pace my whirring thoughts and try to relax, try to place myself in this moment where the outside world doesn’t exist, where yesterday is irrelevant and tomorrow is unwritten.
The song changes again—which marks four minutes of Talon not making a move on me. I glance over at him and he shoots a half-smirk that sets my nerve endings ablaze. With as subtle an effort as I can muster, I bite my lower lip, thinking maybe a hint might move things along … but four minutes pass and a new song plays.
Talon clears his throat, stretching his arms behind his head and getting re-situated.
“I was thinking,” he begins to say, “do you—”
He doesn’t get a chance to finish.
Icy cold liquid spills down the side of my head, dripping down my shoulder, and careening down the front of my white sweater. In the ambient lighting, I can’t tell if it’s purple, red, or blue, but it’s definitely not water.
“Oh my God!” A woman shrieks behind me. “I’m so sorry!”
Talon is quick to rise and even quicker to my side. “Jesus, Irie. You okay?”
“Yeah,” I say, still in shock. He shoots the woman a look, his lips ready as if he’s about to say something, and then our server appears with a handful of cloth napkins.
“These heels,” the woman says, pointing at her feet. “Still breaking them in. Clumsy me.”
I turn to take a look at her for myself, only to find the coyest of smiles on her mouth.
She did this on purpose.
“Bullshit, Alicia,” Talon says, confirming my suspicions. “The fuck is wrong with you?”
The Alicia chick scoffs before redirecting her attention to me. “I said it was an accident.”
Talon snatches one of the napkins from the server, dabbing it against the sticky sweet mess that has become my ruined curls.
“It’s okay,” I say, taking it from him. “I’ve got it.”
“I’d be happy to get some new drinks going for you all,” the server says, but Talon doesn’t hear it. The music is pumping and he’s going off on the girl who spilled the drink.
“I’m going to the ladies’ room,” I say, but no one hears me. People stare as I make my way to the back of the lounge, but I do my best to ignore them. Once inside the rest room, I take a look at my reflection and the splash of cosmo-pink liquor across my white top. I run my fingers through my tangled hair, which is already beginning to reek of dried, sugary alcohol, and try to comb it into place but with little success, so I grab a hair tie from my bag and wrap it into a low, messy bun.
It’s not perfect, but it just might salvage the night—and I want it to.
I’ve been enjoying myself and I’m not quite ready to go home yet.
I return to our reserved sofa a few minutes later.
Talon’s already signing the check.
“They’re not kicking us out, are they?” I ask.
He glances up, placing the pen down. “Nah. Figured we could use a change of scenery after that … incident.”
“So you knew her?” I ask, turning to point to a girl who is clearly long gone.
His nose twitches. “Unfortunately.”
On that note, we leave Ultra. I don’t ask any more questions about Alicia and he doesn’t say another word, and it’s for the best. Bullies are only powerful when you give them power over you.
She doesn’t get to ruin this night.
“Mind if we walk around a bit?” he asks once we’re outside.
“Of course not.”
A gush of tepid wind blows my damp hair over my shoulder as we stroll the downtown sidewalks of Pacific Valley, but I brush it away. We don’t get more than a couple of blocks before Talon slips his hand in mine and pulls me against him.
“You must be freezing in that,” he says glancing at my damp sweater before nodding toward a retail store ahead. “Why don’t we get you something clean?”
Before I have a chance to respond, he takes my hand and leads me through the double doors of an upscale women’s clothing boutique—one I wouldn’t have dreamt of setting foot in before.
“It’s fine,” I say. I’d rather be damp and cold than slap down a line like, “I can’t afford anything in here,” because I know what he’ll do and I don’t need him to do that. Plus it’s late. The sign on the door indicates that they close in fifteen minutes. I don’t want to be that customer.
“Don’t be stubborn. Just grab something you like. My