“Yeah, come dance with us,” her friend whines, moving her hand down my arm.
“Can I please have my phone back?” I ask.
“Whatcha gonna give me for it,” the blonde teases, dangling it in front of my face.
I snatch it and put it in my back pocket before she can react.
“Oh, you seem so grumpy. Do we need to cheer you up?” the blonde flirts, running her hands over my thighs. She leans forward, stepping between my legs, and whispers, “Let’s dance…or we could find a dark corner.” Her lips brush against my ear, and she catches me off guard. I stand abruptly. When I got here, I had a plan, but I can’t get on board with my own idea. I frequent this bar and have taken plenty of women home with me. This one, and her friend, are obviously into me, but no matter how hard I try, I’m just not into them, and the longer I sit at the bar, the less I want to be here.
A flash of red appears in my periphery to my right, and my mind is immediately somewhere else, or rather with someone else entirely.
Wren Dawson.
The girl who’s been living in my dreams since April, the first time I saw her. I don’t know what it is about this woman, but everytime I see her, my brain short-circuits. You’d think at thirty I’d be able to form a coherent sentence around a pretty girl, and I usually can, but everytime she comes around, I sound like a total moron.
I turn my head, and a girl about her height is walking away from me towards the restrooms. Her long red hair is pulled up into a ponytail, and I could swear it’s Wren, but why would she be here? I’ve never seen her here before without our group of friends. I’m sure it’s just my eyes playing tricks on me. I try to push the thoughts of her away and focus back on the blonde, but I can’t.
“Please dance with us,” the blonde whines again.
Time to go.
“Hey, Tony,” I shout. “I’m gonna close out. One more round for the ladies on me.” He acknowledges me with a nod and then moves toward one of the registers.
“You can’t leave,” the blonde pouts.
“It’s been a long day. Enjoy your drinks.” Tony brings me my receipt, and I sign it. “Bye, girls.”
I begin to walk away. The bar is packed, and I have to push through the crowd. I look over my shoulder one more time, hoping that maybe it was Wren, and I’ll see her, but instead, I see the blonde is following me.
Great.
“Wait,” she yells the minute I make it to the front door. She grabs my arm, pulling me towards her.
“You seem like a—” I try, but before I can stop it, she’s up on her toes, and her lips are on mine.
Fuck me and not in a good way.
I stumble backwards, trying to pull away, but she tightens her arms around my neck and falls with me through the door.
“What the hell,” I say, pushing her away as we stumble onto the sidewalk.
“I just wanted to make sure you didn’t forget me,” she says, giggling and taking a step toward me.
I put my hand up to stop her. “Look, you seem like a great girl, but I’m not feeling it, and I want to go homealone.”
“You don’t mean that.”
Wren pops into my head again. “Actually, I’ve never meant anything more.”
“You have got to be kidding me,” she snaps, just as her friend walks out to meet us.
“What’s going on?” the friend asks.
“Nothing. Let’s go,” she says with a frustrated breath, grabbing her friend’s arm and stomping back into the bar.
I let out a small chuckle and then call for my Uber. It’s definitely time to go home.
WREN
