Chapter 6 #3
She nodded, satisfied, then abruptly returned to her laptop as if the personal detour had never happened. “I told you, it’s rude to stare,” she muttered without looking up.
“Thank you again for your help, Dr. Carter,” I said, walking out the door. Her quiet, responsive hum followed me down the corridor.
By the time I got to work at The Dam on Friday night, I felt an immense sense of pride. I’d absorbed all of her meticulous feedback, and the coursework was officially submitted.
***
The club was packed early. Mia picked up on my chirpy mood instantly, she bumped my hip as we moved between the beer taps and the ice machine.
“You can’t let your good mood tonight go to waste,” Mia whisper-shouted over the thumping bass. She unceremoniously gestured toward a corner of the room. “Look.”
I followed her gaze through the strobe lights. The woman she was pointing at was a bit older, wearing an open flannel shirt, ripped jeans, and Doc Martens. She had a side-shave, soft facial features, and a relaxed, confident laugh. Absolutely screaming lesbian.
I looked back at Mia and gave her a tentative shrug.
“Why are you so interested in my sex life, woman?” I groaned as we both grabbed bottles of spirits to fill the next order.
“Because I like it when you strut around with a massive ego,” Mia grinned. “But you get so picky towards Christmas, it's annoying.”
I mocked a gasp. “There is nothing wrong with being picky, you whore!”
She laughed as we filled up our glasses with mixers before passing them over and charging the drunks.
I took the next order from a young girl in a tight pink dress that showed more cleavage than was possible to ignore.
I forced myself to maintain eye contact as I leaned over the bar, but my eyes definitely flickered down as I backed away to make her drink.
When I turned back, she was one hundred percent checking out my arse.
I handed her the vodka lemonade. “Six-fifty,” I said with a smile.
She smiled back, tapped her phone, and gave me a final, very obvious glance before walking away.
Mia was grinning, raising an eyebrow as if to say, Going for it? I shook my head. She was hot, but I just didn’t fancy it. Mia’s shoulders slumped in defeat as she crouched down with me to fight with the keg lines under the beer taps.
“What was wrong with that one?” she asked, exasperated.
“Mia, stay out of my pants,” I groaned, swapping out the barrels.
“Nope. I’m getting laid tonight, so I think it's only fair you do too.”
I scoffed. “Very generous of you.” I side-eyed her. “Who are you planning on shagging?”
She hummed playfully, and it instantly clicked. “Fuck's sake, Mia, you’re meeting up with Sam, aren't you? He’s such a prick.”
She just shrugged. “I know, I don’t want to marry the guy.”
I cringed. He was all ‘I had a private education, so I can do whatever I want,’ which actually made me gag.
They’d tried dating, but she cut it off when she realised he just wanted to fuck her in the passenger seat of his sports car.
Which she did. Then she told me the next day how a two-seater sports car was a lot roomier than she’d imagined.
I cut her off before she could explain the logistics.
I didn’t want that image of Sam in my head.
Mia laughed, clearly reading my thoughts. “He still has the car.”
Ew. “I don't want to know. You enjoy being folded like a pretzel tonight and leave my sex life to me.”
Mia rolled her eyes, then grinned as she noticed the woman in the flannel shirt finally walking over to my till, her two male friends in tow. I wiped my hands on a bar towel and smiled. “What can I get you?”
Her eyes flicked to my hands for a brief moment before she leaned over the bar to speak over the music. “Three pints of Guinness.”
I grabbed the glasses and started pouring, letting my eyes lock onto hers. “Having a good night?”
Her eyes widened slightly, clearly not expecting the bartender to talk to her. She smiled. “Yeah, it’s not bad in here.”
“Well, a couple more of these, and it’ll seem like paradise,” I smirked.
She bit her lip, looking a little bashful but refusing to break eye contact. She was definitely older than me, but she was clearly being affected by the attention. Okay, I thought, maybe I could give this a go.
I lined up the three pints. Sliding them over, I tapped the till. “Twelve pounds.”
She cocked an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
I deepened my smirk, nodding toward the card reader. “Yeah. Twelve pounds for two pints.”
It took a second to click in her brain, but when it did, she smiled, tapped her smartwatch against the machine, and gave me a confident wink. “Well, thank you.”
I watched her walk back to her corner. Damn, she had great thighs. But as my eyes trailed up, I noticed the taller guy she was with. He had a shaded beard and a nasty look in his eye. He was giving me an absolute, terrifying death stare from across the room.
Shit. Maybe she was bi, and that was her boyfriend. I took a deep breath and immediately decided to back down. Definitely not worth the agro.