Page 5 of Spring Break Fling

Diego leaned in close, raising his voice over the music. “Blonde at two o’clock. Total knockout.”

I followed his gaze to a group of women near the dance floor. Sure enough, there was a blonde in a red dress that left nothing to the imagination. She laughed at something her friend said, throwing her head back like she didn’t have a care in the world. Diego’s type, no question.

“Go for it,” I said, clapping him on the back. “I’ll hold down the fort.”

Diego grinned, his teeth gleaming white in the strobe lights. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”

He made his way through the packed people. A predator in his own right. I watched for a moment, amused by the way he homed in on the girl. He liked the model type. Legs to their ears and blonde hair. Everything in between didn’t matter to him. He was a leg man. I turned back to scan the scene myself.

There were certainly a lot of candidates, but I would need to narrow it down. For now, I needed a drink.

I flagged down the bartender, a guy named Marco who’d been serving me for years.

“Back again, Nikko?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged. “You know me. Can’t stay away.”

“It’s packed in here tonight,” he said.

“And you’ve done your due diligence, right?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes. “Everyone in here is twenty-one at least. We don’t fuck around with that.”

“I’m trusting you,” I joked. “Can’t be risking picking up a piece of jailbait.”

“I’m going to start charging you an extra finder’s fee,” he said. “I feel like you use my bar as a meat market.”

“I do.”

Marco chuckled. “Same drink?”

“Yeah and keep it coming.”

As he poured, I let my eyes wander. The club was packed tonight, but nothing really stood out. Same crowd, same scene. I was starting to think I’d made a mistake coming out. Yeah, there were a lot of tourists, but none that were really getting my attention. I didn’t want a drunk one. I didn’t want a loud one. I would know her when I saw her.

“Thanks,” I said and took my usual whiskey sour.

I sipped the drink, the initial sip always so sharp it almost made me wince. I savored the familiar burn as it warmed me from the inside out.

And then someone elbowed me.

My first reaction was to shove the guy. But it was no drunk frat boy that bumped me.

It was a woman.

She was short, curvy in all the right ways, and currently glaring at Marco like he’d personally insulted her. She smacked her hand on the bar, the sound barely audible over the music. “Hey! Can we get some service over here?”

I watched her with amusement.

“I’ve been up and down this damn bar and you keep ignoring me!” she shouted but I doubted Marco could appreciate her anger. And to be fair, she wasn’t the only one vying for his attention to get a drink.

Marco ignored her, which was fair. She was tiny, and I probably blocked his view of her.

“Relax,” I said, leaning down so she could hear me. “He’ll get to you.”

She turned to me, her eyes blazing. “I’ve been standing here for fifteen minutes while he makes your drink and everyone else’s. No offense, but maybe you could move your giant self somewhere else? You take up half the bar.”

I laughed, genuinely amused. “No offense taken. But maybe I’ll buy your drink instead. He actually likes me. And I don’t yell at him.”