Ride or Ruin

Him

As we stare into each other's eyes, the world pauses. For a moment, him and I were the only two in the room. The only souls in the world. The weight of his palm on the small of my back connected us as deeply as his gaze. A silent conversation between us told me who he was. I could see him, the real him. He was...

His eyes drifted down, taking me in. I could see the hunger in his look and the spell was suddenly broken. He wasn't the gentleman of my dreams, he was just another Rickie. Regaining my composer and nodding to him. "Thank you sir," immediately feeling dorky about my choice of behavior, I turned to continue my search for a restroom.

I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away and I struggled not to look back at him. Finally finding the ladies room, I jiggled the door only to find it locked. I could hear giggling on the other side of the door and I knocked loudly. Folding my arms and daring to glance back towards the handsome man, I found a cluster of unfamiliar faces. I was both relieved and saddened. Something about him set me on edge and I wasn't sure if that was a good feeling or bad.

I searched for Lily through the crowd but with no luck. When the restroom door eventually opened, two women stumbled out straightening their short, leather skirts and wiping their smudged lipstick. I rushed in to relieve myself, trying to ignore the disgusting state of the bar bathroom.

As soon as I opened the restroom door, the handsome stranger was towering so close to the entrance I almost ran face-first into his broad chest. He smirked again as my eyes drifted slowly over the mountains of lean muscle adorning his torso up to his chiseled, clean-shaven jawline.

"What's your name, baby girl?" His voice, silky and deep, made me sigh. It was as though I was a high school teenager ogling over the football captain. I felt ridiculous. "Not interested," I said as I pushed past him. The heat of him followed me as I made my way through the wave of dancing, sweating strangers on the dance floor.

I rushed towards the entrance but was stalled by my name being called by Lily. She was waving at me from the bar, a beer in hand. I did not want to spend another minute in this place but seeing as she was my ride I made my way to her. "There you are! Come on, I'll buy you a beer."

"Can we go?" I asked, already knowing what her answer would be. "What? No! Come on Harlow, just one drink. Dance a little, let your hair down. Seriously, you just went through a huge breakup. You need to let loose! There are tons of guys here. Find one to hookup with for the night." I rolled my eyes at her again, I wasn't and never intended to be like her in that way. She was the wild one and I liked the way I was.

She handed me a fruity-looking mixed drink. From experience, I knew arguing with her would go nowhere and I took the beverage. I took a small slip and found it actually enjoyable, the alcohol barely noticeable compared to the sparkling red fruit juice. Lily took another swig of her beer and scanned the room. "Lily, stop," I told her. "We are not taking anyone home, we just drove for like nineteen hours straight. I just want to shower and lay down."

Ignoring my complaining, Lily continued searching the room. Her scanning came to a halt and her face grew dim, almost angry. I followed her red-hot stare to the man I'd been avoiding. He was standing by the stage holding a beer of his own. People were dancing around him but were intentionally steering clear of him. Those around him glanced at him with what looked like fear in their eyes. His stance was solid and commanding, and his gaze was once again locked directly on me.

I felt an uncomfortable heat on the back of my neck. "Who is that?" I asked Lily, who refused to back down from her stare of doom. He gulped down the rest of his drink and began towards us, the path clearing with each stride. Lily looked at me then and grabbed the drink from my hand. She set it on the bar and grabbed my hand to leave. "He's no one, come on it's time to go."

I didn't argue, I felt the danger of his energy. We rushed out the door and into the car. As we drove out of the parking lot and into the street, he stood by the entrance, hands back in his pockets staring them down with the same c****d smile and lustful eyes. Lily was fuming and I couldn't quite figure out what just happened but I desperately wanted to know at least what to call him.

"Lily?" Her hands were gripped tightly on the steering wheel. "Lily." I said more firmly. She let out a breath I didn't know she was holding. "What the hell was that?" I asked.

It was obvious she didn't want to tell me. I live here now, though. I should know if I was going to be in real danger. He seemed a walking contradiction, soft and hard. I wanted to stay away and get even closer. I never wanted to see him again but couldn't keep him off my mind. I needed to know him to know if I needed to stay away from him.

As though Lily could read my thoughts, she answered all my questions in one sentence. "That was Cole Lawson."