Page 35 of Puck of the Irish

"Excuse me, I'll be right back," I say to the table. I glance at the server again and Kent chuckles low.

"Oh brava, my dear. Brava, indeed." I swat him with my napkin but grin as I make my way towards a side exit. I force myself not to remember that it's the same one I escaped through with Rizzo all those weeks ago. Just as I push it open, I turn back and see if the server is still watching. He is. He smiles widely, knowing exactly what I'm saying without speaking a word. I exit and wait in the hallway beyond, pulse racing.

Part of me is saying this is a bad idea, that it isn't even what Iwant, but the other parts are telling me to just do it. Rip the band aid off with someone new. Feel something that isn't the hurt or longing or annoyance that seems to be all I've been feeling since I fucked things up with Rizzo.

The server slips through the door and smiles.

"Hey," he says in a deep, husky voice.

"Hi," I breathe.

"I'm —" I kiss him to silence him.

"No names," I whisper against his lips. He smiles and kisses me back, palming the back of my head to hold me to him, maybe a touch too hard. The kiss is…not great. Too much tongue and zero finesse with it. But I'm determined to force Rizzo from my mind and this seems like the best way at the moment. What's that old saying? The best way to get over one man is to get under another one? So, I’m determined to make myself enjoy this.

"Damn, baby, you're sexy as hell," he rasps, kissing along my neck as he backs me against the wall. I roll my eyes. His words do nothing to turn me on. In fact, it's like the fucking Sahara right now down south.It's fine. It'll be fine. I close my eyes and try to just relax into the moment, but then he sucks hard on one spot, like a fucking fish, and I feel myself make an absolutely disgusted face.How in the hell is that hot?? And so help me God if this moron gives me a fucking hickey…

I huff out a frustrated sigh and pull his head back up, kissing him again and attempting to take control of it. Maybe if I show him what I like, he’ll get the hint. He palms my breasts roughly, like they're basketballs and he's Shaq, and everything about this is the most unsexy encounter of my life. He does not, in fact, take my hints and instead decides it’s a competition of who can shove their tongue into the other person’s mouth the hardest. This was a terrible fucking idea.

Thank God, my phone chooses that moment to buzz. Maybe Hattie had taken me seriously and is calling in a fake emergency to get me out of this event.

"One second, I need to check this," I say, pushing him away. He steps back but keeps his hands latched onto my chest until I give him a pointed look. He sighs, but releases his prizes. I pull my phone out of my clutch and see a text from Rizzo. I blink in surprise.

Rizzo: Hey, can you call and check on Mac?

I frown and straighten, and the idiot takes that as an invitation to lean in again, licking my neck. Not a sexy little lap of his tongue, either. Licks it like a cartoon dog licking a bone.Bleh.I push him away and maneuver away from the wall, putting some space between us.

"Uh, everything ok? I gotta get back to work soon…"

"Go ahead, something important came up. Sorry."

"We could hook up after," he says with a smile.

"I don't think so." I walk down the hallway towards the stairs and he calls after me.

"For real?"

"A thousand percent!" I call as the door slams shut behind me. I wipe saliva from my neck and feel like I might puke. “Oh, gross! God, that was a disaster.” I shake my head and decide to never speak of this to anyone for as long as I live.

I quickly type back a response.

Hey, is everything ok?

Rizzo: I think so, but she got spooked earlier in the parking garage.

"What the hell?" We'd been texting in our group chat with her, me, and Bobby earlier and she hadn't mentioned anything at all. We were all joking around—Bobby told the worst dad joke of all time, I’d asked Hattie to be ready to fake the emergency, and she started adding "eh" to the end of every message since Bobby was home in Canada visiting family for the next couple of weeks for the holidays. He wasn’t nearly as amused as we were, but everything had seemed fine.

I’ll call her right now.

Rizzo: Thanks. You know how she is. She doesn't like to ask for help or “bother” people, but she was definitely freaked out. She’s staying at Shep’s place.

I’ll def check on her.

The three bubbles pop up and disappear like he's typing more but then rethinking it. I hate this.

Good game, btw.

Rizzo: you were watching? I thought you were at some event?

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