My Mind's Eye (Pub Fiction #1) (18 page)

I make my way closer to confront this unknown hunk, this shirtless wonder. But as I get closer, I laugh at a voice I hear and the person I see lapping up this guy’s every word—
Claire
. I should have known. My little bestie is, of course, sitting on a barstool grinning like a Cheshire cat at Pole Guy.

“Oh, there you are!” Claire calls out as she spots me smirking in her direction, glancing between her and her hottie, who is not only half-undressed, but also cooking breakfast. “I hope we didn’t wake you, Dancing Queen,” she says. I shake my head, smiling sheepishly at Claire’s name for me this morning.

I stop in front of the fridge where my goal was to grab the cream for coffee, a much-needed staple this morning. A vague image from last night’s festivities flashes into my head. “Oh my God!” I shout as I leave the cream and march over to the stool next to her, the need to suddenly sit taking over.

“Did I, uh, did I dance on the bar last night?” I ask, nervously thinking
Please say no, please say no
, as memories start flooding back to my mind.

“You sure as hell did, you little sexpot. And fuck me, was it a sight!” Claire laughs back at my question.

“Yeah, you were hotter than Hades, by the way,” adds Pole Guy. Wiping his hands on a dishtowel, he reaches over the countertop for me to shake his outstretched hand.

“Hey, the name’s Matt. We met last night, but I think it’s safe to say you may not remember,” he chuckles as we shake hands.

“Oh, God, no,” I moan and they both laugh out loud, proceeding to tell me how Matt, no longer to be referred to as Pole Guy, was walking by on his way to the bar and noticed Claire and decided he needed to talk to her.

“Kitty Kat, you, my sexy friend, were on fire! You practically drank a bottle of
ta-kill-ya
by yourself!” she seems to yell, making me wince in my current state.

“Okay, okay, you don’t have to yell, Claire Bear. I just need you to talk in whispers right now. Please be my friend, and
shh,
” I say as I head to the couch to listen to the rest of this wonderful recount of a night I have no clue about.
Damn tequila fuzzies.

From there, I gather that a whole bunch of shots and a game of bar-dare ensued and I, of course, being the competitive type, lost a few dares and ended up tequila-drunk and dancing a dare off on the main bar. Matt and Claire, my ex-best friend, seem to be enjoying my misery way too much, if you ask me.

“Man, Kat, you are hilarious. You had Brad drinking Rocky Mountain Bear Fuckers while sitting on the floor with his hands behind his back. It was awesome. He was so drunk; we had to send him home in a cab.” Claire and Matt then go on to tell me how we ended up sitting at the bar daring each other and people around us to do all kinds of crazy stunts.

Suffice it to say, I got my justice for my dare to Brad. I’m mortified as I listen to Matt and Claire tell me how, apparently, no one knew how sexy one could manage to make tequila-drunk look. With that point being shared, I start to feel my face turn beet red. I start to apologize for my behaviour, but as I start to speak, Matt and Claire quickly squash my apology, telling me I have nothing to be embarrassed about and I was sexy as hell, putting on quite the show, which ended in nothing but hoots and hollers all around. No wonder I woke up remembering a feeling of someone watching me all night.
Oh, God, I am dying!

“Did Laurie and Jenn stay over last night?” I ask, not remembering how I got home, come to think of it.

“Oh yeah. They actually ended up leaving before your performance. Laurie hooked up with some hottie and left with him. Jenn got a ride home from Matt’s buddy Max who was their DD last night. She wasn’t feeling too hot after you made her down a couple of shots for losing her dares.”

Pointing to a vase of flowers beside her, which I’d been too hungover to notice until now, Claire slips it over to me. I scrunch my face in confusion. “These were delivered for you this morning. I think someone may have an admirer,” Claire says while raising her eyebrows in a teasing manner. I take the flowers from her and find the attached card, it simply says:

My little tiny dancer…I enjoyed the show. x

Showing Claire and Matt the creepy card, they try repeatedly to convince me it’s nothing to be worried about, both listing off all the people it could be from.

“I’m pretty sure it’s just a joke, Kat. Don’t stress about it. Besides, they’re beautiful and smell amazing. I know how much you love lilies. Just enjoy them, ‘tiny dancer’.” Claire says with a warm grin.

After listening to her, I immediately think it’s Seth. He knows how much I love lilies. I shake the thought, knowing he’s probably back at school, so really there’s no way he’d be here again. He’d never miss classes for me twice. Seth never really chose me when it came down to things anyway. I’m still shocked he even showed up that night at Pub Fiction. I mean, he never did make me his main priority like he’d been mine. That was definitely another sore spot in our relationship. Besides, it’s not like I’ve seen him since that night, and after I changed my number, I’m pretty sure he got the message.

I really do appreciate their efforts as they keep trying to convince me the flowers are probably just from one of our friends playing a joke on me, trying to embarrass me about my bar-dare, and to just relax.

After reading the card over again a few times, I decide to toss the flowers in the trash, regardless of who they’re from. I just can’t shake the bad vibe I’m getting from them. At least this way, they’re out of sight, out of mind.

***

Later that night, while sitting at the kitchen table working on lesson plans for our in-class placements, Claire and I get a chance to catch up on some much-needed girl chat. Claire fills me in on all the things I’ve clearly missed.

“So, chicka,” I ask, “mind telling me how Matt came into play? What the heck happened to Colby?”

“Oh, yeah, about Colby. We decided a few weeks ago now that we were much better as friends. We just clicked that way. He’s a great guy and we have a lot of fun, but after a few dates, there wasn’t much of a spark, so in the friend zone he shall stay.” She shrugs her shoulders. This revelation makes me feel a bit guilty, as I have obviously been a bit too wrapped up in myself to have noticed.

“I’m sorry, Claire. I had no clue, and I’ve been busy with work and school, it’s honestly been consuming all of my time. I promise to be a better friend. I hope you know I’m always here.”

She smirks at me. Hell, even I don’t believe the shit coming out of my mouth.

“Don’t sweat it, Kat. I know you’re
consumed
,” she chuckles, which doesn’t go unnoticed. “Like I said, Colby and I are friends, it’s not like we had a bad breakup. In fact, I’ve been helping him to get in there with Amanda. Apparently, they met and really hit it off. Please, don’t worry; everything is good.”

I nod before closing my laptop, done with my plans for the week.

“Besides—oh my God, woman—did you see Matt? Jesus, Kat. That man is F-I-N-E. I swear, when he came up behind me to dance last night, my vagina started reciting a soliloquy about how badly she needed to meet his cock. Shit, that man can dance. And he fucks like he dances, hence my vagina and me are very happy girls,” she says, before sauntering up the stairs.

I can’t help but let out a laugh at my bestie; she really is something else. I have to say, though, I’m pretty impressed with Claire’s ability to have casual sexual relationships with men and always seemingly be able to remain friends once the relations end, for the most part anyway. There have, of course, been one or two exceptions.

Chapter 19

Ryker

W
orking with Claire a lot at Pub Fiction over the past few months has been great for getting insight into her, as well as Kat. I feel like I know them both. Claire is sweet, smart, and beautiful, too. I think she’s totally Matty’s type. I had eventhought about introducing them myself one day soon. Looks like I may have been too slow, but still correct in the sense that they’d be a good fit, I think, as I look over and see Claire, busting her texting with a grin on her face.

“It’s Matt, sorry. He wants to pick me up,” she beams.

“No problem, just be sure to put the phone away when we get busy,” I say.

I find myself enjoying getting bits of information about Kat whenever possible. When Claire and I work together, I indirectly try to steer the conversation to topics where she would be forced to bring up and talk about Kat. But then last Wednesday, Claire brought her up without my prompting.

“You need to hook up with Kat, Ryker. She could use a little fun in her life. I love the girl, but man is she way too uptight. I think you and Kat would really hit it off.”

The comment peaks my curiosity about why Claire would call her uptight. From what I’ve seen of her, she seems pretty balanced. My heart starts pounding and my pulse quickens from Claire’s words, and for the first time in a long time, I want to find out for myself. I really do want to get to know Kat on a deeper level, but I’m scared shitless to let her in. From what I know, not only is Kat beautiful on the outside, but she is even more so on the inside. Everyone here at work loves her; they’re always saying how kind and loving she is. Apparently, she wants to be a teacher; maybe I should see if she’d like to volunteer at the rec centre.
If I could only manage to form complete sentences around her.

I try to downplay my interest in Claire’s sexy roommate and friend, though, I deflect. “Yeah, but does she put out? ’Cause really, that’s the kinda fun I like best.” I wink.

“Ryker, you’re such an ass. I see the way you look at her whenever your paths cross. Believe me, I’m all-seeing and knowing.” Claire tosses the bar towel at me before she resumes serving customers. The rest of the night flies by with no further mention of Kat at all.

But she’s right; I do want her friend, more than I care to admit to her or to myself. Now if I could just figure out what the hell to do about it.

Chapter 20

Kat

“W
here do you want to sit, Kat?” Beth asks, and I scan the library for an open table closest to one of the exits. The girls are more than aware of my little quirks since the fire, so they usually allow me to choose our spot when we’re out together. We’ve all been spending a lot of time together; it’s something I’ve been very open about. I’m lucky to have met them, because they have all been more than understanding about everything, including my dad adding the extra safety gear around the house.

Once we’re settled at the long study table, Radha, Beth, Jenn, Laurie, and I pop open our laptops with the intention of finishing up our research notes that we need for our essays.

“God, this inquiry stuff is killing me. I feel like we’ve been working on it forever. Have you had any luck finding good journal artic—” Jenn interrupts her own words and I look to where she’s staring. “Holy cheese monkeys! Look at that fucking guy over by the reserve desk; holy rainbows, he’s pretty.” She all but drools. I see who she’s talking about and immediately my heart begins to pick up its pace.

Really? Really? Does he need to be everywhere I am?

“Oh, shit, guys, look down, and just keep looking down. Please, do not draw attention to us.”

“Kat, are you batshit loopy or what? “Don’t draw attention?” Hell, girl, I wanna rip my fucking clothes off and ask him to go bag me in the stacks over there, ’cause hot damn, woman, that man is fine, and I would like to fuck him—a lot,” Radha shares while she’s fanning herself, sinking further and further into her chair.

“First of all, you need to stop hanging around Claire, Radha. You just freaked me the hell out with that Claire-ism. Next thing I know, you’ll be calling me Jedi or grasshopper.” I try to stifle my laugh because it was really quite funny. “Second, that over there is none other than Ryker Eddison. The torturer of all things Kat Rollins. So, yeah, keep it the fuck down, ladies. I do not need him to see me.” I sigh in defeat as the fuckers do exactly what I just asked them not to.

“OH MY GOD, KAT!” Beth shouts.

“No way! He is sooo fucking hot,” Beth and Laurie practically yell in unison. Perfect. Draw attention to us, to me.

“Guys, this is a
library
. Please shut up! I said I do not want him to see me,” I plead a bit louder.

“Holy snickerdoodles, Kat. Claire is right; you need to tap that!” Laurie is now looking right at him.

“Please, Laur, keep your voice down. Stop gawking,” I mutter, my eyes still looking downcast at the keys of my laptop.

“Ohh shit, Kat, he’s on the move. He’s looking this way. Jesus, he really is fine with a capital F for fuck me.” Laughs Beth.

I want to throat punch her.
Please don’t see me. Please don’t see me.
Unwillingly, my brain is an asshole and shuts down as I seek Ryker out. I can’t help it. It’s like I just need to see him. Lifting my head, I gasp in an immediate breath as Ryker Eddison is staring at me. He’s like ten feet in front of our table, and he’s just standing there, like the beautiful Adonis he is. Finally, as my eyes make their way from his shoes back up to his eyes, I suddenly feel the urge to smoke, because for the first time in my life, I, Kat Rollins,
Miss Uptight,
just eye-fucked a man. Not only in public, but with my friends sitting beside me giggling at my blatant display of appreciation. As our eyes meet, his go wide before he nods and gives me the biggest shit-eating grin known to man. All before he mouths,
I see you too, baby,
without anyone seeing him and saunters out the library doors, leaving me speechless.

“Well, that was just all kinds of hot. Jesus, Kat. That was the sexiest eye-fuck I have ever seen. Tell us again how you don’t wanna tap that,” Laurie basically calls me out.

After telling them all about my recent Ryker experiences, we finally manage to get a bit of work done. Well, they do.