Page 4 of Get Even

“Come on, baby, I’d love to have your number. You look lonely.”

The smarmy voice cut through my inner monologue and I rolled my eyes, glancing to my right to find the owner of that voice sitting two stools down. He was a skinny, greasy looking guy with a long face and dark hair with too much gel. He’d been attempting to sweet talk the pretty girl sitting next to me for the last ten minutes and her replies had become more and more clipped each time the guy ignored her clear signals to back the hell off. Maybe it was the tequila, maybe it was the frustration that continued to make my blood hum at the thought of Ry, but I turned and leaned forward, draping my arm around the shoulders of the girl next to me.

She tensed momentarily before looking at me out of the corner of her eye and relaxing, apparently deciding I wasn’t here with the creep harassing her. The guy frowned at me like he’d only just noticed I was there on the other side of her andholy hellI could see why. She’d been facing the other way the entire time I’d been sitting here, watching the door, so this was my first good look at her and I felt a brief stab of pity, she must get assholes fawning over her all the time. With her honey-hued skin, deep brown eyes and glossy hair she would be considered gorgeous – throw in the full lips, long legs that were currently crossed demurely in her tight jeans, curves for days and she was a knock-out.

“Have you finished playing yet, doll?” I cooed in her ear, loudly enough for the sleaze to hear me.

“Excuse me?” he spluttered, eyes bulging like a frog and a bit of spittle hitting the bar.

“You’re excused,” I said, smiling brightly, pouting my red lips for full effect as he stared at me in shocked silence.

“Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Hers,” I answered, linking my other arm around the brunette’s neck and staring intently into her eyes as I leaned in, pausing as I hovered over her mouth and letting her close the distance if she chose. I could feel her stuttered breaths ghosting over my lips lightly before her mouth pressed to mine in a kiss that I deepened after a few seconds, letting my tongue briefly stroke across hers before pulling back. “Satisfied?” I said breathlessly without looking away and saw the sleazeball leave out of the corner of my eye.

“Very,” the girl murmured and I laughed, pulling away. “I’m Olivia, but since you just had your tongue in my mouth you can call me Liv.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, settling back onto my own stool and ordering a cocktail from the other bartender, whose name I didn’t know. “My name’s Benjamin, but you can call me Jamie.”

“That’s… unusual?”

I gave her a wry smile and thanked the bartender a moment later as he placed the Sex on the Beach down in front of me. “My Mom thought she was having a boy and decided to keep the name regardless.”

Liv let out a laugh that drew a few appreciative glances her way as her long brown hair swayed with the movement. “Wow. Well, thank you for… kissing me, I guess?”

I smirked, “Happy to be of service. Are you meeting someone?” I half-hoped she’d say no – and not just because the kiss had been good. I could use the company and it would be… nice to meet some new people. Not a thought I often had and I was putting it down to the alcohol and the shitty forty-eight hours I’d just had.

“Oh,” she glanced down at her hands folded in her lap, her lashes were long and full and I realized that though I would happily take her back to my place, I could use a friend more than a fuck buddy right now. “Yeah, but I don’t think they’re going to show.” She had a light accent that might have been Southern and her apparent worry made the twang thicken. I smiled and gestured for Kat to bring over another cocktail.

“Well, that’s their loss and my gain I guess!” I dropped her a wink as Kat set her drink down. “Tell me, do you like karaoke?”

* * *

Three more cocktails, two shots and a timeless rendition of Careless Whisper later, I’d told Liv and Kat (who had joined us at nine once her shift had ended) what had gone down with Aaron and Taylor.

Kat shook her head, “I never liked him. He’s too…” Liv and I leaned closer to Kat as she took a long sip of her mojito, “cookie-cutter. Like, you know when you see guys in ads that are supposed to be super clean cut and all-American?”

I nodded as I bit down on the lime and almost choked laughing at the face Olivia made after taking her tequila shot. “Yeah I get that. He’s the other sort of all-American though – Mr. Nice Guy. Except, he does coke in the evenings and thinks grinding to music is dancing.”

Liv looked horrified as Kate burst out laughing, “Is that… common?”

“What?” I raised an eyebrow. Liv seemed… innocent. I mean, not prudish or anything, just like she maybe wasn’t that experienced. Her mouth had hung open for a solid five minutes after I’d told her about my revenge sex that afternoon.

“The drugs,” Liv whispered. Except, we were all pretty drunk so she wasn’t really that quiet. Even Kat was keeping pace, the five tequila slammers had definitely helped her catch-up to our level.

“Liv, I’m going to ask you something and I don’t want you to be offended or anything because the answer doesn’t really matter that much.”

“Okay,” she said, biting down on her lower lip.

“Are you a Freshman?”

Liv gasped and Kat howled, though that might have been because a squeeze of lime juice shot in her eye. “I amnota Freshman.”

I raised my hands in supplication and fluffed my fringe off my face with my hand. God was it just me or was it boiling hot in here? “I said not to get offended! It’s just that this all seems very new to you.”

“That’s because it is,” she shrugged lightly. “I’m in my second year. I just transferred to Radclyffe from Saint Agatha’s.”

Kat and I blinked at her in shocked silence before I managed to make my tongue work again, “You transferred out of one of the most strict religious schools in the US to a college named after a lesbian?”

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