Page 40 of Four Letter Feelings

Chapter 16

His flight home wasn’t until the following morning. AJ had already left to stay with his parents for the holidays so Blake and Chris had managed to convince Jeremy to go out to the bar for a few drinks.

A few drinks, they say. It’ll just be a couple, they say. I don’t believe what they say… but I’ll never pass up a chance to hook up. I’ll deal with the hangover on the plane tomorrow, but for tonight, I’m carpe-ing the beer!

Jeremy pulled open the door to the bar and stepped inside. He knew the others were already there and had almost finished their first drink, he knew he’d have to throw a couple back to catch up, but Jeremy had had to finish his laundry and pack a few small Christmas gifts for his parents. Apparently tossing your clothes in a pile and hoping they’d wash themselves didn’t result in them actually washing themselves and he didn’t want to land at his parents’ house with a bag of dirty laundry. They had enough to grouse at him over without adding ‘not being adulty enough’ to the list. Despite having triple checked the tickets, and the hotel confirmation that he’d printed on-campus for his parents’ gift tucked safely away in his case, he was still somehow convinced he’d forget them. Standing at the bar he caught the attention of the barman with a jerk of his chin and got the universal sign for ‘one minute’ in return. As he waited, he glanced around the busy room until he spotted Blake, sitting at a table. His gaze then landed on a beautiful woman leaning across the bar, trying to get the barman’s attention. Her auburn waves reached her elbows, and for a moment, Jeremy wondered how it would feel to have his hands buried in it.

“What can I get you?” the barman asked over the background noise of the busy bar.

“She was first.” He cocked his head towards the woman a few feet away.

“Sure. What’ll it be?” he asked her, stopping halfway between them.

Jeremy watched as she placed her order and before he knew what was happening, she’d turned to face him and the profile he’d been studying was staring straight at him.

“It’s rude to stare,” she stated, ice-blue eyes dazzling even in the dimly lit bar.

Do all women have weirdly sparkly eyes? He tried to recall what Chelsea’s eyes looked like, but in that moment, he was instantly mesmerized and entirely consumed by the beautiful redhead standing in front of him. It was as though no one else in the world existed.

“I mean, sure, that’s definitely a true statement... But it’s kind of hard not to stare when you’re just so damn beautiful.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, but Jeremy noticed that she was blushing as she paid for her drink. He also noticed that she didn’t move away as he ordered his beer, in fact, she closed the distance between them and stood within arm’s-reach of Jeremy but still faced forward, watching the barman grabbing and opening Jeremy’s bottle of beer. Her scent was as mesmerizing as her eyes, she smelled of limes and the sea, and her skin was so pale it made Jeremy wonder how she could possibly live in Alabama and yet still be so… translucent.

Maybe she’s visiting from Iceland or something… maybe she’s a vampire and stays inside during the day… I could be down with some biting… hmm… maybe she’s a mermaid? He glanced down at her feet, just to make sure, and as he dragged his gaze back up to her face, he paused on her backside for just a moment too long.

“Eyes up here, playboy!” she admonished with a wicked grin.

“Oh, I’m well aware of where your eyes are thanks. I was just, eh… checking—”

“… out my ass. It’s polite to at least finish your sentence while ogling another person quite so brazenly!”

Jeremy chuckled and took a drink of his beer. “No, no, I meant checking.”

“Ok then, I’ll bite. Checking for what, exactly?” she tilted her head and regarded him with curiosity.

Biting, eh? Definitely leaning towards vampire.

He saw playfulness in her eyes, and as she smiled at him, he noted that even the tiny, almost imperceptible laugh lines at the edges of her eyes were beautiful.

“A tail,” he answered without thinking.

“Excuse me?”

Aw shit.

“I mean… no, wait, that’s not what I… shit. Okay. Let me backup for a second.” He held his hands up in surrender.

“Well,” she drawled, folding her arms across her chest. “This is going to be good.”

“I didn’t mean, like, an animal tail, I meant a mermaid tail.”

She raised her eyebrow and waved a hand to indicate he should continue.

Jeremy sighed. “You’re beautiful, and weirdly… pale, but mostly beautiful. I can’t tear my eyes away from—” he gestured at her body. “Yep, totally aware this is inappropriate to say, but I can’t seem to stop my mouth from saying the words.”

“So, you think I’m some magical siren who’s going to use her mystical allure to… what… exactly?”

“I have no idea. But whatever it is I’ll do it, willfully. And you forgot singing. She’s… you’re… going to use your allure, singing and—” he gestured to her body again.

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