••••
𝐏𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐱
••••
We walked into the bar and it wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. It's a quaint little place. There's a pool table in the back and a couple TV screens by the bar showing a football (or soccer) game. There's only a few groups of people in the bar, which is probably why, this guy chooses to come here. I spot Andrey's guy over at the end of the bar.
We move to sit at a booth in the back when Aziel says, "Alright, who's gonna do it?"
"I think it should be one of you guys," Aspen points to Hayes and Aziel, "He came to a bar, he probably is interested in guy talk, you know?"
"But how could a guy turn down two hot girls like you?" Aziel crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. I roll my eyes at him.
"How could he turn down a lesbian like me? Gee, I don't know..." Aspen says sarcastically.
"We could do rock, paper, scissors?" Hayes suggests.
"Wow rock, paper, scissors is really becoming our thing," Aziel laughs but puts his fist out anyway.
"Rock, paper, scissors, says...shoot,"
I put out rock, Aziel and Aspen both do paper, and Hayes also does rock.
"Oh great, the two of you can go do it." Aziel smiles sweetly.
I look over at Hayes and he shrugs, "As long as you don't fuck it up."
"Me? Fuck it up?" I say incredulously, "You should be worried about yourself."
"I don't fuck things up." He responds smugly.
"Oh you cocky little fuc-"
"Okay while you two are wondering which one of you is gonna fuck it up, Aziel and I are gonna wonder how the both of you are gonna fuck it up." Aspen mumbles rubbing her temples.
"All you guys have to do is literally not fight for like 15 minutes, maybe a little more," Aziel pleads, "It can't be that hard."
"Let's go." I mutter to Hayes and walk over to the bar where the guy is sitting.
Hayes waves over the bartender and orders a whiskey, "Do you want something?" He asks.
"Any kind of beer," I reply in Spanish. The bartender nods and walks away to get our drinks.
"How are we gonna do this..." I trail off in thought.
"I could go up and talk to him first, you know, the whole "bro talk" thing Aspen was talking about. You wait for our drinks, and then come over and I'll say your my sister or something."
"Sister?" I raise an eyebrow at him. "We look absolutely nothing a like."
"Whatever, I'll figure it out," He says. I try to stop him before he walks over to the guy but he doesn't listen.
"Stupid impulsive little shit." I shake my head at him. I listen in on their conversation, while I wait for our drinks. Hayes puts on a French accent (which sound surprisingly real) and talks to him about the soccer game. They start laughing together and it looks like they're having a good time.
Finally our drinks come, and of course Hayes left me to pay for them. I take a deep breath before walking over to them.
"Hey Dmitri," Hayes says when he sees me walking over. I guess that's the guys name. "This is my," There's a slight pause before he says, "Girlfriend." His eyes widen slightly. Obviously he didn't mean to say that.
Great, now I have to act all snuggly with him. I give him a sweet smile that promises a delightful punch once we get out of here.
"Hey babe," It kills me to say that. Like I literally think I lost a few years off my life. I hand him his drink and he smiles at me, his façade slipping back into place. I take a long sip of my beer because I know I'll need it.
I glance over at Aspen and Aziel and obviously they heard what Hayes said because they're trying to conceal there laughs. I flip them the bird behind my back and they laugh even harder at that.
I sidle closer to Hayes and he very stifly puts his arm around me. Suddenly I hear a snort come from their booth. Even Dmitri looks over at Aspen and Aziel.
"I guess they must be really drunk." Hayes jokes. I feel him flip the bird at them behind my back and I smile at that.
"Wow, man, you got lucky with this one," Dmitri smirks at me his eyes looking up and down my body. It makes me wanna stab his eyes, the way he's looking at me. Hayes must sense my uncomfortableness because he tugs me closer.
"No, I think I'm the lucky one." Hayes smiles down at me. I can see through his eyes how much it pains him to say it and I almost burst out laughing at his pain.
"What brings you here tonight?" I ask Dmitri.
"Nothing much," He starts, his Russian accent is thick, "Just looking for an escape after work."
"Oh, where do you work?" Hayes questions.
"I'm in the transportation business," He answers smoothly, "My boss likes to work us hard. Anyway, what brings you two lovebirds here?" Dmitri switches the conversation away from his occupation.
"Well, we're here on vacation and we wanted to visit some bars." Hayes starts, "Though this probably isn't your typical bar in Madrid, it's quite quiet."
"No it's definitely not," Dmitri laughs, "I come here because I like the quiet."
"Are you on vacation too?" I ask.
"Something like that..." He trails off, "How long have you two been together?" He changes the topic away from him again.
"About a year and a half." I answer at the same time Hayes says "3 years." I look over at him eyes wide.
"How could you forget how long we've been dating?" I try to play it off, laughing.
"No, you're right, it is a year and a half, but it feels like double that," Hayes chuckles.
"I bet it does," Dmitri guffaws. "Women am I right?"
Anger simmers inside me at his words. Hayes must sense my change in attitude because he answers before I can, "No, I just meant I feel like I've known her for so much longer than that." Hayes tucks a hair behind my ear staring into my eyes, really putting the whole "in-love" thing together while silently telling me to calm down.
"Aww," Dmitri says, but I think he meant it mockingly. "How did you meet?"
"Oh, you can tell him, honey," I smile up at Hayes sweetly, putting a hand on his chest, "You tell the story perfectly."
Before Hayes can come up with another lie, Dmitri's phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket and the caller ID reads: Boss.
I look over at Hayes and he has the same look on his face.
"Hold on I need to take this." Dmitri says getting out of his chair and walks towards the bathrooms. We nod at Aspen and Aziel and they follow us towards the bathroom. We stay outside the door so we can hear his conversation with Andrey.
"He's getting a call from his 'boss'." I whisper to Aspen and Aziel. They go to one side of the door, while Hayes and I move to the other side.
"Yeah Boss?" comes Dmitri's muffled voice. "Go to the warehouse now? What is going on?"
There's a long pause. "Again? Where are we going this time?" Another pause. "Greece? Damn, Boss. I thought you had one last thing to do?"
There's more silence on the other side of the door, then. "Less than a week, okay, got it. I'll be there in thirty."
We quickly walk away from the door, Aspen and Aziel go outside probably to start the car we rented so we can follow him to the warehouse. Hayes and I rush back towards the bar and I see Dmitri coming out of the bathroom and I panic and sit in Hayes lap. Our eyes widen as we look at each other but there's no time to get off because Dmitri's already back, so I move to get more comfortable on his lap and I hear him groan under his breath, making me smirk. He puts his hand on my hip squeezing in warning. We both smile up at him.
"I have to go. My boss is really working us hard this week." Dmitri laughs.
"Oh, no problem." I wave him off, "Duty calls."
Without another word, he leaves the bar. Hayes and I quickly get up and leave the bar about thirty seconds after him. We quickly jump in the back seat of the car.
"We're totally following him, right?" Aspen says from the front seat looking back at us through the mirror. We both nod at her. She quickly pulls out of the parking lot and follows Dmitri's car to Andrey's warehouse.
A spark of hope ignites in me. But I don't let it spread to far. Hope leads to disappointment and I can't afford that.
♚♚♚
Please, this was so fun to write. Hayes and Phoe acting like they're a couple when deep down they "hate" each other.
QOTD: What's your favorite book trope?
I have so many honestly. Enemies to lovers, obviously (I mean I'm literally writing a story with this trope). One bed trope, fake dating, healing their wounds, no strings attached relationships, Childhood friends to lovers, found family.
Some of these might be in the book later hehe
Anyway thank you guys so much for reading, and thank you so much for 5k on here, I love you all <3