Alexandria's Superman

(six) some nights

(Liam's POV)

Bored and tired, I slouched over the counter and my eyes closed, paying no attention to the world anymore.

Staying up all night with that redhead, Clarice, was probably not one of my smartest ideas, plus it wasn't even worth my while. If I had known she wouldn't be any good in bed, I wouldn't have wasted my break on her and tended to Ali instead.

An elbow jabbed into my side, causing my eyes to snap open and a glare to set on Taylor who had unsurprisingly performed that assault.

Taylor returned my glare and nodded his head in the direction of the door that Ali had just walked through.

When will she learn she can't keep coming to the wrong side of town by herself?

She sat down in the seat in front of me where I was still leaning against her counter space. Immediately, I backed up.

Her curls were pulled into a perfectly slicked back ponytail, not a single bump in sight. She wore a pair of dark washed jeans, a grey t-shirt that had some soccer logo on it, and boot wedges - her style acutely different compared to what it normally was. Today, she almost blended in with the rest of the people in this bar, but not quite.

Maybe because she's one of a kind, so she could never stand out.

"What're you drinking tonight?" I cleared my throat, speaking through the thick air around us.

"Coke?" She smiled awkwardly.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my lips from twitching in an upward grin.

How is it I've had 3 encounters with this girl, three measly encounters, yet she can do this to me?

I'm hard ass that only cares about my niece, Taylor, and myself. When did I start letting a rich girl that I don't even know have any effect on my life?

The second she walked into the bar last week, dumbass, my stupid conscious reminded me.

I slid the straight Coke in her direction, not backing away from the counter space in front of her this time. "What's the point of coming all the way to the wrong side of town for a Coke from a bar?"

She stared down at her drink as she sipped it through the thin straw I had given her. "I work tomorrow morning. I can't have a drink."

"Don't they have a place up town you can go to for a Coke?" I challenged, waiting for a reasonable explanation.

There is no explanation for why she would come all the way here, a 25 minute drive, to get a Coke.

Her eyes narrowed at me. "For some odd reason..." she trailed off as she leaned in closer to my face, leaving little space in between us. "I'm intrigued by a boy who works here."

My breath hitched. My conscious was yelling explicit words at me for showing my weaknesses.

Taylor was watching, probably making it lowkey, but I could feel his gaze on us. I would look away to confirm my thoughts, but Ali had my gaze locked with hers, under lock and key.

Finally, I caught ahold of myself and sanity. I broke through the lock and looked away, at anything besides her.

"The wrong side of town is no place for a girl like you, Ali. You should go." With that, I walked straight through the back room, out the back exit.

I faced the wall of the brick building, my forehead resting against it as the anger within me built up. Eventually, the boiling anger exploded and my fist collided with the fucking brick wall.