"This ones for you, hun," she tells me, setting another drink in front of me. Before she can walk away, I say, "I didn't order another one." She gestures to the bar and walks away. I turn to look at the bar and the gray shirt guy lifts his drink at me before facing away again. Cora grins widely. "He's cute." "Cute?" Bee starts. "He looks like a guy who claims to be a 'nice guy' but actually turns into a fucking stalker or serial killer." "You've seen way too many Lifetime movies," Cora tells her. He is cute. He's different from everyone else in here and I like that. Hopefully Bee isn't right about the stalker serial killer part. "You should go talk to him," Cora pushes. "What if it's true love?" Bee lets out another sound, but I feel like I should go talk to him. The seat next to him hasn't been taken. "I'll be right back," I say to them. I jump off the stool and make my way to the bar again. I haven't done this in a while so hopefully I don't sound like an idiot or something. "Hi," I say, sliding into the seat next to him. "Thanks for the drink." He flashes me a smile. "Long life, right?" "Right," I say before taking another sip of my drink. "What brings you here tonight?" "Winding down from the work week." "What do you do?" "I'm an electrician." "Shocking," I say and immediately regret it. I sound stupid. He chuckles and angles his body towards me, which I take as a good sign. "What about you?" he asks. "Excitingly, I work in retail." When he smiles I really study him. His dark sandy hair is pushed back, and his eyes are a crazy blue-green color. He's actually hotter than what I first thought. "What's your name?" he asks me. "Lacey." His grin widens and he holds his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Lacey. I'm Ben." Ben holds a conversation really well. We start talking about where we grew up, where we went to school, and how we ended up here at this bar. He was born and raised here in Greenwell. Baseball was his sport in high school, but he never thought of going pro. I tell him my dream of becoming a big time journalist, and that it's been my dream since high school. "So why didn't you go back home after graduating college? I know I would come back in a heartbeat," he says. It's a hard question with a difficult answer. I have had every chance to move back, and I haven't. "I like stability. I think once I landed here and got my feet planted, I just wanted to stay." He nods along. "I love my hometown, I love my family and friends there, but I don't know. It sounds stupid when I actually say it," I shrug. "It's not stupid," he shakes his head. "I like the way you talk about it." There's a flutter inside me and I haven't felt like this in a while. Talking to Ben is actually really nice. "Lacey, darling, me and Cora are taking off," Bee says, suddenly appearing next to me. "Are you staying?" Cora, who's behind Bee, gives me a thumbs up and mouths the word 'stay.' "Um," I steal a glance at Ben. "Yeah, I'm gonna stay a little longer." They tell me to call if I need anything else and they leave, leaving me alone with Ben again. We continue talking and I find that he's really funny. The way he sees the world, and the way he thinks the world sees him, it's funny and heartwarming at the same time. I feel the buzz turning into drunk, and I know he's buzzed from the Jack and Coke. Maybe that's what's making him funnier, but I don't care. "I'm having a lot of fun," I tell him honestly. "I haven't laughed like this in a while," he lets out another chuckle. A surge of confidence spurs through me. "Do you want to come back to my place?" Brave Lacey is coming out. This might be the first one night stand I don't ask to my place out of loneliness. He seems hesitant, but he says "Sure." He's too drunk to drive, so we take the bus to my apartment. He holds my hand as we run up the stairs together and we laugh when we almost fall. Inside my apartment he glances around. "Nice place." "It's okay," I say, throwing my purse onto the couch. He shoves his hands in his pockets and laughs. "Sorry, I don't usually do this." I stand closer to him and all I can hear is the sound of the ticking from my clock on the wall. Ben brushes my hair from my face and I lean in to kiss him. Before I lose my confidence, I push him back to the couch and I sit on his lap. His hands are steady on my waist and I love it. The shrill sound of my phone interrupts us and Ben leans back to look at me. "Do you want to get that?" he asks, sounding breathless. I shake my head. "No, it's fine." I feel his lips on my neck and he brings me closer to him. The phone continues to ring for a second and third time. I want to ignore it, but something tells me I should answer. I break away from Ben. "Sorry," I shake my head and reach for my purse. "Let me see who it is." "No problem," he gives me a goofy grin. My phone shows three missed calls from Casey. She normally doesn't call around this time. Something must be wrong. While I'm still planted on Ben's lap, I say "Give me one second." I call Casey back and she answers after the first ring. "Lacey, you've ignored three of my calls on what has been the happiest night of my life because Levi proposed to me and I said yes!" she practically screams into the phone. "Wait, he proposed?" "Yes! I haven't even called my parents yet. I have to start planning already. And you have to come back down here because as the maid of honor, you have to be by my side every step of the way. Oh, Lacey, will you please be my maid of honor?" Her words come at me from all directions and drunk me can't function that quickly. "Of course I will," I tell her. "I'll be there the whole way." "You sound funny. Are you drinking?" I didn't think I sounded bad. "I had a little. Can I call you tomorrow?" "Yeah, totally. I need to call my parents. I love you, and be safe," she says before hanging up. I toss my phone on the couch again and I see the wild look on Ben's face. "That sounded exciting," he laughs. "My best friend is getting married," I say, mostly to myself. Casey is actually getting married. He smiles. "Good for her. That's awesome." I have to laugh at the situation. I'm drunk on his lap and Casey just told me Levi proposed. What a night. "Sorry if I just ruined this." I don't want him to go yet, but I don't know how to say it. "No, no, it's fine." "Do you, um," shit I'm so bad at this. "Do you want to keep going?" He nods. "Yeah, definitely." We laugh as his lips meet mine again and for a little bit he makes me forget everything.