(21) I am what I am

~Blair~

I huddled back in my small space in the far corner of the club, watching the noisy group of men at the table closest to me. From the sound of it, it must have been the red-head’s birthday and he was definitely lapping up all the attention he was getting. I wondered how soon it would be before one or another of them dragged him off to the men’s room for a ‘special’ birthday present.

Bored now, but too lazy to get up and fight the crowds to get to the door, I closed my eyes and listened to what I could hear of the music. Believe it or not I was starting to doze off despite the heat and the noise. My eyes snapped open when I heard someone say, “You look like you need this.”

“Like a hole in the head,” I started to say before actually looking at the man standing there. So I modified it to, “Like, yes I do. It’s hot in here.” He was tall, I’d guess six one, six two, with those kind of amazing hazel eyes that are almost green with gold centers, rather than being a blend. I swallowed hard as I took the glass of water.

“I agree. Hot and crowded.” He smiled and it lit up his face, which wasn’t a good thing for me because I could feel myself reacting.

“Do you…? May I join you?” he asked me in a tone of voice both hesitant and interested.

And against my better judgment I nodded. Why, I had no idea. Since I’d come to this city I’d only done that once before, with a creep who thought he wanted me to play a bondage game with him only to discover he couldn’t get it up once we got to that point. I ended up going home totally frustrated. But now? Well getting to know someone couldn’t really hurt I decided. “Please do,” I told him.

He set his bottle of beer down on the tiny table and the swung the chair next to me around, straddling it with his arms resting on the back. I laughed and his eyebrow rose in question. “That such a ‘male’ thing to do,” I explained.

“Well in case you hadn’t noticed, I am male.”

I almost said that I definitely had noticed then bit back that response. “Everyone here is I guess,” I replied instead.

“No kidding.” He glanced around as if in surprise and then laughed when I looked like I thought he was serious. “I’m teasing you.” He held out a hand. “I’m Quinn by the way.”

Shaking it tentatively I told him my name.

“I don’t think I’ve met a Blair before,” was his response as he held my hand a beat longer than was absolutely necessary. “Are you a native, a visitor or in between?”

“I’ve been here for, wow, a couple of months already.” I thought about that. “Yeah, that long.”

“May I ask what you do?”

“I work at a…restaurant.”