Just Steve

O N E

Men suck.

Other than being occasionally fun to look at, the only purpose they served on this Earth was to sustain the population. More often then not they wasted precious time breaking the hearts of girls who deserved much better. At least this was the conclusion you had come to as you sat at the edge of the bar, glass of whiskey in hand.

The caramel colored liquid sloshed around as you lazily mixed the half-empty glass with your straw. James had never liked whiskey. He was always telling you to stop wasting your time with bourbon and switch to gin. You should have known then that it would never work. How could you have trusted someone who couldn't handle their Macallan?

Now that you thought about it, Amanda didn't drink whiskey either. Amanda had always been partial to shots of tequila, a habit that had gotten the pair of you into trouble many times over the years. No matter what tricky situation Amanda landed herself in, you had always been there to pick up the pieces. Apparently, that had not been enough to keep Amanda from stabbing you in the back.

Maybe girls suck too, or just all people. That was it. All people suck. You laughed to yourself bitterly, amending your previous statement.

You brought the cool glass to your lips, downing the rest of your drink. That's when a tall figure grabbed the stool adjacent to yours.

"Mind if I sit here?"

You didn't look at where the voice had come from. You didn't really care.

"Go ahead," you replied simply. You were staring at the reflection of the bar lights on the various bottles of alcohol, jumping slightly when the man kept talking to you. You had thought the conversation was over, figuring he had just wanted to sit in the chair not a drinking buddy.

"Can I get you a refill on your drink?" he asked, motioning to the empty glass in your hand.

You hesitated for a moment. The fact was you had come to this bar to be alone. It was far from campus and you didn't want to see anybody you knew and be forced to make small talk with classmates whose names you wouldn't even remember in a year or two. You weren't in the mood for conversation and were perfectly content to wallow alone in self-pity. But who were you to turn down a free drink?

You nodded so the man got the bartender's attention, motioning for two more of what you had been drinking.

"Thanks, I'm (Y/N) by the way," you said, sticking out your hand for him to shake. You figured introducing yourself was the polite thing to do considering he had just paid for your drink.

"Steve, nice to meet you (Y/N)," he fit his hand into yours and shook it, then reached for his new drink taking a sip of the copper liquid. "Mmm, you have good taste," he commented making you smile for real this time.

At least, someone appreciated your taste for whiskey. You turned on your bar stool to fully face him properly, taking in his appearance.

You couldn't help but notice how attractive the man was. He had gorgeous dirty blonde hair, and stunning crystal blue eyes. When he smiled back at you, you couldn't shake the feeling that you had met him before but your alcohol clouded brain couldn't place where.

"You look kinda familiar, do I know you from somewhere?"

Steve chuckled, hesitating slightly before shaking his head and replying, "I don't think so, I'm just Steve."

"Well alright, just Steve," you replied, mockingly repeating his words then grimacing slightly. Sarcasm was like second nature to you, and you silently chastised yourself for making fun of someone you had known for less than a minute. Any worries turned out to be unnecessary however as Steve laughed deeply before taking another sip of his drink.