Once Bitten, Twice Shy by OlympusMons90
"One over-par, that leaves me at two-under for the day. Where are you at Marco?" Tony asks his friend on the eighteenth hole as it's getting close to lunchtime on a Sunday.
"If I putt this for birdie, I'll be even after eighteen." Marco replies as he lines up his put on the final hole of the day.
"And what about you, Jack? Weren't you two over the last time I checked?"
"Yeah, but I screwed up my approach shot, I'm gonna end up at three over probably, I'll wait for Marco to get outa the way first." Jack replies.
Antonio 'Tony' Ramirez is enjoying his Sunday morning with his two best friends, Jack and Marco, playing a round of golf at the Stone Creek Golf Club near where they all live in Paradise Valley, a suburb of Phoenix in Arizona. Tony is a thirty-four year-old divorcee, his friend Jack is thirty three, with Marco being the youngest of the three at thirty.
They all met on the building site, with Tony and Jack both being carpenters, while Marco is an electrician. Tony's older brother Carlos moved to Phoenix for work ten years ago from San Bernardino, California, before Tony followed him after his divorce to his now ex-wife Rosa eight years ago. Carlos is now their supervisor but didn't come along today for golf as he has a young family to look after, and Sunday is the rest day for his wife Jenna who looks after their two young kids for the rest of the week.
After they finished their round, they all headed to the club's restaurant for something to eat and to enjoy a few beers together. Luckily for them, Jack's fiancé Kristen is also playing a round with her friend today and is also their designated driver, so the boys can enjoy a few beers together for once.
After ordering something to eat and getting a beer, they sit back to relax after an enjoyable morning.
"So, Jack, who's the hot blonde that's with Kristen today?" Marco eagerly enquires.
"That's Sienna. She works at the florist downstairs from Kristen's accounting firm. But I don't think she'd be your type though Marco, she's not into clubbing or dating apps apparently." Jack responds with a small chuckle.
"Hey, what can I say? I'm an equal opportunity kinda guy. As long as they're hot, I'll give them a shot." Marco replies while laughing along.
Between the three friends, Marco is definitely the player amongst them. He still frequents clubs every weekend and is all over the major dating apps too. Luckily for him, he's also good looking enough to keep himself well-occupied with various girls most of the time.
"I think she's way more suited to you though, Tony. And I think Kristen may have brought her along today with meeting you in mind." Jack smiles at his best friend.
"Nah, I'm good. I don't need help in that area." Tony responds quietly.
"Yeah, he's still taking the celibacy oath to become a priest. Isn't that right, Tony?" Marco prods Tony with a chuckle.
Tony just smiles and shakes his head back at Marco, this type of ribbing is nothing new for him. He hasn't been out on a single date since he first moved to Phoenix eight years ago to be with his brother after getting divorced.
"Cut him some slack, Marco. I think Sienna might just be the one to break that particular drought." Jack smiles in response.
"Hey, I'm not a charity case you know. I could find myself a woman if I wanted to, I'm just not that interested right now." Tony offers in his defense.
"Fuck, eight years is a long time to 'not be interested', Tony. At some point you need to put yourself back out there again." Marco follows up.
"One day, maybe." Tony answers as the two lovely ladies approach their table.
"Who won today guys? Let me guess, Tony as usual?" Kristen asks as she takes up her seat beside her fiancé, Jack.
"Yeah, but only by two shots today, I think Marco's getting better." Jack offers her.
"By the way guys, this is my friend Sienna. Sienna, you already know Jack of course, over there is Marco and the guy on this side is Tony. Be careful around Marco though, he should change his name to Casanova or something." Kristen adds with a laugh.
"Geez, I'm copping it today, just because I like to keep my options open." Marco replies while he laughs along as well.
Sienna takes her seat next to Tony, he's the one that her friend Kristen brought her along for the day to meet after all.
"And what about you Tony? Do I need to be careful around you as well?" Sienna asks.
"Hardly, the guy's a fucking saint." Marco replies with a big grin.
"Oh, Saint Tony, huh?" Sienna says looking at the handsome man sitting beside her.
Tony's just over six feet, with dark brown hair and eyes, solid build and in shape for a handsome man of thirty-four. Sienna herself is 5'6 with golden blonde hair with a fit body and a pretty face with lovely blue eyes. At just twenty-six, she's the youngest in the group today as Kristen is two years older at twenty-eight.
"Nah, I'm no saint. I just don't play the field like young Marco here."
"What are you talking about Tony, you don't even get out on the field, let alone playing it." Marco replies while laughing further.
"Alright, enough about my dating history, or lack of. I'm sure Sienna would be more interested in talking about other things." Tony follows up, hoping the topic of conversation will quickly move on.
"Well, Kristen told me the three of you all work together, is that right?" Sienna asks the guys.
"Yeah, we all work for my older brother, but he couldn't make it here today." Tony replies to Sienna.
"And how is Jenna doing? Handling two kids under three can't be that easy." Kristen asks Tony.
"Yeah, Carlos is giving her a day off today. She's over her mom's while he's on diaper duties." Tony replies.
"And what else do you guys like to do away from work? Apart from playing golf, of course." Sienna follows up.
"Well, Marco's favorite hobby is going out to clubs until the early hours, all the staff at those places know him personally too." Jack offers.
"What's wrong with that? I'm likeable, that's all." Marco responds.
"And you, Tony?" Sienna asks, looking at Tony sitting beside her.
"I have Champ, that's my dog. He's a three year-old Doberman, and I spend a lot of my spare time taking him to the park and stuff. I think he has more of a social life than I do sometimes." Tony chuckles.
"Really? I have my Princess too, she's a golden retriever and will be three in a about a month's time. I do like to spend time on the weekends taking her out to socialize as well, so I know exactly what you mean." Sienna responds with a wonderful smile.
"Maybe you two should go on a puppy play date together." Kristen adds.
Tony shrugs his shoulders, nodding his head a little.
"I'd like that, at least I'd have someone to talk to while Princess runs around with the other dogs." Sienna offers, but Tony doesn't say anything further.
"Hey, we're having a house leaving party next weekend by the way, I expect all of you guys to be there, you too, Sienna." Jack adds.
"House-leaving? Is that even a thing?" Marco adds.
"It is now. I'd rather we party at our old place to say goodbye than our new one. But we can have another party later, although we want to take some time to get settled in first before you lot mess it all up." Jack offers.
"Which night is it?" Tony asks.
"Next Saturday night. No excuses either, just bring your own drinks, we'll have the food." Jack answers.
The conversation between them all continued while the boys had another couple of beers. When it came time to leave, Kristen again prodded Tony that he should arrange a time for him to meet up with Sienna to take their dogs to the park, but Tony just smiled and shrugged a little again, but didn't actually get around to asking Sienna out to meet up later.
The following Saturday, Tony showed up at Jack and Kristen's place with a six-pack of beer, meeting Jack at the front door.
"Good to see you here Tony, but are you planning on having an early night with only a six-pack?" Jack questions Tony as he lets him in the front door.
"Yeah, I got stuff to do tomorrow morning, so I'm taking it easy tonight."
"Alright, go put them in the fridge. By the way, Sienna is already here too, just thought you should know."
"Are you and Kristen seriously trying to set me up with her or what?"
"Fuck yeah, of course we are. You can't seem to get the job done on your own apparently."
"Yeah, whatever." Tony replies, shaking his head as he makes his way into the kitchen.
"I'll take those Tony; you go mingle a bit. Maybe go talk to Sienna, she's here somewhere too." Kristen tells Tony as he hands her his beers.
Tony shakes his head again; he's feeling like he's being pushed into a corner. He knows they both mean well, of course, but he'd much rather not have to deal with this stuff. When Tony hears his brother's voice outside, he's a little surprised to see him here as he walks out into the backyard to talk with him.
"Carlos, I didn't think you'd show up, what with the young ones and all." Tony says to his older brother.
"We got her mom in as a sitter for a few hours; Jenna is here somewhere as well. I think she's off talking with Kristen's friend, Sienna."
"Oh great. Now she'll be hassling me too." Tony responds with a wry smile.
"Hassling you with what?"
"Sienna. Jack and Kristen are already both trying to set us up together."
"And what's wrong with that? And have you seen her by the way? You'd be lucky if she was even interested in you to begin with, she might be out of your league." Carlos chuckles back.
"Yeah, we met last Sunday at golf. She's nice." Tony offers his brother.
"So, what's with the act that you'd be put out or something? Go ask her out, you need to do something sooner or later." Carlos replies, referring to the eight-year drought his brother has been on.
"I don't know. While she's nice and all, I'm not sure if I want to deal with all that."
"Jesus, Tony. I know Rosa did a real fucking number on you, but not every woman is like that. At some point you need to let someone back in again, and it might as well be Sienna. Just start somewhere, anywhere."
"Alright, I'll think about it. But I'd prefer it if everyone just let me figure it out on my own rather than trying to push someone onto me like this."
"We gave you eight years, so you haven't been figuring it out on your own, have you? Look Tony, the people that care about you are just trying to help, that's all. If you really don't want to go out with Sienna, then don't." Carlos replied matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, okay. How did you go with the suppliers for Monday by the way, all sorted?" Tony asks.
"Nice deflection there, asking about work. But yeah, we're all good for 8am. Hey, look who's just walking outside. Go over and say hello at least." Carlos replies, nodding towards a very lovely Sienna who's followed Jenna back outside once again.
