Chapter Two
It was hot as hell, but then it was the height of summer. Ward was sweating his balls off, but there was no way he wasn’t going to the bar for a drink. It had been a couple of days, so he’d let Kirsty calm down. If he approached too soon after their first initial fight, then she’d be pissed and would certainly kick him right out the door. The town would be talking their asses off at another of their confrontations.
Christopher, his partner in crime, had decided to bow this one out. It probably helped that for the past couple of days, Ward had been badgering him to try and explain his weird suggestions with regard to himself and Kirsty. It was completely ludicrous to think of him and Kirsty having feelings for each other.
Entering the bar, he took a moment and glanced around the main room. He told himself he wasn’t doing this to try and find out where she was. Absolutely not. He didn’t come to this bar to see Kirsty. He came to this bar to have a drink. That was all.
He made his way over to the bar and sat down, waiting.
Kirsty was there within minutes. “Beer?”
“Yes, ice cold.”
She didn’t make any snarky comment. He watched as she went over to the fridge and pulled out a beer, popping the lid off. She gave him the price, and he slapped down a bill.
Was something different between them? Ward couldn’t tell, and he didn’t know if that was a good thing or not.
Tipping the beer against his lips, he took a nice, long drink, and it felt cool and refreshing.
Kirsty brought him his change, and then he noticed her stocking the fridge before moving on to another customer. No, he wasn’t checking out her ass either. He was merely watching her work, because that was what he always did.
He wasn’t attracted to her, and this meant nothing. Ward had always loved coming to the bar, even before Kirsty began to run the place. It was a damn good bar.
He watched her serve a couple more customers, and he saw the smile on her face. Nope, he wasn’t attracted to her. So, Kirsty had a pretty smile. There were a lot of women with a nice smile. It didn’t matter that Kirsty’s smile lit up her whole face, and it seemed to brighten everything up. He’d always noticed that, even in high school, even though he rarely got a smile directed at him. Except one time—prom night—when his wretched date threw punch at her. According to Gretchen, his date, he’d been unable to take his eyes off her, which was totally not true.
The dress Kirsty had worn was pretty. That he wouldn’t deny, but that didn’t mean he stared long enough to notice how full her tits were, or the fact the main dress seemed to dance around her curves, showing them off to perfection. Even his old football team had been enamored by how amazing Kirsty had looked. She’d been the stunner that night.
But, again, that didn’t mean anything. He certainly wasn’t fighting any kind of attraction.
He’d not always imagined what she looked like naked. He was a guy, so from time to time, he did think about women naked. Actually, that wasn’t true. Maybe he thought about Kirsty a few times too many, but he was a guy with a very active and working dick.
That didn’t mean anything. He wasn’t harboring some latent desire for her, or anything like that.
She bent down, and he couldn’t help but stare at her curvy ass. It filled a pair of jeans to perfection, and then Ward felt the hardening of his dick.
Shit!
Fuck!
It didn’t mean anything. He was simply responding to a beautiful woman, and even if that ass did belong to Kirsty, it meant nothing.
She stood up, pushing some hair out of her face, and then she spun toward him. He saw the frown on her lips, and then she came over to him.
Had she heard his thoughts? Ward didn’t believe he had spoken them out loud.
“Can I talk to you?” Kirsty asked.
“Why?” Ward asked. This was new, they didn’t talk. They never even agreed to talk or even share any thoughts or ideas. They argued.
“There is just something I want to talk to you about. Can we talk after the bar closes?” Kirsty asked.
He was tempted to look around the bar. Was this some kind of trick? Were his friends trying to play a joke? Is that why Christopher was determined to not come out tonight? Admittedly, his friend didn’t always come to the bar, as he had his own life.
“Ugh, what do you want to talk about?” he asked.
“I’d rather wait until, you know, we’re alone.”
Okay, he didn’t like this one bit. “Sure,” Ward said.
She offered him a smile. It wasn’t that beaming smile that made him feel like he was the only guy in the world, but it was still a smile that had him stop.
Crap. What the fuck was happening to him? His friends had to have messed with his head, because this made no sense.
Kirsty left, and he sat, nursing a beer, wondering what the hell was going on.
****
Kirsty was torn between wanting everyone to leave, and having them all stay long into the night, but it was a Saturday. For some reason, the nights where everyone lingered seemed to be Friday and Sunday. The start of the weekend, and the end of the week, where no one wanted the new week to start. At least, that’s what she figured.
However, by one in the morning, she had closed and locked the door. Now, there was only her and Ward left inside the bar.
He’d only had a grand total of two beers the whole night, then asked for bottled water, which he barely touched.
Now that she and Ward were alone, she couldn’t help but feel nervous.
“So, you’ve got me all alone. Do you want to tell me what is going on?” Ward asked.
She spun around, and from the time it took her to close the door, he’d already moved closer to her. Rubbing at her temple, she let out a little laugh. “Ugh, it’s kind of complicated.”
“Complicated?” he asked.
“Well, yes, and no, ugh, I don’t know.” She nibbled her lip. “Do you … do you know of any kind of bet?”
His frown deepened. “Bet?”
“Yes, about you and me.”
He shook his head. “No, why would I know of any kind of bet?”
“Well, I was talking to my friend.” She stopped, debating if she should say who it was.
“Bethany,” he said.
“How do you know she’s who I’m talking about?”
“You and her are always hanging out. You always have. It’s not hard to come to this conclusion.”
“Oh.” She was surprised he knew, but then again, she and Bethany had been friends since long before kindergarten even started. Their mothers had been best friends, and that friendship had developed between their daughters, which again is why they had the make-ahead Saturday.
She’d loved today, and tomorrow, she and Bethany would continue in the afternoon.
“What has Bethany said about a bet?” he asked.
“It’s … I didn’t know if you had started the bet or something like that.”
“You know, I didn’t think it was possible, but you have this talent, Kirsty, for making me so confused. What bet?”
“Ugh! Apparently, there has been a bet running since high school about you and I getting together. I didn’t know if you started it as a joke.”
Silence met her response.
She stared at his chest, and no, she wasn’t admiring the peek of bare flesh she got from the open shirt he wore. Ward was dressed in jeans, and he wore a flannel shirt, which was open, over a white vest. He’d not removed the flannel shirt, but that didn’t stop her from seeing some of his chest.
What the hell was the matter with her?
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t know about any kind of bet. Are you making this up? Trying to play a joke on me?”
“Me! Play a joke on you? You’re completely insane, Ward. I’m not the one who plays jokes. That is you. All you.”
“Oh, yeah, well, maybe if you had a sense of humor, I wouldn’t have to play jokes on you, to get you to actually laugh.” He took a step toward her.
Kirsty refused to back down, and she snorted. “Oh, please, I don’t need you to laugh. I laugh all the time, and it has absolutely nothing to do with you. You’re not even funny. You’re not anything that resembles a joke.”
She had no idea what she was saying, or what she was doing.
“Yeah, I think you’re lying about this bullshit bet. You and I … it was never going to happen. In your wildest dreams.”
“Trust me, Ward, you do not feature in any of my dreams. You’re not even a single thought in my head when I have … dreams.” She didn’t know what she was saying, as nothing was making sense to her right now.
She didn’t know how it had happened, but she suddenly stood toe to toe with her nemesis.
“Don’t worry, I know you couldn’t imagine having any kind of fun. You don’t want anything in a man. He must be boring as an old stick.”
“Yeah, and he certainly won’t be anything like you. I mean, what disease have you picked up lately!”
“I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”
Kirsty wasn’t quite sure how she got from insulting him to kissing him. One moment, they were glaring at each other, not a smile between them, and the next second, his lips were on hers.
She ran her hands up his chest, with every intention of pushing him away, but then she found herself moving up and then circling his neck, pulling him in close. She loved the feel of his hard body against hers. Sudden arousal hit her hard and fast, and then Ward moved his hands, and they started to travel down her body, going toward her ass. The moment he touched her, she let out a moan, and all he’d done was use her ass to draw her in close.
She felt the hard ridge of his cock pressing against her stomach, and she didn’t know what happened as they both broke apart. His lips were red and slightly swollen, and she had a feeling hers were also. She touched her lips, but then stopped herself.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes, just stood a few feet away from each other. The only sound in the room came from their panting.
Kirsty was trying to gain her composure. That was it, that was what she was doing.
“Good night,” Ward said.
She repeated the words, and then opened the door.
Neither of them spoke as Ward left, and she closed the door, leaning up against it, pressing her fingers to her lips.
That was some kiss.