Page 10 of Love at First Bite
Tonight, a DJ was playing dance songs from the nineties. The brewery slowly started to fill up. Everyone dressed up in different costumes; none missed having a mask in place. I wasn’t sure why, but I started to relax.
“You guys were right!” I said over the music. “This is fun.”
“We need another drink!” Abby said just as our server brought our cauldron of queso and black corn tortilla chips.
“What would you guys like?” our waitress asked.
“How about four witches’ brews?” I suggested, and everyone easily agreed.
“I love that! Very on theme, Miss Nuñez.” Rosie winked, and I laughed.
We dug into our chips and queso, enjoying the vibe of the night. Conversation flowed easily as we laughed and shared about our work week. We even took pictures. By the time we were halfway done with our second witches’ brew, I felt relaxed.
“I have an idea!” Ember announced. Abby and Rosie looked at me with concern in their light eyes. Like they were both warning me,watch out and brace; this could be trouble!I giggled instead of feeling alarmed. “What if we go do something crazy tonight?” she laid out, and I leaned against the table.
“Like what? Go home with a pirate?” I wagged my brows, and Ember snorted.
“Shut up!” She blushed but shook her head. “I’m serious. What if we do something completely crazy? Weird, even?”
“Weird and crazy, how?” Abby tested the waters, and I looked around the brewery realizing just how packed it was.
Distracted, my eyes wandered towards the bathrooms and stopped on the booth in the corner. Recognition and something else flickered. Something I wasn’t sure what it was, but I couldn’t look away. Right at the booth nearest to the bathrooms, facing my direction, was a man dressed like a vampire. I wasn’t sure if it was the sweet melon-flavored liquor that flowed through my veins or my overactive imagination, but there was something familiar about him even though I knew in my bones I’d never seen him in my life. That’s when I realized who he reminded me of—the man I hadn’t fully seen but couldn’t stop thinking about while shopping with the girls.
Dressed in a similar crisp white dress shirt, his sleeves rolled up his forearms that even from across the bar I could tell were corded with muscles, he wore a black vampire cape over his broad shoulders, his dark freshly cut hair and tanned skin making it easier for him to hide in the shadows of the bar.
But it was the way his eyes scanned the room that caught my attention.
I couldn’t see him all that well, not with the black mask that covered his eyes and rested just above his Roman-like nose and touched his scruffy jaw and cheeks that made me feel warm, or warmer.
When our eyes connected across the room, something came over me. This need to stand up and rush over right into his arms. For what could have been a split second or five minutes, neither of us looked away. We stared at one another across the bar through a sea of people. The way his gaze made me feel was new too. I felt warm. Too hot. My skin suddenly pulled tight overmy body as I shifted and slightly squirmed in my seat, my thighs pressed together for relief.
“Tabby?” Ember snapped me out of the staring contest I had somehow fallen into with the masked vampire stranger. “Hey, you okay?”
“Yeah.” My voice cracked.
“You sure?” Rosie asked, her head tilted to the side. I felt Abby stare, too. “You look… flushed.” I pressed my hands to my cheeks.
“Am I? It’s a little warm, but I’m okay, really.” I smiled and sipped my drink. The cool, sweet vibrant green drink was exactly what I needed.
“So, what do you think?” Ember pressed, her attention on me. I realized I hadn’t heard a word of what she’d said.
“About?”
“Crazy, weird?” Abby giggled, and Rosie pressed her lips together. “Ember said what if we walk up to a tall handsome stranger and give them our best pick-up line.”
“We have pick-up lines?” I laughed nervously. Everything inside of me wanted to look back towards that booth. To see if he was still looking in my direction or if I had imagined him to life. Fictional was my type after all.
“No, but we can google some!” Rosie said too perkily.
“I don’t know about this, you guys,” Abby started to say, and my eyes widened.
Abby wasn’t shy in the least. “We know most of these people,” she reminded us, and I bounced on my feet, the electric energy from looking at the vampire still riding through me.
“I’m in,” I blurted, unable to believe I’d said that. I had no idea what the hell came over me.
But the more I thought about, thought about how Rosie said our twenties were flying past us, the more it made sense. Before we’d know it, we would be in our thirties, then forties and fifties.If not now, when? I hopped off the chair and bounced on the heels of my feet. The girls gawked at me, but I didn’t care. Excitement was flowing through me.
“Are you serious?” Abby asked, wide eyed. I giggled before blurting out,
