Page 7 of Forgotten Prejudice

“Don’t worry about it. If anything, I deserved it. I made myself look like a fool downing that drink in one go.”

Soren let out a soft chuckle, one that made me weak in the knees. Looking up, I found him still staring at me, and there was something empowering about the way his silver eyes checked me out slowly.

“You didn’t make a fool out of yourself, so don’t worry about it.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he stepped a bit closer. “To be honest, I was simply distracted.”

He was at least three inches taller, with wide shoulders and defined muscles. He looked so elegant in clothes that probably cost more than my monthly salary and radiated confidence with his tall stance. Yet, it wasn’t just his looks that drew me to him but his confidence. Soren seemed so sure of himself, so well put together, and that attracted me. Thinking about it now, Soren was the complete opposite of Kai, who was all about messy hair, laid-back clothes, and a let’s-go-with-the-flow sort of attitude.

“I tend to get distracted rather easily,” he spoke, snapping me back to reality. “It’s quite a bit of a problem, especially when I’m talking to you.”

“Me?” My brows pulled close with shock. “Did I do something wrong?”

Once again, he chuckled, his rich voice addicting. “You’re adorable.” He shook his head. “But no, you didn’t do anything wrong, although I keep getting distracted by those lips of yours.” While speaking, he moved his fingers along his jaw, and my eyes focused on his lips a second before a flush crept to my cheeks and probably painted them bright red.

“M-My lips?” Breaking our stare, I swallowed hard.

“Yeah, they’re the prettiest I have ever seen. Such a unique shape that I can’t seem to look away.”

My heart rate increased, and my throat turned dry. He was hitting on me without a hint of shame, and that left me… shocked. I was popular among the girls in our school, so I’d been hit on before, but never by a guy. And never in my wildest dreams did I think a man like Soren, who looked like the closest thing to perfection, would’ve found interest in me. I didn’t hate myself, but there was nothing special about me. Nothing unique enough to attract the interest of a man like him.

“Why do I feel like I’m scaring you? Did I get the wrong impression?” he suddenly asked, and I realized I’d kept quiet for too long.

“The wrong impression?” I blurted out, once again earning an amused smile from him. One that made me feel even more like a child.

“At the party, I assumed you liked me. Was I wrong?”

Did I like him? Was that even a question? Regardless of my unrequited love for Kai, I was still a horny dude in his prime, and it would be fucking impossible not to like a face, a body, and a personality like his.

“You weren’t wrong,” I said quietly. “It’s just that… I’ve never done this before.” My whole face burned up. “I mean, with a man…”

Something gleamed in his eyes a second before he ran his fingers through his raven hair, and he cleared his throat.

“Since it seems like you’re in the middle of closing up this place, I think I’ll go find a different restaurant to have dinner.”

My stomach turned since, once again, I was being dismissed, but right as I was about to draw back into myself, Soren pulled his phone out and offered it to me.

“I would have offered for you to join me tonight, but I have very little time, and I’d rather take you on a proper date.” He smiled. “If that’s okay with you, of course.”

Okay with me? It was more than okay with me. In fact, the only thing that made me hesitate was that I’d lied to him. Soren had no idea I was still in high school, but should I risk telling him? After all, even if we were to go on a date, nothing serious would come out of it. He looked too hot to be a guy who was looking for something serious. And if I were honest with myself, everything about him, from the amusement in his eyes to the car he was driving, screamed fuckboy. So maybe, just maybe, this was finally my opportunity to have an actual experience with a man. And if that were the case, there was no need for him to know how old I was.

“I saved myself under Ash,” I said, giving him back his phone.

While taking the device from me, Soren brushed our fingers together, leaned close, and kissed my cheek. It was short, and it was over before I’d even noticed, but the touch of his lips burned my skin like the sun after a long day of surfing.

“I’ll give you a call,” he said and, a moment later, was already out of the restaurant.

As I brushed my fingers over my cheek, my stomach flipped with butterflies. It was silly, but being wanted felt really fucking good.

Kai

Frozen, I stayed by the restaurant window as I watched Ashy’s cheeks turning a deeper shade of red each time the man he was speaking to got closer. I’d come here thinking I’d manage to convince him to come to the party with me, not at all prepared for what I was seeing unfolding right fucking now.

But… what was I even seeing? Ash was straight. Right? For years, we’d talked about girls, so why did he just give that dude his number? And why the fuck was I getting so angry as the asshole got closer to Ash, and… did the son of a bitch just kiss his cheek?

What the actual fuck.

Clenching my hands into tight fists and gritting my teeth, I tried to understand the source of my anger. Was it for believing my best friend was hiding a big fucking secret from me, or was it because of something else? Whatever it was that made me want to break something was enough to get me back inside my car and kick the gas so fast that I nearly crashed into the lamppost I’d parked beside. Not giving a flying fuck, I reversed onto the main road, ignoring the honks and curses from other drivers, and made my way to the party.

I needed a drink.