per·sua·sion

79.

Jessica

My eyes move upwards from my keyboard as they shift over. I'm met with a heavily tattooed, adequately toned body. The way his tats are placed, along with the pops of color here and there, make them very aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

"My eyes are up here, sweetheart" his voice is slightly deep with a hint of southern tones on certain words.

I pull my eyes from the jet-black crow centered in the middle of his chest to meet his deep blue eyes. He turns his white ball cap around so it's backward on his messy blonde hair. I watch as he places his things into the back of the car.

Right, this must be the friend Evan was talking about coming.

I move my eyes back to my computer, tucking my hair behind my ear as he sits beside me, pulling the door shut.

"You never did answer my question," he declares

"Let me save you some time. I have a boyfriend."

"Oh, I didn't know Evan had a girl."

"I'm not with Evan," I reply as my fingers start to type, adjusting my color schemes. "I'm sure you know him, though. His name is Hero," I continue.

"Hero? I don't know, no Hero" he shifts his weight, adjusting himself to face me a little bit more. "But If you were mine, you wouldn't be left in no car either."

"Well, I'm not; now, could you please shut up? So I can work. I would appreciate it."

"Fiesty, I like it," he lightly chuckles. "I don't mind working for what I want" I can feel his eyes scanning my body, his voice smooth yet somewhat low, causing me to shift in place.

"I mean, Nah bro, I—" I hear Hero say as the door slides open.

Excellent I can only imagine how this will go

I save my work, lightly closing my laptop, then place it into the front seat's back pocket.

"Col, I told you not to bother Jess and to sit in the back," Evan asserts. "Jess, I'm sorry if he has said anything stupid," Evan sighs.

"It's fine, don't worry about it."

"Yeah, well, you didn't tell me that Jessica was hot!" I can feel Col's eyes still on me, but my eyes lock with Hero's.

"Get in the back," Evan demands

"Nah, I'm good" he shifts again, moving his right arm so it almost drapes across my shoulders as he rests it on the back of the seat.

"Hey, Evan, can you come here for a second?" a voice calls out from across the parking lot.

Evan looks at Hero, who's still focused on me. "I got it," he says, and Evan nods.

"Move now!" Hero's voice is full of authority, his eyes leaving mine and cutting to Col's like cold steel daggers.

Col looks at Hero and then at me. "Wait, is this him?" He asks as he laughs, taking in his appearance. "He's so vanilla. I mean, come on, why have a boy when you can have a man girl?"

I watch Hero's eyes flicker, his hand forming into a fist, before switching my eye contact to Col.

"Trust me; he's more of a man than you'll ever be! Now get in the fucking back so that we can go!" I assert aggravation, filling my voice.

I can see that my contentious words have zero effect on him, as he says. "Whatever you need, sweetheart," his lips curling upward, forming a smile.

"Stop calling me that!"