***
The Vibe is way less crowded than the last time I was at it on a Friday night. We had to get wristbands that night just to enter the place and there was a huge line that filed around the building. Tonight, we walk straight in without even getting carded.
On our way in, Nova points at a Help Wanted sign in the window. “Look, Tristan, you could apply here and work with Avery.”
My brow arches. “At a bar?”
Her enthusiasm plunges. “Yeah, sorry I wasn’t thinking.”
“No, you’re playing matchmaker.” I hold the door open for Nova to walk through. “I’ll find a job, okay? But it needs to be one I’m fit for.” But what am I even fit for? I have no clue, other than dealing drugs.
One look around at the room and my mood crashes. It reminds me of the bars at home where the only people who hang out there are the older people of the town who look like they’ve spent decades partying too much. Country music plays from a jukebox and a group of younger people are playing pool in the corner. If I was at home, I’d probably be doing this exact thing, except at the end of the night I’d go back to the party house of the town and get high to escape the depressing reality of my life.
“Look, there she is.” Nova points at the bar across the room where Avery is chatting with a girl that is wearing too much makeup and has overly bleached hair.
I put my hand on Nova’s arm and push it down to her side. “It’s rude to point at people.” I’m only half-joking.
“And it’s rude to stare,” Quinton remarks, distinctly talking about me since I haven’t been able to take my eyes off Avery since Nova pointed her out.
I glare at Quinton. “Don’t you start on me too. I swear to God, I’ll beat your ass.”
He rolls his eyes. “No, you won’t.”
He’s right, but still, the two of them trying to play cupid is bugging me.
“Maybe we should go somewhere else,” I propose. “The amount of alcohol in here is higher than the people.”
“We can go,” Nova quickly says then pushes me forward. “But after you say hi.”
“I can’t just say hi. It’s not in my nature, especially around hot women.” Especially when it comes to Avery. I can’t seem to control myself around her.
“Oh, now you have to go over.” Nova shoves me again, causing a scowl on my part as I trip and bash my shin on a nearby chair. “We’ve been spotted.”
I turn around and find Avery staring at us from across the room. She doesn’t seem happy that we’re here, nor pissed off. It’s more like she’s worried, yet our appearance is piquing her curiosity.
I huff a breath of aggravation meant for Nova before winding my way around the tables and toward Avery. I try not to do my swagger walk, but it comes too naturally and I can feel it in the way that I move. It only gets worse when I catch Avery’s eyes giving me a quick once over. She’s checking me out and I’m not going to fucking lie, I love that she is.
“Hey,” I greet her when I arrive at the counter lined with high barstools.
“Hey. What are you doing here?” She screws the top back on a bottle of bourbon that I desperately want to down to alleviate my jitteriness. I don’t know how Avery works at a bar when she used to be an alcoholic. I about lose my mind just seeing a tweaker.
“We were just hanging out and thought we’d stop by.” I cross my arms on the countertop. “Maybe get a drink.”
“None of you drink though.” She ducks to put the bottle of alcohol below the counter and I lean over to check out her ass and the elegant flower tattoo on the back of her thigh.
“Yeah, but…” I trail off, trying to figure out what to say to her. But it only gets more difficult to come up with something when she stands back up and stares at me with those gorgeous hazel eyes of hers.
“But what?” she finally asks with the smallest hint of amusement. She’s still wearing the same purple tank top and jeans she had on at the work site. Her hair is down and slightly damp and it looks like she’s scrubbed her makeup off. She’s fucking beautiful—that’s all there is to it. Way, way more attractive than the women I’m used to hooking up with.
“But nothing.” I plant my ass down on a barstool. “So how late do you work tonight?”
“Why? You gonna ask me out on a date when I get off?” She laughs like she just told a funny joke. “Because need I remind you that you still have”—she looks up at the dimly lit ceiling as she mentally calculates—“ninety six more brownie points to earn for that prize.”
“Oh? So a date with you is a prize, huh?” I crack a joke and a small smile, but don’t find it as comical as she does. I’m pretty sure I’ve never asked a woman out on a date before except with Avery and the two times I’ve asked her, she’s brushed it off. Yeah, I get that she has the no guy rule, but her amusement over the concept of us going out still stings.
Rejection.
I should just back off. She’s not some crack-whore looking for a junkie to hook up and score with so it makes her out of my league. So what am I even doing here? Clearly something, but I can’t figure out what exactly.
Her laughter hushes as she notes my humorless expression. Then her lips part in shock. “Tristan, you can’t be serious. We can’t… date.” She seems frightened of the word. “I thought the whole brownie point thing for a date was a joke.”
Her words burn for a thousand different reasons, but I play it cool. “Why would I ever joke about something so awesome?”
“Because...” She squirms uneasily then busies herself by wiping down the counter with a dishrag. “Look, Tristan, trust me, even if I broke my rule—which I won’t—and agreed to go out with you, you don’t want to agree to go out with me.”
“Why not?”
“Because… I can give you a million reasons.”
“And I can give you a million reasons why someone would want to date you,” I say, unable to stop my lips from moving. “Beautiful, funny girl with sexy tattoos and the saddest smile I’ve ever seen, like the weight of the world is bearing down on her shoulders.”
She smiles but out of irritation “Oh, you’re good. But the real question is, do you come up with new lines or just recycle them?”
“I’m not feeding you a line,” I tell her because I’m really not. Yeah, I’m a flirt but I’m never genuine like I am now. “I swear.”