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Chapter 4

ARIA

The week went by quickly, as usual, it was already Thursday night and I found my place behind the counter at Spotlight. Usually, I only work there on Friday and Saturday but Nicole asked me to do her a favor and I couldn’t refuse. When I took my shift it was relatively quiet, then I notice a new silhouette in front of the bar in my peripheral vision and when I face him to take his order, I immediately recognize Austin, David’s friend.

“What are you doing here?” I ask him suspiciously.

“Aren’t you supposed to say hi and ask me what I want to drink instead?” He asks me with a raised eyebrow.

The cocky bastard. “Hi. What do you want to drink?”

“A beer.”

I pour him his beer and when I put it in front of him, I ask. “What are you doing here?”

“I was thirsty.” He simply replies before taking a drink of his beer.

“Okay. So you didn’t come to check on me because Riley couldn’t make it?”

He shakes his head.

If he wants to play that fucking game, fine. I go back to my usual job of serving the other customers and playing my usual role of the girl who smiles and laughs at dumb jokes. You all know what it’s like to have the feeling that someone is watching you and now I can tell you what parts of my body Austin’s eyes are on, I feel like I’m going to combust.

“Hey Scava, three beers, please.” I am called out from behind my back and a genuine smile spreads across my face as I see Gavin.

I place the three beers in front of him before greeting him across the counter.

“Hey, you. Thursday night, uh?”

“I knew you were here.” He replies with a wink before bringing the beers to his two friends Max and Dean.

I hear a grunt and turn my head in Austin’s direction. He looks pissed, smoke almost coming out of his ears. I look at him wide-eyed and when our eyes meet he clenches his jaw and finishes his beer in one gulp.

I approach him slowly and take his empty glass.

“Is your thirst gone?”

“Not yet. I’d like another one, please,” he replies, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turn white.

I pour him a new beer and place it in front of him.

“Is he your boyfriend?” He asks, nodding in Gavin’s direction as I get ready to serve another customer.

“None of your business.” I simply reply. He doesn't want to answer my questions. Good for him, I won't answer his either. Jerk.

I continued to work without paying attention to him and after a moment, he left. Eventually, the customers left one after the other and after closing Nicole drove me home.

Austin sat behind the bar counter on Friday night and on Saturday night he had two beers and left. We didn’t exchange a word. The weeks went by and when Austin wasn’t there it was Riley and David at the counter. We got into a kind of routine, so much so that I ended up not paying attention to them.

This is the last Saturday I work at the bar. I passed my final exams and I will leave for Boston next week. The bar is full and for once I didn’t see Austin, Riley or David. It seems that they have come to their senses and understood that all this was useless. I continue to serve the incessant flow of customers at the bar when I meet the blue eyes that haunt my nights since that famous evening. I remain frozen on the spot and in the light of the bar, I can better observe his features. They are slender and he has a dimple on his right cheek when he smirks at me. He is drop-dead gorgeous.

I slowly approach him as if subjugated.

“You… It’s you.”

“Yes indeed. I am me.” He answers me with a small laugh.

“You know what I mean.”

“I couldn’t get here earlier. There was always someone there.” He pauses. “I need to talk to you. I know you must be confused about what you saw that night.”

“I am.”

“I’ll wait until you finish work and then we can talk.” He frowns slightly. “I’ll have a whiskey neat, please.”

I clink his glass and he grabs my hand before I back away and a jolt of electricity emanates from the contact of our skins.

“My name is Adam.”

“Aria,” I reply, my eyes fixed on his.

“I know.” He replies with a smirk as he takes a sip of his whiskey.

I never felt what I just felt when his hand landed on mine, well just once, with Austin. My whole soul is being sucked into each of them.

This makes me think that maybe I should warn Riley that he’s here or maybe I should wait to hear what he has to say. It’s weird, I’m kind of a suspicious person, but I have a feeling I can trust Adam even without knowing him. Damn, the fact that they're to die for must be playing with my head.

“Ok, so I didn’t ask about the handsome guy coming to see you but who is this new guy? And where do you find these hunks I’ve never seen either of them around here.” Nicole asks me.

“It’s a long story,” I answer, remaining deliberately evasive.

A customer calls her and she leaves without asking any more questions.

As I walk out of the bar I notice Adam waiting for me by the door. I hadn’t paid attention before but he is tall, as tall as Austin but not as muscular even though he is well sculpted. His muscles are highlighted by his fitted white shirt and jeans. He’s nothing like the guy I passed in the alley. Well, certainly because he wears clothes, to begin with.

I push open the door to the bar and our eyes meet instantly.

“I’ll walk you home.” It’s not a question and we walk towards my place.

“Do you know where I live?” I ask him defensively.

“Yeah... uh...” He rubs the back of his head. “I’ve kind of been keeping an eye on you. But don’t worry I’m not a stalker or anything like that.”

“You realize that’s exactly what a stalker would say, right?” I pause. “I have pepper spray in my bag and I’ve been doing jiu-jitsu. Just so you know in case you try anything.”

He laughs, a real laugh, and I get butterflies in my stomach.

“Don’t worry, I wouldn’t try anything like that...today.”

“Wow okay." What is he implying? "So are you going to tell me what happened that night?”

“Before I get to that I need to put things in context.” He pauses and turns slightly to look at me. “Do you think some of the creatures are real?”

“What do you mean by creatures?” I ask him frowning.

“Werewolves, vampires, fairies...”

“Uh no,” I reply with a scowl. Seriously I thought he was going to explain to me what happened to him but instead, he tells me about supernatural creatures.

“They do exist though and you have one of them in front of you and you live with one of them.”

He doesn’t have a chance to say more than that when Austin comes out of nowhere and sticks his fist in his face. As they start to fight, I see Riley next to me.

“Sorry.” She says to me before I feel a needle go into my arm and it’s pitch black.

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