"I despise you so fucking much that I want you to be sent off to the other side of the world, Athena." He takes his last step, his front pressing against my back, pushing my pelvis into the counter. "But I also need you as much as the air that I bre...
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I laugh at Miles' third miserably failed attempt to flirt with the waiter as sip from my fourth beer and my head automatically turns to the women dancing on stage. None of them are wearing a mask and none of them is dressed like she was.
"Dude, she's not here." Miles says to me, and I turn my head back to the boys, nodding.
"What's wrong? She seems to totally have messed with your head." Theo leans forward, resting his arms on his legs. I study his face, his piercing blue eyes of which I've always been jealous, and then sigh.
"It's hard" I complain. "Don't get me wrong, I love Loes, but I need to relieve the tension and I can't with her. She's probably the love of my life, but this is starting to be a serious issue." I look around again avoiding my friends' gazes.
"Did you talk to her about it?" Miles asks leaning forward.
"Yes, I asked her if she would like more, and she told me that no it's perfect the way it is. Nothing rougher, nothing... dirtier." I gulp down some more beer and lean forward in my seat.
"So what are you going to do?" Theo swoops in and nudges my leg when I don't respond.
"Well, there's nothing I can do. She doesn't want more, and I am not going to force it on her." I rub my eyes "I love her. And if it's what it takes, then I'll do it." A silence falls between all of us. The music still playing in the background and the women on stage swaying and dancing.
I can't seem to get that little dance out of my head. It's invaded my mind and there is nothing I can do to get it out.
"Bollocks." I curse under my breath and finish the bottle I have in my hand, then set it on the table in front of me.
"There's nothing I can do." I say again. More to myself but the guys hear it.
"Well, bro, respect. Because vanilla for the rest of my life is a no-go for me." Theo complains as he leans back in his seat until he is able to rest his head against the back of his seat. His arms are resting on his lap. I watch his exposed forearms -because he pulled his sleeves up- and analyze his skin clean of any ink. Theo is twenty-seven, only one year younger than me, but the fact that his body is clean of any tattoos -unlike mine- somehow makes him look younger.
I know he would love to have tattoos, but he is always busy, especially because we are trying to build our own enterprise. I thought that maybe I could offer him his first tattoo. And go together and get a tattoo that represents something important for us both.
Vanilla for the rest of my life.
His words echo in my head. For the first time in four years, I rebooted to the moment when I met those two gorgeous girls. I remember when Athena came out of nowhere, stumbled over her own foot, and spilled all her drink on me.
I don't know why I reacted like the biggest dickhead on earth and started screaming at her. And of course, Athena being who she is did not let that slide and that's how we started our very first fight.
