“I’m just asking for one dance. It’s not gonna kill you,” the werewolf complained. He put a hand on the wall to prevent either of the girls from escaping.
My first reaction was to shove a fireball up this guy’s ass… except, I couldn’t do that anymore. I was defenseless, even more so than those girls, because I wasn’t able to run away or cast magic if I needed to.
Defenseless and alone in a bar. Shit, what was I getting myself into?
“Back off, asshole. She said no.” A young male Elf came between the girls and the shifter, shoving him back. The werewolf stumbled against the wall, and the girls took their chance to hurry out of the nightclub.
The shifter emitted a wolfish snarl. “It’s a club. If bitches don’t want to get laid, why are they here?”
“To have a good time, to dance, to hang out. Literally any other reason is a better option than sleeping with you. Now take your ass out of this bar, before I throw you out,” the Elf snapped.
The werewolf cussed him out, but left anyway. The Elf shook his head, before he lifted his gaze and his eyes landed on me. They roamed up and down my body, checking me out.
Perfect. I made the first move and rolled toward him. “Hey. I’m— new here. Never been here before.”
“You came to the right place. It’s the best club in town. Sorry you had to see all… that.” He scowled as he glanced at the door the shifter had left through.
“It’s no big deal. I just moved here and am looking to make some friends. Can I ask your name?”
“Taylin.” He smiled roguishly. “What about you?”
“Marie.” I leaned over to shake his hand, letting my hair fall across his arm. “I’m just here for a good time.”
“Single?” he asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“Yes.” I technically was, right, since I’d asked for a divorce?
I didn’t know. That felt like a lie.
“Can I buy you a drink?” Taylin asked. “I’d love to get to know you better.”
Don’t take drinks from strange men. The automatic reaction fired off in me like a signal, but I plastered on a smile and said, “Sure. Sounds great.”
Taylin got us a table by the bar, and we started chatting. He even bought me a mocktail instead of something with alcohol, which I thought was nice. He wasn’t trying to get me drunk, but genuinely have a conversation. Though I’d chug the whole bottle if it meant making this easier.
This was the guy. He’d defended those girls from that creep, and from the argument I’d overheard with the shifter, he was a good person. From the little I knew about Taylin, I was almost certain he was a safe choice. I could go home with him and not worry about getting hurt.
And… he looked like Charlie. Dammit. I just now realized it. I’d picked the one guy in this place who resembled my husband. For as much as my mind was screaming at me to just do this and get it over with, my heart was already turning its back on the plan.
I’d drag my heart into this if I had to, because I couldn’t let Charlie break it any more than he already had.
The drink wasn’t spiked. I felt fine. I was shocked that it wasn’t, but I told myself I was being paranoid. After all, there were tons of guys in the world that weren’t predators. I needed to stop being afraid of them all.
But I guess… how could I, when the one man I thought I could trust had taken everything?
Taylin was an extrovert who enjoyed talking, because he carried on the interaction while I nodded and gave short responses. The longer the conversation dragged on, the sicker I felt. I thought I was going to barf all over the table as Taylin rambled on about a bunch of shit I didn’t care about. Even as I tried to listen, his voice became background noise, because I was too busy trying to talk myself into this.
You just have to do this once, then Charlie will leave. And it won’t hurt anymore.
My eyes were on the clock. After about an hour of chatting, I stopped Taylin mid-sentence.
“That’s awesome. Really.” I let my hand fall on his arm, and squeezed it before lowering my eyelashes. “But do you think we could talk about this somewhere more… private?”
Taylin’s eyes dashed with excitement. He was a gentleman, but he was still a man, and he got the hint. “Definitely. My apartment’s down the block. We can, uh… chill.”
Code word for fuck each other’s brains out. “That sounds like just what I need. Let’s go.”
We left the bar. I rolled down the street beside Taylin while attempting to hold my twisting insides inside my guts, to prevent them from spewing out my mouth. As Taylin continued polite small talk, my mind wandered.
