Page 44 of Unstoppable You

No one did. But someone did say my name.

“Delaney?”

I turned around to find a very shocked James standing there and staring at me as if she’d never seen me before.

“James? What are you doing here?”

She raised both eyebrows so high they almost disappeared. “What areyoudoing here? You know this is a lesbian bar, right?” She pointed up at the sign that said Sapph in neon purple.

“Uh, yeah? I know.”

She blinked at me. “Oh, I’m not. Yeah, I’m straight. I just…” I trailed off, pushed from behind by more people trying to get in and make their way to the bar. James had an empty glass in her hand and I really wished it had been full so I could have taken it from her.

Bumping into James was definitely not part of the plan for tonight.

“Can we—” I motioned to moving away from the main crowd.

James nodded, taking my arm and dragging me after her toward the back of the bar where there was a sort of safer corner near the bathrooms. The music wasn’t as loud, and you could hear yourself think.

“Seriously, what are you doing here?” James asked, setting her empty glass down on a high-top table.

“I…um…” How the hell did I explain my Fuckit List to her?

She studied my face for a minute and then leaned forward. “How about I get you a drink and you can tell me?”

That sounded like a fine idea.

“Yeah, sure.”

Delaney patted my arm as if to tell me to stay where I was and veered through the crowd to the bar, getting the attention of one of the bartenders immediately.

I tried to keep her in my sights, but it wasn’t possible. I lost her and then she seemed to appear out of the low light of the bar, carrying two drinks with her lower lip clamped between her teeth in concentration.

She reached my corner without incident and handed me a drink.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s called a Heartbreaker,” she said, tapping her glass to mine.

“How appropriate,” I said, my tone dry as I took a sip. It was rich and heady and had a hint of pomegranate that was really nice.

“It’s good,” I told her. She nodded and tossed back half of the drink in one gulp.

“So,” she said, once I’d consumed about a third of the drink. “What the hell are you doing here, Delaney?”

I drank more. I was probably going to need at least two or more of these.

“Do you think they’d let me dance on the bar?” I asked.

“What?”

I repeated what I’d said.

“Dance on the bar? Why?”

Dammit. I wasn’t going to be able to get out of this without explaining the Fuckit List.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. You know? Like that movie.”

---