“Seriously, be safe.”
“I will, promise.”
“I love you.” She blew a kiss before getting in her car.
“Love you, too.” I blew one back, then locked the door and cheerfully headed upstairs to change.
So far, the day had gone by smoothly. No hallucinations. No Dennis. Nothing even remotely weird since he’d disappeared the evening before. Which was good. Especially since I’d spent the night somehow talking Ari out of calling the police once he’d left. I finished changing and headed out, grabbing my phone and keys along the way.
“Tuffy!” A surge of excitement hit as I spotted my baby. The flawless purple paint glimmered in the moonlight as I ran up to her. She was specially painted, a present from my aunt and uncle for miraculously graduating high school. No one had expected it. Not even me. “We’re going to a bar, Tuffy.” I unlocked the doors and slid into a black seat.
I followed Ari’s directions and spotted the place. It was just as close as she’d said, surrounded by motorcycles and burly bikers, along with several women scattered around. I slowed to a stop in the first empty stall and cut the engine. A few heads turned, watching as I emerged from the car.
“Hey girly.” Some guy walked up and I shot him a friendly smile.
“Hey manly.” I hit the alarm before hooking the keys to my short skirt.
“Do you come here a lot?” the guy asked. His arms were covered in tattoos. He was attractive, despite being older than my usual preference.
“Nope. I just moved here.” I brushed past him to enter the bar. Surprisingly, no one was carding. I paused in the doorway andscanned the inside to see what I was working with.
Not too bad. The booths were mostly occupied, pool tables were full, and televisions were showing muted sports with music playing throughout the bar. Plenty of attractive people, both men and women. I walked to the bar and hopped on an empty stool. The bartender appeared to be my age, maybe a year or two older.
“Hi,” I said, taking in his nicely toned body. He was cute. I fought the urge to reach out and touch his black hair, which was nicely styled but still seemed soft.
“What can I get you?”
“I don’t care. I’ll drink anything.” I twirled a lock of hair,contemplating whether I should flirt with this one. I seemed to be his only customer at the moment, despite how crowded the bar itself was. No one else was waiting for drinks.
“Anything at all?”
“Anything at all. Surprise me.” I watched him fix something, curious to see what he would choose. Turns out, the drink was one of my favorites. He placed the sizable shot glass in front of me.“Thanks, hun. I’m Emy,” I said, deciding to give this one my real name.
“Sean.” He leaned closer and placed both arms on the counter, his black eyes on me. I had never seen eyes so dark.“I bet you can’t handle that one,” he said, smiling.
I couldn’t help but smile back. He was adorable. I swept my hair over a shoulder before picking up the Four Horsemen and downing it in one go.“I’m pretty sure I can handle anything.” I placed the empty shot glass on the counter.
“Impressive.” He took the glass back. “I wasn’t expecting that. Do you want a tab, or close it?”
“I’ll open a tab.” I placed my card in his waiting hand. “Pick whatever you want for the next one, too. This is fun.”
He laughed and rang in the first drink before returning, presumably to make something stronger. “I believe you now. I’ll make you my favorite.” He mixed two of the sameconcoction, then kept one and slid the other my way. “Cheers.”
“Cheers!” My almond nails closed around the glass.
We clanged glasses before I brought the drink to my lips, grinning against it while he did the same. He seemed like a fun friend to have. Maybe I wouldn’t flirt with him, after all. I was almost done when a familiar laugh sounded from beside me. I glanced over and nearly choked.
“Hey.” Dennis nodded at me before asking Sean,“Who’s your new friend?”
“Seriously?” I looked at him in exasperation.“Is this your new hobby? Stalking me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
If I didn’t know better, I would think he was genuinely confused.
“Oh, sothisis the one you got.” Sean was openly reassessing me.
“He didn’tgetme. He’s been following me around like a goddamn creep.” I took one last swig to finish my drink. If I was about to be murdered, I wanted to at least get drunk before it happened.
