AllFreeNovel
Share Us
SIXTEEN
Carter
––––––––
My eyes widen whenI read her text. Is she asking me out?
Fuck. I would love to go flirt and have drinks with her. Is she seriously there alone? She doesn’t seem like the type to do that. What if she is and some guys are hitting on her?
I scrub my hand down my face. “Dammit.”
I should just leave her be. Let her flirt and get her drink on. Go home with someone. She’s a grown-ass woman, she should be able to do whatever she wants.
The thought sickens my stomach. I don’t want her even looking at another guy, let alone flirting or going home with someone. Over my dead fucking body. I don’t want anyone touching her. If I can’t have her, nobody else can either.
I look down at my gray sweatpants and tee. I’d just come from the gym and was settling down to order in when her text came through.
“Fuck it,” I say, heading into my bathroom for a quick shower.
***
Thankfully, SilverPark is only a ten-minute drive so I arrive quickly. My eyes scan the establishment and I spot Taryn with two other ladies. One is the girl she’d been with at Anthony’s at the bar. I don’t recognize the other but she’s pretty.
“Table for one?” a woman greets me.
I shake my head. “Nah. I’ll sit at the bar.”
“Be my guest,” she replies with a smile and gestures toward the bar as if I can’t find it for myself.
Taryn doesn’t see me. Her back is to the door and the bar is off to the left side so I make my way over with no issues.
The place is pretty crowded but I luck out and find a seat at the very end of the long wooden bar. Multiple alcohol bottles are lined up very neatly in front of a mirrored wall.
“What can I get you, guy?” a young blond man asks.
“Scotch, neat. Thanks.”
He eyes my Panerai watch then asks, “Top shelf?”
What do you think?
I give him a curt nod and then turn my gaze back to Taryn and her friends.
Why am I in such a bad mood lately?
This place isn’t exactly a pickup spot, but it’s still a bar and there is still alcohol flowing. And it’s frequented by men because of the large beer selection.
As if on cue, three young men dressed nicely but look to be cocky little shits approach their table and strike up a conversation. The bartender delivers my scotch and I sip it slowly as I watch the interaction. The tallest one puts his hand on the back of Taryn’s chair and uses his beer bottle to indicate her drink. I assume he’s asking her what she’s drinking.
She smiles up at him and one of the other guys grabs three chairs from an empty table. The guy talking to Taryn sits on his backward, straddling it with his arms flopped over the top.
I continue to sip as I watch. I’m both watching the Nuggets game on the television mounted by their table, and then at Taryn and her friends.
My blood boils when I look over to see the guy has his hand in her hair and she’s smiling at him. Then he runs his hand down her neck and rests it on her shoulder.
Do not fucking touch her...
He keeps his hand there as they talk. Their proximity is way too close and I’m going to break that guy’s hand if he doesn’t move it away from her.
