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ious as to why I converged on her in the first place. She may not show any fear right now, but she’s running from something. And the tension in her neck is enough for me to know she’s terrified of me outing her and returning her to whatever she’s trying to evade.
She doesn’t know I would never stop her from escaping. It’s a feeling I understand too well. I would never stop someone from feeling free, if only for a moment.
“I needed something to eat. There isn’t anything but bars on this road for miles.”
I frown. Food? That’s her excuse?
She downs her drink, and before the last drop crosses her lips, Blake brings another bottle to replace the empty beer still in her hands.
I smirk. “It seems you need alcohol a lot more than you need food.”
She shrugs. “Alcohol helps too.”
“This bar doesn’t serve any food. You are out of luck.”
She nods. “I know.” She still doesn’t look at me as she speaks. It’s like she’s talking to a ghost. Like I don’t exist to her.
“I could turn you in for underage drinking. My family is close to the cops in this town. I could have you arrested. A permanent mark on your record. But maybe that would help you. Get you somewhere safe and away from whoever you are running from.”
My words finally get her attention. Her bright eyes, looking more green now than blue, finally fall on my dark orbs. Her pink lips purse, and I think she’s going to yell at me or plead for me to do anything but call the cops. I expect her to beg or to dash out the door again running in fear.
“You won’t turn me in, and even if you do, I don’t fear the police.”
My finger traces the rim of my drink instead of tracing the outline of her pink lips like I want.
“I’m not a nice man. My conscience will have no problem turning you in. I’ll sleep just fine knowing I put you in jail for a night.”
She licks her plump pink lips, and my patience teeters on the edge of a cliff. Why the hell do I want to taste her lips? She’s just a girl. Just like all the rest of the girls I went to high school with.
I groan silently. She’s not like other girls. I don’t know much about her, but I know she is nothing like other girls.
Her bright eyes narrow into slits about to tear out my throat, and I think I finally unnerved her.
“You’re not a man. You’re just a boy. Just like I’m a girl, not a woman. You’re not twenty-one any more than I am.”
She inches closer until her face is a breath away from mine. Her lips so close I could easily take them into my mouth before she could react and stop me.
She nibbles on her bottom lip as if she knows that’s exactly what I want to do.
“You may control the police, but right now, I control you. You won’t dare call the police on me.”
I exhale, my eyes squinting as I study this fascinating girl in front of me. I’ve never met someone who spoke so many truths and so many lies in one sentence. I lurk forward, and she stills, exhaling harsh breaths but refusing to back down.
I lick my own lip, and I watch as her bottom one trembles. Our gazes lock in a fierce battle. Neither of us will back down. I could take what I wanted without a fight from her because she refuses to show weakness. I would guess she’s always this strong.
Her life is as much a struggle as mine. We would make quite a pair. But I’m afraid our lives aren’t meant to do anything but intersect for a brief moment. She’s here to give me a tiny sliver of entertainment. She’s a distraction from my own hauntings.
Blake places a plate of burger and fries in front of the girl.
My eyes widen for less than a second, but it’s long enough for her to take it as a win. She smiles as she leans back in her chair before turning to her plate of food.
“I guess you don’t know everything about this bar, boy,” she says before shoveling a fry into her mouth.
I can’t help but grin at her. The way she says boy, it doesn’t feel like an insult, even though that’s how she meant it. It feels freeing to seem like a boy in her eyes instead of a man who has too many responsibilities. I’m not the only one she has under her spell. This bar doesn’t serve food, but it didn’t stop Blake from ordering food from the nearest diner for her.
“I’m Enzo. I’m rarely proven wrong, but I’m happy to be proven wrong by…” I pause waiting for her to tell me her name.
Her eyes cut to me. “I don’t give anything away for free.”
