Page 6

The alcohol burns my throat as I force myself to swallow. I place the glass on the bar and my hands hold the edge briefly as I try to stop the spinning that happens from throwing my head back so fast. When I look up, the room still spins until a pair of the darkest eyes I’ve ever seen are the only thing in focus. The music around me drowns out and the hum of my heartbeat fills my ears. I wet my lips and immediately feel heat rush from my face to below my waist. I tell myself it's just the alcohol.

I should look away, but it’s like I’m frozen in place. I vaguely register that Taylor starts dancing next to me or against me, I’m not sure. I drop his gaze for a moment, as I try to focus on my friend who's now doing some variation of the Jersey Turnpike dance. But I can still feel his eyes on me, burning theside of my face. I take one quick glance back at him and it causes my breath to catch in my chest.

I quickly bite down on my bottom lip and I finally turn away. I’m too drunk to be eye fucking a stranger from across a nightclub.

Miles

The bathroom attendantoffers me a pump of soap and then goes back to straightening the condoms and Advil packets. Some guy who looks like he’s never seen the sun a day in his life comes up next to me at the sink, reaching for a mint before he’s washed his hands.So fucking foul.I take the towel the attendant offers me and drop a hundred-dollar bill in his tip jar.

As I make my way back to our private section, I find that Jonas seems to have met a new lady friend, which is on brand for him. Women flock to Jonas. I tell him it's because of his good looks, but he claims it's because my scowl scares all the women towards him. I’m no stranger to women, I just don't have the time or the desire to have a relationship with one. After seeing how it worked out for my parents, I can confidently say I don’t ever want that. My relationship with women is simple: sex only. One time, no repeats, no relationship before or after. It sounds harsh, but I always make my intentions clear before moving forward. And this has always worked out for me. So I don't plan on changing my ways.

I enter our section just as Jonas and a woman in a red dress peel their faces off one another. I slide past them and lift the nearly full bottle of Vodka out of the ice bin.

“Miles, this is uh?—”

“Ava,” the girl supplies.

I reach out to shake her hand, “Nice to meet you, Ava,” I lie. Because I really couldn't give two shits.

I finish making my drink and sink back into the dark corner of the couch, busying myself with my phone.

“My friends are over by the bar, I could grab them and bring them over.” Despite the darkness, I still notice the way her eyes are glazed over as she watches me. Her eyes trail down my body while her fingers run along the buttons of Jonas’s shirt. I don’t want to be a cockblock but I’m not interested tonight.

“Aly was it? I’m good.” I tip my glass to her before getting up and walking over to the glass wall that looks over the strip at the end of our section. I swirl the liquid around my cup, causing a mini tornado before throwing the whole thing back in one large gulp. Jonas is a big boy, he can handle this night on his own. I’m too old for this shit. What was supposed to be a chill night with a few rounds of poker last night turned into complete debauchery. I give it another two minutes zoning out at the city, pretending as if I’ve never seen anything more interesting than the twelve million lights it takes to light up the strip before I move to make my Irish exit.

My phone is sitting on the table but Jonas and Red Dress are back to making out so I slink by and snatch it up. When I stand to pocket it, my eyes connect with a little brunette across the room. She looks like a deer in headlights but I don’t turn away. And even though my eyes are locked on hers I don't miss the way her dark brown, almost black, hair flows wildly down her back. My hand twitches while holding my empty glasswith the desire to tangle my fingers in that head of hair, to wrap it around my wrist and…

“You good, bro?”

Jonas’s voice pulls me from my thoughts but I still can’t tear my eyes away from her. She's staring back at me, her mouth slightly parted. Her friend bumps into her in a dance, and even from halfway across the room I can see her deep inhale. She pulls the corner of her lip in between her teeth as if she's attempting to hide her smile. And somehow even in this crowded as fuck club, I feel a cool breeze wash over me as soon as she looks away.

“I’m headed to the bathroom,” I announce.

“You just came back from the bathroom?” Jonas holds his arms out confused.

“Yeah, I must have broken the seal,” I say, distracted.

“Or you're just old.”

I scratch my forehead with my middle finger and give him a smirk before heading out into the crowd.

The early 2000s hip-hop booming has turned into background noise as I make my way through the swarm of people. It’s not hard to keep my eyes on this girl. I’m more concerned with how difficult it is to keep my eyes off of her, actually. They’re still posted up at the bar and it feels as if I’m walking in slow motion, but the closer I get, the more I can't mistake how stunning she is. Her face is dewy, likely from being in a crowded club. She looks about a foot shorter than I am, but she doesn't look small or weak. Her black skirt hugs her hips and ends just past her ass, and immediately I notice her sculpted thighs. Everyone talks about the boob guys and ass guys, but no one talks about us leg guys. Something about her toned tanned legs in those high heels has my dick twitching against my zipper.

I close the last few feet of distance between us. With her back to me,her hips dip and sway to the music. The metal of the bar is cool under my forearm as I lean against it, signaling for the bartender. I should say something instead of standing here like a creep watching her dance, but when she tosses her head back shaking her hair, I’m hit with the most intoxicating smell. The bartender comes rushing over with two handfuls of shots for a group of women to my right.

“What can I get you?” he yells over the music.

“Whisky. Neat.”

To my left, the swaying has stopped. I take note of how her spine is now straight and no longer moving. When the bartender returns with my drink, he throws a napkin down and slams the drink on top of it. I take the drink and throw another hundred on top of the now-soaking-wet napkin.

I turn to face my mystery girl who is now watching where my hand clutches my drink. Her eyes follow as I bring the glass to my lips, and I use the opportunity to stare at her unabashed. I swallow the amber liquid and bite down the mistake I’ve made of mixing my spirits.

My lips part and I lean in towards her, while at the same time, she rests a gentle hand on my shoulder and presses up on her toes. “Why would you brave that crowd to come over here when you have your own private bar up there?” She pulls back, eyes twinkling.

“Because I couldn’t ask you what your name was from over there.” I mentally bitch slap myself. I couldn’t come up with anything better than that? She doesn’t seem to mind though, her head dips quickly but not before smiling and pulling that lip between her teeth again, and if I thought my dick was twitching before, he's full-on trying to head north now.

Angling her head towards me she says, “I’m Camila.”