Punk and Zen by JD Glass Read Free Book Online Page A

cup up in toast.
    “No worries,” she answered, seeming amused. “You’ll
want to keep that.” She pointed with her beer.
    “Keep what?” I asked, confused.
    “That…” She reached over and plucked the paper I’d
forgotten out from between my hand and my drink. She folded it neatly and
tucked it into my sleeve, stroking my wrist as she did so. “You’ll want to keep
it.” She grinned at me. “She’s very pretty.”
    I wasn’t sure of what exactly to say, so I thought it
wise to say nothing and merely gave her a little smile of my own. Sometimes,
it’s the only thing you can do.
    Blue merely smiled wider, then clinked the top of her
bottle against my cup. I gratefully lifted the cup to my mouth and drank, the
juice nice and cool, soothing even, as it slid down my throat. I was thirstier
than I thought and drank rather quickly, and it was only somewhere between the
second and third swallows that I realized there was more than juice in my cup.
Ah, well, there went stopping for the rest of the night.
    I finally settled back along the ledge next to Blue so
we could chat. While the mix I had on wasn’t terribly long, at least not as
long as the ones I’d had on before, it was long enough that I could take a
break if I wanted.
    “So, do I detect a bit of an accent?” I asked,
remarking on the slight lilt in her voice. I’d noticed it much earlier, but
this was the first chance I’d had to ask about it. We had been rather, um,
distracted.
    “Um, yes.” She glanced down. “Most don’t hear it,” she
said finally, looking at me with what I suspected were pink cheeks and a faint
grin.
    “Ah, well, most don’t spend all their time listening
for inflections in sound.” I smiled at her. “I tend to hear things others
don’t. It’s charming, by the way,” I added with honest admiration. “It adds
this lovely little roll to your voice. It’s really quite musical.”
    This time she was definitely blushing. “No one’s ever
told me that before. What a nice thing to say,” she finally said, and she
studied me seriously.
    I let her inspect me for a moment, not sure why she
was so somber. And it was true, about her voice, I mean. The lilt underneath
her words made everything she said lyrical, so why shouldn’t I mention it? It
was lovely, even a bit sexy.
    The silence grew longer. “Something wrong?” I asked
lightly. The mood was getting way too serious, and I wasn’t comfortable. I also
wouldn’t let it continue if I could help ABC it.
    Blue seemed to give an inward shake and collected
herself. She shook her head.
    “No, nothing.” She nodded, then took a sip of beer.
“It’s just, you’re not just trying to charm me, are you?” she stated more than
asked.
    I focused my gaze on her with greater intent because
that confused me. Charm? For what? I didn’t get it—what the fuck was that all
about? All I’d said was that her voice was lovely. Oh, she meant… Well,
wouldn’t I have done that before we, um, I, uh, well, you know, before I let
someone use my microphone for distance tossing? and I said as much.
    Blue sighed, almost grinning in relief. “You’ve a
point there, don’t you?” she commented, and rubbed my thigh.
    I felt the strength of her fingers as they ran up and
down the muscle, then lightly took her hand in mine and twisted a bit on the
bench to face her. The flood that had risen through me before was starting to
ebb, and I was finally starting to feel a little normal again—whatever that
was.
    I took a small sip of my drink and considered, then
took another. Nope, it really wasn’t just juice. Funny how you couldn’t tell
right away.
    Finally, I put the drink down on the bench behind me,
then faced Blue again. “So,” I began with a smile and her hand delicate and
warm in mine, “you still haven’t told me where you’re from.”
    Blue laughed, a sensual and somehow sophisticated
sound. “I’m from the UK.” The curve of her lip was undeniably attractive as