of him to even try to go there. But to challenge you personally like that? That sounds petty and immature."
"I don't trust him."
"Well, your instincts are usually spot on," Jon acknowledged, reaching for another slice, "but I hope this is one time when you're wrong."
"Yeah, me too," I said. At that moment my phone chimed with a text. "Speak of the devil," I said, holding it up for Jon to see.
Jon squinted as he read the screen. *Sorry about today. Truce?* "That's encouraging," he said.
I sighed. *Sure,* I typed back. *Thank you.*
*Having some friends over. UCLA-Golden Bears game tonight. Wanna join me?*
"He wants me to watch the UCLA game tonight," I said.
"You both graduated from UCLA, right?" Jon asked. When I nodded, he said, "Might be something to bond over."
I shrugged and typed. *Sure. Where?*
*I'm staying at my parents' place while they're in Europe. It's near the beach.* An address popped up.
"That's a nice neighborhood," Jon noted, "and not too far from here. Want me to drop you?"
I looked at my watch. "That'd be great. The game starts in twenty minutes. I can Uber home after."
"Let's roll," Jon said, shoving the rest of the pizza into his mouth while gathering up our debris.
*See you in 20.* I typed to Jason and then slid my phone into my pocket.
*~*~*~*
"Nice place," Jon said, whistling softly as he turned onto Marguerita Avenue, a quiet street lined with mature trees, and stopped in front of Jason's parents' house. The house was a huge Spanish hacienda on a large lot and looked professionally landscaped. There were a few cars in the driveway and more on the street, so Jason must be having other people over.
I'd called my girlfriend on the short drive over. She, Jon's fiancΓ©e and my younger brother are academic librarians at UCLA and were at a conference in Oakland presenting a paper. They were scheduled to be back late tomorrow afternoon. I'd vented to her a few times this week about my run-ins with Jason. Like Jon, she thought the invitation was a positive sign and a gesture of goodwill.
I cast a glance over at Jon as I unbuckled my seatbelt. "No," he said with a smirk, "I don't want to join you."
"Ass," I muttered as I stepped out of the car. He laughed and flipped me the bird as he drove off.
Jason must've seen us pull up because he opened the large front door as I was walking up the sidewalk.
"Hey Kev, glad you could make it," he called. "I guess since the old ball and chain is out of town you can go out tonight."
"Ha, it's not like that at all with my us," I replied, bristling inwardly as I handed him the six-pack of Arrogant Bastard (a Freudian slip, I swear) beer I'd picked up along the way, pushing it a bit more forcefully into his arms than I'd intended.
"Chill, Kev, I was kidding," he said, slapping me on the back. Yeah, right. I don't know why I was letting him get under my skin like this, but I really needed to let it go.
He introduced me to a few people as we stepped inside, and by the way he was acting it was clear he'd already had a few drinks. I looked around and noticed that I was easily the oldest person at the party. Everybody looked at least a decade younger than my 38 years.
He gave me a tour of the house, introducing me as we went from room to room, then out back to the pool and back inside again. We went into the kitchen and I almost did a double-take when I saw the amount of liquor bottles on the large island. I've seen bars that weren't as well stocked.
He put the beer in the fridge and turned to me. "Let me make you a real drink, Kev." A real drink? Was he serious? I was too shocked and off-put to respond so I just leaned against the counter.
"You like whiskey sours?" he asked. Not waiting for me to answer, he scooped ice into a large tumbler and added a generous amount of Canadian Club whiskey.
"Uh, sure," I said, my eyes widening at his heavy pour. If he was bartender tonight I was going to have to pace myself. I'm pretty much a beer and wine guy, and when I do drink hard liquor it's usually something like Basil Hayden or Maker's Mark: something I can sip slowly and savor, not guzzle like a frat guy.
"Here ya go, Kev," Jason said, holding out the drink. I got the feeling he was sizing me up or something so I pushed away from the counter, rising to my full 6'4, a good six inches over his 5'10 - maybe 5'11 - and accepted the glass. It took a bit of an effort to keep my face schooled as I took a sip - oh yeah, I was definitely making my own drinks for the rest of the night - but he must've seen something because he gave me a knowing, almost challenging smirk. I stared at him. He stared back. I blinked first - shit - and gulped. I didn't like this. I didn't like this one bit.
He continued the introductions and I did my best to make small talk. Normally I don't have a problem meeting new people, but most of the the people here, especially the guys, struck me as total douchebags. Most of the girls looked like those wannabe models on Instagram who post endless, filtered-to-heck selfies making that stupid duck face. Even if I didn't currently have a girlfriend I'd have turned down the propositions I got as we made the rounds.
I wasn't surprised that a few guys hit on me. This was West L.A., after all. Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with gay people. My younger brother, the librarian, is gay. In fact, his husband, who was my partner when I first joined the force, is my best friend.
The problem I do have with people - gay or straight - is when they won't take no for an answer. But I didn't think that was going to be a problem here.
I remembered the game was on and by the time I found the viewing party it was midway through the first quarter. There were only five of us watching on the big screen in the den, and I was relieved when Jason didn't join us. Instead, he was out by the pool playing beer pong with some of the others.
I re-introduced myself to the guys in the room: Austin, Ryan, Charlie and Nic. We all talked a little as the game progressed. Austin had also graduated from UCLA - he was wearing a Bruins tank top - and we shared an instant bond. None of the others had gone to UCLA but they were still rooting for the Bruins. My older brother had graduated from Berkeley so we texted back and forth as the game went on, keeping up our long-distance rivalry.
As the first quarter was coming to an end I noticed that Charlie and Nic had moved closer to each other on one of the couches and were starting to make out. I laughed to myself thinking if they kept this up they were going to need a room.
When the first quarter ended I got up to get a beer. However, there wasn't any to be found. Apparently the six-pack I'd brought was the only beer in the house, and that was going fast with the beer pongers. I shrugged and mixed myself another whiskey sour, going easy on the whiskey.
I went back to the den and noticed that Charlie and Nic had gone from making out to petting and full-on groping. I shook my head at their brazenness.