Chapter 12
Twelve
Serena
If Hazel wanted the ambience of a hotel bar, we could have gone downstairs to the one at the hotel we’re staying in. I don’t trust her intentions. She’s been pushing Bentley on me since the first day I met him and I have a feeling she has some ulterior motives behind all this.
Her eyes are wandering through the bar, not looking for anything in particular, but taking in the vibe.
Maybe she really does like this place. It’s not somewhere I’d normally venture.
I tend to hit the small venues. She somehow finds a way to hang out with the upper echelon when we’re in new locations.
I tap her arm until her eyes meet mine. “Why are we really here?”
She looks away, no longer interested in making eye contact. Busted. She’s never had a problem calling me on my crap, and I’m not going to make things easy for her now. “What do you mean? I already told you why I decided this was a good place.”
“I know that,” I roll my eyes. “But tell me, to my face, that it had nothing to do with a certain basketball player. Because I know for a fact that this very hotel is the one he’s staying in.”
She stares at her hands and mumbles, “It has nothing to do with Bentley.”
“What was that? I didn’t quite hear you.” She’s such a liar.
She grabs her drink, placing the straw between her bright red lips, and takes a long pull.
I know the action for what it is, her stalling mechanism.
She does it every time we drink together, and she doesn’t want to answer a question.
“Okay, fine,” she sets the glass on the table.
“I know the team is staying here. I overhead one of the super tall guys mention it in the first-class cabin yesterday.” She points her finger at me for the second time today.
She’s making a habit of that, and I’m not sure that I like it.
“But you need to get over your trust issues and give him a chance. I figured if we came here, there might be a chance we’d see him in passing. ”
“And what? You thought I’d fall into his arms?” It’s ridiculous she’d even consider that. “You watch too many movies. Shit like that doesn’t happen in real life.”
“You never know it might,” she argues and takes another drink.
“If you’d just date the guy, I wouldn’t have to come up with outlandish ways to get the two of you in the same room.
It’s tiring, honestly.” She throws her hands up in the air, not at all amused by the way I’ve handled things with Bentley.
“I told you earlier that I can’t date him. Why do you keep pushing it?” A guy at a table catty corner is eying us. Were we talking too loud? He doesn’t look annoyed, but his attention skeeves me out.
“It’s not that you can’t. You won’t. There’s a difference.
” She grabs her glass but doesn’t take a drink.
“And I’m pushing it because I need you to be happy.
There’s no point in you moping around like you just lost your best friend.
You know? Because I’m right here. If shit ends badly, I’m always going to be here to help pick you up. ”
“You’re also the one pushing me into something I’m not sure I want. That also makes you a bad choice maker. Best intentions or not.”
“I’ll gladly wear that title,” she grins.
“My terrible choices have led to some fun times. You can’t deny that.
” She’s not lying. Some of my favorite memories include her leading the way into some horrible idea.
It was fun, though. I wish I could be more like her.
Throw all caution to the wind and not worry about making an ass of myself.
The man staring at us earlier leaves his table and strides to our table.
Even from here I can see his predatory gaze.
Warning bells go off in my head, but I don’t say anything to Hazel.
I’m the queen of avoiding confrontation and she’ll know how to handle this.
She’s had far more expertise in this area than I have.
He pulls a chair from the table beside us and slides it to the end of ours.
He plops into it and rests his arms on the table, leaning toward us. “How are you ladies doing tonight?”
My mouth hangs wide open at the audacity of this man.
He has zero tact, and his presence makes me uncomfortable.
Hazel doesn’t skip a beat, though. She eyes him warily before pasting a smile on her face.
“We’re just fine.” Her voice drips with honey and sarcasm.
I’ve always wondered how she does that. She’s condescending, and this moron doesn’t even realize it.
“Any chance I can buy you ladies a drink?” His gaze shoots to me, and my insides recoil.
“We’re perfectly capable of buying our own drinks, thanks.
” Hazel replies and nods her head toward the bar.
I guess that means she wants me to go get the bartender, or at least, someone to help us.
She speaks again to get his attention off of me.
“We’d much rather be alone, though. We’re having a girl’s night. ”
“That’s nice,” he smirks. “But don’t those usually mean you’re at home in your pajamas and putting crap on your face?”
“Sometimes. But not tonight.” Her voice is louder, hoping to attract anyone’s attention. My eyes rove around the room, but it’s not as busy as it was when we walked in. Almost all the patrons on this side of the room are gone, leaving us on our own.
“You should end your night early and come hang out with me. What do you say?” Is this guy serious?
Hazel just told him we want to be alone, and he isn’t getting the hint.
What the fuck is wrong with some men? I slide out of my seat and stand.
If he’s not going to get a clue, then I’ll find someone here who will make him.
We should have sat at the front of the bar.
This probably wouldn’t be happening if we were closer to people, instead of one of the darkest corners of the room.
I take a step, and his hand snakes out, grabbing my arm. “Where are you going, sweetheart? We’re just talking.”
My blood is boiling. While I’ve had no problem going back and forth with Bentley, it’s different this time.
This man isn't anything like Bentley. Not once have I ever felt like I was in any danger with the basketball player.
But the man who invited himself to our table?
That's a different story. Just from our small interaction, he is definitely one of those guys you hear about on the news. "Please, let go of my arm."
"Sit down, and I'll let go. Like I said, we're just talking and getting to know each other." His grip on my arm tightens, and I try to pull away.
I raise my voice much louder than is necessary. "If we are just talking, you have no reason to keep me from leaving the table. Now, let go of me."
Hazel shakes her head the slightest bit, a warning to keep my cool because we don't know what this man is capable of. I'm about to pull my arm out of his grasp, once again, but her eyes go wide.
A deep voice sounds from behind me, "Sir, you should probably do what the lady asked." My heart flutters at the sound of his voice, and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm happy he showed up.
"This is none of your business. You should go back to wherever you came from and leave us be."
"You have two options, let her go…or I'll make you."
The man holding onto me sneers as he eyes Bentley up and down. "You seriously think your scrawny self can make me do anything?"
"When it comes to you harassing my friends, I'll do anything in my power to make sure they are safe." He touches my shoulder, letting me know he's behind me, and my body relaxes the tiniest bit at the contact.
The man laughs, and his grasp loosens the tiniest fraction. "You and what army?"
"I don't need an army, but my friend here," he jerks his thumb over his shoulder and a much larger shadow falls over us. "He's not too keen on people manhandling women either."
The man in question says and his voice is deep, "Where I come from men don't manhandle women to get what they want."
Suddenly, my arm is free and I pull it toward me as if I'm nursing a wound. "Thank you."
The stranger pushes back his chair and takes a step back, "I'll just go."
"That's probably a good idea. But you should probably just leave the bar because I've already informed the waitress to keep an eye out, and I'm certain she's called hotel security." The man's face is red as he throws cash down on the table he was at and hurries out of the bar.
Bentley turns me around and bends down until our eyes meet. "Are you okay?"
Even though he only had his hands on me for a couple of minutes, it feels like it's been hours. "Yeah, I'm fine." That doesn't mean I won't have nightmares about that guy practically forcing himself on me, even though he only grabbed my arm.
"Good," he says. "As soon as I realized you walked in, I had the bartender keep an eye on you."
"You've been here the entire time?" What the hell? He had every opportunity to come to me, and the fact that he knew I was here and said nothing it's kind of creepy, but also, not that surprising. "Why didn’t you say anything?"
He shrugs, "I don't know. You were here with your friend, and you made it perfectly clear earlier that you didn't have any interest in me bugging you again."
That might be one of the few times my words come back to bite me in the ass. "Well, thank you for coming to my rescue. I'd like to say that we could've handled it, but that guy was worse than any other unwanted attention we've gotten."
"Yeah, usually my pitchy voice gets them to go away, and that guy…he just wasn't having it." Hazel comes up to my side and bumps my shoulder. "I honestly don't know what he would have been capable of. So, thank you."
"I seriously hate guys like that. His mama definitely didn't teach him any manners." That comes from the guy standing beside Bentley.
"Hi, I'm Serena," I hold my hand out to shake his hand.
He steps around Bentley and wraps me in a hug.
"I'm, Ross. It's kind of crappy that these are the circumstances we're meeting under.
" He takes a step back and shakes his head.
"Sorry, I just said I don't like dudes who overstep their bounds and I just went in for a hug.
That would also be my mom's fault. She's a hugger. "
I laugh, "It's fine. You don't give off creepy abductor vibes."
Hazel waves at him, "Are you going to be on our flight tomorrow?"
"Of course, I have to see my favorite flight attendant." He gives her a wink and her cheeks redden.
We all stand there awkward and silent for a minute, and Hazel nods her head to the bar, "So do you want to go grab a drink?" Bentley's teammate nods, and he and Hazel leave Bentley and I to our own devices.
I gestured to the seat behind me, "At this point, it would be kind of rude if I didn't invite you to sit."
"Thanks." He rounds the table and takes the seat Hazel was previously sitting in. "I would have been over here sooner, but by the time the bartender came back around, you had already started raising your voice."
"That is an experience I never want to have again. I knew I should have just stayed in the hotel room tonight."
"But if you did that, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to rescue the damsel in distress."
"So, do you have some kind of hero complex I don't know about? First you stepped in with my awkward conversation without me asking, and now this?”
The bartender comes over and sets fresh glasses on the table. "Those are on the house."
"Thanks," Bentley says. He turns his focus on me, "neither one of these situations was something I planned on. I'm just happy I came down to the bar with my teammate tonight. Otherwise, that could've gone a completely different direction."
"Believe me, I'm grateful." I take a sip of my drink and look around the room, doing anything I can to keep my gaze off the man who continually comes to my rescue and surprises me.
"I guess that means you'll be going on a second date with me."
I spit out the drink I just took, and it goes all over him. "Where in the hell would you get that idea?"
"Well, I know you have an interest in me. Otherwise, you wouldn't be fighting your feelings so hard. Second, I did just rescue and I think that's deserving of a date."
Yet, he continuously surprises me. As much as my encounter a few moments ago rattled me, I'm not going to let that interfere with the rest of my night.
He's right. I do have some kind of feelings for him, and before that douche nozzle interrupted my girl's night, I was going to tell Hazel that I'm done fighting with her, and am willing to take a chance on him.
But is now the time to tell him that? I mean, he did bring it up so his mind is obviously in that space.
You can do this Serena, be more like Hazel, take life by the horns and see where it leads you.
"I don't know, I feel like a second date might not be enough to show you how grateful I am. "
His face lights up, and I don't think I've seen him this happy. At least, not since that first time he flew, and we landed at the airport.
"This isn't a joke, is it?" He points at me, "because if it is, you are a cruel woman."
I laugh. "No, it's not a joke. I'm willing to let you attempt to sweep me off of my feet."
“There’ll be no attempt,” he reaches across the table and places his hand on top of mine. “Before long you won’t be able to get enough of me. Mark my words.”
Just like that he’s thrown down the gauntlet and I know my heart will be his whether I like it or not.