Page 61 of Bastard Bartender

Chapter Sixteen

I don’t turn around. In fact, I walk faster, wobbling on my stilettos as I approach my car. My keys are out, and I’m hitting the unlock button when Nic reaches me.

“Evette, I—”

“Don’t come near me.” I point my keys at him like they’re a deadly weapon.

“You’re mad at me? I should be pissed. You threw your drink on me!”

I hate how adorable he looks with his hair all soggy and falling onto his forehead. His face is still glistening with the moisture, and his shirt is unbuttoned an extra button, probably to dry off his undershirt a bit.

No. I can’t be charmed by his devastating looks. I need to be angered by the matter at hand.

“You tried to pawn me off on some other guy!” I fling my hands in the air and then point toward the bar.

“I was being your wingman and setting you up with an S.” His expression proves he has no clue why I was actually here tonight.

My hands fly to my eyes as I try to understand what the hell is happening. “Why the hell would I want an S guy when I came here tonight to see you?”

“Me? You came here tonight dressed like … that.” His eyes roam over my cleavage and short hemline as he runs his hands through his hair. “This is for me?”

“Yes, you idiot. Who else would it be for?”

“Why?”

“Because we kissed. A lot. I don’t know about you, but I don’t go around, having epic make-out sessions like that, and then go hook up with someone later that same day,” I state, exasperated.

Nic is just standing here, looking lost and bewildered.

“Forget it. Clearly, today meant more to me than it did to you.”

“Evette, wait. I just … I don’t do clingy.”

“Oh my God!” It’s all I can say because his abrupt honesty is just too much for me to bear right now. “You are airheaded and impossible!”

I grab the door handle, but he closes it.

“Don’t leave like this. Let’s talk it out first.”

“You want to talk? Well then, you’d better listen to me talk, Nicolás, because once I start, I won’t stop.”

“Just promise you won’t throw anything at my head.” He smiles, and it enrages me more.

“You think this is funny? My ego is bruised right now. You’ve been stringing me along for weeks, telling me you don’t do commitment, but then you kiss me today like all bets are off. And now, you’re flipping again, back to the whole friend-zone thing. Obviously, I misunderstood what I actually am to you, and it’s pissing me off that you can just stand there and pretend like you didn’t just fuck me over.”

I start to get in, but I just can’t stop talking, so I turn to him again and push my finger right into his chest.

“You are so aloof, you know that? We’re friends, but then you buy me drinks, talk smoothly, and take me on these epic adventures. You got me on the Skywalk, for crying out loud. And I hate heights. Like, legit scared to death, but I did it for you. Because you have this way about you. You’re so damn honest; it’s like you’re too bothered to lie, so you just tell the truth. And it’s refreshing. I’ve been dating my way through the damn alphabet, waiting for a man like you—someone who is adventurous and wild yet intelligent and fun. You have this perfect body and flawless face that is so damn good-looking that I want to punch it just to wipe the smirk off it. But I can’t because I adore that smirk and the words that come out of it. There’s this soulfulness underneath all that bravado that is so addictive, and it makes me want to sit at the bar and talk to you for hours. But I’m a fool, Nicolás. A foolish girl in a red dress in a parking lot, who thought she’d met the man of her dreams but he just tried to hook her up with a totally random guy.”

Feeling defeated, I throw my hands up in the air and then drop them, as if I have nothing left to give.

Nic’s hand is deep in his pocket while his other tugs at his lower lip. He’s resting back on his heels, rocking back and forth slightly. A wicked smirk lifts on his face.

“You think my face is flawless?”

I scrunch my nose. “That is the one compliment you heard?”

“Oh, I heard them all. I’m adventurous, wild, intelligent, and … I believe you said, I have the perfect body.”