Chapter 2

"An accountant huh?" I hear come from his mouth. It takes me a second too long to regain my composure, "You sure don't look like any accountant I've ever seen."

I watch as his eyes look me up and down, drinking me in.

"And do tell what an accountant should look like?" I question, raising an eyebrow.

He smirks at my new found confidence, shaking his head. He turns to Josh and Vanessa who are still just sitting in silence watching the interaction unfold, "I apologise for interrupting your conversation, I struggle to keep my thoughts to myself sometimes." He then turns to me "I thought maybe you could use some help..." he pauses.

Oh, my name, "Charlie!" I almost yell being caught off guard.

"Charlie..." He continues, seeming to almost taste the letters on his tongue, "But it seems like I'm the one that needed help in this scenario. Can I buy you a drink to say thank you?"

Oh my god, he's asking me. I take a deep breath to calm myself before responding, I definitely did not want to let my excitement show. "Yeah, that'd be great, thanks."

He holds out his arm, signalling me to lead the way. I quickly make my way through the room to get to the bar, navigating through the tight tables. As we get there, I instinctively go to wiggle my way to the front before realising there is absolutely no way this man could or will follow me. I turn around hoping he didn't noticed.

"You didn't strike me as the type of girl to wait. But we can use this time to chat if you'd like? The drink was definitely just a ploy to get to know you a little." He speaks beside me.

I turn to look up at him, trying to get another look at him. He wasn't as big as I had initially thought, it felt more like his booming voice and anger made him appear larger. He has a wide chest and a muscular upper body from what I can tell. He definitely went to the gym but it was more of a lean muscle. He had monochrome tattoos from what I can see, and from the tiny bits of his arms peaking out from his shirt I could see the start of a sticker sleeve. He has a square jaw and a tiny bit of stubble covering it, a piercing in either ear and when I look down his hands I see an assortment of rings on them.

He sure knows how to dress I think to myself, finally coming back to those dark eyes. Oh shit, he's caught me staring at him.

Staring down at me trying to contain a laugh he says, "Don't worry, I was doing the same, I was just a lot quicker at it than you." as he winks at me.

I blush again and quickly step forward to the bar as people make their way out with their drinks.

"So where are you from?" He asks me.

"I'm from Melbourne originally, but I couldn't help myself from moving here to Sydney when my best friend decided to make a change, we've been inseparable for years now so I thought why not," I say as I shrug my shoulders, "and you?"

"Born and raised here in Sydney, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else to be honest."

We finally make our way to the front where the bartender from the start comes over to ask me my drink order, "And what can I get you beautiful, I get off at 2am if you're still here and want to get out of here tog..." he slowly trails off noticing the man beside me.

"You seem like a red wine girl," he says from next to me "so two glasses of merlot for me and my date please?" He asks the bartender.

The guy hardly faltered at the interaction between the bartender and I. The poor guy behind the bar quickly leaves to go get our drinks, clearly annoyed but oh well, I would never have called him anyway.

"You sure do make an impression it seems Charlie, I can't blame him for trying, but he definitely doesn't seem your type." This dark, tattooed man beside me says as he grabs our drinks, making sure the bartender heard us.

"I feel a little bit at a disadvantage here, you know my name but you're yet to introduce yourself as you try to tell me what my type is." I say back to him sarcastically.

He laughs, "I'm sorry, I'm Lakyn."

I stick out my hand, "Nice to meet you Lakyn." He takes my hand in his. God his hands are big. "To answer your question, I don't have a type. Why would I possibly limit my sexual exploration at this age to a 'type' as you put it."

He just laughs again. It sounds so good, "I knew I would like you. Why don't we just ignore the people we're here with and get to know one another?" He asks me.

"As much as that sounds nice, I really can't leave my friends. We were meant to be having a girls night and I'm definitely not going to bail for a boy."

"Man." He corrects me.

"Fine, I'm still not bailing for a man." I emphasise.

"Thats fine, how about we join our tables together then? Then you and I can sit together and maybe my friends can get to know the other guy at your table... as long as he's not like that other douchebag?"

"No, no! He's definitely not like that other guy. I'll ask them and see what they say. Are you sure your friends wouldn't mind?"

"Definitely not, they'll probably be a little pissed that I got to buy you a drink first, but I'm sure they'll enjoy their chance to try and get your attention."

I blush again at his response. This guy was so smooth, probably a little too smooth. I remind myself of my decision to stop dating, scolding myself for getting engrossed in this guy.

We walk back over to our tables. I lean down to Vanessa and Josh to whisper "So... Lakyn" I say, making a point to nudge my head back to where he was doing the same thing to his friends, "has asked if we wanted to join our tables together. I don't know how I feel ab-" I was about to finish when Vanessa basically screams at the other table "We would LOVE to join your table."

I shoot her a glare to say I wasn't finished yet, but she just ignores me and starts grabbing all the chairs and tables to move them to the table of guys with Lakyn. The guys quickly shoot up to help her when they see what a clumsy awkward mess she is. She was so beautiful and from a first glance you definitely couldn't tell, but deep down she was an awkward, lanky girl that still had no idea how to use her arms and legs in a fashion that didn't result in her face planted on the floor.

I just watch as they set up our new table. Lakyn sits down, shooing one of the boys from beside him and making a space for me to sit. I could see Vanessa half grinning, whilst Josh was still not sure what was even going on. Poor Josh, he was sweet but he was also clueless sometimes. I make my way around to sit next to him and then scan the new occupants of our table. As if on cue, Lakyn starts rattling off their names, "This is Sebastian, but you can call him Seb." Pointing to the guy on the other side of me.

He was tall too, with dark brown hair that was cut pretty close to a buzz cut. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt from what I could tell, although it was pretty cool, covered in flowers of some sort but they were all distorted, as if I was tripping on acid as I looked at it. He smiled at me a lop sided grin, showing perfect teeth. His eyes seemed to light up at the mention of his name, showing hazelnut with splashes of green throughout them. He was beautiful too, but in a non threatening way. I liked him already.

"And this is Nickson, but you can call him Nicks." Lakyn continues. I turn to the next guy. He too was tall and handsome, he was dressed like Lakyn a lot more than Seb. He had on a plain white dress shirt and black jeans. He didn't have any tattoos on his wrist but he did have a large chest piece from what I could tell. He was dirty blond with a wide nose and green eyes. He was a lot more reserved than Seb too, only giving me a half smile and nodding his head.

"Finally we have Callum, but again just call him Cal." The last boy sitting across from me and next to Josh waved at me from across the table. He was shorter than the rest, but what he was lacking in physical presence he sure made up for in his look. He had a lip ring, a brow ring and a nose ring. From what I could tell it seemed like he wouldn't have any room left on his skin that was bare. His neck, arms and hands were all covered in intricate coloured tattoos and his white t shirt showed that they definitely continued onto his stomach and chest. He had brown hair tied up the back of his head into a sloppy bun. His eyes were brown and his smile was sweet. All of his featured were softer compared to the other boys.

All together, they looked like a boy band that would ruin your life. They each had an aura around them that demanded attention. At surface level they looked scary, but as Lakyn said each of their names, they beamed at me and smiled in a way that showed they were non threatening. I smile back at all of them and introduce them to Vanessa and Josh.

"I'm really sorry for interrupting you guys by the way, I hope you don't mind us joining you." I say.

"Not at all! Good job on kicking that guys ass!" Seb says, then turns to Josh, "Sorry man but your friend is a dick." Giving an apologetic look whilst also shrugging his shoulders and bringing his hands up.

"Don't stress, we only go to uni together so he's not really a close friend. I only brought him because Vanessa was worried Charlie was lonely." With that Vanessa kicks him under the table as I turn to stare daggers at her.

"I'm sure if Charlie was lonely it was because she wanted to be." Cal quips in earning a smile and a nod from me.

The smile quickly fades from my face as I feel a hand on my thigh, Lakyn leans in to whisper in my ear. His breath setting goosebumps all up my arms. "I'll be happy to keep you company if you're ever lonely." he purrs.

So much for not dating I think to myself. This was going to be harder than I anticipated.