Elara
"That was incredibly hot,"Iris announced. As our group's artist, with her fiery red hair, she looked far too pleased with herself. "You should turn right around and do it again."
"Absolutely not." For fuck's sake, the man was gorgeous and knew it. "It was not hot, and I am not going anywhere near him."
"I disagree," Nadia said. She was the brainy one in our group, the genius. I finished the last of her drink, and she gave me a fake-stern look. She had traded her glasses for contacts tonight and had been squinting ever since. "But it was not a proper kiss."
It had felt plenty proper to me.Iris started making loud, obnoxious kissing sounds in my direction. "Mwah. Mwah. I wanted a real show. I wanted to see the two of you actually go for it."
"I think he is into you, Elara," Jade stated.
They were the first words she had spoken since I came back to the table. I decided to ignore her. She was the one who had started this whole mess.
"I am not sure. He wants me to go to his room," I said, the words spilling out more for myself than for them.Iris passed me my bag from where she sat beside me. "His motel is right behind this building."
Nadia pulled her phone from her purse. She typed for a moment while I stared into my empty glass. I could feel the man's presence at the bar, his attention fixed on me without any disguise. A sexy bastard.
"It is true," Nadia announced, sliding her phone in front of me. The screen showed pictures of the motel, located directly behind the bar. "He was not lying. It is right there."
"Good for him, I guess."
Iris stirred her bright-colored drink with a straw. She looked up, and I shook my head before she could even ask the question. Just because she could handle staying out all night did not mean I could get away with it. My father would actually murder me.
"Are you going to go with him?" she asked.
"Fuck off,Iris. Are you insane?"Iris laughed like it was the most reasonable idea in the world. I looked around the table. Three pairs of eyes were locked on me, full of expectation.
"For God's sake. He is a total stranger. That is how people end up on the news."
"So what? A real icon would do it. Nicki is an icon," Jade said, clearly trying to provoke me. And it was working, because she was right about that part. "It is just a kiss. We will wait right here for you."
I pushed down the voice in my head that was screaming at me to refuse. There were four of us and only one of him. What was the very worst thing that could happen? Nadia nudged me with her knee.Iris batted her eyelashes. Jade gave me a begging look. It was only a kiss.
"You will wait for me. You promise?"
"We promise," Jade answered. "Your dad would have all of our heads if you were not home by eleven." My father was the school principal, and they knew better than to make an enemy of a man who held their academic lives in his hands. "Just do not do anything more than kissing, alright?"
"We will see about that."
Nadia launched into a story about Lucien, the captain of the school team. She had liked him forever but never had the guts to say anything. I stopped listening as the handsome stranger's focus found me again. Even with his sunglasses on, I could feel him looking. He stood up suddenly, and I grabbed my purse just to have something to do with my hands.
The man left money on the bar, said a few words to the bartender, and began walking toward our table. The place was not that busy, so every head turned to watch him move. He was sexy, and he knew it, walking with a slow, confident swagger like he owned the whole building.
Iris giggled when she saw where I was looking. "You have to admit, he is beautiful," she whispered.
It was true. But I did not have to say it out loud. I looked away just as he reached our table. His sunglasses were still on, and I really wondered what kind of person wore them inside a bar at night. Jade said something to him, but my heart was beating too hard and fast for me to make out the words. He replied. It must have been funny, because the whole table laughed.Iris even snorted. If she was snorting, he had to be genuinely clever.
I finally looked up and found his eyes waiting for me. "Hello," I said.
"Last chance," he replied.
I looked at my friends, and they all gave me encouraging nods. I stood up, but my feet felt glued to the floor. "How can I be sure you will not hurt me?"
He laughed. I hated that his laugh was as beautiful as he was. Could a laugh even be beautiful?
While he was thinking of an answer, Jade tilted her head, studying him. "You look really familiar."
"I get that a lot."
"Very familiar," Jade added.
"I get that one a lot, too."
Iris, Nadia, and I exchanged a look. They just shrugged. No recognition. We did not see what Jade was seeing. She was the oldest in our group, and we looked up to her, but we were not seeing it.
Mr. Stranger's attention returned to me. "What is your answer?"
"You did not answer my question," I mumbled.
"Jade has my number," he said. I shot a hard look at her, and she nodded. What had they talked about in the short time I had been distracted? He held up his phone, and the screen lit up with a call, Jade's number clear for anyone to see. "Well?" he asked.
I took a deep breath. He could not be all bad, or my best friends would never have agreed to this crazy plan. But what the hell did a bunch of teenagers really know? I stepped out to stand beside him, leaving a careful distance between our bodies. "I will bring her back in one piece. It was a pleasure to meet you all. My name is A."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. A," they said together.
How long had they been talking? I followed A outside, and the cold night air hit us immediately. I let out a short laugh at our outfits. Our dresses were a very bad choice for this weather.
"What is so funny?" Mr. A asked.
"We are not dressed for this cold."
"Yeah?" He offered me his hand, and I slipped mine into it. It felt surprisingly good. He pulled me forward, away from the bar, and said, "It is this way." I stayed quiet as we turned onto a path under the streetlights. The sign for his motel glowed up ahead, and some of the tightness in my shoulders began to loosen. He had been telling the truth.
"Your friends really wanted you to get a kiss, huh?" he asked.