Anything but Ordinary

(Kay’s POV)

The night had turned from fun and exciting to nearly a disaster. Aimee kept prying into what I was planning with the girls back home and it was killing me. I hated keeping things from my best friend, but this was supposed to be for her. I couldn’t ruin it before the party even happened. It made me want to run from the balcony to hide in the bathroom for the rest of the night. The last thing I needed to do was open my big mouth. I wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for long if she kept pestering me.

I had practically inhaled my first drink. After I had choked it down, I went down the stairs to the main floor to not only check my appearance in the bathroom, I felt like I looked like a terrified child, but to check out the rest of the venue. It was a small club. It honestly didn’t have much room, but the group wasn’t large. It was the two of us plus a few more close pals. At least the small amount of square footage would make it easy to keep track of those certain people who needed supervision. Sad thing about the entire situation was that those people were older than me.

I closed the bathroom door behind me and locked it. Walking to the mirror, I checked my appearance. From the way I looked, it was as if I was perfectly calm. Like I was just a normal girl at the bar trying to enjoy herself. But there was tension in my eyes. I could see it though others probably wouldn’t. Just being in the club, having the reservations confirmed and the check written for the price was nerve-racking and it shouldn’t have been. It should have been exciting and I should have been pumped for what was going to be a great birthday weekend… but I wasn’t. Something felt like it was going to go wrong and it worried me to no end.

Taking a deep breath, I straightened my back and decided I had hidden long enough. I wasn’t a coward. I was Kristin Brannigan, a fierce young woman who had big dreams. I wouldn’t run from a little bit of worry about what the future held. Forcing a smile onto my face and grabbing my purse, I opened the door and walked out into the crowd. The sound of the crowd around me was muted in the bathroom and as I stepped back into the crazy bar, I was blasted with sounds. I wasn’t paying attention quite as well as I should have been considering the amount of people around me. My eyes were turned towards the stage where I could see a band was setting up. I didn’t even notice him coming at me until it was too late.

I collided directly into someone.

The drink he had been holding nearly spilled on me, but he had thankfully saved it in time. I was grateful that I wasn’t going home covered in liquor, but his chivalry stopped there. He didn’t even attempt to stop me from falling onto my ass in front of the entire club. A few chuckles erupted around me, but I ignored them as a blush passed over my face. I was so happy Aimee was in the balcony and not next to me… she would never let me live this down.

“Are you ok?” The guy who had knocked me down asked as he reached down with his free hand to help me back to my feet. I noticed the entire time he never put his drink down and he never stopped smiling as he looked at my blushing cheeks.

It had been a good idea to put on shorts earlier instead of the skirt I had been considering. It was a really good idea.

Letting the stranger help me up, I couldn’t look him in the face. I was too embarrassed and I could feel the stares of some of the guys at the bar who had seen the whole thing. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

“That was one hell of a crash landing.” He chuckled despite the situation.

I didn’t find it funny at all.

I felt the anger course through my body before I could stop it. Glaring up in the direction of his face, a retort on my lips, I felt my heart flutter suddenly at the dark eyes looking at me. A grin was displayed clearly on his face and he seemed to not care that I was about to curse him out. He actually appeared interested in what I was about to say. Pushing my anger aside, I pulled my hand from his and crossed my arms in front of my chest. The gesture brought a laugh from his throat.

“What’s so funny?” It was all I could manage to say without sounding like a total idiot. The image of this handsome, arrogant man in front of me was almost too much. It was almost like I knew him from somewhere, but couldn’t quite place him.

“The anger in your eyes...” He said thoughtfully. His free hand stroked his chin where I noticed the shadow of a beard lay. “It’s cute on you.”

“You don’t know me.” I couldn’t help, but point out. Where had I seen him before?

“I would like to.” He said with a wink.

‘Ew’ was my first thought. The second was that I was taking too long with this man. Aimee was upstairs by herself. She would start wondering where I’d gotten to and then come look for me… Who was I kidding? Aimee had a bar all to herself. She wouldn’t notice me missing for at least three hours… If she managed to stay conscious for that long.

“I wouldn’t.” I snapped before turning on my heel. I was about to walk off when I heard him laugh. I froze in my spot. Then before I could stop myself, I turned around quickly and poked him in the chest. He looked shock at my gesture. “I hope you enjoy spending the night alone asshole. It’s where you’ll be if I have my way tonight.”

“What are you going to do?” He called as I walked back up the stairs to the balcony. I didn’t respond and walked directly to the bar. I was almost back to seat when it hit me where I had seen him before. How did I not figure it out?

He was Chad Ginsburg… the guitarist of CKY.

What was I getting myself into?