“I’m okay,” I called back, feeling like the most horrible person ever.
“I had the waitress take the Steak Tartar back. She’s bringing you a grilled chicken dish instead.” He was so damn considerate. And I had developed an allergic reaction to his gorgeous flowers, gotten high off antihistamines, and told him all about my former f**k buddy’s package all before running to the bathroom to yak.
And on top of it all I looked like death warmed over.
My god, just shoot me now and put me out of my misery.
I rinsed my mouth again, trying to rid myself of the taste of puke and bile. I opened the door and found Theo waiting for me.
“I’m so sorry, Theo,” I said, bowing my head in embarrassment.
Theo put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. “I get the feeling that nothing with you is ever boring,” he stated.
“No, I guess not,” I agreed.
If he only knew.
18
The grilled chicken was much more palatable and once I had solid food in my stomach, the last of the antihistamine-induced fog disappeared and I once again had control over my mouth. And more specifically what came out of it.
“So, what I said about my ex,” I started to say as we were leaving the restaurant.
Theo raised his hands. “I really don’t need to hear any more about it, if it’s all the same to you,” he joked, even though I saw a hint of seriousness in his eyes.
“Fair enough,” I commented as we waited to cross the street to the car park. I felt horrible for how badly the night had turned out and I was at a loss at how to salvage it.
And then I heard music. Loud, raw, and pretty damn awesome.
Down the road was a small bar I had been to several times. Generation Rejects had played there before and it was a really cool place to hang out. It sounded like a band was playing now.
I nodded toward the bar. “You want to grab a drink and listen to some music?” I asked.
Theo looked a little uncertain. “Isn’t that a biker bar?” he asked and I wanted to laugh.
“No, Theo. It is not a biker bar. Come on. Let me buy you a drink to make up for being such a crap date,” I pleaded.
I could have asked him to my apartment and made him a drink there. Given the look of irrational terror on his face at the prospect of heading over to Benny’s, I should have nixed the whole idea.
But I felt uncomfortable with the idea of hanging out with him, alone, in my apartment. Expectations would be made and I wasn’t sure I could deliver. I needed to keep things as public as possible.
“I’ll take care of you,” I teased and finally Theo relaxed.
“Come on, buy me a beer,” he said, letting me pull him across the road and into the loud, smoke filled bar. I wasn’t sure how the place got away with allowing people to smoke in the building, but no one seemed bothered by the thick haze hanging in the air.
A band was playing hard rock on the stage and the place was filled with your less than savory types. I wasn’t sure what possessed me to want to come. Even with my rock show past, this was a bit more hardcore than I was usually comfortable with.
And I had just dragged my preppy date into a den of wasted toughs. Way to make great decisions, Vivian.
“Let’s get a drink,” I yelled over the din. Theo darted an anxious look around and nodded. At least he had taken off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. Though the pair of us still stood out like sore thumbs. I noticed the strange looks we received as we pushed through the crowd on our way to the bar.
“Yeah, this is not really my scene, Viv,” Theo remarked, leaning in close so I could hear him over the commotion.
I nodded, feeling foolish for suggesting it in the first place. “Let’s just have a drink and then bounce.”
I waited for the bartender to see us when I felt eyes burning a hole into my back.
I turned toward the far end of the bar and saw a pair of hooded, dark eyes regarding me.
Of all the bars in all of the world. . .
Cole had four empty shot glasses turned over in front of him. His eyes bored into mine and slowly he lifted the full shot glass in his hand and tossed back the contents.
Theo put his hand on the small of my back, breaking my staring contest with Cole.
“What do you want, Vivian?” he asked, dipping his mouth in close to my ear. I looked back at Cole and was startled by the furious expression he wore. His mouth was set into a firm line and his eyes sparked across the distance separating us.
I turned to Theo slightly, though I kept my eyes on the caged lion on the other end of the bar. I could feel his angry aggression from here.
“I’ll have a Lemon Drop,” I said.
A woman dressed head to toe in black leather sat down beside Cole and leaned in to speak to him. He inclined his head in her direction but his gaze never wavered. Her arm curled around his shoulders, her fingers playing with the longer strands of his hair.
She was speaking to him but he wasn’t responding. He was too busy hurling nasty eye daggers my way.
Why was he so pissed to see me?
What the hell had I ever done to him?
“It’s so loud in here,” Theo yelled. I tried to smile but I felt like it was more effort than I was suddenly capable of.
Theo tucked my hair behind my ear, his fingers trailing down the side of my neck. “Can we go back to your place for a while? I can barely hear myself think,” he asked, his eyes heated.
I sipped on my drink and my eyes, of their own volition, crawled back to Cole.
Only he wasn’t there anymore. And neither was the slut who had been talking to him.
My stomach knotted up and plummeted to the floor. I knew exactly where he had gone.
I finished my drink, feeling the alcohol burn my throat and gave Theo a blinding smile. “Sure. Let’s get out of here,” I said.
Theo waved down the bartender so we could pay our tab and I looked around the crowd, my head bobbing in time to the beat of the music.
Someone wrapped their hand my waist, fingers clutching the silky material of my dress. And then I was being yanked around.
“What the hell?” I retorted angrily, only to stare up into the furious eyes of none other than Cole f**king Brandt.
“Cole,” I breathed out. His arm was tight around my middle, my chest pressed against his, our faces dangerously close. I could smell the liquor on his breath. And from the flush of his cheeks and the wild glint in his eyes, I knew he was loaded.
“Who is that?” demanded, inclining his head towards Theo, who had his back to us.
My irritation sparked and I pulled out of Cole’s retraining grip.