Page 17 of Burn

I lean into the bar trying to appear relaxed when I’m not. My heart is racing a million miles per hour and I think I might throw up.

“What guy?”

“That guy. You need to go up to him and have sex with him.” Scarlet points to the one with the busted lip and bloody knuckles. The one who just caused a bar fight and hasn’t been kicked out. “That’s who you need to forget about Judah.”

“Thatguy?” I point at him, which I shouldn’t because what if he takes offense to it and beats me up too? Luckily his back is to me and he doesn’t see me pointing at him. I take the drink she ordered for me, my lips searching for the small black straw. “You make this sound so easy.”

She nods, giving me a gentle shove. “It is easy. Now go.”

“One problem.”

“And that is?”

I stare at her, completely dumbfounded that she thinks this is the answer and in the same sense, actually hoping she’s right because goddamn, he’shot! “I can’t just go up to him and say let’s have sex.”

“Sure you can. Any man would jump at the chance of having sex with you.”

Bashfully, I twirl a piece of my long dark hair as a man next to Scarlet smiles and sets his chin on her shoulder, winking at me. “Is she offering?”

What a creep.

My cheeks blaze, and I’m just about to tell him hell to the no when Scar slaps the man’s cheek. “Mind your business.”

While she pushes him away, I sneak a peek over at the brawling hottie in the booth. He seems . . . unstable?

No. Judah’s unstable. This guy . . . he’s untouchable. You know, the badass type no one fucks with. The mysterious-looking motherfuckers you spend half your time looking at and wondering what the hell they’re thinking and the other half knowing you really don’t want to know the answer to that question.

“And that guy just basically beat the shit out of that other guy.” I’m trying to reason with her and talk my way out of this, two things I’m never good at with Scar. “Do you really think I need to be with him? How will he be any different from Judah?”

Scarlet sighs, as if having to explain this to me is like having to clean up after a bachelor party in the penthouse. “I’m not saying marry the guy. I’m saying fuck him. That’s all. Or at the very least dance with him where Judah can see.”

And then she shakes her head and does that thing where she gives me a sincere apologetic look. The one parents give their kids when they realize they’re beautiful because they’re dumb as a fucking rock. It’s similar to looking at Tom. You feel sorry for him because he’s that dumb, but then again, his looks make up for it, so it’s okay he can’t do basic math, and I doubt he can read. He once put on his time card for the date, his birthday. He does this weekly, so I know it wasn’t just a one-time thing.

Scarlet draws in an exaggerated breath and purses her lips. “I’m sorry, Mila. Judah is a pussy. That guy—” She points right at the bar brawling bad boy. “That dude would fuck him up.”

Scarlet’s right. Judah may have a mean glare, black eyes and covered in tattoos, but it’s all show. He wouldn’t hurt a fly.

But this guy . . . he’d probably tell his grandmother to fuck off and mean it.

And then again, do I really need to get involved with a guy who goes around beating up people in bars?

Probably not.

Does this stop me from following Scarlet over there?

Nope.

Scarlet takes another few steps toward their booth, but I stop walking and pause. I’m waiting for my conscience to knock some sense into me and tell me to go home.

Unfortunately for me, the bitch has absolutely nothing to say.

For a quick moment, I examine the guy who was fighting moments ago and is now seated in the booth like nothing happened.

I mentioned he’s hot, I’ll say it again, but he’s mostly tough. He’s definitely different that Judah. While he appears to have his forearms covered in tattoos, he doesn’t have that same mean glare Judah has 90 percent of the time. Our eyes find one another, briefly and he seems . . . approachable now. Or maybe he’s one of those guys with a warm smile who fucks you over the minute he knows he can.

Despite my internal battle, I walk across the bar with Scarlet with the promise to myself of nothing more than tonight.

We’re going to make Judah jealous, maybe give my vagina a Christmas present, and run the other way. No relationship.