Craved by a Stranger (Craved Series #1) Read online

  I tried my best to find temporary relief. Occasionally I’d meet women who could take my mind off my troubles, but they were always just passing through and not looking for anything serious, which- as weird as it was for me to admit- I felt ready for.

  Cause I’d had enough frivolity. After my face became recognizable back home, I had a little too much fun entertaining my numerous female admirers. To put it politely, I fucked as many hot women as I could.

  Of course, I didn’t know myself then, and I certainly hadn’t bothered to get to know any of them. And while part of me felt like it was time to go home, time to look for something more substantial, I didn’t really have any good reasons to leave.

  And I had lots of reasons to stay.

  Sure, I could’ve fucked Thai girls every night of the week- and lord knows I’d had a few- but what I really craved was a curvy American girl with bright eyes and big lips who could make me feel at home, the kind of woman boys growing up in California always think they’re going to end up with.

  Besides, most Thai girls around here only hooked up with “farangs” for two reasons. Either they were prostitutes or they wanted a better life. Unfortunately, I was as uninterested in paying for sex as I was in finding a Thai bride. Not that there weren’t some beautiful women out here whose cooking I could’ve happily gotten fat on, but deep down, they weren’t what got my blood boiling.

  “Jack!”

  I turned away from the beach and smiled. “Sawadee Krap, Jin,” I said, noticing that he was carrying a bottle in a brown bag.

  “Did you order yet?” he asked, waving at the owner at the back of the restaurant.

  “No.”

  “Well, anything you want, it’s on me,” he said, slamming the bottle down on the table.

  “That won’t be necessary, Jin.” I knew he was self-conscious about the fact that I often picked up the tab, especially because he did relatively well for himself. However, unlike Jin, I had more money than I could spend. So until I found a woman worth spoiling, I was happy to be generous with him.

  “Hello,” the raisin faced restaurant owner said. “Whatchu want?”

  “Chicken Kra Pao for me,” I said.

  “Garlic Pepper Chicken for me,” Jin said. “And a Coke and two glasses please.”

  The woman nodded and went back to make the magic happen.

  I pointed at the brown bag in the middle of the table. “You hitting the bottle early today?”

  “You are, too,” he said. “We’re celebrating.”

  “What are we celebrating?” I asked, thinking it could be any number of things. Jin was one of those people that thought almost anything was an excuse to drink whiskey.

  “I’ll tell you in a second when we have our glasses. Then we can make a toast.”

  “Okay,” I said, not at all bothered by the suspense. I figured a monk told him the “winning” lottery numbers again, and that he was merely celebrating ahead of schedule.

  Jin ran his hand through his straight black hair and then looked towards the kitchen before saying something in Thai.

  A moment later, the old woman huffed over to the table with two glasses and the Coke.

  Jin thanked her and pulled the brown bag down, revealing a Johnny Walker label which meant he must’ve really had the winning lottery numbers this time as he’d normally only spring for one of the much cheaper Thai whiskeys.

  “Wow,” I said. “Must be a really special occasion.”

  “It is, Jack. It is.”

  I watched him fill the two clear glasses before topping them up with Coke.

  “Now,” he said. “We toast.”

  I raised my glass. “What are we toasting?”

  “My sister is getting married!”

  A smile spread across my face. “Which one?”

  “Lucky!”

  “That’s great news, Jin.”

  “I know,” he said, knocking his glass into mine in a way that suggested perhaps this wasn’t his first drink of the day. “And it’s all thanks to you!”

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “I do,” he said. “She never would’ve met a husband if it weren’t for all your help.”

  “I’m sure she would’ve. She’s a lovely girl.”

  “Now she’s a lovely girl. Now she wears nice clothes and sends money home to my parents,” he said. “Before you helped her, she was hopeless! Less sexy than my Grandma!”

  I laughed. “That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

  “No,” he said. “It’s true, and everyone in my family knows it.”

  “What’s the guy’s name?” I asked.

  “John maybe? Joe? Bob? Tom?”

  “Are you just guessing white names?”

  “Sorry. I can’t remember. I’m too excited.”

  I shook my head. His sister Lucky was one of my first students. Actually, she wasn’t really a student, just naturally inquisitive. She noticed a few of her friends had hooked up with Western guys and many of them were better off so she started asking me all kinds of questions, informally at first and then with increasing intensity.

  I remember admiring how determined she was to improve her English, to do anything she had to do to avoid a hard life working for her parents and smelling of squid. In fact, she’s the one that gave me the idea for the class I taught in Jin’s bar during the day to keep busy.

  “Lucky in love,” I said to myself. “How about that?”

  Chapter 4: Audrey

  I stood in front of the mirror in my bikini, crinkling my nose. “Not too bad,” I said to myself. “I mean, not great, but not a deal breaker.”

  Of course, I still hadn’t decided whether I wanted to go. I didn’t want to be one of those people who ran from their problems, especially when that meant running into the arms of drunken backpackers. Though maybe if I were also drunk, it wouldn’t be so bad.

  At least then the using would be mutual. After all, I was getting kind of sick of playing the fool. My last few relationships had not only been detrimental to my self-esteem but they’d left me feeling like a victim.

  Worst of all, many of my friends were in serious relationships or getting married. A few of them were even starting to have babies. On purpose and everything. As a result, I was starting to feel defective. Like why not me? Surely there were men at home wanking off right now to the fantasy of having a committed relationship with a horny graphic designer. Or was it not enough anymore to be horny and employed? Or shit- just horny. Fuck.

  That being said, maybe I did need to get the hell out of here for a while. I mean, a tan wasn’t exactly an engagement ring, but it might make me feel a bit better about myself for a few days.

  And didn’t I deserve that?

  I hadn’t taken a real vacation since college, and I was starting to worry that I was going to become one of those people that got so distracted by their professional goals that they forgot they enjoyed traveling until it was too late.

  Maybe freedom was the silver lining on the fact that I’d just gotten fired and hadn’t established myself in my career yet. And if freedom was all I had going for me, it would be pretty pathetic to waste it watching box sets that Netflix would happily let me get caught up on when I got back… as I died a slow death looking for jobs online in my pajamas.

  After all, I’d have to do that whether I left town or not.

  Still, I told Megan I wanted to think about it some more because that was the adult thing to do, to not rush into things, to be practical.

  And despite the fact that she acted like it was a huge inconvenience, she said I could have twenty four hours.

  I stood to the side and sucked in which looked ridiculous. Then I clenched my abs as hard as I could and saw- not for the first time- that abandoning my morning Pilates routine a year ago had not had a positive effect on my core.

  Finally, I lay down on my back, feeling relieved that there was at least one position in which my stomach looked relatively flat. In fact, if I sucked in until
it hurt, I could see enough evidence of my hip bones to feel redeemed.

  Then I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, relaxing into my carpet like it was sand and trying to imagine how good it would feel to get some warm sun on my soft pale body.

  At which point my phone started playing a techno version of “Call on me.”

  I rolled over and got to my feet, making my way over to the bedside table with enough time left to sigh before I answered.

  “Hi Mom.”

  “Audrey,” she said, sounding drained as usual. “How are you, honey?”

  “I’m okay, you?”

  “I don’t want to be a downer.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Any luck on the job front?”

  “Nothing worth mentioning,” I said. Not that I’d sent out a single resume. My plan was to start officially looking next week after I’d made the most of what I was calling my “allowable sulking time.”

  “Hmmm.”

  “But I have a few promising leads,” I said, wondering what it was about the sound of my Mom’s voice that made me want to tell lies. Ten years ago, it had been a useful skill, but now it was sort of an unshakable compulsion.

  “And your boyfriend?” she asked. “I trust he’s being supportive?”

  “Actually, no.” I sat on the edge of my unmade bed and looked in the mirror, straightening my back to an awkward extent to keep my stomach from collapsing into unattractive rolls. “We broke up.”

  “I thought you said things were going well?”

  “Yeah, I know. I guess I misread the signs.”

  Silence.

  “Mom?”

  “Yes?”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Just that I feel like that’s happening to you a lot lately.”

  “I’m sure my luck is about to change,” I said, wondering whom I was trying to convince.

  “What happened?”

  “He’s joining the army,” I lied, wishing I’d prepared for the inevitable question earlier.

  “The army?”

  “Yes.”

  “You sure know how to pick ‘em.”

  “Yes, well, I am disappointed,” I said. “He begged me to wait for him, but I said it would be too painful.”

  “Not to mention you really need to start a family soon if you’re ever going to.”

  Right. Because bringing a baby into this family right now sounds like a fantastic idea. “Is that the reason you called, Mom? To remind me that the clock is still ticking?”

  “No, dear. Just something to keep in mind.”

  “What is it then?” I asked.

  “Your father has finally agreed to start going to counseling.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “I know. It wasn’t easy to get him to agree, but it’s our only chance. We’re going to start next week.”

  “Good job, Mom. That’s huge.”

  “Anyway, the woman suggested we start by doing a few sessions altogether.”

  I raised my eyebrows and perked up my ears.

  “She thinks it would be helpful for all of us. So we can heal as a family.”

  I swallowed.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think that sounds great,” I said, telling my biggest lie yet. “But I can’t.”

  “You can’t or you won’t?” she asked.

  “Can’t.”

  “Why can’t you?”

  I thought about saying because that sounds like hell, and I’d rather die by self-inflicted fork wounds than listen to you nag Dad while he explains all the things that make him want to drink himself to death.

  But I didn’t.

  Instead, I took a deep breath, looked in the mirror, and said, “Because I’m going to Thailand with Megan.”

  Chapter 5: Jack

  I couldn’t wait to tell the girls in my class about Lucky’s good fortune. It would be a morale booster for everyone.

  “You want to know what the best part is?” Jin asked.

  “She’s madly in love with the guy?”

  Jin laughed. “There are more important things than love, Jack.”

  “If you say so.”

  Jin rolled his eyes. “But yes, she told my Mom she loves him very much.”

  “I’m glad,” I said, relieved that my tutelage hadn’t been responsible for landing Lucky somewhere she didn’t want to be. “What’s the best part?”

  “I get to go to America for the wedding!” he said, his face lighting up like a child whose just found out he’s going to Disney World.

  “Wow,” I said. “That’s exciting.”

  “I know,” he said. “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

  “Why aren’t they getting married here?” I asked.

  “They are. They’re having a ceremony in both places, but not everyone can go to the American wedding.”

  “I see.”

  “It’s too expensive.”

  “Will your parents go?”

  “Yes, but not my other brothers and sisters.”

  I nodded. “Where is it?”

  “Cal-i-for-ni-a!” Jin said. “Can you believe it? What are the chances? Isn’t that where you’re from?!”

  “It is.”

  “I am going to see if I can go to Hollywood so I can be the next Wolf of Wall Street.”

  I laughed. “That’s like saying you want to be the next Slumdog Millionaire.”

  Jin shrugged and topped up our glasses with more whiskey. “Somebody has to do it, Jack. It might as well be me.”

  “You might have a better shot trying to land a roll that involves hand to hand combat.”

  “But I am a peaceful man.”

  “It would only be acting. You could use your Muay Thai skills.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What about driving fast cars? There must be another Fast and Furious coming out soon.”

  “I’m good on my moped,” Jin said. “Is there a Not So Fast But Still Furious coming out?”

  “You’ll have to see when you get there,” I said, thinking it wasn’t worth raining on his parade. After all, I was no expert, and he was a good looking Asian guy. If he was blond with big tits I’d tell him to forget it, but who knows? Maybe his sister’s luck would rub off on him.

  “Won’t that be funny?” he asked. “If you are here and I am there?!”

  I nodded. “Who will run the bar for you if you become a movie star, Jin?”

  He looked up out of the corner of his eye and then his face lit up. “You will, Jack. I will gift the bar to you.”

  “No thanks,” I said. “If you become a movie star, I’ll move home and be your personal physician.”

  “My what?”

  “Your doctor, Jin.”

  “I thought you weren’t a doctor anymore.”

  “Well, I’d have to start again because you’d need me to heal you after all your dangerous stunts.”

  “Don’t they have pharmacies in California?”

  “Yeah, but in America you have to go to the doctor before you can go get the medicine you need.”

  “No,” he said. “You’re pulling my leg.”

  I put my hands up. “It’s the truth.”

  “Wow.”

  “Besides, you’ll be too famous to run your own errands.”

  He wrapped a hand around his chin. “Okay. You’re hired.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Great.”

  “Tell me something, Jack.”

  “Sure,” I asked, covering my glass so he wouldn’t top me up with anymore Coke.

  “Do you think you will ever go back to America?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I would if I had a good reason to.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like if you were the new Jackie Chan.”

  “Do you think you will stay here and marry a Thai woman?”

  “I don’t think so,” I said.

  “Are you sure? Because Ting will be eighteen in two years
and then we could be brothers?”

  “I’m sure,” I said. “And you need to stop trying to pawn your sisters off to every Westerner you meet. I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate it.”

  “I think they would.”

  I shrugged.

  “What about you?” he asked. “How are you going to meet someone if you are here surrounded by so many Thai girls all the time?”

  “Who says I want to meet someone?”

  “Jin can see that you are lonely.”

  “Don’t talk in third person,” I said. “It makes you sound crazy.”

  Jin shook his head at me.

  “And I’m not lonely.”

  “Yes you are. You said it yourself on Saturday when we were at the club.”

  “No I didn’t.”

  “Yes you did.”

  “What did I say?”

  “You said Jin, I wish a gorgeous American girl would walk in here and make my night.”

  “That doesn’t mean I’m lonely.”

  “Whatever you say,” Jin said. “A man can’t marry his right hand.”

  I raised my eyebrows.

  “What?”

  “Don’t talk like that,” I said. “Worry about your own love life.”

  “I’m just worried,” he said. “Because my wing man has lost his zest for picking up women.”

  “I haven’t lost anything, Jin. I’m sorry if I’ve let you down lately, but I’m kind of sick of meaningless sex with women whose faces I couldn’t pick out of a line up the next morning.”