Chapter 11 Rhett
Chapter eleven
Rhett
Ican hardly believe my luck but I keep my composure, a slight grin on my face, even as my heart pounds against my ribcage.
Rooftop girl. She stands out here, truly breathtaking.
I notice a few guys around us eyeing her up.
But her eyes are locked on mine, her lips hang open like she’s just seen a ghost.
The song that was playing fades out, starting a new country song I’ve been hearing everywhere. A group of people on the other side of the bar cheer—like I said, this place gets rowdy. Not a place that normally draws the city crowd.
“Audrey, right?” I lean in closer, drawn to the gold flecks in her eyes as they catch the light, sparkling up at me. Every nerve in my body is electrified, and I can’t remember the last time I felt a pull like this.
A blonde woman next to her wedges in closer, nearly between us, her eyes flitting back and forth from Audrey and me.
“Hi, I’m Penny and this is my friend Audrey. My single friend Audrey.” She holds out her hand, and I stifle a laugh, shaking it. Audrey’s face turns even whiter.
“Nice to meet you, Penny,” I reply, trying to ease the tension.
“Penny, this is Rhett.” Audrey smiles tightly at her friend.
“Uhm...nice to meet you?” Penny muses, gazing at me with narrowed eyes.
More people pile in behind them, and I stand up straight, not about to let the girls get shoved around.
I haven’t had any altercations for five years now.
But something about the way she is looking at me makes me feel like I have no control.
“I met Rhett last weekend, uh...on…” Audrey struggles to finish the sentence, and just like last Saturday night, I feel the familiar urge to step in and rescue her.
“We met on the rooftop. Audrey let me crash her party of one.” I wink, teasing her, and Penny looks even more confused. I guess she didn’t mention us. Not that I mentioned her either. She only lived in my head all week.
“I didn’t share my champagne with you, so it was hardly a party.” She rolls her eyes, her long eyelashes batting flirtatiously. Even if she doesn’t mean to.
“Well darlin’, maybe I can change that. Where’s your drink?” I ask her and she makes a show of her empty palms.
Good, something I can easily fix.
“Well, we were trying to get a drink, but a group of large, rowdy men were blocking our way.” Penny raises her brows, flirting her way into the conversation. Blondes aren’t really my thing, but I always like sassy brunettes.
“How dare they. Let me make it right.” I swivel in my spot in front of the crowded bar, bring my fingers to my lips and whistle loudly over the music. A bartender catches my eye, blushing and leaning towards me, cupping an ear in my direction.
I turn to look at the girls, who are watching me eagerly.
“What’s your drink?”
“She’ll take a vodka tonic. Make it two,” Penny pipes up as I nod, turning back to place the order. I get myself a double whiskey, neat, and pull a toothpick from my pocket—a nervous habit for when I want a cigarette. I let it dangle from my lips and hand them their drinks.
Audrey keeps her eyes on her friend but when I scan the crowd around us, I feel her eyes raking me over. It fills me with heat, and I know if I keep drinking these whiskeys, I'm going to be a man in trouble.
The mass of people near the bar makes it hard to have a real conversation, and when Ky taps me on the shoulder, telling me he and the guys are migrating towards the dart boards in the back, Audrey swoops in, eager to go as well.
“Go with your friends. I’ll see you around, yeah?” she offers, a small, flirty smile on her face, and I nod. She’s so polite and reserved, I still don’t know what she’s doing here.
I watch them walk away into the crowd.
But she’s crazy if she doesn't think I'll be looking out for her tonight. Not that I doubt her and Penny can’t hold their own. I just know the guys in this town.
None of them are good enough for Audrey.
Except, in my buzzed, delusional mind maybe myself.