The Moon Knows How to Play

Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The bar was alive tonight.

Noise, smoke, perfume, sweat - all of it swirled together in the dimness of Legacy Bar. The ceiling lights flickered between neon pink and deep violet, bouncing off the fog machine haze that clung to the air. Music throbbed so loud the bass shook inside my ribs like a second heartbeat. Girls in short skirts and men in designer shirts moved against each other, grinding to the beat, mouths locked, drinks spilling, shirts half unbuttoned.

And me? I was alone. Sitting at the counter with a glass of Jack Daniels burning its way down my throat.

No Tornado tonight - he was at his girlfriend's party. Fairel. I didn't care. He had his own life, his own woman, his own happiness. Let him have it. I wasn't here for that. I was here for mine.

But my eyes weren't scanning the crowd for random women tonight. Not really. My head kept turning toward the door, expecting someone. Waiting.

Elunar.

I hated myself for it. I hated the way her name stuck to my chest like a splinter I couldn't pull out. I hated that after everything - after the forest, after the bridge, after what we did - she still refused to admit what we were. She pretended we were only bound by a game, a challenge, a joke. But the truth was burned into my skin: I had been inside her. I had tasted her. She had tasted me. There was no erasing that.

So when my phone buzzed, I knew it was her. I grabbed it quick, my pulse kicking.

Porn Queen Elunar:
I can't come tonight, sorry. I feel sick right now. 🤒

Sick?

I frowned, typing fast.

Me:
Do you want me to visit you?

No reply yet. My hand tightened on the glass. My lip curled. She was avoiding me, wasn't she? Hiding behind excuses.

And that's when I heard the voice. Sweet, too sweet.

"Wow, what a coincidence to see you again, Thunder!"

I turned. My brows rose.

"Eclips?"

Her smile could've lit the bar by itself. She was in a backless black dress, her creamy back bare under the flashing lights, her legs long and smooth above stiletto heels. Men nearby couldn't stop staring at her, their eyes crawling down her skin. But her eyes - they were locked on me.

She slid onto the stool next to mine, close enough that her perfume wrapped around me. "Yes, it's me."

I smirked. "What are you doing here alone?"

"I was supposed to come with my sister," she said, tilting her head, the words falling too easily. "But she felt sick. She was vomiting. I told her not to eat street food earlier but she didn't listen. I guess her stomach couldn't take it."

My jaw tightened. Street food. Sick. Vomiting.

So it was true.

"Dangerous to be alone in a place like this," I muttered.

She leaned closer, lips parting just slightly. "But you're here, aren't you?"

Her voice dripped like honey.

That was when I noticed she had two glasses in her hands. She pushed one toward me. "For you."

I narrowed my eyes at the glass. "What's this?"

"A cocktail," she said.

I frowned. "Why do I get the cocktail and you get the straight liquor? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"