Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
I was nearly ready to slam the beer and tell Cam to just take me home when I saw a booth near the back of the crowded bar. There were two ladies there, maybe a little closer to my age than most of the clientele. The band was loud, and it was hard to hear anything, but their conversation was animated.
On the left was a blonde girl, her long golden hair in a braid. She looked sweet and approachable, which was always a good sign. But she wasn’t the one I was instantly attracted to. It was her friend who sat to the right, with short black hair and big green eyes, her hands waving wildly as she spoke. She was sipping on a cocktail that looked pink and girly and absolutely delicious.
I was mesmerized by her as she pantomimed her way through some story, clearly trying to give her friend visual aids since the band was so loud and they were closer to the stage. My eyes didn’t move off her for a long while, and eventually it caught the attention of Kent, who elbowed me in the ribs. I nearly spilled the beer that had been sitting halfway to my lips, and I glared over at him.
“The hell was that for?” I asked.
“You looked like you were frozen,” he said. “Figured I’d give you a poke. Are you staring at that girl over there? The blonde?”
I didn’t answer him immediately.
“It’s got to be the blonde,” Cam said, having joined us. “He always goes for blondes.”
“It’s not the blonde,” I muttered.
“Oh, wow,” Kent said. “She’s cute. Also a good decade younger than you, but cute.”
“She doesn’t look twenty. She’s at least old enough to get in here.”
Kent cocked his head to one side and made a face.
“Did that stop us from getting into bars when we were twenty?” he asked.
“I didn’t go to bars when I was twenty,” I said diplomatically. “I didn’t start even drinking until I was twenty-two.”
“He’s right,” Cam said. “I would have beat his ass if he had snuck into bars anyway.”
“You’d try,” I said.
“I got ten bucks on Cam, right now,” Kent said.
“I see your ten,” Jax boomed. “I raise twenty. Kid is strong. Like bull.”
He was intentionally being big now, and I loved it. Jax could drink us all under the table and then some, but there was something special about his personality when he had enough in him to tranquilize a horse. His ability to discern whether he was speaking Russian or English began to disappear, for one, but also he liked to play up his foreignness for laughs. Even if he was the butt of the joke, he genuinely seemed to enjoy other people having fun.
“Pay up, boys,” I said. “I’ll go ask her myself.”
I stood up, wavering a bit as one tends to do when they have had more than they think they have and try to stand after sitting for a long time. I began to make my way across the bar to them, but before I could maneuver through the crowd, they got up and disappeared. I didn’t see them anywhere close by and assumed they left. Cursing to myself, I turned and headed back to the table of surprised faces.
“Turn you down that fast?” Cam laughed.
“That’s got to be a record,” Leo said.
“No, they left before I could get there. I guess her age will remain a mystery,” I said.
“Ahh, oh well,” Jax said, pushing a beer to me. “Pust’ budet tak.”
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
“So be it. Drink,” he said, motioning to the glass. Needing no other encouragement, I began pounding the beer. As I did, Cam picked up his glass that was very clearly filled with soda and took a sip from the straw.
“Jerk,” I said, muttering at him.
I left the bar that night without company, and I tried to not let it bother me. As I made my way to the door behind Cam, I was doing my best to not let it get to me when I saw a flash of a pixie cut and a long pale neck. My gut tightened, but I kept moving, content to just go back home and sleep it off.
I dozed a little in the car but kept awake enough that I didn’t make myself sick, and Cam dropped me off. Going inside, I didn’t even bother to change, flopping down on the bed face-first and falling into a deep, if disappointed, sleep. The only thing I managed to do was set an alarm.
CHAPTER 5
CAMILLA
“You look fantastic. Come on. Let’s go,” Fiona said.
“Are you sure? I’m not positive about this outfit,” I said.
“That’s because you haven’t gone out just to have fun in longer than you can remember. You forgot how to get dressed up and feel good about yourself. You look absolutely amazing.”