Page 6 of Show Me How
She grits her teeth, struggling to get her next words out. “If you’re chasing something, I could . . . help. Get you on a real date.”
“Oh, Bryce, you’re sweet, but I’d rather poke my eyes out with a dirty needle. I’m doing just fine.”
“You’re not twenty anymore.”
My smile is tight, lips touching. “Don’t piss me off when I’ve had a good day, Bryce.”
“Fine. I’m going home.”
With her hands up, she turns away and heads to her station. With her bag over her shoulder, she walks past me on her way to the door.
“Tell my little devil that I miss her. She can come here any day,” I say.
I can hear the eye roll in her voice. “She’s not your little anything.”
“See you tomorrow.”
“Condoms, Shade. Don’t forget them tonight.”
“You’ve got my word.”
She leaves without another word, and I let out a breath. Slowly, the high from having a tattoo machine in my hand is settling, leaving me antsy. That’s why I’m going out again tonight. To help soothe the boredom that’s started to grow like a fungus in my brain. I can’t stay here day and night, so I keep myself busy during the day and find someone to help entertainme at night. Not having sex is a choice I didn’t consciously make but wound up doing automatically without a real reason.
I don’t need Bryce’s approval on my life choices. I’ve been single for damn near my entire life, and I plan on keeping it that way. Unlike her, I haven’t met anyone who’s made me consider changing that, and I’ve grown to accept that if there was, I’d never find her.
Not going to make it! Please let me make it up to you another time! xxxx
I stare downat the text for a second longer before locking my phone and slipping it into my hoodie pocket. The same beer I’ve been nursing since I got here tonight is growing warm, the dew evaporating from the bottle.
I’m never the first one here, so maybe I should have pieced it together myself that she was going to bail. Peakside isn’t busy outside of Saturday nights, so I knew it would be a safe place to grab a drink. It’s usually my number one place to take a girl out, but I won’t lie and say it isn’t a pain having to drive the half hour to Cherry Peak.
Oak Point is too small a town for a bar, so this is our only alternative for a night out. The town’s residents have been coming to the town over for as long as I can remember, and it almost feels like home at this point. To Bryce and her group of friends, Cherry Peak is home. I’m the lone wolf, having been born and raised in Oak Point.
Swiping a hand through my hair, I spread my knees and lean forward on the bar. I tap the bottom of the bottle against thewood surface and debate heading out already. It’s dead in here tonight.
Decided, I pull my wallet out and drop a twenty for the bartender. I’m nearly off the stool when the door flies open.
I debate blaming the wind for it when nobody comes inside. It wasn’t bad when I got here, but?—
Not the fucking wind.
She’s more like a tropical storm, all soft curves and bright colours, like she doesn’t belong anywhere near a place like this.
Strands of blonde hair slip free from whatever careful style they were in, her gauzy white dress is wrinkled, mud clinging to the bottom of it, and the high-top sneakers beneath it match. Her lips are slightly parted like she’s trying to catch her breath, and the energy coming off her is restless. She’s trouble, but the sweet kind you almost want to let wreck you.
Caught in the net she’s cast, I slowly lift two fingers and signal the bartender to send me another beer. I’ve got no fucking clue if she likes beer—not looking like that—but I’m up to the challenge of figuring out what she is into.
That’s why I keep my stare open as I focus on her and wait for those pretty eyes to find me. And once they do, I wait for her to come over, another kind of buzz replacing the one from earlier.
3
MILLIE
I thinkI’ve officially crashed out.
After more than eleven hours in the car after a ruined morning wedding, there’s stiffness in muscles that I never knew existed, and my ass feels flatter than a pancake. Driving in the rain has never been one of my favourite things, especially not today. But at least when I pulled onto the side of the road and stood in the rain as I sobbed, I couldn’t tell what were tears and what was rain. That made me a little less embarrassed.
Until now.
