Kiss the Tiger by Raquel Lyon Read Free Book Online Page B

Unfortunately for Nessie, but to my relief, Josh was
taking more interest in peeling the label from his beer bottle, only
occasionally glancing up to offer her a half-hearted smile. He probably thought
she was a slapper just like her sister. I’d seen enough.
    I walked up and shouted in her
ear, “Time to go.”
    “Why? What happened?”
    “Didn’t work out.” I pulled her
arm so she would follow.
    She glanced back at Josh, who
didn’t try to stop her leaving. “I know the feeling,” she mumbled.
    “Decided you don’t like him,
after all?” Please say yes . I peeked over my shoulder, savouring the
sight of him, one last time. He didn’t look back.
    “No. I still think he’s smoking hot,
just a bit numb. But then it’s not his brains I’m after, is it? I can’t believe
I gave him all my best moves and he didn’t pick up on any of them. I need a new
strategy.”
    “You need a new target.”
    “No, the target’s good. I’ve just
got to find out what to throw at it to get a response,” she said, pushing
through the door.
    Outside, the air was soft and
warm. Shouts and laughter radiated from the drunken fun-seekers filling the
neon lit street.
    “Ness…” I started, with every
good intention of filling her in on the situation.
    “It’s only ten o’clock,” she interrupted. “The disco might still be on, back at the hotel. We can discuss tactics
there.”
    A few yards along the pavement, I
spotted a totem pole.
    “I have a better idea.”
    We handed over our entrance fee
and entered the dark of the club. The room was an odd mixture of old fashioned
trying to look trendy. Multi-coloured lasers bounced off blackened walls. The
wooden bar, almost invisible behind clamouring bodies, had also been painted
black and was peeling in places, and the dance floor was nestled in the middle
of a circle of fake palm trees covered in a layer of dust. The music was so
loud my eardrums vibrated.
    The pull to return to Jacko’s
bar—and Josh’s presence—almost sucked me straight back out of the door, but my
determination to divert Nessie’s focus was stronger.
    “This is nice,” she said. “I’ll
get the drinks in.”
    I nodded, wondering which clubs
Nessie had visited back home in order to consider this one nice, and scanned
the crowd for a pretty face. It was slim pickings. Repetitive thumping pumped
through my ears. My eyes landed on a square faced boy, a few feet away. I
regretted it immediately. He winked and closed the space between us.
    “Hello. Dance?” A speck of
spittle hit my cheek as he spoke in my ear.
    He so wasn’t my type. I smiled.
“No thanks. I’m having a drink first.”
    He said something in a language I
couldn’t understand, possibly of East European origin, and thinking that the
best course of action was to frown and shake my head, I did so. He shrugged and
turned back to his friends.
    I wiped my cheek on the back of
my hand and accepted a glass from Nessie, immediately followed by a second.
    “I got us a couple of doubles.
Down one and let’s do the rounds.”
    I drained one glass and winced,
expecting tequila. “What was that?”
    “Ouzo. Local stuff. Two for one
offer.”
    “Tasted like medicine.”
    She swigged hers back and screwed
up her face. “Ugh. You’re right. No point wasting good booze though.” Her
second glass emptied as rapidly as the first. “Come on. Drink up and we’ll try
something else next time.”
    I did as I was told.
    Dodging groups of drinkers, we
edged our way around the circumference of the dance floor, keeping one eye on
the lookout for potential talent.
    Nessie leaned in as we walked. “So
what do you think my next move should be?”
    “Sideways.” I pushed her out of
the way just in time, as a pair of inebriated boys fell at our feet and
splashed beer up my legs. Great, topped and tailed, both in one night.
    “I meant with J.J.? Should I try
again tomorrow?”
    “Yeah. About that. Maybe we
should talk about it back at the hotel. This