Page 68 of Provoke You

“I will. Maybe Matt will stick around next time.” I hugged her back.

“Oh yeah, let’s hear all about Matt. Here.” Jack set a shot glass on the counter. “This one’s on me.”

“Oh, no, thanks. I’m not drinking right now. But I’ll take a water.” I leaned on the barstool.

“Aren’t we all grown up, adulting and shit?” He winked at me.

Maybe Matt was rubbing off on me, but something about this whole night didn’t feel right. I itched to go and find out what happened at the house but instead decided to stay and do as Matt asked. The guy had enough on his plate.

“So tell me about your new boy.” Jack slid a glass of water across the table.

I smiled. “He just moved to New Orleans. It’s very new.” My cheeks turned hot as I tried to explain Matt and me to Jack.

He leaned forward and pointed a finger at me. “You already had sex with him. You’re so red. He must be good.”

“Stop it.” I laughed.

A guy strolled into the bar area and sat a seat away from me. Jack raised both eyebrows at me and moved over to take the stranger’s order. I sipped from my glass and casually shifted my weight to scope him out. He was cute in that all-American-boy way, blond hair, blue eyes. I could swear I’d seen him before.

He did a double take on me, then smiled. “You’re Ela LeBlanc.”

“What makes you say that?” My heart raced for some reason. Two murder attempts would do that to a girl. I faced forward and focused on my water.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I’ve seen you on Instagram. You’re sort of a local celebrity.” When Jack set down his beer, the guy half turned to face me.

“Oh yeah. I’m afraid I’ve neglected my account lately. I’ve been busy.” My chest tightened, and I knew it was time to go.

“Let’s go live right now.” He barged into my personal space. “We can dance on the bar.”

“Hey, pal, she doesn’t want to talk to you. Let her be.” Jack stared the guy down. For a moment, it seemed the guy would do something impulsive, but instead he simply shrugged and turned his attention back to his beer.

“Thanks. I should go.”

“Stay a while. I haven’t seen you in ages.” He leaned forward and whispered, “He’ll leave soon. He looks like he’s ready to go home.”

Yeah, the guy looked well served for sure. In the end, I nodded and sat back down. Truth was, I had nowhere to go. I couldn’t go home. I had to stay where Matt could find me when he was done with Kitt and the whole situation at the house.

Jack busied himself by putting dirty glasses in the dishwasher. With the drunk stranger giving us odd looks, we couldn’t really talk about anything. Not even Matt.

After a good half hour, the guy stood on wobbly legs and dropped a twenty-dollar bill to cover his beer. “No change. I’ll pay for whatever she’s drinking.” He walked behind me and put his arm on my bare arm. “You’re welcome.”

The shock or prick he gave me made me jump off my seat. “What the fuck?”

“Oh sorry. Didn’t mean to touch you. Women are so sensitive these days.” He stumbled back, combing blond strands of hair away from his face. The creepy vibe he had going on made me shiver.

“Pal, it’s time to go home.” Jack walked around the bar and stood in front of me.

I should have punched the guy. Why didn’t I? It was as Matt had said: “Always assume your opponent is there to hurt you.” I did the opposite, assuming a drunk stranger meant no harm. Damn it. I rubbed my arm, which now felt bruised.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think the guy pinched me on purpose.”

“What a creep.”

I sat back on the barstool and sipped on my water. “Hey, what time is it?”

“It’s fifteen past ten. You need a ride home?”

---