The bar became more packed as the evening progressed. I stuck to beer after that sweet glass of wine, couldn't afford to have my head spinning, and I told myself I had to make sure none of the goons in here would take to Beck as easy prey in that little, black dress she wore.

     Next to her I looked like a bit of a plain Jane. I had a knack for beautiful things and yet I wore what I usually threw on: a gray shirt and black jeans with the dr. martens I'd treated myself to after passing my first term.

     It wouldn't make you give me a second glance, because I didn't stand out from the next student, not unless you took a closer look and actually knew what to notice — which was why I quite literally kept people at an arms length.

     ‘Don't look now, but there's a cutie at the bar and he's been staring at me like, obviously, for some time now.’

I wasn't really surprised. Beck had probably invented the whole rebound thing and even though her and Todd had been pretty intense from the get—go, she'd never had much trouble moving on. Beck had a lot of frogs to kiss before she'd find her prince, she once told me, but she truly believed that there was someone out there just for her. A hopeless romantic if I'd ever seen one.

    ‘Well, are you going to wait around for him to buy you a drink?’ I teased, even though I knew my encouragement would mean I'd hand her over to said goon, I had long learned that Beck did as she pleased. I'd chosen to be her lenient friend, not her mother.

    Beck immediately sat up straighter, oozing an air of regained confidence, clinking her nearly finished drink against mine before she got up. ‘Don't wait up for me, T.’ She flashed a wink and strode for the bar behind me, leaving a tinge of her impetuous desire, strong enough to make me blush.

I just had to turn around to witness the force of nature that was Rebecca Seigner, but as I innocently followed her flirtatious exchange with the guy she'd clearly claimed for tonight, I felt something else entirely prickle my senses.

     Blood started to run colder as I lifted the beer up to my lips, traveling my eyes slowly around the dimly lit bar, assessing the faces of the people who hung back in the other booths and were scattered around the bar stools, entangled in their own business. But even as my chest got heavy with the sudden presence of distress — nobody stood out to me, not in a way that mattered.

     As the feeling passed — I realized just how vulnerable I was right now, with my heart thundering in my ears.

Two years ago I wouldn't even have dreamed of setting foot in a bar like this without knowing the exact layout of the place. There probably was a backdoor and I suppose I'd be able to find it if need be, but if all hell broke loose right now then. . . shit. I'd likely be as dead as the next person. I scowled at the leftover beer in front of me, pushing it away, when the bartender dropped by to collect Beck's empty glass on his round.

     She'd already left a big tip after the first order, because she was used to getting all the refills she desired, so naturally the personnel had given this booth their fullest attention. I would have done the same.

     ‘What did that beer do to you?’

I gave the guy a sheepish grin I didn't think was entirely unfriendly, eyeing him simply to make sure he wasn't the one who let the goosebumps dance around my skin. When it became clear he wasn't, I still felt obliged to answer.

     ‘Drinking my sorrows isn't exactly going to make them go away, I figured.’

The guy, whose hair spilled in brown curls around his freckled skin, gave me an easy grin as he casually lifted his full tray of dishes over his shoulder, making the muscles under his black blouse pull taut.

    ‘I hear talking about them sometimes does the trick. I happen to double as a praised therapist.’

I brushed back a mahogany strand of hair, granting myself a closer look, before I let a small smile creep around the corners of my mouth. His Midwestern lilt was pleasing enough to take the bait.

     ‘From one barmaid to another, I happen to know all the tricks in the book by heart.’

Even if my words were a little sharp to be equally flirtatious, the guy wasn't exactly put off by it, turning more genuine as he tilted his head to me. I ensured that my glamour was still intact under his attentive gaze.

     ‘You caught me. I saw your friend leave, and I just had to try to be a white knight, you know?’

He got all but a breathy chuckle out of me and a shake of my head.

     ‘I am a little offended that you considered me low hanging fruit,’ I admitted, though from his perspective, I could imagine myself looking a tad out of place without Beck by my side. I certainly didn't seem like the kind of girl who enjoyed hanging around a bar. Usually, my air of uneasiness had nothing to do with the place, though. More so with the exposure it brought with.

     ‘You're not low hanging anything,’ he blinked a couple of times, heaved an apologetic sigh, and quickly added: ‘I'm Gus.’

     ‘Tiffany.’

I took out my purse and started searching for my wallet when Gus stopped me: ‘Your generous friend already paid for the lot of it, but the rest is on the house.

‘I hope I'll see you around, Tiffany.’

     The brown in his eyes was warm, kind, making it difficult not to like him. He was doubtlessly a good one, I could tell, even as a part of him was colored with curiosity.

     ‘Maybe you will.’

I gave him a final wave before I left the crowded bar, bracing myself against the November cold that welcomed me the second I stepped outside.