Wicked Things by Yolanda Olson
Bates
“Are you still here, man?”Milo asked as he snapped his fingers in front of my face.
“What?”
I was here but I wasn’t.
I was on the other side of the bar to where she was, so I began talking to her, getting to know things about her, and I felt grateful that I had decided to come out after all instead of staying home.
“Jesus, Bates. Relax or she’s gonna see your hard-on from here,” Jace teased with a laugh.
My face turned red with embarrassment, but not because of what he said.
It was because I didn’t realize that I had been so blatantly staring at the beautiful girl just out of reach, and I could only hope that she hadn’t realized it, too.
“Go talk to her,” Tao encouraged as he raised his beer bottle to his lips. “The worst that can happen is she’ll tell you to fuck off.”
“Oh yeah? And what’s the best that could happen?” I asked nervously as my eyes wandered back toward her. She looks so goddamn alone.
“She’ll tell you to fuck her,” he replied slyly.
I rolled my eyes and laughed despite the comment.
I didn’t want to admit that it had already crossed my mind to take her home and fuck her in ways she never thought would be possible, but there was something special about the lonely girl at the end of the bar.
I just had a feeling that she was worth more than that.
I wiped my sweaty palms on the sides of my jeans as I stood up and drank down the rest of my beer.
Setting the bottle down, I took a deep breath and decided that even if the worst happened, at the very least I’d know her name and share her company for as long as she would have me.
The closer I got, the more nervous I became.
I watched as she let out a heavy sigh and reached for her glass of beer. Raising her eyes, she glanced at the men near her, before pursing her lips and setting it back down again.
And just when I was convinced that I was doing the wrong thing, that she probably wanted to be left alone, she raised her eyes again and looked at me.
