Alexa and I sat side by side at a midtown bar near our offices. I usually fled the whole midtown scene as fast as humanly possible. Douchey businessmen in suits talking about how much money they make just wasn't my thing. But the happy-hour special made it bearable: $5 beers and free appetizers. We were stuffing our faces with free chicken wings and cheese fries before the boys showed up. Hey, when you're making $10/hour in Manhattan, you lick the plate clean if it's free.
We'd both just gotten off work, so Alexa was in a conservative dress suite (she worked in finance) and I was wearing a scoopneck sweater dress with a belt. I was always grateful for the business casual dresscode in my office because my weekend clothes were my work clothes were my going out clothes. Which is really handy when you can only afford a few outfits anyway.
"So, it's just J and Duncan coming?" I asked before gulping my beer to wash away the sting from the hot wings.
"Yeah, and J said Duncan specifically asked if you were going to be here," Alexa said, cutting the meat off her wings with a kinfe and fork. Oh Alexa, how different we were. She'd dab her mouth with a cloth napkin, whereas I'd wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. I finished the last wing, licked my fingers clean, and headed to the bathroom to freshen up (AKA remove all evidence that I'd just dominated a plate of hot wings.)
I checked my teeth for chicken-wing debris. All clear. I hung my head upside down and fluffed my hair around, giving my curls that windblown look. Then I dabbed on some Victoria's Secret lipgloss and popped a piece of cinnamon Trident gum and I was good to go.
When I pushed through the bathroom door, I saw that the boys had arrived. I stopped in the doorway to admire Duncan while he was telling Alexa a story. He was wearing torn jeans and a white shirt with a tie and a vest over both the shirt and the tie. I couldn't quite describe his style. It was a combination of hipster, preppy, and grungy all in one. Either way, it looked hot on him.
I walked back to the bar and reclaimed my seat next to Alexa. Duncan stopped mid-sentence when he saw me.
"Well, don't you look innocent without your fishnets and fangs?"
I smiled, half wishing I'd popped my fangs in while I was in the bathroom. They were nestled in their coffin in my purse.
"Careful, looks can be deceiving," I answered.
"So does that mean the fangs and fishnets were a front? Or your current sweater dress is a front?" he asked, as Alexa and J looked from me to him and back.
"I guess you'll just have to find out," I said, and then stuck my tongue out like a 5-year-old so he'd know I wasn't being too serious. I didn't want the guy to think he was going to see me in just my fishnets that night. But I did sort of have a sudden weird urge to pop my fangs in and kiss his neck, lightly dragging the sharp points over his flawless light brown skin. Crazy, I know.
"Ew. You two get a room or something, we're trying to drink here," Alexa said, jokingly. We clinked out glasses together and all four of us took turns leading the table chatter. Alexa and I talked about the Perez party. J and Duncan talked about the next party at the Guggenheim.
"Wait, people party at museums around here?" I asked, trying to picture people playing beer pong near museum exhibits.
"Yeah, it's a dance party. You both should come!" Duncan said. Turned out, he worked there, interning in the marketing department. He was an art history major, and worked at J. Crew on the side. So that explained his preppy/artsy wardrobe style. For some reason, knowing he was artsy made him even sexier. Even sexier than that was the way he held my eye contact just a little bit longer than necessary. We were eye-fucking, and we both knew it. Oh, and it was good.
At some point in the conversation, J convinced Duncan to tell a story about a threesome he'd had when he was in Florence. Usually when I hear guys talk about threesomes I drone it out with my own commentary in my head, because I assume they're making most of it up anyway. But he wasn't boasting or bragging about it, he was just talking about a crazy situation he'd wound up in. But when Duncan talked, I was intrigued.
No, I didn't want to have a threesome with Duncan, but I did think about how talented he must have been to handle two girls at the same time. And I did start wondering what he looked like underneath that J. Crew getup. Something about Duncan's wild side drew me in. There was something dirty about him, and I liked it. Whenever he'd make eye contact with me while he was talking about sex, my stomach fluttered.
Maybe it was because Will was so sweet that it made me crave something spicy. Or maybe it was because I was doomed to always fall for the bad guy.
But when Duncan kissed me in the rain that night, I realized he just might have a sweet side.
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