II

Jesse drew in a sharp breath, caught off-guard as the pair of deep blue eyes bore into his from across the room.

He twitched his lip into a smirk, staring back at the dark-haired girl. He finished off his drink, placed it on top of the table beside him, and walked off to the other side of the floor. 

And the game begins.

Lurgee continued to play, their lineup proved to be really, really good. Their music filled Castello with slow, dreamy, gorgeous, tender vocals and melody. Their feel was reminiscent of lying in bed on a rainy day, but its ambient qualities didn't prevent everyone from dancing.

Pretty dark-haired girl was actually swaying her slender frame and moving her head to the riff. She looked so lost and engulfed in the music.

"They sound really cool, yeah?" Jesse asked through the loud music. He was already standing beside her.

She just looked at Jesse for a second, then quickly turned her gaze back to the band.

Jesse was surprised, taken aback. It was the first time he's been ignored. Girls he usually hit-on at bars really like it when he approach them first, with his smoldering hot stares and just his whole persona of raging testosterone. 

He was so viciously good-looking. Tall, perfect physique, with the right amount of beef and muscle here and there. His chiseled jaws and chin were covered by his perfectly-groomed mustache, beard and sideburns that ran up to his thick, dark and wavy locks. On either side of his well-defined nose were two blazing topaz blue eyes spiked with warm brown specks bursted around the irises, beautifully framed by his dark brows. 

He had that dangerous bad boy look in him, and frankly - chicks really dig it.

Jesse bent over a little to quickly take a look at dark-haired girl. He felt quite challenged with the fact that she was indeed ignoring him. She just continued to dance to the music as she held to her now empty beer bottle.

She just glanced at Jesse from the corner of her cobalt blue eyes, not even turning her head to look at him. She then looked down on her feet, looked up at the playing band again, as the corners of her pink lips bowed into an alluring smile.

Her head turned sideways, her eyes finding Jesse's. "Are you... hitting on me?" She finally mumbled, tucking stray locks of dark hair behind her ear using her hand that held the beer bottle. Her other hand was in the back pocket of her ripped denim skinny jeans. 

"Well..." He trailed off, flashing his signature hot wolfish grin back at her. "That depends," he chuckled. "I mean, I was kinda asking genuinely if you're enjoying the band and their sound."

Cobalt blue eyes snickered and batted her thick lashes at him. "That's a pretty lame starter question to pick-up a girl in a bar," she remarked snidely. "Unless you're a real talent scout or a producer or something."

Jesse bit his lip and smirked, in such a delicious way that made girls squirm and want to lunge themselves at him. He reached for his wallet and pulled out a business card. "I, um," he paused, then flicked the card towards cobalt blue, holding it between his index and middle finger. "I'm actually an indie band producer. In fact, my assistant..." his gaze crossed to the other side of the bar, to where Charlie was standing. "...and I, are here, to check these guys out. Because we're going to offer them a record deal." He said coolly.

Cobalt blue gasped, reading Jesse's business card. Her neck, cheeks and the bridge of her nose turned red from shock and embarrassment. "Oh, my God," she muttered, lifting her other free hand to cover her face, mortified. "I am so sorry." She snickered. "Oh, dear, I am horrified."

Jesse just smiled at her, trying his best to exude cuteness towards her. "Yeah, no, that's okay," he mumbled, reaching for her wrist and uncovering her face. He wanted to look at her eyes again. They're just so... beguiling. "I actually came over here because I saw you from the other side of the bar."

She raised her eyebrows at him, making her eyes wider and look more animated. "Ah, that you really did. I noticed." She acknowledged. "I actually saw you staring at me from across the room."

"I actually was," Jesse admitted, no holds barred. "But not in a creepy, stalker, psychopathic way," he defended. "I just saw how engrossed you were with the music. The way your body surrendered to the beat, with your eyes closed. It was really... mesmerizing." 

She snorted, then rolled her eyes at him again. "Do you say that to every girl you meet in the bar?"

"I don't," his truthful reply. It was actually one of the longest and most honest conversations he had. Most girls he hook-up with in bars, he went straight away with let's cut to the chase. "Can I get you a drink?" He offered, noticing the empty beer bottle on cobalt blue's hand.

She bit her lip and looked at the business card again. "Yeah, okay." She answered without hesitation. "Sure... Jesse." She looked up at him and smiled, then trod her way to the bar.

He walked right in the back of her trail, watching her from behind. Her hips naturally swayed as she walked, making Jesse feel all hot and bothered. She was wearing a low-cut, round neck plain white tee that was knotted just above her belly button. It showed off some skin. Jesse noticed the tiny little pink and brown freckles sprinkled on her back. They looked like little constellations. 

Jesse gently placed his hand at the hollow back of her waist, just above the hemline of her jeans. His middle, ring and pinky finger grazed on her warm and soft skin. He felt shivers up and down his spine, touching her like that. It was as if her whole body was charged with electricity, radiating a pleasant amount of static towards him. 

He took a sharp breath, trying to control himself. God, he wanted to fuck her.

They both sat on the bar stools, next to each other. Jesse on the right, cobalt blue on the left.

She rested her elbow on the countertop then turned her stool to face Jesse, whose eyes were already fixed on hers. The toe-tips of her black low-cut Chuck Taylors were grazed on Jesse's shin as she sat cross-legged.

"Modelo's okay?" He asked, offering her a bottle of beer. 

"Modelo's perfect." She agreed, then reached for the thin elastic hair tie on her wrist. She bowed her head a fraction and grabbed her loosely-curled long hair with both her hands. She combed it through with her lithe and slender fingers, tying it up in a high ponytail. 

Jesse was watching her the whole time. He didn't even blink. "Perfect." He repeated with a face-splitting grin. He then turned to call Marty, the bartender. "Two Modelos, please," he held up his index and middle fingers.

"Here you go," Marty handed their drinks to them. 

Jesse carefully slid the bottle in front of cobalt blue. He realized, he hasn't asked for her name yet. "Here's your drink... um?" He squinted his eyes and raised a curious brow, asking for her name.

"What?" She asked, her mouth agape as she lightly chuckled. "You're asking for my name?"

"Naturally," Jesse replied, surprising himself. Normally, he wouldn't even bother asking for his hook-ups' names. This might be the first time he's ever done it. "If you would indulge me."

"No, let's not do names," she shook her head and smiled, then took a sip from her beer bottle. 

"Why not?" Jesse asked through furrowed brows, quite amused. "You know my name, that's a little unfair don't you think?" He quipped, surprising himself again with him persuasively asking for her identity.

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled at Jesse, her look almost mocking. "Well- I didn't ask for your name, did I?" She explained, then held out Jesse's business card back to him. "Here, you can take it back if you'd like." She giggled and winked at him.

Jesse couldn't help but smile too, even if he was actually feeling quite exasperated. "Whoa, whoa, hell no," he took the card and placed it mindlessly on top of the counter. "That's not how it works. You've got to at least give me something here." He coaxed further.

Cobalt blue opened her mouth, then bit her lip - as if she was just teasing Jesse, making him want to beg for her to say her name. "What's the point of this, anyway?" She asked, then took another sip of beer. "I mean... we're just two random people drinking in a bar, talking. We're never going to see each other again after tonight. And, you're not hitting on me, you said so yourself, right?" 

Jesse grunted and stifled a laugh. "Oh, come on,"he groaned. "I was just asking for your name. In my head, I've named you cobalt blue." 

"Cobalt blue?" She asked, baffled but charmed. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah," Jesse nodded and smiled. "The uh, color of your eyes. They're super blue... like cobalt." He explained, almost a whisper. "Oh God, I sound so fucking ridiculous." He turned away from her, bushwhacked and suddenly feeling self-conscious. It was the first time he really bothered to ask for a girl's name. And frankly, he was quite liking the provocation.

"No, it's not completely... ridiculous," she said, quite enjoying Jesse's discomfort. "Why don't we play a little game?"

Jesse raised his eyebrows and looked right back at cobalt blue, his interest piqued.

"You can guess for my name, and I'll tell you if you've guessed it right," she mumbled, then took one last swig of her Modelo. She placed the empty bottle back into the counter and licked her lips. "You up for it?"

He liked playing games, but only if he was the player. That moment, he knew that he wasn't, he was the playee. Cobalt was clearly toying on him. Jesse groaned again, but he figured he had no choice. "There's gotta be a million names. But- alright," he finally agreed. "On one condition... we're taking shots - tequila and whiskey?" He parleyed.

"Shots are cool," she coalesced. "Let's do it."

"Cool," Jesse grinned, then turned and called the bartender again. "Marty, Patrón and Jameson please."

"Line-up?" He shouted from across the counter. "Dry?"

"You're two for two," Jesse smiled at him. 

A few seconds later, Marty already handed over their line-up of shots. Jesse picked up two shot glasses and handed the other one to cobalt blue.

"To playing games," she lifted and clinked her shot glass against Jesse's.

"To playing games," he repeated. 

 Oh, how the tables have turned.