I glanced to my left.
Blue-black curls gleamed like the ocean at midnight. He sat on a stool across the bar, posed casually, but unable to hide the tension in his shoulders as he caught my eye. He didn’t look away this time. Instead, he bit his bottom lip.
A hint of excitement traveled down my spine. My mouth turned up slightly as I peered at him through my lashes.
He gazed at me for the type of fleeting instant which felt like an eternity, all the people and noise between us fading into the background.
I took a step in his direction, and his lips flattened. He looked away quickly, shifting uncomfortably on the seat.
I huffed. What was this guy’s problem? I did not have time for men who went back and forth between eye-fucking me and looking like they swallowed a lemon.
Shaking my head in annoyance, I raised an arm, aggressively trying to flag down the bartender. Screw soda. I needed a shot.
As I took the shot and slammed ten bucks down on the counter, I wasn’t paying attention to anyone else at the bar. Which was how I turned around and found myself facing backward baseball cap dude.
“Hey,” he said, giving me anaw-shuckssmile.
Irritation flared. After getting mixed signals from blue-black hair guy—again—this was the last thing I wanted.
“Um, hey,” I replied, twisting my hip to snake through the tight crowd.
“I’m Paul.”
He moved in front of me as I tried to scoot around him. The audience was rowdy. I couldn’t be sure if he’d intentionally gotten in my way or if he’d been pushed from the side.
“Um, okay,” I said. I didn’t want to be too friendly or give him an opening, but being outright rude probably wasn’t a good idea either. Dude bro seemed harmless enough, but you never could tell.
I squared my shoulders and stood as tall as I could. “Hey, Phil, I’m going back over to hang out with my friend, okay? It’s girls’ night.” Hopefully, he wouldn’t follow my path too closely and spot Chase.
“It’s Paul. And I came over to talk to you. You were checking me out before," he said, unmistakably blocking my path now.
I exhaled heavily. “I wasn’t.”
“Pretty sure I know when a cute girl is looking at me.” He smiled again, sure he’d won me over with his amazingcompliment. “I get it if you’re with your friend, but can I get your number? Or maybe we could meet up later?”
Was this doofus for real? My hackles poked beneath my skin. Off-brand Ken doll must be extremely used to closing the deal if he moved this fast. Part of me itched to give him a piece of my mind for being so pushy, but I didn’t want to make a big dramatic scene. Not after the week I’d had. “Um…no thanks. Listen, I’m sorry you got the wrong idea, but I just want to get back to my friend.” I attempted to squeeze past him.
He sidestepped in front of me. “So you don’t want to even talk to me?” He seemed genuinely perplexed, completely unfamiliar with the concept ofno. “You won’t even tell me your name?”
I glanced over and tried to grab Bren’s attention. She didn’t notice, completely wrapped up in Chase. I didn’t think this guy would do anything to me in a room full of people, but his lack of chill was unnerving.
“Look, Paul, I’m going to need you to let me pass by. Otherwise, things are about to get very real, very fast. We’re about five seconds away from my knee becoming intimately acquainted with your nutsack.”
His incredulous frown deepened. “I feel like we got off on the wrong foot. Because I just want to talk. I like a feisty girl. I don’t mind having to work for it.”
Ugh. Seriously?“We are done here. Let me pass. Now.”
“Just give me a chance—”
“She’s not interested, man. What the fuck more do you need?” Suddenly, blue-black hair guy was next to me, giving the other man a glare so icy his backward baseball cap could have frozen.
“Who the fuck are you?” Paul demanded.
“I’m just someone who thinks it’s messed up that asshats like you give the rest of us a bad name. This woman obviously isn’t interested in your bullshit. So how about you run along and go practice your keg stands, or hit up some sorority party to find awoman who’s more willing to find out how disappointing you are in bed.”
I couldn’t help my small giggle. Paul looked between the two of us, finally throwing his hands up. “Fuck this.”
I watched him go, making sure he was well away before turning back to the man next to me. “Thank you for stepping in. But just so you know, I had that handled.”
