"Sure."
"Trace Montgomery -- I'd stay clear of him."
The inked angel -- stay clear of him? I doubted the man would even recognize me if he saw me again but I asked for clarification anyway. "I don't understand."
"He has a way with women. I see him night after night and they just flock to him. Thing is -- he doesn't do relationships; he's a love-them-and-leave-them kind of guy. Any night of the week he'll be here with someone different. It's just who he is."
I expected as much, what with the flock of hens all poking around him but I'd be lying if I said it didn't disappoint me. It didn't matter since I never expected to see him again after that night anyway.
"Thanks for the advice, Luke."
He studied me for a minute and seemed to like what he saw when he smiled and stood up.
"Can I get you anything else?"
"Another glass of water would be nice."
"You got it."
An hour later I was ready to leave. Having not seen Lena since we first arrived, I tried texting her but I got no answer. I said my goodbyes to Luke and left my spot to search for Lena and Todd in the crowd but the place was packed, which made my search pointless. I eventually made my way to the back near the restrooms and tried texting her again. While I stood there waiting for her reply, I noticed that I wasn't alone. It was a fairly dark corner and I had no desire to stick around to see what the two were doing.
I started to move away just as one shadow's head moved into the light and I saw that it was Trace. His back was to the dance floor and pressed between him and the wall was a woman. She was moving, pushing her hips back and forth, and it was only then that I noticed the hand of his inked arm was lost between their bodies. I couldn't pull my eyes from them because it was the most erotic thing I'd ever seen but sanity eventually returned and I started away from them. I didn't get far because, when I took one last glance at Trace, I found a pair of steely-blue eyes looking right at me. My feet just stopped as I stared back. He didn't stop his ministrations and based on the sounds that his friend was making, she was getting close but his eyes never left mine. I couldn't help but imagine that he was bringing me to climax and the thought had my body clenching hard with desire. It was the tingling of my body, the warming of my blood, and the sharp pang of want that pulled me from my lust-induced haze. With the return of reality came shame as I turned and fled at the exact moment Trace's friend found her release.
In the morning I woke and just lay there thinking about the previous night. I really didn't get the club scene and I was obviously in the minority considering how crowded Sapphire was. I thought about the drunk and how, if I had said yes to his charming invitation, he'd have learned a valuable lesson this morning regarding the negative correlation between drinking and perspective. And then, of course, there was the inked angel. Being pawed by a drunk idiot had been worth it to get an opportunity to meet that man. I thought that I'd probably never see him again but, damn, he really was something else.
I climbed from bed and made my way down the hall to the kitchen. Lena was sitting at the table having breakfast.
"Hi, Lena. Morning."
She looked over at me. "Morning."
I reached into the cabinet for my granola bars, my standard breakfast, when Lena offered, "I ate the last one."
"Oh, okay. Did you have fun last night?"
Lena leaned back in her chair as a smile curved her lips. "I did." And then her focus zeroed in on me.
"What did you think of Todd?"
I really hadn't had an opinion on Todd considering as soon as the introductions were made I didn't see him again for the rest of the night. In fact, I ended up coming home alone. True, I was running, well walking quickly, for the door after "the incident" but still I came with Lena. She could have at least told me that she was leaving. It was rude of her not to.
"He's very handsome and he seems quite taken with you but what happened to you last night?"
"Todd wanted to leave."
I was on my way to the refrigerator for my coffee beans when she said that. It wasn't just what she said but how she said it. Todd wanted to leave and the fact that she came with me meant nothing?
"You could have told me you were leaving."
When her eyes found mine she actually looked a bit annoyed before she said, "Oh, right. Sorry. I honestly forgot you were with us. You can't blame me, Em, since you act like a wallflower whenever we go out."
I just stood there looking at her as she blamed me for why she and her boyfriend left me. I couldn't lie, that annoyed me, but she was excited about her date so I let it pass. When she stood and started down the hall to her room, I said nothing and turned to make my coffee.