Finally, Amanda began to eat, taking small bites between larger sips of her daiquiri.
“Tell me about you,” I said, hoping that was safe conversation. “How long have you lived in Eagle River?”
“Not long, actually,” she said. “Within the last few months. I came from Denver.”
“What made you want to move?”
“A fresh start,” she said with a sigh. “Too many memories to cling to in the city. I needed—I needed a clean break. A fresh start.”
“I know how that is. A lot of us do.” I pushed my now-empty drink aside and sipped at some water, knowing that I’d have to sober up before we left. Amanda was half a drink past buzzed at this point, and her cheeks grew redder as the minutes passed, eyes glazing over, shimmering like crystals.
“Do you have family here?” I asked, and she shook her head.
“No family. Not many friends, either.”
“Don’t be silly,” I said, forcing the words from my throat. “You have friends. You’re pretty popular at the fire department.” It was a lie, of course, a blatant one, but I couldn’t just leave her hanging. Maybe with time Amanda would grow to be more likeable—but I had a feeling the strange side of her would never really go away.
Meh, we were all a bit strange sometimes.
By the time the meal was finished and I’d called for the check, Amanda was three and a half daquiris in, and she was giggling as we walked outside into the cool, damp air. She’d linked her arm with mine and I’d let her, and we stopped on the sidewalk to look up at the sky as misty fragments of raindrops fell on our skin.
“You can’t drive,” I told her. “Let me take you home.”
Amanda looked thrilled by this offer, and before I could take it back she gripped my hand and headed for my truck, dragging me a foot or so behind her. I opened the passenger’s door for her and she climbed in, snapping her seatbelt into place. She was still giggling, and at this point she was even muttering to herself, but I couldn’t decipher what she was saying.
“Where do you live?” I asked, and Amanda gave me the address to a complex of studio apartments on the west side of town.
“Can you get a ride back to your car in the morning?” I asked, and Amanda giggled, pulling her hair off her neck to fan her heated skin. She smelled good, like some sort of frilly perfume and expensive shampoo, and I hated that I noticed that.
“I can,” she said. “Thanks for driving me home.”
“It’s a pleasure,” I said, pulling into the cracked parking lot of Amanda’s complex. This area was sketchy—as sketchy as Eagle River could be, anyway—and she fumbled with her seatbelt as I turned the truck off and went around to open the door for her, assisting with the belt. Amanda’s drunk feet stumbled and she flailed a bit on her way out the door, so much so that I had to catch her in my arms and hold her there so she wouldn’t fall.
“You okay?” I asked, and she nodded, her face inches from mine, eyes holding mine in a tense embrace.
“Walk me to the door?” she asked, taking a choppy step forward. I walked with her, one hand out in case she decided to fall, the other holding my phone up to light the dark path to her front door. “This is it,” she said, fumbling into her purse for her keys. “Home sweet home.” She shoved the key into the door and unlocked it, shoving her body into the frame until it gave way and she almost went flying. I grabbed her before she could face-plant, pulling her up as the door shut behind us.
Amanda’s apartment was small and cramped and so much messier than I ever would have assumed, but I looked past all of this as I escorted her into the tiny little bedroom right off the living room.
“Are you good here?” I asked, checking the windows to see if they were locked.
“Sure, Korbin, I’m good here,” said Amanda with a giggle, and before I could even react she’d dropped the dress from around her slender body and stood there smiling at me. She was completely naked under the dress, and her nipples pointed out, desperate for me, and one hand reached down between her legs to stroke her pussy.
“I, um—” I backed towards the door, shocked, but before I could make my escape Amanda lunged at me, full-body naked, and planted her lips against mine, reaching her free hand down to cup my dick. “Whoa!” I shouted, pushing her off. “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” she asked, a pouty expression rising to her face. “I’m seducing you.”
“Amanda,” I said gently. “Cover up, please.”
Lips pursed in a tight line, Amanda grabbed the top blanket from her bed and wrapped it around her naked body, glaring at me. “Didn’t you like it? Didn’t you like what you saw?”
“Of course I liked it,” I said. There was no point in lying. I was still a man and she was still a beautiful woman. “I liked it,” I said again. “But that’s not where this relationship should have been headed, Amanda, and I’m sorry.”
“What do you mean?” she snapped, tears welling in her eyes. “Don’t you like me?”
“I like you as a friend,” I said gently, taking another step back towards the door. “But, Amanda, things are still so fresh and new since Peyton left. I—I need some time.”
“Fuck you, Korbin,” Amanda said, dropping back down on the bed behind her. “Get out.”
