Train Me Daddy

Just as Angela was about to reply, I turned to the street and gasped. There, in a hotel bar right across the street from Tio's, was Thomas March. He was seated in front of a laptop with a pint of beer next to him. My heart skipped a beat and my breath was shaky for a moment as I watched his toned, hairy arms typing furiously away at the small computer.

“That's Thomas,” I said, grabbing Angela's arm and pointing towards the bar. Ange

la cried out, dropping her hand.

“Oh my god, June, don't be so obvious!” Angela stared, licking her lips. “Wow, you weren't kidding. He's really gorgeous.”

I nodded, blushing furiously. I couldn't believe that I'd just shrieked and pointed at Thomas, like he was an exhibit in some kind of human zoo.

“We should go say hi,” Angela said. She raised her eyebrow and smirked. “You know, just introduce ourselves.”

“Oh, Ang, I can't,” I whined. “Come on, that's embarrassing!”

But Angela was already crossing the street, her long legs making purposeful strides towards the hotel bar. Before I could catch up, she was darting into the hotel lobby and into the bar.

My heart sank. I knew this was a bad idea – besides, what the hell would I tell Thomas. Oh, we just saw you from outside and wanted to say hi?

I groaned. This couldn't be good.

By the time I got inside, I was crestfallen to see Angela standing at the bar, flirting with Thomas. When she saw me, she gave a jerk of her head to the side.

“Hey, June, over here!”

Thomas turned around. When he saw me, he narrowed his eyes. I felt like melting into a puddle of June on the expensive hotel carpeting. After a few seconds, he smiled – but warily, almost the way you'd smile at a dog you suspected might bite you.

“Hello, June,” Thomas said politely. I cringed. He couldn't have made it any more obvious if he'd tried.

“Hi,” I said shyly.

“Will you and your friend join me for a drink?”

Angela made a wide-eyed face behind Thomas's back and I blushed.

“This is my roommate, Angela,” I said nervously.

“Hi, Angela. Very nice to meet you.”

As soon as we sat down, I was sure Thomas was going to want to talk about Brett. But instead, he steered the conversation towards neutral topics. I could barely tear my eyes away from his gorgeous, leonine face. When he touched the back of my hand, I shivered.

“Hey, June, you should tell Thomas about Sundays in the Park!”

I wanted to cringe. “I'm sure he doesn't care about--”

“What?” Thomas gave Angela a charming smile and turned in his stool. I cringed as Angela started talking about Sundays in the Park – a local event every week in the summer, sort of like an open mic in the Brooklyn park across from our apartment.

As Angela talked, I realized that Thomas's glance kept turning back to his computer. Eventually, I grabbed Angela's hand.

“Angela and I really should be going,” I said nervously. Angela kicked me under the bar and I yelped.

Thomas gave me an amused grin. “Everything okay?”

I nodded quickly. “We were just on our way to another bar,” I said.

Thomas nodded. For a moment, I thought he was going to beg me to stay and I felt my heart swell inside my chest. But then he nodded and pulled out his wallet.

“Please, allow me to pay for your drinks,” Thomas said. He smiled. “If I may.”

Angela nodded quickly. “Of course!”