The Upside of Being Let Down (new adult romance - 1) Read Free

“ Does that bother you? ”
    “ No,
not really. You ’ re just
another pervert I guess. ”
    “ Can
I buy you a drink? ”
    “ No.
You can give me money so I can buy myself a drink. And then you can crawl back
to where you came from. ”
    “ What
if I came here to see you? ”
    “ What
if I told you you were a fucking liar? ” I smiled.
    “ I...
uh... ”
    “ Your
table behind you is staring. I guess I could kiss your cheek and make you look
cool, right? Then you could tell them how you picked up a chick at a strip
club. That I ’ m some wild
girl, right? ”
    “ Whoa, ” Bryan said. “ You ’ re mind is too far ahead here. ”
    “ Is
that so? ” I asked.
    “ Yeah. ”
    “ Still
want to buy me that drink? ” I asked.
    Music started to play again,
getting louder by the second. The club swelled with sexual energy, and if I had
to admit it, my own body felt good as I looked at the sexy guy talking to me.
    But I had no real interest in it
all.
    I needed to tell Wicked about
college.
    Then I needed to get a plan
together.
    If I had a plan, Wicked would help
me out. If I had a plan, it looked like I cared enough to... well, care.
    The last thing I needed was someone
distracting me.
    “ Hello?
Bryan? ”
    “ Ah,
that ’ s better, ” Bryan said.
    “ What
is? ”
    “ The
way you said it. My name. I like that. ”
    “ You ’ re gross, ” I said.
    “ I
guess. After all, I ’ m in a
strip club, right? ”
    He got a drink, paid for it, and
left the tip. I noticed that as he took the drink, he thanked the topless woman
and stared at her eyes the entire time. She had large, perfect breasts and he
looked into her eyes.
    “ Don ’ t get too drunk, ” I warned.
    “ Me?
Nope. Just a soda. ”
    Bryan stood and turned. I grabbed
at the back of his shirt and missed. I leaned more and slipped my fingers into
one of the back pockets of his jeans. I tugged and Bryan stopped. He looked
back at me.
    “ AJ, ” I said.
    “ AJ? ”
    “ That ’ s my name. AJ. ”
    “ My
one friend from grade school was named AJ. Never met a girl named AJ though. ”
    I gritted my teeth and felt like an
idiot. I had to stop focusing on Bryan ’ s
eyes and the way his jaw appeared to be cut from steel and covered with a
little scruff.
    “ You ’ re a pervert, ” I said. “ Have a good night. ”
    “ I
always do, ” Bryan said.
    I couldn ’ t tell if he was being serious or teasing me, but
the worst part of it was that I hated myself for how it bothered me. The only
good that came from talking to Bryan was that it killed some more time.
However, I had another hour or so to kill before Winnie would get off. Maybe if
I played my cards right I could throw some tears into the mix and just stay at
her place for the night. That depended on her roommate, some goody-two-shoes
woman who had herself wrapped up in some wild relationship with a rich guy. I
heard Wicked talking about once or twice.
    Not even two minutes later, as I
ordered my third cherry soda of the night, I felt an elbow touch me. I rolled
my eyes and asked, “ Back
for more...? ”
    But it wasn ’ t Bryan.
    It was someone else.
    “ Hey
beautiful, ” he said. “ What brings you to a place like
this? You alone? ”
    “ That ’ s a lot of questions to answer, ” I said.
    “ Let
me get you a drink and we ’ ll
talk. ”
    I had to hand it to the guy. He was
confident. Something had to be written on my forehead that had people coming up
to me and talking. Maybe it was because I looked younger than I was. Maybe it
was because I was sitting alone and it was more than obvious I was there alone.
    I didn ’ t want a drink but I nodded. “ Sure, I ’ d love a drink. Something strong. Expensive. ”
    “ Not
a problem, babe, ” he said.
    Babe?
    Beautiful?
    Wow. Laying it on thick. Mr.
Confident ordered two drinks and we waited. I couldn ’ t believe my eyes as he began to take care of the
women on stage, completely ignoring me as he did so.
    When our drinks came, he