Sid then looked down the bar at a couple in an intimate clinch, and she realized they shared the same barstool.Oh, my.The woman with her dark hair swept into a ponytail supported her lighter, blonder companion on her lap, and they laughed and kissed, oblivious to the world around them.
How easy did that look? Find a mate, get busy in a bar, and go home to a night of unbridled passion and orgasms. Sid had plenty of memories to savor on cold, lonely nights, romps with willing ladies in the years between getting her B.A. in Wyoming and Hancock, but she preferred the real thing. When she did get lucky, it happened after slow courtships. No wham bams for her.
She could use a good hardbamtonight.
Perhaps if she swallowed back her fears and came to the Den more often, somebody with a thing for tallish, petite girls might approach her. As it appeared now, though, everybody seemed paired off for the night.
Except…
The kissy couple slid off the stool in an awkward tango toward the dance floor, revealing a familiar yet stooped figure. Kit Cheever from the shop stabbed her thumbs on her phone screen and shook her head. Either she texted a date who stoodher up, or a green video game pig thwarted her attempt at a high score, she looked that irritated.
Oh, goody!At first sight of the ginger brown-haired cutie in the park, slender in yellow and black plaid pants and a white t-shirt with the Tish’s Riches, she had hoped to spot a potential playmate. Kit still rocked the pants but now had on a black Eisenhower jacket over a different white shirt.
In her head, however, her conscience nagged at her in Roman’s voice.You think that’s a good idea? Flirting with a new co-worker, especially since you haven’t started the job?
Sid considered the consequences of such actions, and pondered the different avenues one hello in a gay bar might spur.
She sidles up next to Kit and is politely declined.
She sidles up next to Kit and they hook up, but end on a sour note when the work/dating dynamic fails to mesh.
She sidles up next to Kit right about the time the person she’s texting shows up, and Sid becomes the third wheel on their date night. Or, if they’re adventurous, the third in their bed.
Nah.Kit didn’t give off that vibe. If she was seeing somebody, judging from the look on her face, Sid guessed it wouldn’t be for much longer.
She’d never mixed personal and professional aspects of her life, either, but as her conscience chattered in her brain another thought in her own voice spoke over it. Was it possible that keeping these worlds separate attributed to her single status? What if she and Kit hooked up, got on well at the shop, and enjoyed each other for a long time afterward?
One way to find out.
Sid grabbed her fresh drink and stood. Time to practice extroverting.
~*~
Dafuq are you?demanded Annalise’s text, which came with a not-so-smiley icon.
At the Den for the last twenty minutes, waiting on you.Where else would a self-respecting lesbian in Southeastern Virginia come on a weekend night for a drink?Hung up at work?
No, I’m at Rumors. Nickel beer night. Get ur ass over here!
“Rumors? I’m not going to the fucking beach.” Driving more than an hour to a bar defeated the whole point of drinking. Why was Annalise there when the Den existed? Yeah, Rumors was a popular LBGTQ establishment, but it catered mainly to older men. Kit had gone there once with Annalise to see a drag revue, and the regulars acted coolly towards them. They nursed watered-down whiskey sours that took forever for the waiter to bring, and none of the pool tables opened up for them to play.
Like hell was she leaving now, friend or no friend. Annalise’s behavior of late puzzled her, and before Kit began her next text to inquire about the change of venue she spied a familiar figure in her peripheral vision.Well hell.Question answered.
Cory sidled up to the bar next to her, twining her fingers into a large ball. “Saw your pictures on the ‘gram today,” Annalise’s ex called out to her over the music. “I’m sorry I missed you at that party in the park, whatever they call it.”
“Oh, it was crazy mobbed. We sold out with two hours to go, but couldn’t leave right afterward. Too many people asking questions and stuff.” Exhaustion had claimed Kit thanks to that event. She almost didn’t make it to the Den, and wanted to stay home and crash, but Annalise insisted on hanging out. Cory’s presence, however, well compensated for Annalise’s neglect.
“That’s cool.” Cory nodded and waved as the bartender set down a beer bottle. “I have to come by your store next week. Denise loves y’all’s chocolate popcorn.”
“Denise?” Kit’s heart sank as Cory nodded over toward a corner booth. A lovely femme, dressed to the nines in a red cocktail dress and matching heels, watched them with smoldering interest.
“Met her here last weekend,” Cory said. “We really hit it off.”
Of course they did. Of course a boi with stunning looks and a great job wouldn’t stay unattached long in a bar full of love-hungry ladies. Caught on the one Saturday night Kit elected to take in a movie.Damn it! Why hadn’t Annalise said anything about breaking up with Cory when it happened?
She bet this Denise didn’t have a problem with public displays of affection, either. Why not? She could see why the woman attracted Cory.
Kit feigned her enthusiasm for Cory’s new relationship and muttered a “Nice.” Why ask the question of her bestie, anyway? She and Annalise were tight, but never in their decade-long friendship did the two have a fling in common. Annalise enjoyed flaunting her many significant others, yet rarely mourned a breakup, let alone announced one. Her relationship status on her profiles never changed fromsingle. When she ended a courtship, she’d eventually show up somewhere with a new gal on her hip.
