Meghan muffled a curse as her phone flashed with the message, "Not enough moves." She had been playing Candy Crush on her phone ("Delishus!") for the past half hour. She was thisclose to finishing that particular stage when she ran out of moves. "Stupid game," she said, before slamming her phone in frustration on the small coffee table since she was out of lives, too.
Megh was annoyed, but she wasn't sure if she was irritated with the game, or with herself for getting carried away with a video game. Last year, her phone didn't even have a single game. All her apps were for taking selfies, making sure she looked good in her selfies, and sharing her selfies.
But Simon had to install one. "This is fun," he said. "It's not really addictive," he said. Now, not only did she have an assortment of games installed, she was playing them whenever she had a few free minutes. And it always sucked when she had more free minutes than she did gameplay time.
A quick glance at her watch told her that it was only ten minutes after their agreed upon time. The thought of waiting without having anything to keep her occupied her made the wait tiresome, but she couldn't pitch a fit. After all, it was her fault for coming early.
She caught a whiff of secondhand smoke, but unlike other people who'd complain, Megh actually welcomed it. She quit smoking five months ago, but there were still days when she'd be jonesing for a puff. That was mostly why she still sat in the smoking area in coffee shops—for the secondhand smoke. Technically, she wasn't smoking but she still enjoyed wallowing in the relaxing pull of someone else's burning ciggie.
"Tough stage?" a smooth, low voice asked. She turned to see the source of the voice and she was rewarded with heavy lidded eyes, short hair neatly styled into little spikes up the front, sparkling teeth, and the thickest lashes she had ever seen on a guy. Megh knew a lot of hot guys. She did moonlight as a commercial model after all. This guy could give a lot of the models she worked with a run for their talent fees.
"Yes," she drawled, her voice switching to sultry without her realizing it. "Sorry, was the volume too loud? I didn't realize..." She let her sentence trail once she heard her voice. It wasn't like he was really listening anyway.
The guy tried to be surreptitious in his once-over, but Megh could tell he was sizing her up. The way his eyes lingered over her cleavage was a dead giveaway. "36C," she blurted frostily. She was used to guys hitting on her and this guy wasn't any different.
Instead of being flustered, the guy ended up laughing. "Was I that obvious?" He picked up the coffee and the pack of smokes on his table, then slid confidently into the chair opposite Megh. "Adrian," he offered, extending his hand to her.
"Meghan," she replied, not using the nickname she usually answered to. She didn't take the offered hand, but she didn't stop him from taking a seat either. Waiting was boring and fending this guy's advances off might be amusing enough. She picked up her fancy whipped cream-laden iced coffee drink and sipped. But instead of the solid shot of caffeine she needed, all she got was the loud swoosh of air passing through the straw. Damn.
"Should I get you another drink?" Adrian offered, half-rising from his chair. "My treat, of course."
"No, thank you," Megh replied. "I've had enough. I'm just waiting for someone anyway."
"Going shopping with your girlfriends? I'd love to meet them." Adrian pulled a megawatt smile. He reached over to the table he vacated to get an ashtray without rising from the seat. As he strained to reach it, his muscles rippled beneath his shirt, showing Megh that this guy wasn't just a pretty face. He had a pretty ripped body, too.
"No, a guy friend," she replied, a beat too slow. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks as he caught her looking. She turned away quickly, checking her phone to see if she had another life available. (She didn't.) Damn it. Why did she feel guilty? Since when was it a crime to appreciate a hot guy?
