The Fine Line Read Free

wait for me.”  I tried to defend myself.  “I didn’t even know we were coming here tonight.”
    He seemed amused.  “Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.  You’re worth the wait.”  With a slight grin, he turned to walk toward the bar. 
    I rolled my eyes, instantly becoming annoyed.  “Oh, that’s smooth.” 
    He looked back at me, still amused but clearly taken aback that I had just called out his poor attempt at some sort of pick-up line.  He must not get that too often.  I wouldn’t imagine women are much of a challenge for someone who looks like him.  After a moment, his eyes softened. 
    “Really, it’s no big deal.  We weren’t waiting long,” he assured me. “C’mon, let’s get a drink.”
    Melody grabbed my hand instead. 
    “We’d rather dance!” she shouted and pulled me to the dance floor.  Melody and I never had a problem letting loose on a dance floor, and this time would be no different.  It had been a while since we’d been out to see a band, and this one was playing upbeat songs with pounding bass. 
    We enjoyed the moment fully, swinging our hips and whipping our hair around, and before we knew it, Nate and Isaac were dancing with us.  Nate and Mel, being extremely comfortable with each other, began grinding to the beat in a more provocative way while Isaac and I kept our dancing fun and innocent. 
    As the beat of the drum pounded and the strum of the electric guitar sang, Isaac took my hand and twirled me so that my back was against his chest.  In that moment, as we moved against each other, I glanced at the bar and spotted Logan, with whom I assumed was Carter.  Carter seemed to be in a deep…flirtation…with the pretty red-headed bartender, but Logan didn’t seem quite as interested in their conversation.  He was glancing our way.
    Isaac twirled me back to face him, and we continued to dance.  A few songs later, we had exhausted our energy and headed to the bar to join Logan and Carter.   After we got our drinks, I noticed Logan pull his cell phone out from his pocket and answered it.  His eyes intensified, but only slightly, as he listened.
    “I’ll be there in an hour,” he said into his phone, just before returning it to his pocket.
    He turned to me with a minor look of disappointment in his eyes. 
    “Liv, it was a pleasure meeting you,” he said as he reached out his hand.  When I placed my hand in his, one corner of his mouth turned up, and his eyes seemed to glow.  He lifted one eyebrow up and continued, “Maybe next time won’t be so brief.” 
    I nodded, saying something along the lines of “nice meeting you too” and watched as he said his goodbyes to the rest of us and left with Carter.  A strange pang of disappointment fluttered in my chest as he walked away, and I found myself wondering if I would ever see him again.  I shook my head to snap myself out of the weird, unfamiliar trance I was in, remembering that I would not allow myself to be flustered by any boy.  Even if he did have the most incredible eyes I had ever seen.
    We enjoyed the rest of our night, playing carnival games and going on the rides.   Nate even won a ginormous stuffed unicorn for Mel, and Isaac was thrilled when he scored a girl’s phone number.  After stuffing ourselves with funnel cakes and cotton candy, we called it a night.  They dropped me off at Frank’s Drugstore so I could pick up my aqua blue Ford Focus and drive myself home. 
    I made it home at 12:25pm…five minutes before curfew.  I wasn’t even sure why I had a curfew since there was rarely anyone home to enforce it.  My mother and stepfather had opened a small pub, and it was extremely rare that they were home before me on a weekend night.  Per the “arrangement” I had with them, I was supposed to call the pub when I got home so they could verify I was home on time.
    It didn’t make sense to me because, technically, I could call from anywhere and they wouldn’t have a clue about