Thrust
Page 2

 Victoria Ashley

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I quickly compose myself and clear my throat before continuing. “A deep voice.” I swallow and look up to meet his face. “And a perfect, masculine jawline with just the right amount of stubble.” My eyes trail lower to see his broad chest being hugged by a white shirt. “A firm chest and . . .” My eyes are going lower. Why are they going lower? “Um . . . a nice package.” I nod my head, turning red as I realize that I just admitted that all aloud. “Definitely all man. Well this is awkward.”
Giving me a sexy smirk, he nods at Dane as he sets my drink down in front of me.
“Here you are, Ms. Adventurous. Enjoy.” Dane winks before looking beside me at the sexy man that is now placing a gym bag down by his feet. “A draft tonight, Kyan?”
“Absofuckinglutely.” He smiles at me, keeping his eyes on mine as he continues to speak to Dane. He has such a powerful gaze that I find my eyes locked tight with his amber ones. “Make it two.”
“Sure thing, man.” He slaps the bar and walks away to fetch two beers.
Pulling my eyes away, I reach out faster than I’ve ever moved in my life and reach for the blue drink. Kyan—I guess his name is—carefully watches me as I down half of it without stopping for a breath. When you feel like a fool . . . you drink. Fast. Very fast.
“You’re new here, Ms. Adventurous.” He raises an eyebrow, watching me as I finally pull away from my drink that tastes just like juice. So much for being adventurous. “Is that your real name or just due to that really strong drink you’ve got there?”
Focusing on his gorgeous, carefree smile, I start to relax and feel more at ease. “It’s due to my drink, though sadly it doesn’t live up to it.” I feel my eyes wandering over his body again, taking in his tattooed, muscular arm. His right arm is covered in a sleeve of tattoos, while the other one looks to be clean and firm. He must workout really hard at that gym. “My name is Calla.”
He digs his teeth into his bottom lip and blindly scoots one of the beers in front of me and one in front of him as Dane drops them off. “Calla,” he says smoothly. “That’s a sexy name. I could definitely get used to moaning that out.”
Oh my . . . what! My heart begins to beat rapidly while trying to pry my eyes away from his sexy as sin mouth. How are his lips so full and smooth? Would I get in trouble for licking them? Yes, Calla! Really? “Is that some kind of pick up line?” I ask, somewhat hoping that it is.
He takes a swig of his beer, looking at me over the rim. When he pulls his beer away, a sexy grin is taking over his mouth. “Nah, I’ve never said that before. Just stating the truth.”
Now I’m the one pulling my bottom lip into my mouth. Turning away, I reach for the beer in front of me. “Is this supposed to be my adventure?”
He stands up. “Sure. If you can keep up with me.”
I sit here for a second, smiling like an idiot as he walks over to one of the empty pool tables and starts setting it up.
Looks like I’ll be playing pool. It’s been a little while, but I have faith that I’m still pretty decent. My dad took me to bars a lot on the weekends while he watched football with his buddies. It was a fun childhood. Oh the memories!
I take out some cash and call Dane over so I can pay for my drink. Dane takes one look at me and shakes his head before nodding over in Kyan’s direction. “Keep it. Kyan will be pissed if he knows you paid.”
I glance over my shoulder to see Kyan looking over at us. He’s watching to see if Dane is going to take my money. “Alright. Well let me at least give you a tip. I won’t take no for an answer.” Dropping a ten dollar bill on the bar, I quickly turn and walk away before Dane can try to give it back. Kyan may not let me pay for drinks, but tipping is something that I always do.
Setting my glass down on the nearby table, I pull my small leather jacket off and drape it over a chair. “Does this mean I get to outdrink you and outplay you in pool tonight? It’s a good thing I don’t work tomorrow.”
That earns a small snicker from Kyan as he rubs the blue chalk on the end of a cue stick before holding it out for me. “Are you trying to challenge me, Ms. . . . ?” He raises an eyebrow in question.
“Reynolds,” I say with confidence. “And yes. I’ve just spent my whole day moving into this amazing building with my lazy best friend that barely lifted a finger the entire time. I’m feeling pretty damn powerful right now.”
Taking a drink of his beer, he grabs for his own cue stick now and rubs some chalk on the tip. Getting prepared, he sets his stick down and runs his hands through the thickness of his brown hair, before picking up his stick again. “Good thing neither one of us will have far to go after this.” He pulls the triangle off the balls before motioning for me to break. “I’ve had a long night at the gym so I’ll be drinking quite a few of these.”
I let out an amused laugh while walking around the table. “You don’t scare me, big guy.” I pat his chest as I walk by. “Oh wow.”
“Wow what?”
I look up from leaning over the table. “I’ve just never felt such a firm chest before. That’s all. You must work really hard in the gym. I’m wanting to look into a gym myself.”
“I do.” He flashes a confident smile. “And that’s perfect, because there’s a gym down the road. Wilder Fitness. They have the best personal trainers.” His voice and body language oozes straight up sexiness and confidence whenever he speaks. I really don’t blame him. He has the right to be.
“Alright. I’ll look into that in the morning. As long as I don’t decide to sleep all day.” I take my shot and smile as two solids sink into a pocket. “Sweet. I’m solids.” I smile up at him, proudly.
One hour later and we’re both onto our seventh beer. He actually thought I was kidding when I said I was going to keep up with him, but I definitely wasn’t. He’s already asked me about five times to take a break and have some water, afraid that I’ll get sick.
I was raised by a man. A single man. I was raised tough and I don’t back down. That’s why I can be so damn stubborn.
“Nope.” I lean over the table, but can’t get close enough to the cue ball. “I’m good,” I laugh, feeling a bit silly from my buzz. “I got this.” I struggle on my tippy toes.