Her hand drops from my shoulder and she takes a step back. “Oh, well...I’d better let you get back to your friend, then.”
Twisting my head toward the bar, my eyes land on Elliot talking to a woman, but he looks uncomfortable.
“Yeah, probably a good idea,” I tell her.
“Thank you again for your help…”
“Rhonan,” I finish for her, reaching out my hand to shake hers, and when her hand lands in mine once more, something about it feels unexpectedly comfortable. I try not to fixate on that too much.
“Rhonan,” she repeats. “I’m Vienna. Thank you for being my knight in shining armor tonight.”
“No knight, I assure you.” Nodding curtly, I add, “But happy to help.”
The corner of her mouth lifts. “Oh, I don’t know about that. Women still wish for that sort of fairytale, especially if all they’ve ever experienced is the evil prince.” Vienna leans in closer to me and presses her lips to my cheek, her scent overwhelming me as I breathe her in. She smells like a mixture of flowers and fruit that I can’t name, and for one split second, I want to fucking bathe in that smell.
“You must be one of the good ones, Rhonan,” she says, taking a step back and tipping her chin to me, walking away before I can say another word.
My feet feel like cement are weighing them down because I can’t move. In fact, I’m not even sure how long I stand there staring at her back until Elliot comes up to me and hands me my beer. “You all right?”
I blink myself out of my trance as an uneasiness settles in my gut. “Uh, yeah.”
He tips his beer bottle in the direction that Vienna just walked.
Vienna,I repeat to myself.
“What happened to that woman?”
“She tripped, apparently.” Lifting my beer to my lips, I take a long pull. “But everyone just stood around staring instead of helping her.”
He slaps me on the shoulder. “Always the man stepping in to save anyone in need.”
I know his comment isn’t meant to cause me inner turmoil, but something about his words makes that familiar dark cloud gather around me.
You don’t save everyone, though, Rhonan. That’s the problem.
I swallow past the lump in my throat and steer the conversation back to him. “Who was the womanyouwere talking to?”
“Oh, she just reached for my drink instead of hers.”
“Maybe it was a move. You weren’t interested?”
He shakes his head. “I thought so, but…nothing.” He gestures toward his crotch.
“Jesus,” I mutter. “How long until this contest begins?”
“About an hour. Why?”
“I’m just wondering how much longer I’ll have to listen to you talk about your junk.”
Elliot glares at me before heading toward the bull ring, trying to get us a good seat. Luckily, we’re able to snag a high-top table only a few rows back from the ropes, offering a prime view for my friend and his little experiment.
“Excuse me.” A soft voice pulls my attention as a short blonde taps my shoulder.
“Yeah?”
She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear as she brings her drink to her lips. “This might sound strange, but are you friends with Henley Clark?”
Elliot and I glance at each other before I nod. “I am.”
