Page 322 of The Tempted

Chapter Six

I threw back the shot of Fireball, sliding the empty glass across the bar to the hot bartender who bought one for me and one for Mia. She took the bus into the city and we’ve been bar hopping since happy hour, five bars, and two hours later…we were bombed.

“I think we should move to another bar, there’s no hot guys here,” Mia complained.

“The bartender’s not bad,” I said, squinting my eyes to get a better look, but I was blind as a bat without my glasses.

Mia giggled beside me.

“What?” I asked, turning to her. At least I could see up close.

“Where are your glasses?”

“I forgot them at my brother’s house,” I mumbled.

“Oh, that reminds me! Why haven’t you mentioned that your brother’s friends are fucking lickable?”

“Lickable? Really?” was that even a word? I picked the olive out of my martini and popped it into my mouth. “For the record, Anthony’s friends usually aren’t anything to write home about. They’re usually twice his age and full of graying hair.”

“That man who showed up with your mother was sex on a stick,” she countered.

I brought my drink to my lips. Riggs was definitely sex on a stick and well…indeed lickable.

“Have you seen him since?”

“A couple of times. He works at the gym,” I said, trying not to think of that smile or the way his eyes gleamed with mischief. He was trouble with a capitalT,and not for the obvious reasons either. Anyone who ran in the same circle as my brother had criminal tendencies, but Riggs was trouble because he was hard to resist.

“You should get on that, or under it, whichever you prefer, but do something. It’s your duty as a member of the female population,” she declared.

“I couldn’t,” I said weakly.

“Oh yeah? Why the hell not?” she questioned, nudging me with her elbow. “I thought you were turning over a new leaf? What was it you said? Oh, yes, you would live for yourself and not everyone else. Seems the best way to start is by giving into your needs,” she reasoned.

“Funny, I remember having this same conversation before I quit nursing school. I thought that was the start of the new me,” I said sarcastically.

“Okay, fine, so this is the sequel,” she laughed. “Stop worrying about everything so much. You’re twenty-one, you’re supposed to fuck up your life and do stupid things.”

Words to live by.

She was an idiot sometimes.

“He gave me his number,” I said, biting my lip.

“And I’ll bet the next round you haven’t used it,” she surmised, treating me to an eye roll. “I love you, Lauren, but sometimes you’re such a pussy,” she added, climbing off the stool and pulling down her mini-skirt. “Seriously, you need to grow a pair.” She downed the rest of her cosmopolitan, placing the empty glass on top of the bar. “Order me another, I have to go to the bathroom.”

I sighed as she walked away and tried to make eye contact with the bartender, but for all I knew I wasn’t even looking at the right guy. I’d just wait until he came closer to order the drinks.

I pulled my phone out of my purse, bored, I browsed my contacts until I came to his name.

Tiger.

I smiled instantly.

Fucking Riggs.

Fucking life.

And then I did what every normal twenty-one-year old with no direction in life would do…I texted him.

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