“Sure, who are you thinking?”
She leaned into me and pointed towards the bar. “See the man at the bar. Mister tall, dark and handsome. He’s wearing a black shirt and with dark hair, cut short with a goatee and glasses? Very dreamy.”
My eyes scanned the area she was pointing to until I spotted him. He looked older than us, but it may just be the dim lighting. Between that and the distance between us, it was really hard to tell exactly.
“Okay, you mean the guy the bartender is passing a few beers to?”
“Yeah, that one. He’s your man.”
Shit. I watched as he took his drinks and walked back to a group of guys playing billiards in the corner. He wasn’t playing, he just took a seat on a stool near the table, setting his beer on the ledge behind him. From a distance, he looked handsome enough. It seemed juvenile to sleep with someone as part of a hazing ritual. But there could be worse things. I looked from one girl to the other. This was the first time I had friends or potential friends. Being virtually locked into a glamorized fortress wasn’t all it was cracked up to be and not great for the social life.
Besides, I’d seen shit like this before. And it’s not like I was a virgin. My driver, Antonio took care of that several years ago. Father found out and executed him – no questions asked. He then traded my hot driver for a middle-aged, balding man that had a distinct smell of salami. That was the beginning and the end of my sex life.
But… Father wasn’t here and the world was my oyster as the saying goes.
And I could do anything that I put my mind to here in America. The sky was the limit – including screwing some random guy in a bar. A rite of passage you could call it. They sure as hell could have picked a worse tribute.
I finished off my shots and stood, tugging down on the short skirt of my mini-dress before I ended up flashing the whole place. “Fine. Consider it done.”
The girls grinned. “Do this and you’re in.”
“No problem. Don’t wait up.” Grabbing my handbag that they thought was a fake Louis Vuitton, I slung it over my shoulder and made my way across the nightclub. I could feel their eyes on me as I walked, so I did my best to exude the confidence that I wasn’t quite feeling as I approached him and the other men he was with.
I really had no plan on how to proceed. I’d never attempted to pick up a man before. Hopefully, I could successfully wing it.
I could always turn back. Did I really need to be part of their sorority? But I knew I did. I’d longed for the closeness of female friendships that I never had before. I longed to be like normal girls my age and one-night stands were part of that. Who was it really going to hurt anyhow?
As I approached the three men caught sight of me. The one I’d been assigned was the last to look in my direction, due to an elbow to his ribs from one of his buddies who had taken a pause in their billiards game. Taking a deep breath in, I slowly exhaled and smiled as I came to a stop before him. My gaze immediately looked for a wedding right and to my relief there was none and didn’t seem to be a tan line where the ring may have been before he showed up at the nightclub. It wouldn’t have surprised me if they’d require my conquest regardless of marital status. I know my family played fast and loose with morality in virtually all areas of our lives, but family and loyalty were sacred and if sleeping with a married man was the only way I could be a part of their group then I guess it wasn’t meant to be.
Up close he was much more handsome than expected. His glasses gave him an intelligent, thoughtful look and I adored the brilliant blue eyes behind the lenses. This certainly wouldn’t be a problem at all. Although the hard part was about to begin.
But what if he didn’t want me?
Then what?
I had no clue.
Feeling the pressure, now that I was standing before him, I was at a loss for words.
Well, nothing like just introducing myself, I suppose. Looking him dead in the eye, I caught my lower lip between my teeth seductively as I extended my hand to him. With my three-inch heels on I was nearly as tall as him, just shy a few inches, making him just over six-feet tall. “Hi there, I’m Sophia.”
“I guess that’s our cue to get lost,” One of his friends said, I didn’t know which one, my eyes were firmly in place staring up at the gorgeous man before me. The billiards game was abandoned as his two friends walked away.
He accepted my hand, his large, strong hand wrapping around my dainty one. “I’m Zack.” The feel of his soft, yet strong, hand wrapped around mine sent a shiver of anticipation through me.
We stood in silence staring at each other for what felt like an eternity. I didn’t have any game – at all – it was pathetic. In my defense, I’d never picked up a man in a nightclub before either, so I had an excuse.
“How about I buy you a drink?” he finally said breaking the tension. “And maybe we can find a seat and talk – if you like?”
The bubble of tension within me deflated and I sighed. “That would be great. A glass of wine would be perfect.” I didn’t think more hard liquor would be wise. I didn’t know this man and certainly wasn’t naïve. I’d baby that wine for the entire night until we left. As it was the three shots had already had me feeling buzzed.
I followed him to the bar and watched him order. When the drink arrived, I was quick to grab it from him and keep it close to me. Papa didn’t raise no fool. After some searching, we finally found a two-person table secluded in a corner away from the people and the music.
Perching myself on one of the stools. I took a sip of the wine while he seated himself across from me. Feeling eyes on us, I looked over to where my potential sorority sisters were. As suspected, they were all watching, not even pretending to seem disinterested. Nothing like making me nervous, a little privacy would have been appreciated.
Shutting my mind off to them, I looked back over at Zack whose gaze on me made me feel that warm and fuzzy feeling inside, the one that they try to sell you on in the romantic movies. I’d never felt physically drawn to a man before, so it was a foreign and exciting feeling.
They picked well.
“So, Sophia. Tell me everything about yourself.”
Time to put on the charm. And hell, you never know, maybe it would be a match made in heaven. He did look older than me a solid ten years, so telling him I was a college student off the bat seemed counterproductive. Luckily, there was a lot more to talk about than careers.