A Little Research

MILES

Audrey smiled, clearly liking the attention. “Are you here completely alone, or are you waiting for someone?”

“I’m alone,” I said, leaning against the bar. “What about you?”

“I actually came here with a big group of my friends. Look right over there,” she said, pointing her manicured finger toward a lively group of people sitting at a large round table near the pool. “The guy in the bright red jacket is celebrating his birthday today.”

“Oh, wow,” I said, nodding my head as I looked over at them.

“You can come join us if you want,” she said, stepping off her bar stool and giving me an inviting look.

I looked back at the loud group, and then looked back down at her. I smiled. “Let’s go then,” I said. I dropped enough cash on the counter to cover my drink and hers, and then followed her.

“Guys, meet Miles,” Audrey announced happily as we approached the noisy table.

I honestly thought they wouldn't be very welcoming to a random stranger, but they all instantly broke into big smiles.

“Happy birthday, bro,” I said, stepping forward to shake hands with the guy in the red jacket.

“Thanks, man! The more the merrier,” he yelled over the music, raising his glass in the air.

I sat down on one of the low couches, and Audrey immediately sat right next to me. The space was tight, so our knees were touching. With every passing minute, our bodies got closer and closer as we talked.

The group was playing a lively drinking game of Dare or Sip. I didn't want to get completely drunk tonight. I was meant to drive back and pick up Riley and Ava from the shopping mall later tonight, and I definitely couldn't afford to get a drunk-driving ticket on my very first day driving a rental car in Greece.

So, I mostly just watched the game. I was itching to fully participate, but I knew it was definitely going to backfire on me if I drank too much. The group was really nice, though. They naturally involved me in their conversations without doing too many crazy things. I only agreed to do a few small, harmless dares that didn't involve heavy drinking.

"You're definitely not from around here," Audrey said, taking a sip of her drink.

I glanced at her. "Is it that obvious?"

"The accent gives it away."

I chuckled. "And here I thought I was blending in perfectly."

"No chance." She leaned her elbow against the bar and smiled. "Tourist."

"Rude."

"Accurate."

A smirk tugged at my lips.

Audrey tilted her head slightly as she studied me. "So what's the story? Family vacation?"

"Unfortunately."

She laughed.

"That bad?"

"My parents dragged me to Greece for their anniversary celebration."

"And you're hiding in a rooftop bar."

"I'm conducting research."

She raised an eyebrow.

"For school."

"That might be the worst lie I've ever heard."

I laughed and shook my head. "Fair enough."

"I knew it."

She took another sip of her drink before looking at me again, this time a little more carefully.

"You don't seem like you're having a good vacation."

"I'm having a great vacation."

"No, you're really not."

I looked at her.

"Oh?"

"You have the face of a man who's thinking too much."

I looked away.

The annoying thing was that she wasn't entirely wrong.

"Maybe I'm just tired."

"Or maybe you're trying to forget something….or someone"

My eyes snapped back to hers immediately.

Audrey grinned.

"Oh wow."

"What?"

"I guessed right."

"You didn't guess anything."

"There's definitely someone."

I rolled my eyes.

“Well you're at the right place if you're looking for a distraction and you're with the right person…I'm a good listener,” she said placing her hand on her chest with a smirk

“There's nothing to talk about," I said letting out a laugh

After a while, I checked my phone. I had about an hour left before I needed to hit the road.

“Let’s go outside,” Audrey suddenly whispered directly into my ear, her warm breath ticking my skin.

I didn't say anything out loud. I just nodded and agreed, feeling my body getting a little too excited from her closeness. She took my hand, locking her fingers with mine, and led me through the thick crowd of people.

We took the stairs back down to the ground floor, and she led me straight out to the quiet car park. Not too far from where I had parked my dad’s rental car, there was a large red truck parked under a dim streetlamp. She didn't really look like the type of girl to drive a massive truck, so I was pretty sure it belonged to one of the guys celebrating upstairs.

She opened the door and got into the driver’s side. At this point, I wasn't completely sure of what we were doing anymore, but I didn't care. I just needed a distraction. I walked around and got into the passenger side, closing the door behind me.

There was a long minute of absolute silence inside the vehicle.

“So, what’s up?” I finally asked, turning in my seat to look at her.

Audrey let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. “Now, please don’t pretend like you don’t know exactly why we are out here.”

“I actually have absolutely no idea,” I said, laughing a little bit to play along with her game.

“You are so awkward, but in an incredibly hot way,” she said, turning her entire body to face me in the dim light.

“Is that a good thing?” I smirked.

“Yeah, it’s a really good thing. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing this right now,” she said, her voice dropping into a husky, low tone.

She reached out, grabbed tightly onto the collar of my shirt, and pulled me forward to kiss me. I let out a low moan of appreciation against her lips. I had been wanting to do that all night just to numb my mind. I wrapped my hand around her throat, holding her gently but firmly as I brought her closer to me. I could tell she was smiling against my mouth, even though it was too dark to see her face clearly.

She clumsily moved across the center console and climbed onto my seat, taking a seat directly on my lap as we continued kissing heavily. Her short black dress was quickly riding up her thighs, and I reached down, taking a good, tight grab of her bare ass.