Chapter 9
9
“ I ’m having so much fun with you,” I say after taking a bite of the cheesy fries, unable to hold back the smile glued to my face. She’s forward, and I like that. I can’t believe she kissed me. “Do you want another drink or …”
Or? What am I even asking? It’s not even 1:00 p.m. Am I seriously suggesting that she come back with me already? I can feel the heat rise to my face, regretting the words as soon as they’re out of my mouth.
“A Guinness please.” She smiles, saving me from my own awkwardness. Her eyes flick toward the tattoo pile. “When you come back, you’re getting another one.”
I nod and head toward the bar, feeling a weird mixture of relief and nervousness. Standing there, waiting for Aaron to notice me, I can’t shake the feeling that I’m being watched. I glance around and spot Nicholas making his way over. He’s older than the girls and Aaron, closer to forty.
“I’m Patrick.” I extend my hand, and he shakes it, but there’s something off in his expression—like he’s sizing me up.
“How do you know Rachel?”
“We met … yesterday.”
“You live in the city?” he asks, but it’s less of a question and more of a statement. He already knows, and I guess information between the friends travels fast.
“Yeah.”
Nicholas’s face shifts slightly, like he’s already made up his mind about me. It’s subtle, but I catch the flicker of judgment. Maybe he thinks we’re moving too fast—he saw how flirty we were. I can’t believe we were kissing either. That’s never happened for me … randomly kissing a girl I just met.
“Rachel isn’t just some story for you to tell your friends about on Monday,” Nicholas says, and I hear the warning in his voice.
My chest tightens, but before I can respond, Aaron breaks the tension, “What can I get you?”
“Two Guinnesses.” My voice is steady, but my mind is racing. I’m not that guy.
“Comp them,” Nicholas says with a nod to Aaron, then walks away without another word. I’m left standing there, beers in hand, unsure of how to process that interaction.
“He’s protective,” Aaron says, sliding the beers across the bar to me. “We just want the girls to have a good time, but Chicago guys don’t have the best reputation here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Lots of girls come in here, meet a guy who’s just in town for the weekend, and end up heartbroken when he doesn’t call back.” Aaron pauses, his eyes meeting mine. “We see it happen a lot.”
“I’m not that guy,” I state firmly, gripping the beers a little tighter. I don’t think this is the time to share my lack of dating history and extremely small body count. Turning on my heels, I head back to Rachel.
“I think you need this one,” Rachel says, holding up a laughing leprechaun tattoo as I set the beers down in front of her.
“Does that mean I get to pick one out for you?” I ask, although the guys’ warnings are replaying in my head.
She nods, and I rummage through the pile, finding a pair of green lips. I hold it up with a raised brow.
“Fun!”
As I press the cloth into her neck, I manage, “So, where do you live?”
“Here, in Lake Geneva. Born and raised.”
“Her house is so cute,” Sarah chimes in from the side, and I smirk a little. Should I read that as a subtle invitation to see her place? At least the girls like me.
“It’s small, but it’s mine,” Rachel adds.
“You own it?” I ask, impressed.
“Yeah, I bought it a couple of years ago.”
This detail makes her even more attractive, and suddenly, the idea of cuddling up at her house feels like the perfect ending to this day. But there’s a part of me that holds back. Is this too fast?
“I’m feeling lucky,” Rachel says, and I sip my beer, stuffing down the potential innuendo. “Ever played pull tabs?”
“Of course. It’s like no-tech slots. Do they have them here?” I look around for the machine that dispenses the paper gambling cards.
“Yes! We should play!” Her excitement is infectious.
I pull out my wallet and take out a twenty-dollar bill, holding it out to her. “Here, let’s see if we can win big.”
“Big spender.” Rachel winks.
I shrug. “Better odds this way.”
She takes the twenty and slides off the tall chair. As she walks past, she gives me a playful poke in the side, and I feel a rush of excitement.
“Twenty pull tabs,” she says as she returns, handing out a few to Emily, Sarah, me, and keeping some for herself. “Top prize is five hundred dollars.”
Rachel cracks the side of the cardboard and pulls all of the tabs on her card at once.
“You’re a savage,” I tease, surprised she didn’t savor it.
“Not a winner.” She giggles, shrugging.
“I like to take my time,” I say, pulling each tab slowly. She winks, and I can’t help but smirk.
“Fifty dollars!” Rachel squeals.
“No way!”
She waves the winning card to me, and sure enough—fifty bucks. I finish pulling the tabs on my last one and chuckle. “One dollar.”
“You’re a winner too!”
“So, do we cash these in or roll the winnings into more pull tabs?”
“Are you serious?! You doubled your money—cash out.”
“There’s still a five-hundred-dollar winner in there. We could have fifty-one more chances to get it.”
“It’s too risky.”
I run my hand through my beard, enjoying this new insight into her risk tolerance. “Whatever you want. But if it were just up to me, I’d go big.”
“I don’t want us to be big losers. Right now, we’re winning.”
We exchange smiles. “I’ve never really explored Lake Geneva before,” I share, taking another sip of my beer.
I’m trying to focus on her and how easy everything feels, but Nicholas’s words linger. I don’t want to feel like I have something to prove—but I do.