“I’m on it. Talk to Lenny. I don’t want to draw too much attention to this unless it’s necessary.” Everly nods and then makes her way down the bar. I move toward the tattooed boys and snatch up three shots from the shot-girl waitress on my way. I haven’t seen these guys before, one with tightly cut black hair and the other with a longer blonde messy bun.
“Hello, boys! I see you’ve met my little sister. Full disclosure,” I whisper-shout. “She’s home on break right now and is not supposed to be drinking at the bar.” I wink at Gracie and though she doesn’t look too distraught about the situation in front of her, she does smile at me, maybe slightly relieved for another person to break up the attention.
“Where’re you in school, beautiful?” the blonde Viking asks.
Gracie looks at me and then sits a little higher in the booth. “Just finishing up at Cambridge.”
“No shit!” the Viking answers back. “England’s fun, but is dreary as hell. If you ever want to explore beyond and find your way to Denmark, you’ll need to look me up.” I don’t doubt he’s being friendly, but I can only stare at him. The guy is clearly a good decade, if not more, older than she is, but the ever-charming Gracie just smiles and nods.
I interrupt again. “My best girl over there is getting married in a couple of days, and I know she’d love for me to head back and join her. What do ya say? Want to make some bad choices with me tonight, boys?”
They look at each other, eyebrows raised, as if I just asked them to fuck me in the middle of the bar, which, maybe later, but really, I just want to clear them from my little underaged darling, and see if they’re the least bit entertaining.
The dark-haired one speaks to his friend, “Denne pige ser ud som en god tid.” (Translation: this girl looks like a good time.)
“Bare se på hendes krop,” (translation: just look at her body), the blonde Viking says back to his friend as I watch them both obviously rake their eyes around my body. I don’t have to know the language to understand what they’re saying, but I’m about to either blow their minds or embarrass them. Maybe both. Languages and my brain work well together. I pick them up quickly. Luna, my college roommate, was from Copenhagen and was the kind of woman I wanted to be. Fearless, totally fun and accepting. She was always a go-with-the-flow type of person, and I lapped up every bit of her culture and a bit of the language as well. I also lapped in between her legs a few times when the Zimas flowed too heavily. I smile, thinking about her. Life then was complicated in its own way, but nothing like what I had waiting for me years later.
I smile and hand them each a shot. Tossing mine back, I feel the burn of the tequila coat my throat. I lean into them and say, “Boys, Jeg har det godt, og min krop er bedre, når den prøver nye ting.” (Translation: Boys, I am a great time, and my body is better when it's trying out new things.) I drag my eyes up and down their bodies. I’m nothing if not blatantly obvious about what I want out of a situation. They both just start laughing, partly in surprise that I can speak a little bit of Danish, and at what I’m demanding.
Two water bottles later, because I’m responsible like that, and after watching my best friend slur her words as she tells Jack’s sister Kathryn how much of a catch she is, I’m content with continuing my fun on the dance floor. The Danes have been taking turns grinding up against me for the better part of Mary J. Blige telling me she’s searching for some real love. And while I search for someone to satisfy every need, that’s where the alignment of her words end for me. Right here, these sexy tourists with just the right amount of confidence are going to show me exactly where the reputation of nice Danish boys ends and their roots of being Viking kings begin.
Just as I’m about to shout dirty things into the ear of the dark-haired one, a loud whistle at the bar grabs my attention. I smile wide as I see Law Riggs, nice and drunk, standing on the bar, trying to gain the attention of the crowd around him.
“Gentlemen and all of you fine,finnnnneeewomen, I’d like to interrupt the evening with a toast.” He raises a beer into the air and continues as Everly is laughing and looking up at him from the bar below. “Many of you know my sister, Everly, and her fiancé slash husband.” He rolls his eyes.Same, Law, same.“I’d just like to say, I’m so proud of you, big sister, for all the obvious reasons, but for one big one that I’m sure will shock you.” The seriousness of it falls away for a moment as he smiles wide at the crowd and continues. “I walked in on these two as they sucked face for the first time and while I thought I might go blind”—he looks nervous at his choice of words for a moment, looking toward the back of the room—“it was obvious from the moment they met that there wasn’t anything anyone could do to stop these two unstoppable forces from colliding. Everly, you love unapologetically, soulfully, and continue to set the example of how it should be done.” He puts his hand over his heart. “Jack. Brother, welcome to our family. Next rounds on me!” The crowd cheers and whistles with a few hoots following as Law hops down from the bar. A very drunk Everly is cry-laughing while wrapped in Jack’s arms, and Law bear hugs both of them. I scan the back of the room, trying not to be obvious about who I’m looking for.
An arm wraps around my waist. I try to keep my mouth from smiling, but who I’m hoping it might be versus who it likely is hasn’t registered with my tequila-soaked thoughts. As his mouth comes to my ear, I know by the smell of beer instead of Cognac and the lack of scruff. The blonde Viking asks if I’d like another drink or to get out of here. I shove my disappointment aside and force myself to remember why this is the smarter way to go.Easy, forgettable, and just sex.
“Giselle! Geeeeeeeee. Imma go home with my man now. You are my most favorite human.” Everly grabs my face and drops a fat, wet kiss on my lips.
“Woman, if I knew the only thing I had to do for you to finally kiss me was to get you hitched, then I would have been pushing for it a long time ago.” I smile wide at her and then wink at Jack, whose arms are draped around her shoulders.
“Mine, G,” he says playfully.
“Always mine first, Jack. Don’t forget that shit. But I love you too. Call me when your hangover is gone, my lovely!” I yell over Jack’s shoulder to Ev.
Jack looks behind me at the Danes, and leans forward, asking, “You good here?”
I simply nod and watch as my best girl’s bachelorette comes to a close. I can hold my own here, and I’ve wanted to work out some pent-up energy with these two tourists tonight. Maybe they’ll surprise me with a nicely curved cock or a bit of an undiscovered new kink.
“What’s the plan?” the Viking asks.
“I’m going to settle the bill. Meet me outside. I’ll call us a car, and we can have a nightcap at your place. Where you stayin’?”
“A rental on Main,” the dark-haired one answers.
“Excellent. Should I grab a bottle before we leave?”
They both nod in unison. If I’m lucky, these boys won’t be as reserved when we get back to their place. Just as I turn to the bar, I notice the Viking smirk at his friend and lick his lower lip. It feels like more than a friendly vibe. Maybe my Danish acquaintances are familiar with each other in other ways? I could go for a great bisexual threesome.
My night seems a little more exciting now. Less about forgetting my mood from earlier and more about remembering a bucket list sexcapade. Vikings and swords swinging, let’s go! I mentally clap myself ready as if I was just in a huddle preparing for a final quarter.
“Last call,” is yelled out from the bartenders, and the pulsing lights drop a reality on everyone not drunk enough to go home with whomever they’ve spent the last hour flirting with.
Jack took care of our tab. And since the owner of the bar is a friend, and client, just having had his thigh tattoo of a rooster colored and shaded last week, it wasn’t much of a negotiation to snag a bottle of Grey Goose and a lemon for the road.Time for my Danes.
The cold envelops me as soon as I step out of the double doors. They shut behind me with a thump and it knocks a bit of the buzz right out of my veins. My breath is visible, but the sidewalk is quiet.
Where did they go?