She was proper. She had manners. I almost laughed when she’d wiped off the table after everyone got up to go near the stage for karaoke.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Fallon’s chestnut-colored hair flew out from around her face when she heard my voice. “I thought you were going to do karaoke?”
I shrugged. “And miss out on you cleaning up the table?”
She blushed again, and it was so fucking cute. “I… I just thought it looked… dirty.”
I laughed. “It’s a bar, Fallon. If the tables aren’t sticky and the beer isn’t cold, it’s not a place you wanna go to.”
Fallon crumpled up her napkin as she peered around at all the bar lights hanging along the darkened walls. “I’ve never been to a bar like this. I’m not used to something so… rustic. I like it.”
“What kind of bar are you used to then?” I asked, sitting down in the stool beside her.
Fallon smiled shyly. “I’ve been to some clubs in college, some interesting house parties… but there isn’t anywhere like this back home.”
“And where is back home?”
That had her flashing those blue eyes up to mine. I raised an eyebrow. More secrets? Come on…
I let her off the hook. “Let’s go play some pool.”
Fallon gripped her empty beer bottle. “Pool? There’s a pool here?”
My expression changed from flirty to what-in-the-actual-fuck. “Fallon… please tell me you know what pool is.”
She only stared at me, dumbfounded.
“Oh, my God.” I put my fist up to my mouth. “Come on, young grasshopper. Let me show you how us Oak Hill folk have fun.”
Chapter Five
Fallon
Imagine an ugly thistle weed standing upright in the middle of a beautiful, open field full of colorful wildflowers. Just one among the hundreds of wildflowers… completely out of place. Well, I was the thistle weed, and everyone else in Sailed Ships—the cute, little country-type bar in the middle of nowhere—was a wildflower. I felt out of place, and I looked out of place. Yet the second my eyes found Emmett across the bar, staring directly at me with his lip tugged upward, grinning, I instantly felt like one of the wildflowers.
He made me feel different, like I was accepted, even his friends made me feel like I was accepted.
I basically wanted to put Ivy and Becca in my pocket and take them back to Chestnut Springs with me. They were FUN. Loads of fun. And I was pretty certain they actually liked me, too. In fact, Becca stole my phone and put her address in there, along with a small reminder of a wine party she was having. It was like we were all best friends, even though we just met each other. The entire night had been fun, and now here I was with Emmett, on our third game of pool, and I was having the time of my life.
I had never laughed so much before, at least not in one single sitting.
“I think I’ve got it now.” I positioned the pool stick exactly where I wanted it and then looked back at him over my shoulder. “You know you don’t have to keep guiding me, right?”
Emmett’s mouth twitched, and his hands grew even tighter on my waist. I fought the urge to squirm under his touch. It sent sparks flying down my limbs. The butterflies in my stomach were flapping their wings, and I literally felt drunk. I knew it wasn’t from the alcohol, either. I’d stopped drinking hours ago to sober up for the drive home.
But something about having his hands on me, his navy eyes driving into me… I felt drunk. Woozy. Was this called swooning? Was I swooning over some guy who I’d just met hours ago?
I thought I was. I was totally swooning for him while standing in the middle of a sticky bar that smelled like fried food and stale beer.
“Oh trust me, I know you’ve got it under control, but then I’d have to stop touching you.”
A grin started to form on my mouth. Emmett was totally flirting with me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had been flirted with in such an innocent way. Suddenly, just as I was about to put my attention back on the red striped ball that I was seconds from hitting into the far right pocket, Emmett pulled my bottom half against his.
My mouth almost gaped.
So much for innocent.