Page 75 of Opposites (Never) Attract
It was sort of my brand.
But, it meant I was going to need to make my way intothe inner loop. At almost six-four and two-forty, I could move most humans out of my way, so it was just the process of slowly making my way there.
At some point, I looked up and got Bliss’s attention behind the bar. She gave me a chin nod to let me know my usual order had been received. In a few minutes, I’d cleared out one side of the group of folks on Sunshine’s right and Bliss was putting a pint of her best lager in my hand.
“It’s just that you were so nerdy, do you remember that?” Mike asked Sun.
“I do,” she said, dryly.
“Like, not just a smart nerd, but a weird nerd, too. You didn’t talk to hardly anyone unless the teacher called on you. Which they all did because you were always the fastest to raise your hand.”
“Yes, but that was because I was the youngest by two or three years in any classroom I was in. It was a little intimidating.”
Frankly, I was surprised she was bothering to explain this to anyone. No one here in Last Hope was owed an apology for why Sunshine was, how she was. In fact, the opposite was true.
“You were intimidated?!” Mike shouted in her face. “Holy fuck. That’s so crazy. Like, you were the most intimidating girl in this whole town. We used to take bets on when…”
I finally caught Mike’s attention over Sunshine’s shoulder. She’d been facing Mike, so she hadn’t realized I was behind her.
“Bets on what?” she asked.
I gave a soft shake of my head and he quickly realized what I was instructing him to do. Shut the fuck up.
“Nothing,” Mike said, and took a heavy gulp of his beeras I continued to express my displeasure with the nature of his conversation. “Stupid high school shit. Anyway, you’re back now and that’s so cool. Are you married?”
“She’s not,” I said flatly, over Sunshine’s shoulder.
She swung around on her barstool, that blond ponytail smacking my chest. Lighting me. Lighting me up the way her eyes were lighting up at the sight of me.
Fuck, I thought. But, I also thought, let’s get the fuck out of here and light each other up some more. “Tag. You’re here!” she cried.
“Of course, I’m here,” I said casually, like I hadn’t practically resurrected myself from the dead just to see her on this barstool looking so pretty. “Bliss puts out the word for a welcome home, and I’m here to welcome you home.”
Her right eyebrow rose, and every time she did that trick, my dick twitched a bit. “Welcome me home? Or drag me back home?”
I flashed her a smile. “Is there a difference? Bliss!” I shouted, loud enough to get her attention. “You going to play some music? I’m in the mood to dance with someone.”
Bliss leaned over the bar, in her sweaty tank top, her red curls piled up in a loose bun on top of her head. It was already sweltering in this place and I was about to make it hotter. “Tag Durham, you see how crowded this bar is! You think you can make enough room for a dance floor?”
“You put on some decent music, I’ll make a dance floor!”
“Who are you going to dance with?” Sunshine asked me, tugging on my shirt.
“You, darlin.”
Immediately, she shook her head. “I don’t dance.”
“Baby, I’m not talking about some fancy line dancing. Just a little two-step.”
“I don’t two-step.”
I frowned and shook my head. “That’s not possible. Every Last Hope Gulch elementary school graduate knows how to two-step.”
“Special math lessons,” she said, her thumb lifting up to her mouth. I took her hand before she could bite down on that nail, and pulled her off her stool.
“Well, looks like we need to fix that.”
I tugged her toward the back of the bar, closer to where the speakers were. Once the music started, some Shaboozey to get the place going, people naturally started breaking off into pairs and making space to move.
