"What can I say? People like to watch. If they're willing to pay, why not let them?"
. . .
Margeaux is a bad girl with good girl intentions. All she wants is a steady home with whatever family she has left. With no GED, no credit, and no bed to slee...
Sexy Man keeps smiling at me and I feel short of breath. Sure, I've thought about him, maybe touched myself to his memory a time or two, but I never thought I would see him again.
The woman next to me exits at the next stop and he comes to take her place. I look over at him, feeling my cheeks burning with a blush I hope doesn't show.
"Hi, Margeaux," he says in a voice that makes my body warm. "Remember me?"
I nearly laugh. "Of course I do, uh ..." Fuck.
"Gabe," he reminds me with a laughing smile.
"Gabe. Right. I knew that."
He chuckles. He looks at me with those fascinating eyes—one a warm brown, the other a bluish-green with a tinge yellow at the very center. "I had a great time with you," he says. My blush returns. "I was very disappointed to wake up in the morning to find you gone. Along with all my gas money."
Fuck. "I am so sorry, Gabe. I know how awful that looks but I swear—"
"It's fine, I'm just giving you shit," he says with a laugh. "You could've just asked for the money, you know."
"I could have?"
"I would have given you plenty of things to get your number."
I remember why I liked him so much. He has a disarming brand of humor. So blunt yet nonjudgmental. He felt comfortable. Safe. So much so I got naked with him three hours after we met.
It was serendipity. I was scoping the bar for someone who looked like they wanted to flex some cash, hoping to skim some off the top at the end of the night. I got stuck in a double-douche trap. Gabe's knight-in-shining ass came up and pretended to be my brother until they would leave me alone. The fucking idiots saw two brown people with dark hair and bought it.
Even though I knew I'd have to ruin it in the end, I got swept up. I remember how easy he was to talk to, how safe he felt, how much I didn't want him to leave. I'm feeling the same way right now.
"Give me yours and I'll text you," I tell him.
"Right now?"
"Yeah. Right now."
He gives me the number and I show it to him to confirm. I send him a winking face emoji like a total dipshit, and his phone pings in response. He replies with a blushing smiley, which he meant ironically, I'm sure. "Thank you," he says.
"Sure thing, Gabe."
The bus announces the next stop and we both grab our things. "Is this your stop too?" he asks me.
"Yeah."
A smile lights up his face.
The bus comes to an abrupt stop and when the doors open, we both exit. I turn back to him. He steps closer as he continues to smile down at me and asks, "Are you in a rush to get somewhere, or do you have some time?"
My gaze bounces between his unique eyes. "I have time."
"Want to grab some food with me?" he asks. When I hesitate, he adds, "My treat."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
