Soul Searching

Butterflies

"Little Rose? Is that really you?" James asks.

I smile at him, "It's good to see you, James!"

He runs up and hugs me, picking me up off of the ground. Which is easy for him to do since he's 6'4" to my 5'4".

I start kicking my legs. "James, please put me down!" He reluctantly puts me down.

"I haven't seen you in years. Are you allowed to be at a bar?" James asks.

I blush. "Yes, I'm allowed to be here. I'm 23, for God's sake."

He looks down at me and smiles. "Well, in that case, let me buy you a drink, please?"

"That sounds great to me!" I say as he holds the door open for me, "Thank you, good sir!" As I enter back into the bar.

We make our way up to the bar, I order another southern bondage as James side eyes me. He orders a Rum and coke. We walk over to where Zane and Whit are standing and start in on a conversation with them about what they would like to do tomorrow. James is standing close enough to me that I can smell his cologne. It's intoxicating if I'm being honest. I look up at him while he's chatting with Zane about the new video games coming out soon. I've always had a crush on James ever since we were little, but he always acted like a big brother to me. He's the reason I got so good on Call of Duty, and one of the reasons I started reading so much. I remembered him telling one of his friends how much he loved book smart girls, not the dumb slutty type. His hazel eyes with his shaggy dirty blonde hair always did it for me. He looks so much more handsome than he did in school, and butterflies started filling my stomach, like a little school girl. But I knew he wasn't into a girl like me, or so I thought.

"Rose, would you like to step out back with me?" James asks, looking down at me.

"Sure." We make our way to the door as he holds it open for me, we light up our smokes, and I start getting a cold chill, and he wraps his arms around me. I look up at him as he smiles.

"You were starting to shiver, I can't let the little Rose get cold, now can I?" he chuckles.

"Thank you." I say softly as he pulls me in closer. Inhaling my scent and sighing.

We finish our smokes and step back inside. I'm almost run over as a hand grabs mine and pulls me out of the way. I slam into a hard chest. Looking up to see whose chest I slammed into, it was James'. He pulls me behind him as he cusses out the men that damn near ran me over. They promptly apologize and leave. James pulls me into the bar, cursing under his breath, and then looks down at me.

"Hey Rose?" he asks.

"Hmm?" I ask back.

"Would you like to dance with me later?" asks James.

I look up at him wide-eyed. "You really wanna dance with me?" He nods. "Yeah, I'd love to dance with you." I reply.

He still holds my hand as he guides me to the bar. He orders us both two more drinks, and we go talk with Zane and Whit, who are giggling at each other being goofy. We both chuckle at them and jump right into the conversation. And then something stirs inside of me. I'm not sure what it is, but it feels like I'm incomplete for some reason. Sitting down, I think on why I could be feeling this way. Did I maybe not eat enough at dinner or something? Have I not been taking proper care of myself?

My thoughts are interrupted as a set of hazel eyes catch my attention. I swear I can hear him in my head asking, 'Are you alright, princess?' I nod at him, as if he said it out loud, and then he returns to the conversation. I get up and tell Zane, James, and Whit I need to use the restroom. Whit takes my hand and says she needs to go as well. We walk in the bathroom. She turns on her heels and stops me dead in my tracks as the door closes behind me.

"What is going on with you, lady? I thought you were with Scott?" she asks abruptly.

My heart doesn't sting as much as I previously thought it would. "I'm not doing anything, I swear!" I hiss at her.

"Try telling Mr. I got the hots for Rose out there that. He is all over you, and you don't even realize it, do you?" she states.

Looking at her, I tilt my head to the side, clearly confused. "What? James? No, I'm like his little sister Whit. There is no way he's into me."

"Tell that to the looks he has been giving you all night, babes." she says.

I nod and go about my business in the restroom. When I exit, I look around for James, but I don't see him. I go out front and don't see him so I decide to go look out back. As I turn on my heels, I am met with a hard chest for the second time tonight. I start grumbling and start walking past the person I ran into when my hand is grabbed.

"Where you going, princess?" I look up, and of course, it's James. I smile at him, not understanding my need to be as close to him as possible.

"Looking for you." I say sweetly.

"Good," he smiles. James drags me out to the dance floor.