Shit. I should have taken my break fifteen minutes ago. Now it was time for my bartender shift. Katie, who I was taking over for, waved me off and said, “Don’t worry about it. Go take your break!”
I blew her an exaggerated kiss, and waved at the new girl on the other side of the bar to let her know I was leaving. Then I hopped off my platform.
I pushed through the crowd of people trying to flag down the bartenders and escaped through the front door. My sweaty skin tightened under the caress of the cold air. I sighed in satisfaction.
Bouncer Benny asked if I wanted a smoke, and I just moaned in response. He understood. No words needed. I didn’t smoke often, not anymore. But I think today, I deserved a little break. Benny was lighting the end of my cigarette when the door swung open, and Cade stepped out.
My heart sped up in response.
I took a deep drag on the cigarette, and took my time exhaling. Maybe it was seeing him at a place like Trestle or seeing him in a situation that didn’t involve my parents or the connection I’d felt with him as I danced, but he didn’t look quite like the nice guy I’d met this morning.
And that realization was dangerous.
9
Cade
Max was . . . unearthly. Ethereal. Unattainable.
Her pale skin glowed under the low amber light. I didn’t know where to look as she danced. I wanted to memorize all of her. Her eyes were lined with dark kohl that made the blue of her eyes shine and pierce straight through me. I’d seen the branches of her tree tattoo and now the roots. Imagining the art that lay between was maddening. She bore other tattoos, too small for me to identify. From here they resembled runes or hieroglyphs, like she was a goddess. Exotic and forbidden.
Immortal.
That was what she looked like. She was the kind of sight that I would never, could never forget.
The few times her eyes met mine, my blood pumped furiously through my veins, I clenched my fists, and had the urge to do something crazy. I wanted to walk up to her platform and join her, or throw her over my shoulder and take her away where no one else could see her.
I’d always thought of myself as a fairly rational person, not one to be ruled by my desires and emotions. But this . . . nothing was logical about the way this girl made me feel. I’d gone crazy. All the stress of everything with Bliss and moving and this new university—I’d finally snapped.
That was the only way I could explain why I followed her outside when she went on break. I had no idea what I was going to say or do, but I couldn’t let her out of my sight.
She said, “Hey, Golden Boy,” on an exhale, smoke curling from between those ruby red lips.
“Hey, Max.”
She walked away from the bouncer, and leaned up against the brick of the building. My eyes snagged on her leg as she propped a heel up on the wall behind her. I forced myself to look away. She was sexy as hell, but I was sure she got enough guys ogling her here.
“Are you stalking me, Golden Boy?”
I stayed where I was, careful to keep distance between us, so that I didn’t do something stupid in my drunken state.
“Only a little.”
She laughed. That was good. I’d made her laugh.
“What are you really doing here? I’ve never seen you at Trestle before, and I’m here more than I’m home.”
I filed away that information for later.
“I’ve never been here. I came with a friend.”
“The Hispanic guy?”
I nodded. “His name is Milo.” I searched for something else to say, but my mind was moving too slowly. God, could I be any more boring? No wonder she called me Golden Boy.
This was a terrible idea. The silence between us stretched into awkward territory, and I was too drunk to hold a decent conversation. The longer I stayed, the harder it became to fight off the urge to touch her.
Time for a tactical retreat.
“I should probably go find him.” She frowned and stared at me as I took a step back. “I only came to say hi.” She looked at me for a second longer, and her eyes widened in shock. Then her lips turned downward, and I saw her disappointment seconds before she swept the emotion from her expression.
I looked behind me expecting to see a mugger or a UFO or a zombie. We were alone on the street except for the bouncer, who stayed silent and still outside the door.
“What?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
My curiosity was too strong to turn around again.
“No, tell me. What was that look for?”
She took a deep inhale, and lowered her heel to the ground.
“It’s nothing. I just realized something is all.”
“And what did you realize?”
Her eyes were still wide, and she sputtered slightly. “I, well, I just realized that you’re in theatre.”
I was drunk, but I could tell that when she’d said “theatre,” she meant something else. “Yeah, I told you I was an actor this morning.”
Her heel scraped at the concrete sidewalk.
“You could have told me the rest, too.”
The alcohol must have been preventing some of the synapses in my brain from firing because I had no idea what she was talking about.