I grabbed Mae’s beer off the bar and drank about a third of it before Marissa pulled it away from my mouth.

“The fuck,” I said as beer dribbled from the bottle onto my blazer. I started to drink the beer again, determined to ignore this conversation. Marissa bent down and squeezed my kneecap, the only ticklish spot on my body. I laughed and then choked, and said, “If you’re trying to do an intervention, giving me booze probably isn’t the best idea.”

“Not just a guy. A relationship,” Marissa emphasized.

“I just got laid last week,” I said, even though they wouldn’t believe me. It was true, though.

“Did you hear us say you need to get laid? You need a reason to only work eight hours a day. You need the stability of a relationship,” said Kelsey.

“The stability of a relationship? Don’t make me laugh.”

Kelsey knew that Scott had caused me to suffer quite a lot of pain. She thought it was emotional pain, though, when it really was physical.

Well, maybe a small amount of emotional pain, too, my inner voice whispered.

The responsibility for that pain rested squarely on me for picking him in the first place. If I hadn’t trusted Scott because I was so blinded by “love”, maybe my life would be normal. I had learned a valuable life lesson: don’t trust men. And before a month had gone by after he left me, I realized that a “normal” relationship wasn’t in the cards for me. Yes, I liked sex, even loved it sometimes, but that didn’t mean I needed a relationship to get it. I’d learned that lesson from Scott, too.

Mae and Marissa looked at each other, communicating silently the way sisters could, and I knew they were worried I was about to blow my lid. I hadn’t earned my bitchy reputation for nothing. Apparently, Kelsey wasn’t worried because she said, “It’s been six years, Rose.”

I turned back to the bar and signaled to Harry. I didn’t want to argue with any of them or storm out of the bar, especially not in front of all these people. I figured my best recourse was to get lit. Harry placed the booze in front of me silently this time, and I slammed back a shot without looking at my sisters or Kelsey.

“I’m sorry, Rose,” Kelsey said softly. I looked at her and then at my sisters, and tears sprang to my eyes at the compassion I saw on their faces.

Oh God, this was a terrible idea, coming here.

My family was always trying to save me from myself. Didn’t they understand I couldn’t talk about this? I couldn’t talk about it with them or anyone else, and I never had during all these years.

“Why would you bring this up now?” I said, as I glared at them. “You know how I feel about it, but you still bring it up all the fucking time! Life isn’t all rainbows and unicorns, and the sooner you realize that the better off you’ll be!”

Kelsey looked shocked, Mae looked sad, and Marissa looked like she knew no matter what anyone said, I would never change. Sadly, I knew she was right. The people surrounding us openly watched now, and this only added to my anger.

“We’re only trying to help you, Rose,” Mae said quietly, as she took Marissa’s hand and pulled her away into the crowd. Kelsey refused to look at me as she grabbed her beer and disappeared, too.

Well, that’s just great.

Now, I was three shots and almost two beers into a buzz that would inevitably leave me feeling even more alone than usual. I grabbed my beer again and started guzzling it.

“Wow, having a rough night?” a male voice said next to me.

I looked to my right and my buzzed brain registered that the voice belonged to an extremely sexy man that I had never before met. He was not a local. Of that, I was sure. I said nothing as I studied him. He was several inches taller than my 5’7”, had dark brown wavy hair that looked suitable for pulling, a nose that had most likely been broken a couple of times, the usual strong jaw that all handsome guys seemed to have, and eyes so blue that even I was a little stunned by them. Our eyes locked, and he smiled just a little, revealing a dimple in his cheek, completing the Sexy Guy Package.

“Like what you see?” he asked.

“Can’t come up with anything better than that, huh?” I said, disappointed, as I turned back to the bar and looked at my reflection in the mirror behind it. He turned to face the bar too, and we watched each other in the mirror.

God, what a waste; sexy guys were always stupid.

I looked away from him in the mirror and looked for my sisters and Kelsey instead. I felt badly about what I had said to them. Bu

t I wasn’t going to apologize. They knew not to go there with me by that point. I couldn’t see them, and wondered if they had left. Suddenly, I felt very alone. I could also feel that Sexy Guy still looked at me in the mirror.

“Like what you see?” I said.

“Not really,” he replied dryly, and I snapped my head to look at him.

“Why are you dressed like that? Did you do it purposely, to age yourself about twenty years and turn guys off? Believe me, it’s working.”

I stared at him, shocked that he would have the balls to talk to me like that. Nobody talked to me like that. Obviously, Sexy Guy had not been warned of my reputation. He continued very nonchalantly, as if he was commenting on the weather, “Even so, you’re very pretty. I just don’t get the clothes.”

Tags: Alyse Zaftig Paranormal
Source: readsnovelonline.net