“What was that about? Is she another notch in the old belt?' I giggled; the wine already starting to loosen me up.
Walker started to peel the label off his bottle, biting his lip. 'Not all of us find true love freshman year, darling. I know I've been around a little too much in this town to take you anywhere. Sorry,' He sighed, glanced over at the blonde hothead, and then slammed his beer back, drinking it all.
The little blonde popped over and opened another beer, angrily snarling, 'Should I just keep them coming for you and your girl?'
'Yeah, it's for the best. Start a tab, will ya, Cindy?'
She nodded, going over to her computer to type in our order. I felt bad for the computer screen; she was jabbing at it, probably pretending it was Walker’s, or my, eyeballs.
'Why didn’t you tell her we aren’t together?' Walker had never turned down a repeat customer, even if they were a bad lay. If I’d learned anything about Walker while he was Randy's roommate it was that he was a complete horn-dog, and I was lucky to be taken by his best friend.
'Maybe I don’t want her to think we're not. She was a terrible fuck and started asking to go out on dates. I don’t date. I sleep with ’em, but I don’t care about ’em.' He grabbed my hand. 'Want to play with her a little?'
Looking down at our entwined fingers, I looked up into Walker’s gorgeously playful eyes. “I don’t know Walker. She’s harmless, isn’t she?”
A devilish grin spread across his drunken face, “Awe, come on, it ain’t gonna hurt anyone. It’s all in good fun.”
With a deep breath, I figured it might be fun to play along and get a little closer to Walker, even if it was make believe. 'Yeah, for sure, why the hell not? She was a bitch in the first place.' I shrugged, teasingly giggling and smiling at Walker, starting our little game off. He leaned over and kissed my cheek for a little longer than usual. My face flushed against his warmth, and I took his hand.
My eyes bore into Cindy’s as I curled my fingers through Walker’s a little more tightly. She stormed off into the bathroom and Walker chuckled. “That’ll teach her. She’s only mad because she knows you’re prettier than she is.”
I smirked, slightly shaking my head. “Walker, you’re just saying that. You don’t have to flatter me just because we’re roommates now.” My bottle was empty, so I diverted from the strange look on Walker’s face to try and find another bartender. It was almost lustful, with a hint of shame and sadness as he glanced down at the bar, rubbing his stumbled jaw with his free hand. It pained me how sad his eyes were all the time. I gestured to the other bartender for two more beers, and they arrived quickly. “Apparently, you come here a lot,” I joked, but Walker just kept his blank stare.
It wasn’t until I went to reach for my beer that I realized we were still holding hands. “Sorry.” I bit my lip, slowly taking my hand away. “I wouldn’t want to cock block you for too long.” I let out a forced sigh when I saw the frustration in Walker’s face.
“I have to stop thinking every once in a while,” he snapped, coldly. “All sex is for me is a distraction. Besides, you do enough thinking for the both of us.”
It was clear that, somehow, I hit a nerve, but I couldn’t figure out how. Walker and I always joked and carried on. He gestured to Cindy to come back over. “Two shots of Jack straight up for me and this fine piece, please dear.” He threw her an evil smirk and a wink, and the shots were slammed in front of us.
Without hesitation, we did five rounds of Jack and drank four more beers each, letting it wash away Walker’s early frustration and my shyness, holding hands almost the entire time. I enjoyed playfully flirting with Walker, the light caresses, the lingering kisses on the cheek, the way his lips felt brushing softly over my ear, and how velvety his southern accent sounded as he told me how beautiful I looked. I tried to push those thoughts to the back of my mind, but it was too wonderful to not enjoy.
Finally, the numbness started to take over, and when my favorite song to line dance to came blaring through the noise of the packed bar, I was ecstatic. I yanked Walker from his stool and made him run to the dance floor with me. We laughed and danced like old times. I danced so hard I was sweating when the song was over, and it bled into a slow song that started to play.
Walker bowed and held out his hand. “May I have this dance?” I grinned and pulled him into me. I could feel his perfect physique through his shirt as I rested my head on his chest. His cologne and the smell of the bar mixed well together, and I let myself fall into the happiness of the movement, reclining into him.
Right before the song was over, with a slurred tongue, I leaned into Walker’s face, almost touching his nose with my own. A wave of emotion came over me as I saw the darkening lust steaming in Walker’s eyes.
I blurted out without a second thought. “How long have you had feelings for me? Or am I just being drunk and over analyzing?”
I don’t remember his answer or the look on his face when I said it. At that moment, I fell into a black out. Good thing too, because I didn’t think I was ready to hear if my assumption was true or not.
11
The next morning, waking up face down on my pillow with a blinding headache was not too pleasant. Even my boots were still on from the night before, tangled in my sheets. I slowly lifted myself into a seated position, to see Walker sleeping in the recliner across my room, almost upright in what looked like a back- breaking position. I threw my pillow right at his face, nailing him harder than intended.
“What the hell?” Walker jumped up from the chair into a fighting stance in a split second.
“What happened last night?” I couldn’t even keep my eyes open; my brain felt like it was drilling into the back of them and I was still fighting with my sheets to release my boots, thrashing, flailing, and kicking.
I heard a low chuckle coming from Walker before he answered. The pause and mocking infuriated me.
“Classic College Margret! Blacking out right when things get interesting!”
He sat and pulled his black shirt from the night before back over his chiseled abs and awesome tattoos, which I had never taken full notice of until right then. Through barely opened eyes, they were still spectacular. I flushed from the tops of my shoulders all the way to my forehead. All of a sudden, it was boiling hot in my room.
“Seriously, Walker! I’m not fucking around! Did I try to make out with you last night?” The night was foggy, but I faintly remembered asking him about his feelings. I could only imagine my next, horrible move. The thought of my possible actions sent pains shooting through my stomach and chest. Finally getting my feet free, I shot up, digging in my dresser for different clothes that didn’t smell like the terrible concoction of bar, booze and shame.
Walker’s voice turned almost stern, too cold for what I was used to from him. “Yeah, you did. I let you kiss me. I even kissed back. We were shit faced. Right after, you ran to the bathroom and puked. I guessed I repulsed you or Jack in some way. Needless to say, that’s where the adventure stopped. We took a cab home and I fell asleep here to make sure you were okay.”
Pointing at Walker to turn around and face the wall half way through his account of the moments my mind had erased, I changed into my comfortable clothes, while the situation sunk in. I fell to the floor, sitting Indian style in the middle of my room, squeezing my eyes shut.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered with my head in my hands, making my words muffled. “I didn’t mean to …” I let the sentence trail off, not too sure how to finish it.
Thankfully, Walker came to my rescue while I fought for words. “Don’t sweat it. No harm done. Besides if we were to ever hook up, I ain’t gonna let it be in a shit hole like that.”
I couldn’t believe what just came out of his mouth. How could he say
“Don’t say things you don’t mean.” My words oozed with anger, while my whole body shook. “You’re my best
