Page 18 of Poisonous Kiss
“Babes?” she scoffs. “You just really can’t get my damn name right.”
“You’re right, River. Anywho, whatcha wanna do today?” I ask her. “We’ve been married for a whole twenty-four hours, and you ran so well last night. We had breakfast, and it’s like dunch, you know, like dinner and lunch combined.?” I rock back on my heels. I’m getting a little stir-crazy. I wonder if she can tell.
She sits up and stares.
“Do you have cabin fever already?” she asks.
“How’d you know?”
“Never mind. I don’t care.”
“There’s a little roadside bar down the road. Do you wanna go check it out?”
“YES!” She jumps up.
“Okay,” I say. “Go and get ready then.”
Ouch, that shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. I walk out of the room. She will go through the drawers and find all the clothes I put in there. They’re all her size, they just all happen to be items that I think she would look hot-as-fuck in.
She comes waltzing out of the room thirty minutes later with black leggings and a band tee on. Those leggings fit her perfectly. She looks good enough to eat, especially that peach-shaped butt of hers.
“You ready to go?” she announces.
“Hm? Uh yeah.” I stand up and clear my throat. I guess I was staring, and my dick has noticed how she was looking. I adjust myself not-so-discreetly because I want her to know what she does to me. She eyes it and looks back at me with her face as red as a tomato.
“Don’t get all shy now, River. You’ve already choked on it.” I grab her hand and pull her behind me. “C’mon, let’s go have a drink.”
We pull up atCat Tavernand walk into the bar. It smells like stale beer and cigarettes. There are not many people here, but you can immediately tell it’s a local bar. The people that are there are sitting in groups, and all eyes find us. I can feel the judgment rolling off them as Briar and I make our way to the bar and sit on the stool. Even the drunks singing karaoke stopped singing when we walked in.
“Okayyyy then,” Briar says.
I look around and survey what’s around me. I don’t immediately recognize anyone, so hopefully, I won’t have anyone recognize me. There’s a jukebox, a makeshift stage where there’s karaoke, a bunch of tables scattered with chairs, the bar, and a black-and-white checkered floor for dancing.
The bartender walks up and eyes Briar. He looks like he’s a few years older than her. I can tell he thinks he’s cool with his tank top on, showing off spaghetti arms.
“What can I getcha?” he asks Briar.
I find it a little off-putting that he doesn’t even acknowledge my existence. She orders a pineapple and well tequila.
“Anything for you, princess,” he replies.
PUH-LEASE. This man doesn’t even know her, and he thinks princess is going to get him something? He doesn’t know that my River likes to be called a dirty little whore more than a princess any day.
He meanders off to make her drink and I continue to watch the interaction. He turns around, grabs a top-shelf bottle, and puts his finger up to his mouth in a “shh” motion before pouring the drink. He brings the drink back and sets it on a napkin in front of her.
He finally turns to me and asks, “What do you want?”
What the fuck did I do to this guy?
I order a whiskey neat top-shelf, and he purposely grabs the Jim Beam that is sitting on the bottom.
I see red, but I try to keep my cool in front of my girl. She’s still settling into this predicament called marriage that we’ve found ourselves in. He sets the glass in front of me, and I grab it and down it in one swallow. I slam the glass on the counter and stare at the bartender as he walks away. He grabs a towel and busies himself wiping a part of the bar down. I turn to Briar to see her giggling around her straw.
“What’s so funny?” I ask.
“Oh nothing,” she responds. “You just get so pissy for no reason.”
“No reason? That guy is a dick.”
