“I’m not running; I need a glass of water. You’re ok, right? You don’t need anything?” I ask her. I’m starting to get dizzy again. I feel like all my energy has been zapped out of me.
“I’m fine, a little shaken up, but fine. I’m going to go to the bathroom and splash some water on my face. I’ll meet you at the bar. Don’t leave from that spot,” she commands me. I nod to her and walk over to the bar.
It’s crowded over here, people are standing all around, but I manage to squeeze myself in between two guys and get the attention of the bartender.
“I’ll have a water please,” I say. He nods and goes about fixing it for me. I look over to my left and notice the hot guy from earlier. He’s now standing right next to me looking down with interest. He’s so much taller than me. It’s like I could fit right under his chin if I hugged him. What? Where are these thoughts coming from?
I hope he doesn’t talk to me. Please don’t talk to me. I want to close my eyes and make a wish that he won’t talk to me. He would be so hard to resist. His build is even more impressive close-up. He looks more like a farmer than a quarterback now. He has stubble along his jaw and great big blue eyes. He’s every girl’s wet dream.
“Hello,” he says. Damn it! Why does the universe hate me?
“Uh... hi,” I squeak back, because really what else am I going to say? I have no game. Sean was my only boyfriend, and I met him at a homeless shelter while serving food. There was no pick up lines, just a conversation that led to coffee.
“Come here a lot?” he questions with a smirk. Like he knows how cheesy that was, but couldn’t resist saying it anyway. Against my better judgement, I decide to keep talking with him.
“No, actually I was dragged out tonight by my best friend. What about you? You're not from here, so what brings you to Pete’s?”
“I’m just passing through while heading down south to a conference for work. I’m staying at the Hellebore Inn, and the front desk said this was the only place that was open for food and drink at this hour.”
“Yeah, this small town doesn’t have much in the way of tourist attractions. Just mostly working-class families. Pete’s is the only bar in town,” I say, noticing the bartender is back with my water. I pick it up and take a sip, relishing the fresh taste as it runs down my throat. A moan escapes my lips before I can catch it. I must have been thirstier than I thought.
“Seems like you’re really into that water,” the handsome guy says, with a bit of a laugh in his deep husky voice. It’s a good laugh too, almost like pure happiness could come from that laugh.
“Guess so. I was doing a lot of dancing before and must have built up a thirst.”
“I know. I was watching,” he says with so much smolder in his eyes that I feel like my body could ignite. I suddenly feel boiling hot and flustered. As I go to grab my water again, a wave of nausea hits, and I have to crouch down to prevent myself from puking all over this guy’s shoes.
“Hey, are you ok?” he asks, while bending down to my level — a look of concern on his face. Being this close to him, and looking him in the eyes, is doing nothing for my strength. He’s beautiful, and it’s taking all of me not to lean over and kiss him.
“Yeah, I’m ok., Can you just hand me my water?” I ask, as I close my eyes for a second to get my bearings. It takes him a bit longer than expected to bring me the water. Maybe he didn’t know what glass was mine? But he finally comes back down and hands me the glass. I take it from him and begin to down the whole thing in a single chug. I wipe my mouth on the back of my hand and stand up. I still feel dizzy and now a little light headed. I look around for Noli, but I can’t find her anywhere. I attempt to take a step, and my legs almost give out from under me.
“Woah there. Maybe you had too much to drink?” the hot guy says, grabbing my elbow to steady me on my feet.
“No, I only had one, but for some reason, I feel a bit strange,” I explain. I won’t be telling this stranger what happened before. I don’t know if the time stop thing is making me this out of it, or if my Cosmo was that strong. Either way, it’s time for me to leave, but I still don’t see Noli. I wonder if she’s still in the bathroom. I need to check, but it’s going to be rough trying to get there. Turning to the blue-eyed cutie, I say, “Is it weird for me to ask you to walk me to the bathroom? I’m not feeling so good, and I want to see if my friend is in there so she can take me home.”
“Sure, just point me in the right direction,” he says.
I point over to the far end of the bar, and we begin to make our way over. Pete’s isn’t so big, but with the number of people in here tonight it takes a while to get there. By the time we reach the hallway, I feel like I’m going to blackout. Something isn’t right. My whole body feels numb, and my
