"I mean he's literally quoted saying 'the homosexual agenda will be detrimental to our nation in the long run'. First off, what agenda? Secondly, doesn't he know that his brother in law is gay?" Jefferson shouted under the dim lights of the pool hall.

He's been going back and forth, should we work with Jim Vanguard or should we not. Ruby is on board, thinking how sweet it would be for a couple of "homos" as Jim puts it, to save his ass during his run for mayor and spill everything to the media bit by bit. Like I said, don't really care as long as we make some money in the process. I leaned over resting on the cue and dusting it with blue chalk. Lining the white ball up with a striped seven, the felt tip hit the white ball and it collided with the seven, knocking it into the left corner pocket.

The bar Cinch was our place to pregame before we burned all of our energy dancing at Banshee. Think of it like the warm-up to the workout.

"Honestly, anything you do to help him get elected hurts all of us." Chelsea added, holding a beer in between her fingertips as she adjusted herself on the barstool. Out of all of Ruby's girlfriend's Chelsea is my favorite. Beautiful deep brown eyes, smooth mahogany skin, gorgeous curly black hair and she's a smartass. We get along so well that many times I find myself gelling with her better than Jefferson and Ruby, "But I guess sometimes your job involves selling the copyrights of your soul to get the accounts you want."

"Thanks for understanding baby," Ruby placed a soft kiss on her partner's forehead, slipping a small ziplock bag out of her pocket and handed me a flat, circular pill with a smiley face printed on both sides, "On a serious note, how did that douche-canoe snag a woman like his wife though? She's hot," She pressed, popping the pill in her mouth and as I hit another ball the corner of my mouth lifted.

"Really?" Chels raised her eyebrows, waiting for the answer while Ruby squirmed.

"I mean..-uh,"

"I'm just kidding," A light giggle floated from her, wasting no time she wrapped her hands around the back of her girls' neck pulling her in for a kiss, "She's damn hot."

I rolled my eyes at their disgusting cuteness, slid the tablet in my mouth and swallowed, chasing it with a beer, while I chalked up my cue once more, "So J, have you thought about what you want to do?"

He glanced up from his phone, eyebrows scrunched like I was ripping his focus away from something important, when I know I wasn't, "Fine. I'm in, but don't expect me to hide who I am in front of him."

"I wouldn't dream of it baby," I blew Jefferson an air kiss, "But what about Neal? I mean there's no way the Chief doesn't know he has a gay brother in-law."

"I don't know. We're meeting up around midnight-"

"Or you could talk to the Chief tonight." Chelsea nudged her bottle to the entrance.

At first I was confused but then I saw a petite woman carrying a familiar looking expensive purse in the small crowd. Regina? What in the hell is she doing here, but then I remembered we're not in an LGBTQIA area, though we're close. As they stepped further into the bar my suspicions were confirmed that it was indeed her. Just behind her was Jimmy Boy, with a protective hand clutched around her waist as he made his way through the crowd he had built. People were treating him as if he were a celebrity. He was certainly use to it and Regina did look happy and vibrant but there was something behind that wide smile that let me know she wasn't a fan of all the attention, especially when the inappropriate whistles began.

Outside of his three-piece suit Jim looked quite fit and was taller than his wife by a few inches wearing a teasing grin. They talked animatedly to each other, he dropped his chin to bring his lips to her ear and whisper something that made her laugh which she then responded with a kiss to the cheek. They seemed close, like they've been doing this for years.

Jim pointed to our area and Regina's eyes widened as she nodded. He scanned the room until he met mine where he smiled softly and waved. I froze up. Shit did I just look like a stalker? I was just observing. My hands felt glued to the pool stick so I just nodded and sent them a short, crooked smile.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." I heard Ruby say off to the side.

"I've never seen this man here ever and suddenly…" Jefferson trailed off.

Damn I probably seemed so damn creepy just standing here watching them since they came in. I quickly tore my gaze away, tossed the stick on the table and turned to face my three friends, "Please tell me he's not coming this way."

Jefferson shifted his weight to the right, peering around my shoulder, "Okay, he's not coming this way."

"Fuck. I do not want to spend my night with work."

"Yeah…" Wrapping her hand around Chelsea's, Ruby pulled her lady off the bench as she walked backwards.

"We're gonna head to the Banshee. Get a good spot on the dancefloor." Chelsea finished, letting herself get curled against the side of her girlfriend.

"Yeah, yeah…" Jefferson patted my shoulder and quickly turned around to follow them out of the back door, not even bothering to finish his sentence.

Fuckers.

"Emma is that you?" Jim's fake ass voice reached my ears and I cringed. Universe please let there be something that takes me out of this trivial 'getting to know you' shit. But as I turned around and came face to face with the lovely couple I realized nothing would save me.

"Pretty sure you caught me staring at you."

His bold laugh echoed around us and he pulled back so he could do so at a greater volume, then smiled, "I love that honesty of yours, Emma." Okay bro, you can stop saying my name so frequently, "Anyway, babe, this is the young lady I was telling you about." He said to his wife and with the palm of his hand on Regina's back he gently pushed her forward, decreasing the gap between us.

"Yes, Emma." Her big brown eyes gazed deeply into mine and for the first time today I felt a blush spread across my face.

"Yes, Regina." I said in the same tone. I would've continued to stare if Jim's hand hadn't slid into view. He cupped her neck then slid his hand under her chin, tilting her head back and placing a short but passionate kiss on her lips. That felt unnecessary, I'm not a fan of PDA…unless it's in the bath houses of course.

"So are you by yourself tonight?" Jim asked once him and Regina pulled out of their perfect world.

"No, I'm not. I'm going to catch up with my friends in a sec."

"Aw, well if you don't mind maybe we can tag along."

Bruh.

For real?

And those words were about to come out of my mouth if my phone didn't vibrate and if his didn't ring. Easily he slipped it out and answered in that professional tone he loved so much, holding up a finger to us as he mouthed an apology and slowly began to back up. Regina nodded then pointed to the bar. This gave me a chance to pull out my phone, smiling wildly once I saw who it was.

Eliot Williams-Message (1)

Heads up. Coming through tomorrow morning with Atlas. Need to talk.

Eh, I guess I could go home early from the Banshee to make sure I'm ready to see my son. I responded with a simple thumbs up. Not to mention I guess the Universe did have my back. I could totally use Eliot and Atlas as my excuse to skip out of here and head to the club. Looking up from my phone I noticed Regina sitting alone at the bar resting her head in her hand. I watched as a man came up beside her, calling the bartender over then bring his attention to Regina. He said something that made her laugh, not quite as hard as she did with Jim, but made it a point to look at the dude when she responded.

What the fuck was she doing? He wasn't even good looking. I mean, trust me, her eye contact is wild as fuck, I don't think I've ever met anyone who actually gazed into your eyes while you're talking about basic shit. But she did and it seemed very important to her. Maybe I should go over there and let the dude down easy. Weaving around the table and drunk bodies as I made my way to them a bright golden light spreading from the wall in the bar, right behind Regina. I came up on her right shoulder, leaning my arm down on the counter. Being in her presence made me feel like I was standing in the sunshine, the warmth of the light melted over my skin and I smiled.

The man's eyes shot to me and I recognized them immediately, "Oh shit. My bad Emma, is this you?" Dale said, already stretching the distance between his body and Regina's. The deep brown eyes moved to me, her stare stretching over my face.

"No, but I'm sure the Chief of Police wouldn't like you flirting with his wife either."

Eyebrows raised as he glanced at Regina, "Well I should get going. Nice to meet you Regina. Emma, always a pleasure."

"Hm, not for me." I mumbled under but Dale didn't hear because he was too busy bolting away from us. A soft giggle caught my attention, floating from those full lips bubbles of air that looked squished escaping up from the ocean, flattened by pressure. The light shined brighter when she smiled, illuminating the edginess of her sharp features; eyebrows, cheeks, nose, lips. I felt a giddiness that I've never experienced before.

Looks like that smiley face has finally kicked in.

"Did you enjoy that?" She asked. Detecting something in her tone I raised an eyebrow and cocked my head to the side.

"Kind of. But I always have fun with the boys."

I drifted my eyes to the window, my body tensed from seeing Jim leisurely talk on the phone. He should be in here, keeping her company like a good husband.

"It seems like you also like to have fun with the girls too…" she spun her glass cup then brought it to her lips, taking a small sip, "In the bathroom," after swallowing Regina bared her teeth and let out an exhale, blowing the smell of whiskey in my face. But I didn't mind, "At work."

"Oh so that was you," Her neck flushed red that crept into her face from my comment, "Peeping Tom much?"

"Or just don't shit where you eat." She shot back quickly, making me wonder if I had somehow offended her, still though, the golden hue shined bright around her but then I frowned when it was dying out. Frustrated I focused on the impediment, finding a younger girl. Much younger, "Can I buy you a drink?" Yikes. Her high pitched voice startled me compared to Regina's velvety one, and I admit; I jumped a little.

"And you're how old?"

"Twenty-Four." But her tone was one filled with uneasiness.

"Bullshit what year were you born?"

"19…1998…?"

"You aren't sure," pushing myself off the bar I stood above her, peering down, "How old are you really?"

Adverting her gaze she looked away for a moment then brought her eyes back to me, "Twenty," Regina choked on the sip she had just drank, "Okay fine. Nineteen," the girl said, eyeballing the beauty beside me. Crossing my arms I cocked my hip out to the side with a raised eyebrow, "Eight…teen."

"Well, what is this, a missile launch?" I taunted.

"Seventeen."

"Jesus…" I trailed off, wiping my hand over my face. Getting the message the younger girl just shrugged her shoulders and walked over to her friends, who were all jumping up and down, squealing like…well, teenagers, "What is with kids today?" I lowered myself on the barstool next to Regina who was chuckling softly and shaking her head.

"They just want to get laid like everybody else," Tilting her head back she finished the rest of her drink, catching the way her neck stretched as she swallowed and saliva pooled in my mouth. She slammed the glass down gaining the bartenders attention who didn't hesitate to grab her empty glass and fill it with another drink, "I mean how old were you your first time?"

"Fifteen," I answered easily, "With my gym teacher." This made her laugh, but the way she did it let me know that she didn't' believe me, "And they were probably the same age I am now. It was after school in the locker rooms. She was taking a shower. I went back for something, my book, my socks, my bra. I don't really remember," I waved my hand through the air blowing it off but the memory played clearly in my mind like a drive-in movie, "Anyway. There she was, all naked, soaping herself. She saw me there, frozen, slack-jawed," Running a hand through my hair I tossed it over to the side, chuckling under my breath, "Shit. I walked right in the showers with all my clothes on."

Regina exhaled slowly, eyebrows raised and I had contain the laughter from the look of surprise on her face, "No way." The disbelief was palpable.

"Got down on my knees and ate her out right there."

"Really? She let you do that?"

"Let me…?" finally I locked my eyes with hers and behind all that professionalism I saw the intrigue burn within. Shifting my weight to the left I moved towards her, feeling the coy smirk cross my lips, "She loved it."

Resting her elbow on the bar she tilted her head in a way that made her straightened hair fall in front of her face. In lithe movements she tucked it behind her ear. How can something so simple be so mesmerizing, "You're a take charge kind of person, even back then."

"I guess so."

"No wonder why Jim is excited to work with you."

"I haven't said yes yet."

"Trust me, if Jim wants something. He'll get it." Once again I detected something in her voice but I am too high to try and decipher what it is. My phone vibrated, and eagerly take it out of my pocket, smiling at Ruby's ETA message, also asking if I needed a distraction to escape out of here, "Do you need to go?"

Pursing my lips I used my feet to push off the floor and spun around on the barstool like I was a table top, "Yup. I need to go since it's going to be an early night for me. Gotta see my baby daddy and quite legitimate child in the morning."

She raised a finger towards me, closed her eyes, and turned her head slightly, "No," She opened them then lowered her hand, looking as if she were trying to be serious, "I don't believe it." I reached over and gently pushed her shoulder, electricity struck my body as soon as I touched the fabric, running down my spine causing me to shiver, "Coming from the personification of Peter Pan, having grown up responsibilities doesn't seem to fit you."

"Don't say that Wendy. We'll never grow up." I feigned a hurt expression, placing one hand over my heart and the other covering my mouth as I did my best Peter Pan voice, "I guess it's the beginning of the end then." Standing from the stool I rummaged through my pocket finding some cash rolled up, placing it under my beer bottle for the bartender.

"Oh no did I miss all the fun?"

Jesus, fuck.

Jim's voice startled me and I jumped for the second time tonight, cutting a side glance when I heard Regina giggle behind me. The entire time I had been with her it had been so easygoing, so relaxing, and in a strange way, so quiet. Chief's voice drew me back in the real hectic world.

"Yup. Maybe next time." I responded, patting his shoulder and brushing past him letting Regina's familiar, warm scent leave me entirely.