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Part 9
Before I can stop it, a jolt of pleasure rushes through my veins, and I actually almost smile. I can stop that though, and so I just scowl at him. “What the hell are you doing here?” I demand, more than just upset that some stupid part of my brain actually thinks that running into Alec is a good thing.
He ignores my rudeness and keeps on smiling at me. “Hello Liz,” he says in that low, melodious voice of his. I could smack him just for that. “Long time no see.”
“Not long enough,” I mutter under my breath, but he hears it anyway. Damn enhanced hearing.
“You wound me,” he replies dramatically while clutching his chest.
“You’re ego’s a bit farther south,” I inform him dryly and turn back to the bar. Where is that damn barkeeper? I just want to show him the picture, ask him if he knows Ava and then get the hell out of here.
Alec actually laughs. What the hell? I was trying to insult him. I glance over at him, wondering if he’s lost his mind, but he just keeps on chuckling.
“Good one,” he admits, and this time I’m really having a hard time keeping from smiling. It’s hard to find fault in a guy who can take a joke even if it’s at his own expense.
My scowl deepens. Liking Alec is not part of the plan, I remind myself.
“You know, you look a lot prettier when you smile. You should try that every once in a while,” he tells me softly, flirtatiously. “Not that you don’t look amazing tonight,” he adds looking me up and down. “You should dress up more often too.”
“Well of course,” I say overdramatically, smacking my forehead. “Considering that I’m female, looking pretty should of course be my number one priority. Thank you so much for showing me the errors of my ways,” I grind out, sarcasm oozing off every word I utter.
Alec just smiles at me. “Glad I could be of service.” His cocky manner is back, and I start to reconsider the possibility of blowing something up here. Zapping Alec would almost be worth the mess it would create.
But I know that I really shouldn’t, and so I just turn away and roll my eyes. “Men,” I mutter.
Alec ignores my very obvious dismissal and keeps right on talking. “So, what are you doing here?”
“None of your god damn business.” I don’t even bother looking at him.
He doesn’t say anything, but from the corner of my eyes I can see him shrugging. Does nothing faze this guy? How insulting do I have to become for him to back off?
“Hey Chad,” he shouts at the barkeeper. “Can I have another pitcher of beer? And I think the lady here wants to order.”
I just huff while being thoroughly annoyed that Alec helped me, even just a tiny little bit, and he grins at me, causing my scowl to deepen even more. If my mother were here she’d tell me to wipe the frown off my face or else it might get stuck.
I quickly push that thought away. I don’t want to think about my parents. It makes me feel guilty and homesick, which is a bad combination considering that I’m in a strange town hundreds of miles away from them.
The barkeeper comes over to us and hands Alec a new pitcher of beer. Alec smirks at me one last time. “See you around,” he says and then disappears into the crowd.
Relieved that he’s gone – or at least that’s what I’m trying to tell myself – I turn to the barkeeper and show him the picture of Tess and ask if he knows her. He studies the photo for a few moments before telling me that he’s seen her around a few times, but that she hasn’t been there in over a month or so. He can’t tell me where she works or where she lives either, doesn’t even know her name.
Disappointed I turn to go when the guy standing beside me stops me. “Sorry,” he says smiling shyly, making him look sort of cute. Too bad I don’t go for the shy type anymore. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. I think I know the girl you’re looking for.”
“Really?” I ask, not believing my luck. “This girl?” I pull out the picture of Tess and show it to him to make sure.
He studies it carefully for a minute before nodding his head. “Yes, that’s her alright. I wasn’t sure at first, she’s hard to recognize without the piercings and the hair dye.”
“Halloween,” I explain quickly. “So how do you know her?” Excitement chases away my weariness and a few other emotions I prefer to keep nameless.
“Well, she used to come here almost daily, hung out with a couple of friends. We played pool a few times, but that’s pretty much it.”
“Oh.” Disappointment seeps back in. So he can’t help me either.
“But I know where she lives,” he adds quickly, his voice sounding eager to help. I smile. “She’d always complain about how she lives in the worst neighborhood in the city, joking about how it just beat living in the sewers.”
Sewers? Yup, that sounds like Ava. “And where is the worst neighborhood in town?” I prompt.
“Oh, that’s sector 9,” he tells me, blushing slightly. Hmm. That’s where my motel was. Figures.
“Are you new in town?” he asks me after a second. “Cause if you are, maybe you could use someone to show you around. I’m Brian by the way.”
“Liz,” I say after studying him carefully for a moment. “Maybe I’ll get back to you on that.”
“Well, I’m here almost every night. Chad, he’s a friend of mine, so I come by quite often. Free drinks and all,” he explains smiling.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say. “Well, I should get going. See you around, Brian.” I give him one last smile before heading up the stairs towards the exit of the bar.
I’ve barely made it out the door when I hear Alec’s voice behind me.
“You’re not thinking of going home all alone at this time of night, are you?”
I stop, roll my eyes, but I don’t turn around. Not like I need to look to know that there’s a scowl on his face.
“Unless of course being mugged, rapped and murdered is your goal tonight.”
Now I do turn around. “What I do is none of your god damn business!” My temper’s flaring. I hate having to repeat myself. And I hate guys telling me what I can and cannot do.
“Look Liz, you don’t have to like me, but I’m not letting you walk home alone.” Uh-oh. Looks like someone’s getting angry. Ooh, now I’m scared.
“It’s crazy,” Alec goes on. “You’ll get mugged half a dozen times before you reach Joshua’s house if you’re lucky, and if you’re not you won’t reach his house at all.”
I glare at Alec. “I don’t need a babysitter,” I spit out. “I can take care of myself.”
“So you’ve told me,” he says, a bit more calmly now, almost wearily. “Only about a million times. And no one said anything different. I’m merely offering you a ride home. You look tired. So why don’t you just say ‘Thank you Alec, that’s awfully kind of you. I’d love for you to take me home.’ It’s not gonna kill you to accept someone else’s help.”
We stare off for a couple of minutes. “Fine,” I huff out.
Alec shrugs. “Close enough,” he mutters before leading me over to his bike and handing me my helmet. He gets on and sighing, I climb on behind him. This time I don’t even bother trying to keep my distance from him. It’s nice feeling his body against mine.
Too nice, actually.
But that’s not something I want to think about tonight.
And so I let my mind go blank and enjoy the ride, enjoy the feeling of the heat radiating off Alec’s body. The ride to Joshua’s is over much too quickly, and when I close the door behind me after barely even saying good night to Alec I can’t help but wonder what I’m going to do about my growing attraction to him.
Chapter: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43
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