“Introduce me to your girlfriend,” she smiled. I rolled my eyes.
Travis tipped his head back to finish his beer, and then slid his empty bottle down the bar. Everyone waiting to order watched it until it fell into the trash can at the end. “She’s not my girlfriend.”
He grabbed Megan’s hand, and she happily traipsed behind him to the dance floor. He all but mauled her for one song, and then another, and another. They were causing a scene with the way she let him grope her, and when he bent her over I turned my back to them.
“You look pissed,” a man said as he sat next to me. “Is that your boyfriend out there?”
“No, he’s just a friend,” I grumbled.
“Well, that’s good. That could have been pretty awkward for you if he was.” He faced the dance floor, shaking his head at the spectacle.
“Tell me about it,” I said, drinking the last of my beer. I barely tasted the last two I had put away, and my teeth were numb.
“Would you like another one?” he asked. I looked over at him and he smiled. “I’m Ethan.”
“Abby,” I said, taking his outstretched hand.
He held up two fingers to the bartender, and I smiled. “Thanks.”
“So you live here?” he asked.
“In Morgan Hall at Eastern.”
“I have an apartment in Hinley.”
“You go to State?” I asked. “What is that … like an hour away? What are you doing over here?”
“I graduated last May. My little sister goes to Eastern. I’m staying with her this week while I apply for jobs.”
“Uh-oh … living in the real world, huh?”
Ethan laughed. “And it’s everything they say it is.”
I pulled the gloss out of my pocket and smeared it across my lips, using the mirror lining the wall behind the bar.
“That’s a nice shade,” he said, watching me press my lips together.
I smiled, feeling the anger at Travis and the heaviness of the alcohol. “Maybe you can try it on later.”
Ethan’s eyes brightened as I leaned in closer, and I smiled when he touched my knee. He pulled back his hand when Travis stepped between us.
“You ready, Pidge?”
“I’m talking, Travis,” I said, moving him back. His shirt was damp from the circus on the dance floor, and I made a show of wiping my hand on my skirt.
Travis made a face. “Do you even know this guy?”
“This is Ethan,” I said, sending my new friend the best flirty smile I could manage.
He winked at me, and then looked at Travis, extending his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Travis watched me expectantly until I finally gave in, waving my hand in his general direction. “Ethan, this is Travis,” I muttered.
“Travis Maddox,” he said, staring at Ethan’s hand as if he wanted to rip it off.
Ethan’s eyes grew wide and he awkwardly pulled back his hand. “Travis Maddox? Eastern’s Travis Maddox?”
I rested my cheek on my fist, dreading the inevitable testosterone-fueled story swapping that would soon ensue.