Hi all! This is my first story published on the site. I'm very open to any constructive feedback you might have. Thank you for reading! Enjoy :)
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Lucy walked in and saw Andrew seated at the bar, his back to her, curly hair loose around his slouched shoulders. Wearing a chambray shirt, black jeans, and leather brogue boots, he had settled his 6'5" frame onto the bar stool and managed to fold his long legs under the board. Lucy took in the cozy space - the timeworn oak bar shining in the dim light cast by the Christmas lights hanging haphazardly from the ceiling. "You Send Me" by Sam Cooke playing over the stereo and the white noise murmur of other conversations audible just under the music. Dark hardwood covered the floor and the front of the bar. At that moment, Andrew looked up from his whiskey into the mirror behind the bar and caught Lucy gazing at him from just inside the doorway. He arched his eyebrows in invitation, but didn't otherwise change his sullen expression.
Andrew felt his heart lighten just seeing Lucy. Thank goddess for good friends. Even if he never found "the one," at least he was reasonably sure he'd always have Lucy. And it didn't hurt that she was hot as hell. He let his eyes drift over her hips, the open V of her button down shirt, and finally up to her dark brown eyes.
Lucy muscled her full-blown grin down into a lopsided smirk as she met his eyes. She laughed to herself when she realized they were almost twinning - she'd worn her favorite high-waisted black skinny jeans belted and paired with a muted blue and yellow flowery button down, tucked in and unbuttoned to just above the curve of her breasts. Her black lace demi-cup bra front clasp was visible to anyone taller than her 5'2" build who might care to look down. Her worn gray Keds let her slide across the worn wooden floor as she swayed with her arms in the air to the music toward Andrew. Holding his gaze, Lucy allowed the grin to spread across her face when she saw his expression pull into a lopsided smirk mirroring her own. As Mavis Staples' "Son of A Preacher Man" started playing, Lucy broke into full karaoke pantomime, imaginary microphone and all. She didn't care that some of the other patrons were giving her looks: she saw Andrew had finally cracked a full smile into the bar mirror. Lucy slid onto the barstool next to him as she grabbed his right arm and exaggeratedly mimed the chorus of the song. Andrew turned fully toward her and organized his long legs so they were framing Lucy's as she mimicked dropping her mic onto the bar. Andrew put his large hands on her knees.
"Hi," he said, smiling and looking into her eyes. "Hi," Lucy grinned back, running her left thumb over Andrew's high cheekbone and tucking a wild curl behind his ear. Her own curls were much less unruly these days since she had chopped most of them off in favor of a short pixie cut.
"I'm glad you're here," Andrew said with a more serious face. He was, and he was also surprised at the warm shiver that shot down his spine at her touch.
Lucy tilted her head and her lopsided smile softened as she put her hands over Andrew's. "Me too. I'm glad you called. I'm sorry I've been a little out of touch lately, work has been wild. We're in the middle of hiring a new faculty cohort and coordinating all of the campus visits has been a nightmare. Anyway, tell me, how are you doing?" Lucy studied Andrew's face and saw that his normally sharp features were drawn. The wrinkles around his eyes and the lines at the corners of his wide, soft mouth - both testaments to his good humor - seemed deeper. His hazel eyes looked tired, but blessedly happy to see her. They'd been best friends now for years, so Lucy was used to Andrew's brooding artist moods, but today there seemed to be an undercurrent of something else. He sighed and ran his right hand through his hair to push it back off his face.
"Well, I've definitely been better. Worse too, I guess, but...you know how it is. I just feel...like I don't know what I'm doing wrong, you know? I'm just...tired." He'd been on the app dating circuit for over a year now and between his own work schedule and a string of first date duds, he was over it. He had thought the most recent woman was promising, but after a few dead-end make-out sessions and realizing their relationship needs were fundamentally incompatible and, he had ended it.
"Oh honey, I know. I really feel for you," Lucy said, squeezing his hands and then turning to flag down the bartender. After ordering her rum and coke, she said seriously, "Tell me everything, I'm all ears." Then, less seriously, putting her fingertips on Andrew's knee: "And I'll just say up front, I didn't like her, but I will try to save my 'I told you so' for when things are a little less fresh."
Andrew blew a sigh out through his lips. "Yeah, well, I wish you had said that earlier and saved me some time."
"Well, I'm sorry," Lucy said, her voice pitching up. "You know I've been working on being a less intense friend - which means less sticking my nose in y'all's love lives." Even when I really wanted to, she added silently to herself.
Andrew chuckled, "Yeah, well, I guess it was just more of the same," he said, sighing out and pulling his hands down either side of his face to rest on his jaw. "[She] was really lovely, I mean she's a great person, but it just wasn't clicking. After five or six dates, I could tell it just wasn't going anywhere. This was, literally, the seventh person this year," he said, his long fingers wrapping around his whiskey glass. "Dating is exhausting. I think I'm over it for a while."
"Ugh, I'm sorry Andrew, you've really been through it this year. I definitely think it makes sense to take a break." Lucy paused, then said, "She did seem very nice, but like, a little too nice, you know? That was the vibe I got, that maybe she was a little too straight-laced for you."
"That was part of it, she was conservative, but also there was no chemistry, I mean we hardly got past third base."
Lucy made a yikes face. "After six dates? If I know you at all, I know you must have been making moves. Was she just not into it?"
"Yeah. To be fair, she told me she wanted to take it slow at the beginning, which is fine! But honestly, as you know, sex is a really big part of a romantic relationship for me, so I didn't feel like it was going to go anywhere."
"Oh yeah, I feel you. Well," Lucy said, raising her glass, "here's to knowing and getting exactly what we want."
"Cheers," Andrew said as they clinked glasses.
- - -
A couple of drinks later, Lucy and Andrew were both feeling pleasantly tipsy and their easy familiarity with each other had drifted into outright flirting. They were presently in the middle of recounting their most awkward hook-ups, of which there were embarrassingly many for both of them. Lucy had scooted forward on her barstool closer to Andrew so her knees were now tucked wholly between his thighs. She had mostly been dating femme people as of late, but she'd always found Andrew very attractive. Something about his long dexterous fingers - matched by his absurdly long legs - and auburn curls appealed to her. They first met ages ago through mutual friends and she had flirted with him plenty then. But they had both met other partners shortly after so nothing came of it. Over the last 6 years their relationship had matured into one of her closest friendships. Andrew was the first person she went to with news or if she needed advice and vice versa. They had both helped each other move a couple of times, had even been each other's emergency contacts on and off. Lucy knew she could count on Andrew for all kinds of logistical adulting help. She'd dated more regularly than him over the last several years and this was the first time in a long while that they were both single at the same time.
