Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Since I lived downtown, it only took me ten minutes to walk home. I showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and a tight, V-neck black shirt. My hair was still wet, and I ran my fingers through it a few times before I went downstairs and called for an Uber.
My driver was a beautiful African American woman with curls and sexy, pink lips.
“Angelo’s on Central, right?” she asked.
“Yes. How are you tonight?”
We locked eyes in the rearview mirror and she smiled. “Good, and you?”
I made it a point to make conversation with people—drivers, waiters, whomever it was. It used to drive my grandmother crazy when I was a child. She wasn’t much for speaking with those she thought below her—me included. She was the definition of closed off, which was likely where I’d gotten it from, but I pretended that wasn’t the case. We were different, my grandmother and I. Regardless of my attitude or how I joked around, I knew how to treat people and I made sure I did it well.
We chatted until she dropped me off at the restaurant. Sadie, Owen, Brandt, and a few other people from the firm were there. They looked surprised when I stepped up to the table, as though they hadn’t expected me to come. They were a close group—it was obvious by the way they were around the office, but I didn’t spend much time with them outside of Sadie and occasionally, Owen.
“Happy Birthday, Owen.” I nodded at the redhead.
“Thank you, Mr. Harris. I appreciate you coming.”
I waved a hand at him. “Call me Ethan. Please.”
Owen was our newest employee, so I knew him the least. I was looking forward to getting to know him better because I could tell he was a good guy. This wasn’t the first time I’d asked him to call me Ethan, either.
We ate and talked and I bought dinner for everyone. About an hour later, we made our way down the block and inside the dark club with flashing lights.
“Let’s go to the bar!” Owen shouted close to my ear.
The building was packed. There were more women here than I expected, which made me realize there was a chance I’d get my dick wet tonight. Of course I figured some of them were lesbians, but I hadn’t thought about the fact that straight and bi women often went to gay bars.
There weren’t enough seats at the bar, so we stood around until we could order drinks. I felt the vibration of the music in my chest and had the urge to dance, suddenly incredibly thankful I’d come out with them.
“Let’s dance!” Sadie said after our first drink was finished. We made our way to the dance floor and spent a song with her ass pressed against my dick.
We had a few more drinks and a few more dances.
Before I realized what was happening, another man joined our group. He danced alongside me and Sadie laughed and made space for him.
I might have been a little more uncomfortable if Owen and Sadie weren’t here with me, but we were dancing and I wasn’t going to pretend I wasn’t a little bit drunk right now.
This was fun. I liked to have fun. What the fuck was the big deal about who I danced with?
We continued to move together, the new guy staying awfully close to me. He had on eyeliner, wore his bangs long, and a short shirt that showed off a six-pack.
“I haven’t seen you around here before,” he said into my ear.
“This is my first time here,” I replied. He was being pretty fucking nice.
Sadie stumbled into me and then she was dancing with me again and Eyeliner faded into the background slightly.
When the song ended and another one played, I said, “I’m going to get a drink.”
Sadie and Owen nodded. As I turned, I caught sight of Eyeliner, who smiled. I grinned back, not real sure what there was to smile about at the moment unless he was feeling as buzzed as I was.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked. “I need a break.”
“No problem.” I worked my way through the crowd and back up to the bar with Eyeliner beside me.
Amazingly, there were two open seats, so we claimed them.
“I’m Carl,” he told me.
“Ethan.” The bartender approached and I said, “I’ll have a Jack and Coke,” then looked at Carl who ordered the same.
We spoke for a few minutes while we had our drink. Carl ran a department store, and we made small talk about that.
When he started touching me every minute or so, pieces began fitting into place, and I realized I’d fucked up.
There wasn’t a doubt in my mind Carl thought I was gay, or at least bisexual. I really should have caught on to that before.
“Jesus, you have a sexy mouth,” he said and part of me wanted to say something flirty back because I did have a nice mouth and it was good at a whole lot of things.