All I had wanted was to unwind. To go to my favorite club, drink, and maybe find someone to take me home with them so I could forget all the bullshit I’d had to deal with during the day.
To make me forget abouthim. The man who had me call himDaddyand then disappeared from my life without a word.
As expected, I hadn’t been on the dance floor long when strong hands gripped me from behind as I swayed to the beat of the music. While I wasn’t the best dancer, and most of the time didn’t actually like to dance, I could sway and grind with the best of them. Not even caring about who was behind me, I closed my eyes and let the music and the feel of someone else being close to me wash over me.
The feel of their hands was all wrong, though. Even though they were big and obviously strong, just the way I liked them. But they didn’t hold me the way I wanted to be held.
LikeNatetouched me when we had been locked together. For once, I thought he was different.
Of course, it had to be fuckinghimwho thought he had to come to my rescue, not that I needed to be rescued. I was more than capable of taking down a drunk handsy asshole who thought he had a right to touch what wasn’t his.
And it made me so fuckingangry. I didn’t even know why. But it made me want to punch him in his perfect face.
To keep from doing something stupid, like assaulting him for no real fucking reason, I stormed off. Pushing past the other patrons, I made my way to the bar and put my hands on the smooth bar top, taking in a few steadying breaths.
When I glanced back, I wasn’t sure if I was happy or even angrier to see that he had followed me.
God, it was endearing yet agonizingly frustrating. He looked like a lost puppy trying to figure out why he was being called a bad dog. I rolled my eyes and turned back to the bartender, who had come around to see if I needed anything.
Boy, did I ever.
The worst part of the situation was I didn’t even know why I was pissed at him. Sure, he had left and didn’t leave me his number, but he hadn’t been obligated to do that. We hadn’t made any promises.
But so many things about that nightseemedlike a promise. A promise of more. Which was my own stupid fault because he never actually explicitly made any of those promises. It was all just shit I read too much into.
Like always.
“Two tequilas, please.”
He just made me feel… off-kilter. I was a bundle of nerves as I had opposing urges warring within me—one part of me telling me to fall to his feet and never let him go and another part telling me to run as far away as I could. The man was a walking red flag and there I was, a man who definitely should have known better, wanting to free-fall into the danger zone.
It was maddening and I wasn’t sure what the right movewas. Based on the fact he just helped me with the drunk gropey asshole, I didn’t think I had anything to be afraid of with him, but I couldn’t be sure. All I knew was that warning bells were going off, especially with the look he’d had in his eyes when he’d had the dude by the throat, but I was content to ignore that given the situation.
And that scared the hell out of me.
“Should I reopen my tab or is that all you need?” Nate’s amused voice was like honey soothing over my frayed nerves as he handed his card to the bartender after I downed both shots.
I’d needed the shots to calm myself, not just from Nate’s sudden appearance but also from the way the asshole had me shaken when he got all handsy. But I didn’t want to think about either of those things anymore.
Definitely didn’t want to admit to the second one.
Nate nudged me, and I remembered he’d asked me a question. Shit, he’d been serious about the tab? I didn’t want to take advantage of him, at least not in that way. But I thought we could both use water, even though I didn’t know how much Nate had to drink before he found me on the dance floor.
“Of course, anything you need,” he said, sounding so sincere. I scoffed, unsure if I could believe his words. They were easy to believe when he was there, but then he left so easily. And then I’d be left with nothing again.
Better not to get used to anything when nothing about him was permanent. He was just a hookup. And then he happened to be at the same club and stopped an asshole from going too far. That was all it was.
No need to read into the fact that he was at a gay club, considering I knew for a fact he was into men. But part of me had wanted him to be there because of me, as impossible as it was.
He let out a sigh as I drowned myself in the water.
“Talk to me, little bird.” Again, he looked at me like a kicked puppy and my heart flip-flopped in my chest.
I watched him carefully as I took another sip of my water. The confusion and desperation were plain to see. Something told me he wasn’t used to dealing with whatever emotions I was eliciting in him. I wasn’t sure if I liked that or not.
Either way, I was screwed because I definitely didn’t like the emotions he was eliciting in me.
Liar.
