“Ready to leave, beautiful?” he asked, raising his arm to flag down the bartender again. “Or can I order you one more?”
“We can go. I’m already two drinks ahead of you,” I said as I pushed the empty glass further away from myself.
“Only because I’m driving.”
I grinned at him. “I know, such a white knight.”
“Only where it counts.” He slipped off his barstool and kissed the side of my head, an endearment of his I was quickly growing spoiled by. “I’ll be back. I’m going to hit the men’s room.” He tossed his credit card on the bar. “If he comes over, have him run this.”
I watched as he walked away, my eyes trailing after him. I could see the other women turning to watch as he passed, a few whispering to their friends and discretely tilting their heads toward him. My cheeks flushed and I couldn’t help but wonder if they were enamored by how handsome he was, or if they somehow knew what we did on this very barstool earlier this evening. Just before he was out of sight, I felt the presence of a large body slide into the chair next to me. My eyes tore away from the hallway that Ryder had disappeared into, and over to a familiar face.
“Hey there, gorgeous, you come here often?” the man teased. His voice was familiar, and when I turned to face him, it mildly shocked me to see who it was.
“Oh wow! Hey Mi—Matt! How are you?” Leaning forward, I wrapped my arm around him in a quick, awkward side hug.
“I’ve been good. Work’s been busy, but it’s nice to get away from the grind and check out this new spot. Is it your first time here?” The smile on his face was genuine, ever the nice guy.
“Yeah! Quite the vibe change from Reggie’s, though, huh?”
“It is, but I prefer the atmosphere at Reggie’s. I seem to have good luck over there.” He winked, his eyes trailing down from my face to my cleavage and back up again. He didn’t even try to hide the smirk as he licked his lips and stared at me like he was ready to pounce. I was struggling to find a way to respond when I felt his hand land on my thigh. “Are you here with a friend?” he asked, gazing around the room.
“Uh ya, and he should be back any second.” Nerves ricocheted through my soul, setting off alarm bells. I couldn’t bring myself to move his hand, that was still caressing my thigh. “It was great to see you, Matt.” My tone was sharp, and I prayed he would take the hint and walk away.
Spinning on my barstool, I stared ahead and pretended to be more interested in reading the names of the various bottles of alcohol on the wall in front of me. My elbows rested on the bar and I leaned forward, willing my nerves to rest as Matt’s eyes felt heavy on me, predatory. Matt’s personality shift was making me feel extremely uncomfortable. Finally, he stood from the barstool, taking a lock of my hair between his fingers before placing it behind my ear.
“It was great to see you, Elle.” His fingers trailed down the side of my cheek before dropping to my shoulder and sliding along the side of my boob. I sucked in a sharp breath, my head snapping toward him as I prepared to go to battle for myself.
Who did he think he was?
Before I could get the words out, though, he was already walking away. My eyes shifted from his back and landed on Ryder’s face. A shiver ran down my spine as I watched the anger rage through him as he stalked toward me.
“Who the fuck was that?” he demanded, his voice thick with venom.
Instinctively, I leaned back slightly in my chair. My mind couldn’t catch up with the emotions. “Just some guy I met a few months ago at another bar. He came over to say hi.” I wasn’t sure why I was downplaying what had just happened, but the look of fury that washed over Ryder’s beautiful features froze me in my chair.
“Just some guy,” he repeated slowly. “And what exactly did some guy want?”
“To say hi Ryder, like I said.”
“It didn’t fucking look like he was just saying hi. He had his hands all over you, Elle.”
“Yeah, I know, and I tried to get him to leave, but he wasn’t taking the hint,” I spat, my own anger now coursing through my veins. Was he seriously getting mad at me for this?
“Have you fucked him, Elle?”
My mouth fell open in disbelief. “I... what?”
“Have. You. Fucked. Him,” Ryder seethed.
If this was a fantasy novel, he would have shifted into his dragon form and breathed fire into this entire establishment.
The anger that radiated off him scared me, and I suddenly realized what he had meant when he said that with me, he was the villain. I wasn’t sure I liked this side of him.
I continued to stare at him, too stunned to even respond. A steady stream of curse words flowed through my mind as I glared into his dark eyes, when suddenly he turned and retreated out of the bar, leaving me sitting there. My hand flew to the bar for the credit card that was still sitting on top of it, and I bolted after him. My body quaked a with desperate frenzy, unsure of how to think, feel, or react to everything that was currently playing out.
Cool air hit my face as I pushed through the double doors and I jogged toward where we had parked the truck. I stopped walking as Ryder came into view and watched him rage a war against himself. In a smooth motion, his fist collided with the door of his truck, bending it beneath his impact. He beat into the door a few more times before his fist dropped and he stood still, shoulders sagging and head moving slightly with each rise and fall of his heavy breaths.
I approached slowly, taking his bloody hand in mine to look over his wounds. He was banged up, but nothing that would require actual medical attention.