Vicious by Olivia Rivard Read Free Book Online

table dance. The hilarity seemed to be never ending.
    The guys immediately started scoping out girls. Who was the hottest? Who did they actually have a shot with? Who was too drunk to even bother with? The night went on like this as we drank and laughed at one another. I had to admit that despite the crowd, this was fun.
    I stood off to the side at one point and watched Reggie and Eric’s conversation. I like to do this sometimes. It’s fun to be close enough to listen but far enough to not interfere. It seemed educational or scientific in nature, and I often felt like Jane Goodall observing the uninhibited behavior of a primitive species.
    “I’m telling you, Gator,” said Reggie, already beginning to talk that slurring drunk talk after downing his second Hand Grenade, “that one there is in your league. You could get her.”
    Eric looked unsure, which was an unusual expression for him, as he evaluated the girl in question. Eric was not only the most confident one in our group, he was also the best looking as well. He rarely had a difficult time with girls, and we often lived vicariously through his stories and experiences. However, the unsure look on his face was intriguing to me, so I walked over to join the conversation.
    “Who are we talking about,” I asked casually.
    “That one. The blond by the end of the bar,” said Reggie as he pointed with an empty drink in his hand in the direction of their gaze.
    I followed where he was pointing and that’s when I saw her. There was no way to mistake who they were discussing. She took my breath away, and I instantly understood why Eric seemed so unsure of himself. Who wouldn’t be with her? She looked slender but toned under a black tank top and short blue skirt. Her pale skin shone against the thin black velvet scarf she wore tightly around her neck. Her blond hair was bone straight and cut off dramatically just above her shoulders in a way that tapered down longer around her face. She wore very little make up except for some light-blue eye shadow and blood-red lipstick that left the slightest imprint on the clear glass she was sipping from. Her face was flawless.
    The girl looked aimlessly around the bar, but in a flash turned her gaze on us. That’s when I saw her impossibly blue eyes. They were a kind of blue that seemed to be artificially made, and they were rimmed with a dark line of purple that made them seem shocking and animalistic. I was taken aback. Was she some sort of model?
    “Na, I think she’s too much for me. Maybe if she was a little drunker, but just look at her. She seems stone-cold sober to me. Besides, those eyes of hers are funky. You think they are contacts?”
    “I don’t know,” I answered, intoxicated with the sight of her.
    Eric grinned from ear to ear at the sight of me and elbowed Reggie in the ribs to point at me. Even though Eric was a brutish idiot at times, he was also more perceptive than people gave him credit. If there was one thing he could do really well, it was read people.
    “Well, I think Cheese Steak here should go talk to her,” he said with a hard slap to my back.
    “What? Ah, Cheese Steak doesn’t have a snow ball’s shot in hell with that girl,” stated Reggie with a laugh that was supposed to mock me.
    “Now hold on just a minute—” started Eric.
    “No, Reggie’s right,” I said. “I mean look at her. Who would she go for?”
    “I don’t know. She looks like she might be a little Goth. Maybe she likes the sensitive, creative-writer type that will be a good guy and buy her a proper drink,” he said as he took the remainder of my drink from me and handed it to Reggie. “Now go. You need a new drink and so does she. Chicks like that dig artsy guys.”
    He hit me on the back again with his large hand and pushed me forward in her direction. I looked up to see if she saw that, but she was thankfully looking away. I walked slowly across the bar toward her, and my heart began thumping loudly in my chest.