Page 9 of Tempted to Touch

"What I said. Just...forget about it."

Okay, what's happening? I'm not saying it would be better if he were mad, but...at least it'd be something.

He's not even looking at me anymore, leaning over the bar with his forearms, nursing the glass in his large palm, staring somewhere at the air in front of him. Unreadable. I wait for him to elaborate, but after an entire verse of the song that's currently playing comes and goes, it becomes clear that he doesn't have any words of explanation to offer.

Or any words, for that matter.

It doesn't sit right with me. "What if I don't want to?"

Hayden takes another sip before speaking to his glass, "Want what?"

"Forget about it."

"Well, that's too bad, because I do."

I lean sideways over the bar and lower my head. Just because he won't look at me doesn't mean I can't be in his face. "What did I do? I know you're not mad I...well, stood you up, which I technically didn't, and last week—"

He snaps his head toward me so fast I instinctively back mine. "Drop it." His voice is stern but steady, bordering on quiet.

"Look, I'm sorry. All I wanted was—"

"Actually, you know what?" He stands up straight, towering over me. "It's getting late. I should get going. I had fun."Really? Cause you don't fucking sound like it. "Thanks for the drink. Thanks for the pic. Nice work on these abs. But please don't contact me again. Have a nice day. Have a nice...everything."

And before I can process all of those nice-bombs, he pats my arm, steps around me and makes a beeline for thedoor, skillfully slaloming between the tables and people milling around. And he's walkingfast.

Okay, what just happened?

I count back from three, waiting for my brain to hopefully process. When it doesn't, I down the rest of my drink, hoping the burn in my throat will mitigate the one in my chest, throw another fifty on the bar as collateral, in case the bartender became an involuntary witness to this bizarre exchange and rush to the door.

Warm breeze hits my skin the moment I step outside. I quickly look both ways and catch a large, dark silhouette at the last possible moment as Hayden turns the corner and disappears from my field of vision.

"Wait!" I call after him, the word echoing off the walls as I pace toward where he just was. Once I turn the corner, I see him still walking. "Hayden!" I yell as I stop.

He can hear me alright. I've done my part. I won't fucking chase him.

He takes another couple of steps, albeit slower, before he stops, throws his head back as if sighing to the moon, and then slowly turns around.

He puts his hands into the pockets of his black slacks and raises his shoulders. "What?"

Realizing that's all the good will I'm gonna get, I run my fingers through my hair and slowly walk over to where he waits under the streetlamp.

I stop a few feet away from him. He wouldn't want me to invade his space. He made it more than clear. "I don't want to bother you—"

He tilts his head to the side. "Really?"

I ignore him. "—but I'm just... trying to understand, I guess. Look, I'm sorry about the Grindr thing. If it was...an invasion of privacy, or something. I know it was kind of shitty." I shrug. "I just...really wanted to see you again."

He lets out a prolonged sigh. The warm, overhead lighting has no business looking as good as it does on his face, yet somehow it makes him even more handsome. More mysterious. And strangely, darker. "I'm not bothered by how you found me."

"Then...what are you bothered by?"

He sways back on his heels before turning. For a second I'm sure he's walking away, but he just does a three-sixty, apparently buying himself some time. "That you wanted to find me in the first place."

I flail my arms to the sides, unrestricted. There's no one for me to hit out here. "I don't know what that means," I snap, a little too loud. I take a calming breath and take a step closer, lowering my voice. "My memory might not be perfect, but I thought you... you know." I swing my hand in front of my body in a presenting motion, if a little pathetic. "Found me attractive, or something."

"I did." I take a sharp inhale to retort, but he's faster. "But that was before."

I scrunch my nose. "Before... Before you knew I was desperate?"

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